Breathtaking when you stop and really think about it. But of course we know why: the Johnsons are football-ignorant and didn't have enough sense to stay out of the way.
I disagree, my friend. If the effect has snowballed for Sam, then he isn't mentally tough enough to play this game. Just as CBs have to forget the play where they got burned for a long TD, and go on to the next play, QBs have to be able to forget bad outings, games where they were constantly chased, harrassed, etc.. It definitely gets harder, the more often it happens, but for the most part Sam didn't have to worry about his blind side this year thanks to Becton. The OL was very shaky early, but Sam missed some of those games. When he came back the OL has pretty much started gelling. He did play a little better, but still couldn't see the field, make good decisions or throw accurately. That's the bottom line. One can assess his footworks and accuracy as flawed. Similarly, one can assess his ability to read defenses, see the field, and decision making. A prime example of this is with Mims. Flacco saw the field, went through his progressions, saw that Mims was open and threw the ball. Sam couldn't do that. One can see Sam throwing the ball up into double and triple coverage. That has nothing to do with being pressured or not having had great WRs the years before or even earlier in the season, but imo has everything to do with the lack of mental toughness and being able to process quickly. I don't think that Douglas has much of a chance of getting a 2nd. At this point, I think the Jets would be lucky to get a 3rd. If I were Douglas, the only way I'd keep him is if LaFleur had no interest in signing Beathard or Mullens because he didn't think they'd help, or really thought he could fix Darnold. Even then, I'd still hedge my bets by taking a QB at #2. Sam has great size, good mobility, ability to throw on the run, and a strong arm, but I think he was way overrated as a creator/playmaker, isn't accurate, can't see the whole field, can't read Ds to save his life, and is soft mentally, and maybe doesn't have the football IQ or overall IQ to process information quickly enough. Even if our new offense eliminates his having to see the whole field, improves his ability by 30-40% to read Ds, which in turn improves his decision making by 25%, that still isn't anywhere near good enough if his accuracy hasn't improved, and if he is still making dumb decisions to take sacks, run out of bounds and throw into double and triple coverages. Late start or not in playing QB, by this time in his career, he shouild not be doing those things regardless of how bad his coaching has been or how terrible his teammates around him have been. You know not to do those things. I know not to do those things, and most of the posters here know not to do those things. There's no excuse for Sam not knowing not to do those things.
This is where I am with all this. I think the window to move Darnold for a higher pick has closed for now (could open back closer to the season if something happens to a starter). So I say keep him AND draft a QB at 2 (or trade down). I'm fine with that. The Jets are in a terrible spot in the division we could improve and still be last. A major step up in QB play is the only thing that changes that so I'm all for throwing everything into finding that player
Thanks for the clarification. I understand, agree that the #2 pick is worth that much, and agree that I probably wouldn't the #2 for less than that. I'd listen, however, and if some team offered me their 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks this year, a quality starter at OG or CB, and their 1st and 2nd round picks next year, I'd certainly think long and hard about doing it if I liked Lance, Fields or Jones enough and thought he would still be there at that lower pick. Even then, I'd probably turn it down, because some team could trade up ahead of me and take that other QB I wanted, and QB trumps all.
We'll have to ATD I guess. I think you're way underplaying how much the combined shit that he's had to deal with would cripple ANY QB. It has nothing to do with his mental toughness, it has everything to do with three years of horrible coaching and sub-NFL talent around him while he's trying to keep the Titanic afloat. We'll see what happens going forward.
In all honesty, I could be underplaying it, and if he had shown progress with his flaws, I would blame those other factors, but when he had decision-making, footwork, turnover and accuracy issues in college and still has them 3 years later, I think that much of that is on him. He's had a private QB Coach to work with every offseason. If he had fixed those issues, the offenses he played in would have functioned better and been more successful. Maybe then he'd have more poise and pocket awareness because he wouldn't be struggling with himself as well as with the coaching and system he was playing in. He didn't have control over the coaching he received from Bowles and Gase or the offense, but he did have control over fixing his footwork, accuracy, reading Ds, and decision making. IMO that can't be blamed on Bowles, Gase and the lack of talent around him. When a QB's mechanics are off and they affect his accuracy, he puts more pressure on himself and the offense. There's already enough pressure playing in the bright lights of NYC. He could have helped himself, and he hasn't.
