Not to pick on you Rock but this just isn't true is it? I think as is often the case with something "new and shiny" the analysis of Trevor is starting to run away into fantasy land. Are we saying Trevor Lawrence is a consensus better prospect than Peyton Manning was? Peyton Manning is about the gold standard of sure shot QB prospects in the last 25-35 years. My understanding is that Lawrence is the best prospect SINCE Andrew Luck but that Andrew Luck was a better prospect head to head. And it might serve us well to consider that the Colts got Andrew Luck no help on the offensive line and pounded his ass into the ground and prematurely out of the league, accomplishing relatively little for the franchise despite Luck's obvious mega-star talent level. Get Sam some help and go win with him.
It seems to me that best prospect since Luck/Manning is said about someone every year. And none of them have been. I'm pretty sure it will be said about someone next year too. It was also said that the 2018 QB draft was the second coming of 1983. The best Qb draft since then and possibly even better. It's not proved to be that either. These are things the talking heads say to get clicks because saying he's good but there are some areas of concern won't get anyone enthused. There are so many intangibles involved. I'm truly 50/50 on trading the pick if the Jets get it or taking the QB. I need to see how Darnold performs with a healthy(ish) roster first.
The jets need a new coach AND Lawrence to breathe some life into this excuse for a team. The selection of Lawrence would at least bring some semblance of credibility. Move Sam and get a decent pick or two. And don't bring back Flacco and Gore next year.
The Jets believe in this kind of performance elevation-- the O-line are world-class at making ho-hum pass rushers look elite.
I don't understand what the Jets, both the fanbase and the organization, have against QBs! Not only do we never want a good QB prospect, but so many here double down that they wouldn't want even great QBs as "they would have been busts here anyways." I understand that the O-line is important, but so is the QB. What do all the top teams in the league have in common right now? Great QBs.
The Colts didn't strip that team, though. Hell they made the playoffs in 1996, the roster was almost the same in 1997 when they only won 3 games and earned the #1 pick. 1997 Colts: Marshall Faulk had over 1000 yards rushing/1500 yards from scrimmage. Marvin Harrision and Shawn Dawkins both had over 800 yards receiving. Tarik Glenn was their first-round pick. That team got blown out 4 times, and lost a bunch of games by one score or less. At the end of the season, they blew out the Dolphins 41-0. Peyton went to a good football team--at least a good offense. He started his career with the following weapons: Backs: Marshall Faulk, Craig "Ironhead" Hayward; WRs: Marvin Harrison, Jerome Pathon & E.G. Green (2nd and 3rd round picks following Peyton), and a smattering of veterans; TEs: Ken Dilger and Marcus Pollard
There's just a difference between elite prospects and top level prospects though. Lawrence, Luck, Winston, Stafford, Bradford, Carson Palmer, etc. are all sort of in a league of their own. Obviously not every one worked out as planned. Cam Newton + Kyler Murray are similar but they are more questioned prospects because of the question marks in the transfer of the running game to the NFL and the question marks with Kyler's height and Newton's ability to compliment his running with accurate passing. That's different than the Mariota, Gabbert, Locker, Darnold, Mahomes, Watson, Mayfield, etc. class.
I've seen some say Lawrence is a better prospect than Luck was but no one is saying he's a better one than Peyton was. I think consensus is he's either a slightly better or slightly worse prospect than Luck was.
I think the dreams of getting like 4 first round picks or something ridiculous like that are far-fetched regardless of who the player is. Even for a Lawrence or Luck. Peyton was in a class of his own because he lived up to the billing of potentially changing the game (which he did with the pre snap adjustments). Luck was never viewed like that although he was viewed as the best prospect since Manning. I think Lawrence is slightly below because he played in a more college style offense. But the offense he runs is closer to what the modern day NFL offense looks like with jet sweeps, double screen fakes, etc. Luck played in pretty much a pro style offense with two tightends and ran it to perfection with elite arm talent and great athleticism and size and was/is extremely smart. It'll be interesting to see what Lawrence turns into. Hopefully it's here.
Those guys will kill you when you're bad and cheer you when you 're good. Everybody cheered when we got Darnold. Now they are against us again.
Yeah that's spot on. I'd have Lawrence slightly below Luck as a prospect. Watching Luck in college there was just no way you could imagine him busting in the NFL barring injuries. He was super athletic, extremely smart, and as you said ran a pro-style offense. I will say though it looks like Lawrence is more accurate than Luck was and he throws less interceptions. I could see an argument that he's a better prospect than Luck was. Luck had the intelligence factor though where you never doubted he'd figure it out in the pros.
Wasn't Darnold's floor supposed to be a better version of Stafford? Pretty sure I saw that. He looks a mile off that currently, but I'd definitely have said that Darnold was in the Stafford camp rather than the Locker/Gabbert one in terms of being a prospect. The only real knock was his fumbles, which haven't really been a problem.
I wouldn't say more accurate. But he does put the ball on the facemask nearly every single damn time. Luck was deadly on deep balls. Which is rare. What knocks Lawrence down is he definitely has more receivers running wide open. Not nearly as much as a guy like Justin Fields has (because of the elite running ability/speed Fields has), but he does get some easy throws. The playing field for rosters was a lot more level for Luck & Stanford in the Pac-10/12 than it has been for Lawrence in the ACC. The ACC is getting better though.
If Darnold was able to come out after his redshirt freshman year - he would've been the consensus #1 overall pick and in that same class. He was leaned on more in his sophomore season and regressed to an extent as his output got worse in pretty much every category and he started to turn the ball over the more he dropped back. The book on him remains the same; he struggles to make the easy plays and reads but can make the spectacular plays that remind you of Favre. He hasn't gotten better on the first point, which is what makes you worry about him. Regardless - it'll be considered an all-time Jets blunder to pass on Lawrence across the football world.
I'm not sure what you are alluding to? If the scenarios is that the Jets are #1 and Jax #2 or #3 - there is no way I would swap picks with Jax and only get their other No.1 , which I believe is their 23rd,. That would be the worst bumbling bafoonery of a trade this franchise could ever pull , in my lifetime at least. They would have to give A LOT more than that for Trevor. A lot more.
