The Sam Darnold Hype Train gained plenty of momentum on Friday night.

The Jets rookie quarterback impressed in his preseason debut, throwing a touchdown pass in a 17-0 win over the Falcons at MetLife Stadium. You can’t put him in the Hall of Fame just yet, but Darnold showed enough to have Jets fans salivating. He completed 13-of-18 for 96 yards and the one score, but it was more about the qualities he showed than the stats he put up.

“I didn’t think it was too big for him,” coach Todd Bowles said. “Obviously, they stayed pretty simple on the other side, but it was good for him to play against another scheme.”

Darnold entered with 8:41 left in the second quarter and played the rest of the game. His first series ended with a punt, but he led the Jets to the end zone on his second drive, capping it off with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Charles Johnson.

“I thought I played pretty good,” Darnold said. “I put the ball where it needed to be. I tried to get it in the hands of our playmakers .There were a couple of plays, especially on the sack I felt like I could have gotten the ball out on the shallow there. You live and you learn. I’m going to watch the tape and see what exactly happened on some of the plays. I took care of the football, which was my main priority tonight.”

Darnold showed why he was drafted No. 3 overall in April and why people are giddy about his potential to be the franchise quarterback the Jets have been searching for since Joe Namath left town.

The mobility, arm strength and poise that separated Darnold at USC were on display against the Atlanta backups. There was nothing that indicated the game was too big for Darnold and he made plays that rookies usually do not. He looked like he belonged.

“I was a little nervous going out there, but I think just more excited to finally to be able to play an NFL game, even though it is preseason,” Darnold said.

Clearly, Darnold is making his case to be the starter when the season opens Sept. 10 against the Lions. He has passed every test put in front of him so far. All three quarterbacks — Josh McCown, Teddy Bridgewater and Darnold — are NFL starters. Bowles is going to have to choose one.

“We’ll see how the preseason goes,” Bowles said. “Like I said, I’ll make my decision when it happens. I’m not going to jump to any conclusions after one game. I’m going to take my notes and watch practice and compare with the coaches and we’ll come up with a decision. It’s a tough decision. We’ve got three good players and we’re happy to have them.”

On the touchdown drive, there were a few throws that stood out above the others. He threw an 18-yard pass to Clive Walford in which he avoided the rush, stepped up and delivered a strike on a long throw to the sideline. That throw put the Jets in the red zone.

A penalty moved the ball to the Atlanta 3-yard line. Darnold targeted Johnson on first down, but Johnson dropped the would-be touchdown. Two plays later, Darnold connected with Johnson for a touchdown that was nullified by a penalty on Johnson for pushing off. They finally got the touchdown on the third try. Operating from the 14-yard line on third-and-goal, Darnold stepped up and then ran to his right. It looked like he might tuck the ball and run, but he hit Johnson with a strike in the front corner of the end zone for the score.

The only blip of the night for Darnold was what appeared to be a minor injury to his left hand after he scrambled on his first drive. It looked like he got stepped on and may have cut his hand. He wore a glove on the hand in the second half.

McCown played just one series in the game. He completed the one pass he attempted for four yards.

Bridgewater replaced McCown, getting his first extended action since the 2016 preseason with the Vikings, just before he suffered a severe left knee injury that sidelined him for the past two seasons. Bridgewater looked very good in his Jets debut. He completed 5-of-6 passes for 60 yards and one touchdown. He showed no signs of rust or any issues with his knee.

Three takeaways

1. When was the last time the Jets felt this good about their quarterback situation? Both Sam Darnold and Teddy Bridgewater had impressive debuts for Gang Green. Josh McCown played only one series. How Todd Bowles handles the quarterback decision is going to be fascinating to watch.

2. Get ready for plenty of outside zone runs. It was hard to take too much away from how the Jets offense will look under new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates, but he showed his love for those outside runs early in the game when the starters were playing. The Jets hope this scheme change will help their running game this year.

3. Rookie defensive end Nathan Shepherd looked like he belonged. The third-round pick started and made a nice tackle early in the game, holding Tevin Coleman to a 1-yard gain. Shepherd will have a big role on the defense this season.