I didn't bother reading past your first sentence. Jesus! Two of the worst coaches I've seen from an offensive standpoint! Darnold has received almost no developmental assistance, or if he has, it's been terrible. Sure, maybe Darnold isn't a FQB as we'd hope, but he's shown flashes that he could be. He's done things that our last number of QBs haven't, so until I see him with a competent CS and some decent talent on the OL and skill positions, the jury is out.
What flashes? He's been near league worst in YPA and TD's over his entire career. He's not even a high upside guy who makes lots of mistakes, he's a low upside guy who makes lots of mistakes. Sam has a lower career YPA than Geno Smith, and more INT's per game than Geno as well. He has a good scramble every few weeks? Is that what you're referring to? Does that constitute a franchise QB? What's your excuse for his turnover problems at USC, when he was surrounded by tons of talent and good coaches? You're making a case that isn't supported by any evidence. I know our fans are desperate to have Sam be the guy but he's just not. All the evidence is staring us straight in the face. Honestly you guys crack me up with this "he's shown flashes" thing. No he hasn't lmao. The statement is never backed up by any evidence, it's just trotted out there and expected to be believed. Sorry but I don't judge a QB by their ability to have one impressive scramble every 4 weeks. Also LOL @ comparing him to our last QB's and using them as a benchmark. Our QB's have been among the worst in the league forever. Sam can be better than them and still be terrible.
If you don't want to be honest enough to acknowledge that he's had good games, and made some damn good plays, I got no time to discuss this with you.
He's started 30 games. He's made some good plays and had some good games. But in his 3rd year as a starter you'd have to hope that to be the case. It'd be different if he were out there fighting and flinging the ball around and throwing bad interceptions in tight windows. In other words he's not gunslinging which is what we were all expecting. Right now he's playing like a pitcher who can't find the strike zone but would rather to continue to walk hitters than give up a big home runs. Two of the three picks against the Colts are just awful throws/decisions. The Rhodes end zone pick is too given the situation but he just made a great play on it. He engineered one touchdown drive against the Broncos dude. We only scored in the fourth quarter because of the defense.
Of course I agree he's had good games and good plays lol, I'm just saying the occasional good play is not nearly enough to indicate that he's a good QB. You could put me in at QB and I'd occasionally have a good play, it doesn't mean I'm a good QB. I honestly have no idea what point you're trying to make. Is sometimes having a good game the bar you set for whether a QB is good or not? Geno had some good games too. He was still awful.
The other problem with Sam that isn't talked about as much is his accuracy. He throws everything on a frozen rope in the bread basket when he's on the run evading the rush. Other wise his accuracy is poor. It's bad in the pocket, it's not good on organic moving plays (bootlegs, roll outs, etc.), and it suffers if/when he shuffles at all in the pocket. Robby Anderson isn't playing better simply because the usage is different - he's getting the ball thrown to him in his chest plate/face mask where he can catch it. That has nothing to do with playcall. His catch percentage (catches per target) went down 5% each year from 2017 to 2019.
His footwork in the pocket is a disaster. I know “mechanics” are somewhat overblown because QBs make it work with whatever they find works for them, but he has some of the most disgusting footwork I’ve ever seen.
There are more than enough 'flashes' in those video reels that says your comment of a good scramble every few weeks is disingenuous. I am not saying he is going to make it as our FQB, I honestly believe he is a dead man walking if we have the 1 and we will pick Lawrence, I am simply posting at your over-exaggeration on his never showing any ability. I dare say he would have been better off elsewhere.
Robby is playing better/putting up numbers because he has a coach that is allowing a QB to hit the runner over the top. At the Jets, Robby has had to contend with Master Bates who froze him out until he was desperate and the same for Gase but now he isn't just an afterthought. He will break 1000 this season bar injury or league being cancelled.
Honestly... Robbie's numbers dont prove that he was misused with the Jets. To me they kinda signal that they were trying to cater to Sam. There was a bunch of times Sam would under throw Robbie. Last pre season Bridgewater played better than Sam.
You only had to face eyes to see bates and gase didn't want to use Robby the target he was allowed tells that tale also.
I watched their game Sunday and he got a few shorter passes, i don't know what kind of routes they were, not good with that kind of thing tbh but it just shows he was even more under used by our last two hopeless OC's and i didn't include Logains in that total.
