Next April will be the 35th anniversary of one of the darkest days in Jets history.

On April 26, 1983, the Jets passed on Dan Marino with the 24th pick in the draft, opting instead for Ken O’Brien. The Dolphins grabbed Marino three picks later and he tormented the Jets for the next 17 seasons on his way to the Hall of Fame. O’Brien had his moments in nine seasons with the Jets, but any success O’Brien had was always dwarfed by Marino.

Now, Jets fans feel like they might be living Marino, part 2. Deshaun Watson was available for the Jets to take with the sixth pick last April. They chose safety Jamal Adams instead. Early indications are Adams is going to have a really good career … but he is not a franchise quarterback.

The Texans, who took Watson with the 12th pick, look like they have landed just that.

Jets fans had to deal not just with another fourth-quarter collapse from their team Sunday, but then watching Watson put on a show in Seattle. He threw four touchdown passes in the Texans’ loss, bringing his season total to 19, the most a quarterback has thrown in his first seven games.

After the game, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman heaped praise on Watson. Sherman told theMMQB.com what he told Watson.

“‘You played the best game any quarterback has ever played against us, and we’ve played all the legends. I respect how you hung in there and kept battling and battling,’” Sherman said.

So, did Mike Maccagnan blow it?

The Jets general manager did his homework on Watson in the pre-draft process. The Jets went to Clemson to work Watson out privately. He visited them in Florham Park. But the Jets were in a funny spot in this draft when it came to quarterbacks. They were stuck somewhere between the 2016 and 2018 drafts with 2017 feeling like a bridge between them.

Maccagnan had drafted Christian Hackenberg in the second round in 2016. Hackenberg did not play a snap in his rookie year. The organizational view was Hackenberg would get his shot to play in 2017 … to see if they needed to draft one of the projected top quarterbacks in the 2018 draft like Sam Darnold.

You can understand the thinking then. But Maccagnan won’t be graded on his reasoning. He will be graded on the results.

Now, Hackenberg is collecting dust on the sideline after a poor showing this summer and some inspired play from Josh McCown this fall, Darnold’s stock has fallen and Watson is playing better than anyone other than Dabo Swinney expected.

“My God, Houston’s so lucky,” Sherman told theMMQB.com. “By next year he’s going to be a top-five quarterback in this league, and that includes the two big dogs [Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers]. He makes you dig to the deepest part of your competitive juices to beat him.”

No one seems too concerned anymore about how Watson will adjust from the offense at Clemson.

As time goes on, there will be reports of how this person or that person with the Jets wanted to take Watson. It has already started. If he continues on this path, the number of people claiming they knew Watson was a can’t-miss prospect will increase. Look at how many scouts now say they knew Tom Brady would become great.

The only opinion that matters is Maccagnan’s and he did not want Watson with the sixth pick. Now, he has to live with it if Watson becomes the star he looks like he will be.

If he is, he will join a long list of Jets misses like Johnny Lam Jones over Anthony Munoz, Blair Thomas over Emmitt Smith, Kyle Brady over Warren Sapp, Al Toon over Jerry Rice and Dave Cadigan over Michael Irvin to name a few.

Someday Jets fans may look back at April 27, 2017 the same way they look at April, 26, 1983 — a day they let a franchise-changer get away from them.