https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-jets-debut-but-it-doesnt-mean-hell-be-great/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sam Darnold was great in his Jets debut, but it doesn’t mean he’ll be great Sam Darnold is the youngest quarterback to start a season opener since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images) By Neil Greenberg September 11 at 11:21 AM Sam Darnold, the New York Jets’ 21-year-old rookie quarterback, made history Monday night, becoming the youngest quarterback to start a season opener since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. His debut started off shaky — the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft threw a pick-six on his first pass attempt of the night. But Darnold quickly settled into his new role, completing 16 of 21 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns, en route to a 48-17 road victory over the Detroit Lions. “He didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said of Darnold’s early miscue. “I could sit here and tell you we planned it to get the jitters out, but we didn’t.” Keep Reading [Bills QB Nathan Peterman has put himself in some truly terrible historical territory] Darnold’s 116.8 passer rating was the fourth-highest for a quarterback throwing at least 20 pass attempts in his debut since 1999, the first year data is available from Pro Football Reference. His completion rate, 76 percent, was the second-highest among this group, with the young passing prodigy throwing only four incomplete passes after the pick-six. “On that interception, I was pretty nervous,” Darnold said. “After that, I put it behind me.” His performance also helped put decades of futility in the past for Jets fans. Still, they shouldn’t let that optimism get out of control. ADVERTISING For starters, the Jets’ passing offense scored four points more than expected based on the down, distance and field position of each play, indicating Darnold did nothing more than an average quarterback would be expected to do. Ryan Fitzpatrick’s performance for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on the other hand, was indeed heroic, resulting in 31 more points than expected against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Context is also key when comparing Darnold’s debut to other quarterbacks in previous years. If we adjust his performance, and those of other rookie passers, for the era in which each played (meaning we account for the higher passing tendencies of the modern NFL), we see Darnold’s debut was solid, but not at all conclusive. For example, based on his adjusted net yards per pass, an improvement on the traditional passer rating metric, Darnold was worth 59 yards more than an average quarterback. Robert Griffin III’s debut for the Washington Redskins in 2012, by comparison, was worth 186 yards above average, the highest since 1999. But it’s the company around Darnold on the list below that suggests fans should pump the breaks before thinking future success is assured. There are some notable names on the list — Cam Newton, Carson Palmer and Carson Wentz — and there are some clunkers, too. Griffin was hampered by injuries and an inability to make reads form the pocket and never fulfilled his potential. Chris Weinke started five games in six years after his rookie campaign. Patrick Ramsey had a career high 11 starts in his second year as a pro, yet couldn’t hold on to a starting job after that. [The five biggest winners from Week 1 of the NFL season] Those that watch the game and grade each play were only mildly impressed. According to the game charters at Pro Football Focus, Darnold was a below-average passer on Monday night, earning a negative grade for his performance against the Lions. They placed him 17th among 30 qualified passers. He was very good when given a clean pocket to throw from — 78 percent completion rate and a 123.4 passer rating — yet was 2-for-3 for 13 yards when pressured. Five snaps under pressure is obviously a small sample size to work with, but the Lions’ pass rush wasn’t expected to be good this season (24th) so it is difficult to know for sure how good Darnold can be in the NFL until he at least faces the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 4, a team ranked second in pass-rushing ability and first for pass coverage before the season started. Until then, let’s take a wait-and-see approach with Darnold and his future with the New York Jets. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Here we go again I swear, this fan base is full of "masochists" Just enjoy the win and move on to next week. Why does there always have to be negativity?! Jesus
Easy sport. I posted it mostly for laughs. Look at the names on the graph he used - they all suck except for Wentz and Newton, showing that the stat is meaningless Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Darnold worked the system very well. Short passes...hit the open man & take a shot or two down field. It is not real big in the stat line, but it's not supposed to be . It is ment to be efficient. How can this article get down on 76% completion , 2 TD Passes 23 & 41 yards. QB rating 116. I'm not ready to send him to the pro bowl yet, but let's give him credit where credit is due.
Darnold didn't pass much because he didn't need to. But these click-hungry trash had to spin it any way he can to bait the *gulp!* clicks. How novel. Seriously, look at the play calls after 3rd quarter. The last TD came on a 62 yard TD run. Before that, Bates called run, run and run. And then some. He also called runs afterwards too. Sam only attempted ONE more pass after the score was settled late in the 3rd quarter. [The 4th down call inside the red zone at the end of the game.]
It’s funny... Mahomes completed less passes on more attempts and was the beneficiary of the fastest receiver in the game but everyone is allowed to slob his knob. I guess Sam should have thrown it side arm and Robby should have broken away from three defenders. Maybe then we’d be allowed to be excited. Dumb article. Refuse to click.
Now I Have to go watch this again. It's been about 20 years and I'd almost forgotten it. Maybe I'll watch it on a doubleheader with Operation Petticoat. Anybody who hasn't seen Kelly's Heroes yet needs to get on that. It's the 70's version of Full Metal Jacket.
Any method of assessing a quarterback's play that could conclude that Darnold's performance on Monday Night was 'below average' deserves to be ridiculed and then ignored forever. A negative grade? PFF just lost me with their 'anaylse the hell out of it and see how clever we can make ourselves sound' attitude. It seems like any time a Jets player does well, there is a stream of hacks telling us all to calm down: 'Woah there, don't put him in Canton yet'. Fuck you. We're not putting him in Canton, but aren't we allowed to be happy with a good performance? And it was a good performance. For a rookie making his first start it was a remarkable performance. Below average my dimpled ass. Like others said - WAY too much analytics nowadays, being passed off as knowledge.