But you or I don't know whether he didn't try to fix these flaws. In fact, his first season he actually looked like he did improve, but then regressed under Gase. And I blame Gase and his retarded insistence on making Darnold play in a system that was actually the opposite of what he's good at. It would be like you trying to play guitar (or some other instrument) left handed when you're right handed. As you struggle to master this new way you actually get worse. This is what happened to Darnold. Frankly he ought to sure Gase for damages.
Sorry, but we're going to have to agree to disagree on this as well. If his mechanics were fixed or even close, the system should have made no difference, nor should who his receivers were. That's where Sam is at fault imo. IMO we do know that he has not made a concerted effort to fix them. If he has, and still hasn't fixed them after three years, it's either because Jordan Palmer is incompetent, Sam isn't continually practicing his footwork so that it becomes second nature so that he doesn't have to think about it, or he is just too dumb to learn the new mechanics and ingrain it. I've had clients who didn't have the ability to make the change. They tried for a while, then gave up or said it took too much thought or energy or was too hard and didn't feel "natural" or "comfortable" to them. Of course it didn't. One has to keep working at it until it becomes "natural" and feels "comfortable." Just because he struggled with Gase, his system, his play-calling should have no bearing on his footwork and accuracy. Those things should have been rock solid regardless of what kind of dumb plays Gase was calling or what his terminology was, or how many passes his receivers may have dropped. None of those things should affect his mechanics. His mechanics would help when he was being pressured. They would have given him confidence, that even under duress, if he could get the pass off, he was going to get a completion. Similarly, the system and Gase should have no affect or influence on Sam's decision making in terms of taking sacks, running out of bounds or throwing the ball into double and triple coverage. He should just throw the ball away and go on to the next play. Instead, Sam continually made things worse on himself and the team and for Gase. The constant pressure would affect his poise in the pocket, and his willingness to stand there, deliver the ball and then take a hit. The fact that he panicked and then made poor decisions, is on Sam. Other QBs are under heavy pressure, some constantly, and they don't make the mistakes/do the things that Sam does. They stay cool and throw the ball away or find a way to make something out of the play. Sam rarely does that.
Four irrelevancies. As long as the employee is not a minor the parent has absolutely zero place in the employer/employee relationship.
I think we all agree that Mac was a HORRIBLE GM, but man, when you line it up like that it’s outright criminal. He fucked up SO many picks. These are not good players ruined by bad coaching. All of those guys outside of Shell are not even in the league. And like you said, She’ll was serviceable but not a great player by any means. God that list is disgusting.
It's ironic that you think trading a 1st and three second-round picks are so depletive of draft capital, yet you think that JD should wait until next year to draft a QB, when we'd probably have to give up at least that much plus another 1-2 #1 picks if not more to move up from the teens to the top 5 to draft a QB next year.
I am not a Sam apologist and I still think there is a slim chance he can do well. You are correct the system or the receivers should have nothing to do with that but injuries and will manifest both mentally and physically. The problem is if you cannot played injured in the NFL you cannot play . Sam can potentially play decent with good surrounding cast but his high turn over rate makes him a huge risk and why teams will shy away. Tyrod Taylor is a great example of a very average QB but does not turn the ball over so he will keep finding a job. Winston is the opposite , he has displayed greatness at times and because of his high turnover rate is fighting for a job.
