Fantasy camp is over.
The last four-plus months have been like a dream sequence for Sam Darnold, the 21-year-old even-keeled Californian who’s trying to assert himself as the first true long-term franchise Jets quarterback since Joe Namath.
The journey so far for Darnold, dating to the night he was drafted third overall by the Jets, has been a smooth one.
By all accounts, he’s mentally digested the playbook like a Rhodes scholar. He hasn’t had any physical ailments. He’s comported himself not unlike a 12-year veteran. He took first-team snaps in practice all summer and never blinked.