It is absolutely hyperbole and it is absurd. If the Jets win 1 superbowl with Darnold QBing the Jets, he will be the king and a legend forever. If any fan said otherwise, they are a troll clown and who cares what they would say anyway.
Nothing wrong with that, @NCJetsfan. I thought Darnold was hands down the best of the 4, but I know the hitch you are speaking of and how it could worry you. I think and hope that Darnold will ease your mind pretty quickly once you see him on the field with the Jets. You underestimate Darnold. If he blows away the competition, he should start. If not, then he should sit. I am the biggest believer in sitting a young QB. The league has changed though, so if a guy is ready, I say let him roll.
Darnold isn't even 21 yet. he has less then 2 years starting experiences in college. It makes the most sense to red shirt him this year. In 2019 let him compete for the starting job but make him in it, if he can't let him sit a 2nd year. Darnold can play in the NFL for 20 years no need to rush it.
I hope that Sam can block out the noise as well. I don't think the noise would have bothered Mayfield or Rosen at all. Since Sam is quiet, and supposedly more shy or an introvert, I don't know how confident he is or whether he'll be able to block out the noise. If the Jets are truly getting inquiries from other teams regarding Petty, then they ought to go ahead and trade him for both parties' sake. He clearly isn't in the Jets' plans, and that would give more snaps to the other QBs. Even a 7th round pick could be used next season to add a good STs player. Petty deserves to be set free. He may never catch on with another team, but in a different system, and with a different coaching style, he could conceivably hang around as a backup for a number of years. Kellen Clemens has and plenty of other scrubs. Unless Teddy is nowhere near 100% (and I assume the Jets' doctors examined him and assured the team that he is and that the knee will hold up), I don't think the Jets should even think about releasing Teddy. Even if he's bothered by a sore knee in TC and/or is only 90%, it could continue to get stronger/better during the season. We know that Teddy can play so he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Hack doesn't. IMO Hack has to prove that he deserves to stay a Jet. Even then, imo there's no place on the roster for him unless Teddy just isn't healthy or McCown goes down early with a serious injury. At best, imo Hack only makes the PS, and he has to show marked improvement and give clear evidence that his decision making, reading Ds, and accuracy are there and that he can be a solid backup QB. If he has done that and looks good in preseason, the Jets might be able to trade him and get something in return for him, or if he looks really good (extremely doubtful), they could get McCown to retire as a player and hire him as QB Coach and keep Hack as the backup or #3 and start Teddy.
Just because it isn't very common any more, doesn't mean that it's not the right thing to do. People and society in general, are less patient, less willing to postpone gratification, and want/expect immediate results. I think that it all depends on Darnold's ability to work on his footwork, hold the ball higher in the pocket, and if he has a problem with his delivery, work on it. With the Jets' OL questionable at best, the last thing we should want to do is put Darnold out there and have him take a beating. Especially since he looks to extend plays and be creative, and moves outside the pocket, that will be a real concern, as it would have been with Mayfield. I was in no hurry for Mayfield to start either, so Darnold should not be rushed onto the field just because other teams do.
Perhaps I do underestimate Darnold, but whether he starts or not is more than just a matter of how ready Darnold is. I don't think I underestimate our OL. Unless our new OL coach is a miracle worker, Winters' play improves, and Long and Swanson stay healthy, our OL at best is probably still gonna be in the bottom 10 in the NFL. With Darnold's propensity to extend plays, be creative and move outside the pocket, he could be in real danger with our OL. The last thing we should do is expose him to getting creamed behind our shoddy OL. Let McCown and/or Teddy take the beating until the OL has a chance to gel, or if they don't gel, for the whole season and protect Darnold. IMO it would be totally dumb to throw him out there day one behind our OL. He could wind up like David Carr or worse, suffer a major career-threatening injury. That would be so typical Jets.
THIS ^! They shouldn't just throw him out there no matter what, but they should give him every opportunity to win the job, if not to begin the season, than ASAP. And the secondary factor in this approach is to see early on if he is actually capable of becoming the FQB, and how soon. "Red shirting" should never be used for a highly drafted QB.
“There's no timetable,” Todd Bowles said. “We're not going to throw him in there, but at the same time, we won't hold him back, either.” The truth is should Sam Darnold outperform the Jets other quarterbacks in training camp and preseason, then he will win the starting job. Bowles didn't mince words when he said they won't hold Darnold back. Todd Bowles runs a meritocarcy when choosing his starters. If you don't have the ability you don't start and/or play. Your draft pick status doesn't get you on the field. As Bates once said, this is professional football. This isn't Triple-A. I firmly believe Sam Darnold is way ahead of the curve when comparing him to Petty and Hackenberg, whom are both competing with Bridgewater just to make the roster as the 3rd qb. McCown is mainly here as a player/coach to mentor the quarterbacks. If McCown starts then it's because he beat Darnold out for the starting job, not because the Jets are not "allowing" Darnold to win the competition. That will get them all Jeff Fisher'd if they ever pulled a stunt like that.