You could be right. But it could also be that they wanted to use him to Darnold's advantage. It will be interesting to see how Flacco plays over the next two games. I'm 50-50 on who the problem is. But if it were my decision, I would fire Gase after the season.
I would fire him now as that is what he deserves but I feel we will get the top pick by leaving him in charge, so stay he must.
Even if you want to be mad at JD, whether he says "I believe in my coach" or "I especially believe in my coach" makes no difference at all. It's just BS, I mean who gives a darn if he says "especially" or not? The big mistake was keeping Gase last year, when it became clear he has retarded progress of Tannehill, who at 31 went from Miami reject to leading the League in QBR and 115+ mil, while Gase finished last in offense again, terrible finish for 4th (!!!) years in a row. But I don't think that's really on JD, it was more of an owner. Once that decision was made, however, it's GM's job to BS that he believes in the coach, "especially" or not. I also don't think JD screwed up with Adams. Did we get good value back? Two 30 something picks, slight upgrade of a 4th rounder, is certainly nowhere near Adam's value, who is top 5 guy in every redraft. However, Adams wanted a huge contract, no discounts, and Douglas's philosophy is not to give out huge undiscounted deals until the core is in place, and that just wasn't the case. We also end up with much better first round pick of our own without Adams. So, all in all, it was an OK move given the philosophy he has to build. Where I think JD did screw up a bit is Anderson. This is only obvious in hindsight, but it looks like we had a top receiver on our hands, who, much like Tannehill, was not utilized to potential. His contract wasn't that huge, but he was viewed as #2 guy, and we already had one with Crowder, so JD felt like he could save here and ultimately perhaps get #1 somewhere. That one really hurts, but given info we had at the time, Robby for Perriman didn't seem like much of a difference. We know better now. Other than that though, we need to give JD a bit more time before shitting on him full throttle.
I agree that he's playing scared, but how can you not see that this is a direct result of bad coaching and players that he can't trust? SMH! Until those two HUGE issues are resolved, you cannot fairly assess Darnold. That said, pro sports isn't fair, so Sam needs to figure out a way to demonstrate that he IS the guy despite these obstacles. But...overcoming these obstacles would prove that he's a special talent, while not overcoming them, but at least continuing to do what he's done so far, would prove that he's a capable starting QB that, given the right supporting cast could win a SB. But those who say "He's a bust, let's move on", are over-reacting. Even if the Jets can get Lawrence, there's no guarantee that they'll take him, and then what's your Plan-B? And even if they do take him, what if Gase the "Genius" is still the HC? Want to bet he ruins him, or doesn't use him to his full capability? And finally, what if they take Lawrence, and Gase is gone, what's the guarantee that Lawrence will live up to his hype, especially if the Jets don't dramatically improve the talent around him? You guys are all in a rush to toss Darnold aside, but you have no guarantee that whoever replaces him will be better.
Darnold has already had more good games than Geno. And I doubt you could even make one good play lined up at QB on the Jets. The POINT I'm trying to make is that Darnold has shown some flashes, even with all the adversity. If you give him better coaching and talent around him those "flashes" will become the norm. The year he beat Penn State in the Rose Bowl, USC had a lot of talent around him. The next year that talent dropped off. Still he continued to perform at a level that most assessors had him rated the #1 QB. And if he was as bad as you and others here claim, there is no way they would've made him the starter Day 1. But 30 games played under two of the worst offensive CS I've seen, with abominable talent, has clearly affected him. And it would affect any great QB you could name. Sure, maybe those great QBs would find a way to overcome it better than Darnold has so far, but maybe they wouldn't. Relative to all the negativity you're dumping on Darnold, you're underestimating the negative impact of the CS and talent. If you can't - or won't - see that, I guess we have to agree to disagree.
The viewpoints are not mutually exclusive. You don't have to pick one viewpoint or the other. Gase sucks and should be fired. Darnold has been underwhelming and the team has been losing with him. And whether freak incidents or not he will miss his 7th game as a pro in three seasons (and we'll see how many more). Sorry. Players underperforming is not always the coaches fault. And the constant barrage of blame ignores the players deficiencies. Him not throwing over the middle has nothing to do with coaching. We run routes over the middle every game. Every NFL offense does. No NFL coach in history will ever tell his QB not to throw it there if they're open or else they wouldn't call the play. Sam getting the yips in the pocket instantly has nothing to do with coaching.