All QB's have weaknesses, as they have strengths as well. On any given day a team can exploit the weakness of a QB, even a great one, and walk away with a victory as we saw in the SB. It is the job of the defense to figure out those weaknesses and try to capitalize on them. It then becomes incumbent on the QB and his team to adjust and mitigate the weakness going forward. QB's that can make those adjustments survive, and those that can't, even though they may have had initial success, fall by the wayside, much like good young MLB hitters and pitchers must adjust to survive. That is what we have seen in the last ten or so years with QB's. They will all be severely tested by NFL defenses as they go along and that fate awaits any QB the Jets decide to draft. In Sam's case, yes, he has weaknesses, but those weakness have been amplified by playing for three years on a team that was bereft of talent. What we can't know and will never know is how much his desire to win affected his choices and execution. When you try to compete and you know that any mistake you make can cost you the game, and the margin for error is almost non-existent, it will absolutely affect how you perform if you want to win badly. I won't go into how much of a disadvantage trying to play QB on a weak team is. We all know what they are. In Sam's QB class, there is really only one QB who has taken a weak team and made it better, and that is Allen. The No. 1 choice (Mayfield) also struggled for three years before finding success. The others either landed on a strong team (Mahomes, Jackson) or are no longer in the league (Rosen.) For me, I think Sam's strengths can shine if he is relieved of the pressure of having to be perfect every time he takes a snap. I also believe the Jets owe it to him to find out how good (or bad) he is now that the organization is in a position to seriously upgrade the roster.
The Jets have paid Sam Millions of dollars they do not owe him anything. What did the Jets get for their money? A often injured turn over prone QB that has rated as one of the worst QB's in the league since his arrival. If Sam comes back to the Jets I hope a switch has gone off and he becomes great but D-coordinators have figured Sam and it is very unlikely he will be good. He just has not shown any growth in fact he gotten worse because of what I said above, Jets owe him nothing.
I’m well aware that this is probably what he has to say, but I would not be shocked whatsoever if the game plan right now is to run it back with Sam.
I totally get that opinion, and see exactly how one arrives at it - I hang out there myself often. When I take a step back, though, I just can't see how it's possible Sam is the QB here next season. So many smaller individual pieces/clues add up to say it's possible, but the big picture screams "no way" to me. I think those small pieces are Douglas playing his cards perfectly. Almost every other team's intentions or priorities are pretty well fleshed out at this point, and the Jets somehow - despite being one of the worst teams in the league with the worst performing QB - aren't one of them. Douglas' method/approach has everyone from the national media to individual fans completely unsure about what direction they're going. Unless it's an offer that can't be refused, I think Douglas takes any options off the table until he has to show his hand. I don't think Sam's trade value has shown to be significant, and I don't think the teams in the running for him were as abundant as we hoped. I don't think JD missed out on anything by holding him as long as he has, because the benefit of keeping the Jets intentions nebulous leading up to the draft helps in trade negotiations more than accepting whatever offer it is that was on the table. I think that whenever the offer for Sam exceeds the value of the smokescreen OR the smokescreen is no longer necessary He may keep Sam, but if that happens I don't think it's an active choice (despite what they'd say in the aftermath), but instead a necessary byproduct of winning on a bigger transaction (i.e. holding Sam created enough confusion about the Jets plans that more teams felt it necessary to trade up to #2 to get what they want, and this landed JD a motherlode).
The only way I see the bold happening is if Douglas just doesn't like Wilson and is willing to risk losing Fields, Lance and/or Jones (depending upon how far he trades down). IMO no motherload is worth missing out on a potential great FQB. If he trades down and winds up not getting a QB and one or more of the QBs go on to be stars, then Douglas should be fired regardless of the job that he's done in FA and the draft, and who he got with the motherload of draft picks.
You seriously care what Mark Sanchez thinks? Considering the source, I would take the opposite approach.
Almost unbelievable was Maccagnan's poor drafting, and he compounded that with HUGE contracts for over the hill slugs like Tru Johnson, Revis, Wilkerson,etc. No wonder Maccagnan has no NFL team now 2 years later.
