A familiar face who spent time around these parts stands in the way of a successful and potentially joyous Giants season opener Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Sam Darnold.
Don’t laugh.
The Giants certainly aren’t.
They’re not buying into the former Jets first-round pick’s struggles in his quarterbacking career that have him starting for his fourth NFL team in five years when he leads the Vikings into MetLife for the teams’ opener.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll and his defense are not caught up in Darnold’s disappointing 21-35 career record as a starter in his six seasons, including 13-25 with the Jets in his first three years.
They’re not complacent about the mere seven starts Darnold has in the past two seasons or the fact that his career numbers are pedestrian — a 59.7 completion percentage with 63 touchdowns and 56 interceptions.
Linebacker Brian Burns, who’s making his Big Blue debut Sunday as their splashiest offseason acquisition, is one of the players inside the locker room who has close-up knowledge of what Darnold can do.
Burns, an elite pass rusher who played two seasons with him in Carolina before signing with the Giants, delivered this message to those who don’t believe in Darnold.
“He’s definitely not a guy to sleep on,” Burns told The Post on Friday. “Sam’s talented. He can run and he’s sneaky athletic. The best thing we can do … is to affect him, get in his face, disrupt his timing. If you give him a clean pocket, he can tear you up.”
In January 2022, the day the Giants introduced Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, Giants co-owner John Mara said this about his franchise’s struggling quarterback, Daniel Jones: “We’ve done everything possible to screw this kid up since he’s been here. We keep changing coaches, keep changing offensive coordinators, keep changing offensive line coaches.”
The same can be said about Darnold, whom the Jets failed miserably after selecting him third overall in the 2018 draft. They left him bereft of skill-position talent and with a constantly unsettled offensive line.
Darnold, too, saw his first head coach, Todd Bowles, fired after his rookie season and replaced by Adam Gase.
He had two offensive coordinators in three years.
He had zero continuity.
Translation: Darnold never had a fair chance to succeed with the Jets during that dysfunctional period.
Gase called me two days after the Jets fired him following the 2020 season and essentially told me the same thing John Mara told reporters about Jones.
Gase asked that I “go easy” on Darnold in assessing his Jets career because he admitted the kid wasn’t given a fair chance with the constant change.
Gase said he really believed Darnold still had a bright future in the league.
Now, playing for one of the most quarterback-friendly head coaches in the league in Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell, having a prolific receiver like Justin Jefferson to throw to as well as a more stable offensive line, we’ll truly find out about Darnold.
And that begins Sunday at MetLife, where Darnold was subjected to a lot of boos and barbs in his three years with the Jets.
It’s easy to see Darnold following a similar career path to that of Baker Mayfield, who survived the dysfunction in Cleveland after the Browns drafted him two spots ahead of Darnold in 2018 before bouncing around and finally finding a stable home in Tampa.
Or Geno Smith, the former Jets quarterback whom they drafted in 2013 and, after four seasons with them, he bounced around (including a controversial stint with the Giants) before finding a home as the starter in Seattle the past two seasons.
Darnold, who’s coming off of two seasons with the Panthers, a flailing franchise that drafted Bryce Young first overall last year, is playing for the best head coach he’s ever had and has the most talent he’s ever had around him, most notably Jefferson.
With the Giants hoping to exorcize the demons from their 2023 opener, a shocking 40-0 loss to the Cowboys, and their 6-11 record from a year ago, they’re hoping Sunday isn’t the start of a bright new beginning for Darnold.
Lawrence Cager, a tight end on the Giants practice squad, has been friends with Darnold since their high school days, having played at Nike camps together and in national all-star games.
They, too, were teammates on the Jets in 2020, Cager’s first with the team and Darnold’s last.
“He can make any throw,” Cager said Friday. “I know he can make it in this league. The fact that he has an amazing play-calling coach [O’Connell], a lot of weapons around him and a great system that I think fits him is going to be good to see. After this week, when we beat him, he can do well the rest of the season. I’m rooting for him.’’
Darnold is someone easy to root for.
Just not this week if you’re a Giants supporter.