All I'll say in response is that I think that Bowles is a freaking dumbass and in over his head. How held back will Darnold be if Bowles puts him out there day one behind a crappy OL that hasn't gelled yet, and Darnold suffers a season-ending injury and misses his entire rookie season, or worse suffers a horrible injury that could affect him for the rest of his career?
I think red-shirting is valuable in some instances, but there are factors that play into it. The chiefs did it as recently as last season with Mahomes, but Mahomes also had an established QB who's won a ton of games in Alex Smith. Mahomes was drafted, albeit raw, with the intention of being the heir to alex smith and getting over the hump. Darnold has McCown in front of him but he isn't as successful and I can totally see the jets opting to play Darnold mid way through the season. This should not be a hackenberg situation where he's made the 3rd string and given barely any reps. Darnold was drafted to be the FQB. Give him as much reps as possible and get him ready to roll
I'm not advocating throwing him out there if the OL is a shambles, but I don't think it is. While not very good, it's probably average, and Darnold's best traits have been by playing out of the pocket. In fact, I'd bet that's one of the main reasons they took him over Rosen. A QB can get hurt no matter how good his OL is, so waiting until he has a "bulletproof" OL is unrealistic. We need to see what the "top QB prospect" can do ASAP, and if he shows he's capable in TC and practice, then he should start because that's the best way for him to learn. Will Rogers said something that I think applies here: "Experience (McCown) may be the best teacher, but the best way to get experience is to make mistakes". Rookies make mistakes, but the ones you build your championship team on learn form them quickly and reach their potential.
Yes and no. There has to be a fine balance between being patient, but also being willing to start. Personally, and I think a sizable amount would attest to the notion that people learn through experience. As a QB, I would think Darnold would obviously garner more experience on the field than he would on the sideline. Now, that's not to say Jets should throw him in when he's not ready. Ideally, Jets need to use rookie minicamp as a way of gauging where Darnold is with his mechanics. He's been working with Jordan Palmer for a few months so the jets coaches will get to see what has and hasn't improved. Next they have to develop a plan of how to give him a ton of reps. Based on his progress, the jets coaches should ascertain whether Darnold can start, or whether he needs to sit. Either ways, we should hope to see Darnold play at some point this season, and ideally earlier than later. It would mean 2 things - A) Bowles thinks Darnold is ready and is taking the training wheels off - Hack never got this treatment and B) Our possible FQB is a quick learner and adapter.
The O-line will be better than it was last season. New additions, plus subtraction of Wesley Johnson, plus a healthy Brian Winters should go a long way
I think Bridgewater should get the lion's share of the snaps in the preseason games. The health of his knee and his ability to move around and stay healthy are basically the only factors on whether or not we keep him going into the season, and the only way to find that out for sure is to let him run around during live action games. If he is healthy we should trade/cut Petty and Hackenburg - its simply a waste to keep four quarterbacks on the roster. We gain nothing by running Mccown out there before the season starts - he is a known quantity. Darnold should get some reps during the pre-season to get a feel for the game, but there is no reason to throw him into the fire.
Maybe my definition of "redshirting" is different, but it's when you draft a guy and you make the decision right then, before you've even seen him play, that he won't play for at least a year. To me that's a waste of a draft pick. If a guy isn't good enough to complete Day 1, he's not worth it, let alone investing a 2nd round pick in him. And it's driving me crazy to hear people here say "Darnold should sit the first year". WHY? You haven't even seen him stack up against real competition. Maybe he won't do very well, in which case, he deserves to sit until he can, but at least you make the determination based on his actual ability. As bad as Hack may be, I think they made him worse by holding him back. What's the worst that could have happened? That he showed how bad he was early on, and we would've known it for sure, and maybe Macc would've then taken Mahomes or Watson last year, and gotten Barkley this year, or a stud OL or pass rusher and kept their 2 2nd rounders for even more talent? Talent and performance should be the only determining factors in deciding who sits and who plays.
Darnold is kind of in a bad spot with regards to the CS. Bowles is a lame duck HC. There's a good chance that he can be on to his 2nd OC by year 2 which is not good for his development.
Unless the Jets new OL Coach is a miracle worker, the OL isn't and won't be "average." They were ranked 30th last season. Long/Swanson should help, as should Winters being healthy, but Carpenter's play is likely to get even worse. You may have a point with Darnold playing out of the pocket, but that can expose him to some shots as well as his propensity to look to create, to extend plays. Yes, a QB can get hurt no matter how good his OL is, but you greatly increase the chances of the QB staying healthy and upright with a better OL than you do with an inferior one. With a new blocking scheme, new OL Coach, and new players on the OL, it could take some time for the OL to gel, if ever. It could actually be worse than last year. It's not likely, but possible. No, we don't need to see what the top QB prospect can do ASAP. That's utter nonsense. He will barely be 21 when the season starts. There's no reason other than impatience to rush him onto the field, and certainly no good reason. He has fundamental issues he needs to work on in order to maximize his potential. He can't do that and start at the same time. You couldn't be more wrong. You're just letting your excitement and impatience overrule your better judgment. You're too smart and too knowledgeable a football fan to advocate what you're advocating.
