http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...a-jets-sunday-sam-darnold-20181102-story.html Mehta: Jets offensive coordinator trying to prove he's the right man to bring the best out of Sam Darnold Can the high-energy son of a coach set this promising young quarterback on a path to success to help change the Jets’ fortunes? The first half of Darnold’s inaugural season has been on-the-job training with plenty of encouraging signs. Barcalounger geniuses consumed by statistics have missed out on the rookie’s development entering Sunday’s game in Miami. Here’s a pivotal piece of Darnold’s progress that armchair wizards don’t see: Bates has fostered an environment with open dialogue to accelerate the process. It’s a necessary component of a complicated formula. Bates and Darnold learn about each other every day. “It’s about communication,” veteran quarterback Josh McCown told the Daily News. “It’s about being able to game-plan an opponent, but at the same time, do things to Sam’s strengths.” Sam Darnold is developing a rapport with Jets offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates. (Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP) The delicate piece to the puzzle is identifying Darnold’s strengths beyond the obvious. The quarterback’s physical gifts are apparent. The next critical phase of Darnold’s education centers on identifying his preferences, which is harder than it sounds since the player doesn’t truly know that himself yet. “(Bates) is still learning what Sam’s strengths are,” McCown said. “What are the things that you’re going to love? What are the things that you’re not going to love? It takes a while. You have to play a lot of games in the league to go, ‘Man, I really love this play’ or ‘This is not my favorite. I’m better at this other one.’ That just takes time.” Time, of course, is in short supply in this line of work. Jets ownership will have an important decision to make after the season: Do they trust that Todd Bowles is the right coach to lead the team in 2019? Their level of belief in Bates’ ability to develop Darnold will play a significant role in that answer. Although Bates said this week that he should be judged on wins and losses rather than on a curve with an inexperienced quarterback because “it's a win-now league” and “I don't believe in taking a year off or rebuilding,” it’s silly to expect a miracle record this season. “If you historically look at most rookie quarterbacks,” general manager Mike Maccagnan said, “A few have come in the league and performed at a somewhat high level…. I do think it’s a process you go through. It’s a difficult league to transition to, but more so at that position.” The reality is that Darnold has made important improvements through the first half of the season. That growth is a direct reflection of Bates, who, like his quarterback, has shown encouraging signs as a play caller. How much has Darnold grown in a short time? Consider that CBS analyst Tony Romo was borderline giddy about Darnold’s ability to manipulate a safety with his eyes on a fourth-quarter completion against the Bears last week. Truth be told, folks on One Jets Drive weren’t doing back flips. Why? Well, they had seen Darnold move defenders with his eyes several times earlier in the season. It was exciting to see him make that kind of play the first time. Now, they’ve come to expect it. Bates constantly is trying to put Darnold in better positions to succeed this season by exposing the rookie to smart, creative concepts. Week 2: It made sense to run the ball against the Dolphins’ aggressive, up-the-field 4-3 front with a pair of scary edge rushers that could get home without blitzing. Bates opted to spread out Miami and dial up three times as many passes as runs in the first half, BUT there were receivers running free in the intermediate-to-deep areas of the field all game. Darnold felt more comfortable one game into his career making short-to-intermediate passes. Was it a mistake if the design yielded open receivers that weren’t targeted? Regardless, Bates and Darnold used that as a valuable learning experience. Week 3: Some folks wondered why Bates dialed up one wide receiver screen after another in Cleveland instead of opening up the playbook. Well, offensive coaches across the league will tell you that the screen game has always been the most effective way to combat Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ aggressive, blitzing defenses through the years. There were moments when Jets pass catchers were open in the deep areas of the field (see: Chris Herndon on an over route that would have gone for a long touchdown). There have been missteps along the way by Bates and Darnold since well, nobody, is perfect. Consider Darnold’s first interception against the Vikings in Week 7 when he let it fly into double coverage. The play design was flawed since there was no receiver in the short area of the field to hold the cornerback, who ultimately kept following Robby Anderson before the safety picked it off. Both the coordinator and quarterback shared responsibility on that one. There have been missteps along the way for Sam Darnold (Daily News back page) Bates’ willingness to listen has been one of the most beneficial parts of this process. “JB has done a wonderful job really working hard with the communication between Sam and him… and trying to make sure Sam goes to the line of scrimmage feeling good about every play,” McCown said. “That’s critical, because that’s half the battle. If you feel mentally good about the play, you can make it work. That’s all you want from a play caller. Just for that guy to equip you and put you in the right position. So, I think that’s been a really good dynamic for both those guys.” “JB grinds and loves the game… and is doing a heck of a job of turning over every stone to do everything he can to help the offense and help Sam be productive,” McCown added. “From a player’s standpoint, that’s all you can ask for from a coach.” Bates and Darnold aren’t excuse makers, but losing key weapons has made an already difficult test that much more challenging. Can you properly evaluate Darnold’s development under those circumstances? Bates believes that Darnold will be special. You can hear it in his voice every single week. He also thinks that he’s the one who can bring out greatness in the kid.
