As the Jets get close to training camp, I am examining the roster and giving you my top 25 players. Each weekday, we will reveal another person on the list, leading right into camp. I am not including rookies on this list because I do not feel it is possible to fully evaluate them before they play a game.

No. 5: Sam Darnold

Last year’s ranking: Unranked (rookie)

Position: QB

Age on Opening Day: 22

How acquired: Selected in the first round of the 2018 draft

Years left on contract: 3 (plus a team option for a 4th)

2019 salary cap figure: $6.9 million

Looking back at 2018: Darnold arrived last year as the Jets’ latest hope for a franchise quarterback. He delivered enough signs to make the team believe it has landed its quarterback for the next decade and maybe more.

Darnold won the starting job in training camp, beating out Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater. His NFL career could not have gotten off to a worse start with an interception returned for a touchdown on his first NFL pass in Detroit. But he bounced back.

Darnold showed amazing maturity and poise for a 21-year-old who only started two seasons in college. While he threw 15 interceptions, many of them were not terrible picks. He committed some rookie mistakes but also made throws that made you say “wow” quite often.

He played in 13 games, missing three with a sprained foot, and completed 57.7% of his passes for 2,865 yards with 17 touchdowns and the 15 interceptions. His rating was 77.6.

The sprained foot proved to be a blessing for Darnold. After sitting and watching for three weeks, he showed improvement in his final four games. The highlight of the season was a comeback win in Buffalo in his first game back. He made several unforgettable plays, including a long scramble that ended with a touchdown pass to Robby Anderson.

Darnold completed 64% of his passes in those final four games for 931 yards, six touchdowns and one interception for a 99.1 QB rating.

Pro Football Focus graded Darnold 29th out of 38 quarterbacks.

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Outlook for 2019: The Jets are hoping that Darnold makes the jump in his second year that other highly drafted quarterbacks have made lately, like Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Mitch Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes.

The main reason Adam Gase is now the head coach of the Jets is that management felt he could help Darnold’s development. That will be Gase’s main charge this season. Watching the spring practices, Gase spent plenty of time in Darnold’s ear.

Darnold should benefit from having Le’Veon Bell and Jamison Crowder, two free agent signings, around him. That, along with the development of Chris Herndon at tight end, should improve the Jets offense around Darnold.

I thought Darnold did a good job of protecting the football, something that was a big criticism of him in college. There was only one true fumble in the pocket (not counting flubbed snaps or handoffs). Yes, he needs to cut down on interceptions, but he only had one truly bad turnover game and that was against the Dolphins when he hurt his foot.

It is pretty simple – the Jets will go as Darnold goes. They need the signal caller to stay healthy and take that next step if they want to be playoff contenders.