The only important criteria for coaching around here seems to be 1) offensive minded and 2) young. So maybe he already has the right coach in Bates.
Ha yeah Bates has left a lot to be desired. But to be fair, the WR's have been hurt so that MAY have something to do with it. This maybe JB's most important weeks coming down the stretch in his career. I think his rapport or lack thereof may signal the end of this staff if he doesn't help Darnold look great here. This week should be telling, Q and or Robby maybe back, Matthews should be more involved in the game plan and Herndon has stepped up as the #1 TE. The weapons are coming back and or slowing coming for Sam. Let's see how he does
Well one of his strengths is being able to roll out, move, and be accurate throwing on the run. Funny how little of that Bates calls for.
It’s pretty god damn alarming honestly. How the hell do you draft Sam Darnold and make him throw 95% of his throws from the pocket unless he’s forced out?
To be fair, last week he ran roll outs to the right at least 3-4 times and with no one open Sam had to throw it away. I think it was actually happened on two consecutive plays. I think the other times it was in 3rd down and the throw aways brought 4th down and punts.
As I said, given that his mobility and accuracy on the run are his strong suits, 3-4 times in a game seems woefully too little. I'm not one to think a guy who has spent his whole life in football is stupid, so what is it that Bates is thinking? EMWTK.
Yep...I saw that as well. I'm glad that Sam is a Jet, and I'm happy that the coaches game planning to his strengths... These things are what I was addressing in one of my rare posts. But until we get some playmakers, we ain't going anywhere. Watching the Jets is brutal.
How about the fact that there won't be much, if anything, of real value in FA? Unless we sign Bell, I'm not expecting much in FA, and with his attitude and the contract he'll demand, I'm not sure that I want him. There just aren't any other studs available at any offensive position. Sure we can possibly upgrade depth and maybe add another dependable WR to our WR corps, but any real improvement to our offense is probably going to have to come from the draft. As long as Bowles and Mac are here, I won't expect a full draft or even just the top 3-4 picks to be used only on offense.
I wonder if Romo has any aspirations of coaching. I feel like he would make a great coach. His situational awareness in the booth is really something to marvel, even a casual observer can quickly pickup just how well he is able to telegraph plays and determine certain changes well prior to them actually taking place. You can only do this with a very in-depth knowledge of the game and all of its working mechanics. I wouldn't mind him trying out his first gig with the Jets in 2019 *shrug*. Edit: https://heavy.com/sports/2018/10/cowboys-tony-romo-nfl-coaching-rumors-news/ That answers my question. You still never know till you're asked, minds can change quick when its right there in front of you. I Would like to expand on this a bit, we need to put this into the ether. The more I think about it the more I like the sound of it. Dream scenario would be Tony Romo as HC, Jim Schwartz as DC, and Uncle Josh as OC/QB coach. Like Sean McVay, I think whoever would be OC with Romo as HC would be OC in title only. I know most of us like to project doom and gloom and act like the sky is falling, but we have a very enticing situation for an aspiring HC to walk into. Young franchise QB with a year of experience that they they can mold, check. Young core of talent that's a few pieces away from being good, check. Upward mobility to bring in free agents via cap space (most in the NFL), check. Winnable division (Brady departure is imminent), check. Also, with the change of culture here in the last 2 seasons a new staff wouldn't have to come in and clean house, set examples, fix a broken locker situation.
As smart as Romo is, you don't take a guy who has 0 coaching experience and make them a head coach or even a coordinator. Usually these guys have to work their way up from position coaches.
But why? Because that's how it's always been done? Just like how rookie QBs use to always sit a few years, now that's the extreme outlier these days. I think there is multiple ways to become successful at a skill oriented position, experience being one of them but not always. I'm not saying someone couldn't benefit from having the experience but it's not a 1-1 predictor of success. When I look at the coaches who could be available in 2019, and I mean the guys who are actually looking to move not speculative candidates. I would rather take a chance with Romo than a 2nd year OC or someones 3rd shot at being an HC.
Maybe, but I doubt Romo wants to give up a cushy CBS broadcasting job after 2 years. Tthe success of McVay makes me open to an OC without HC experience as long as he has developed a QB.
The way it's going, they better get Darnold some weapons, or he won't be anywhere near "outstanding". Not for the Jets, anyway.
