I echo those who preach patience. I am anxious to see Darnold in the preseason games, and MAYBE late in the second half of the season. He's 20 years old. He should still be in college. Let's treat this season as his professional internship. In 2019 he'll be the age of most players starting their first season. The Jets are paying McCown 10 million this year, and it's a perfect scenario because McCown is willing to help bring the kid along, AND he still has something in the tank. I was very impressed with McCown last year and don't mind seeing if he can continue it this year. If McCown is losing it, Bridgewater is the insurance policy. We no longer have to rely on the likes of Bryce Petty. At last we're set! Leading up to the draft, my choices were Darnold, then Josh Allen because having McCown in place along with Bridgewater made sense with either of these two more so than Baker Mayfield or Rosen. Baker because of his style of play, and Rosen because of his outspokenness. Darnold fits this scenario perfectly. Talented, quiet, willing to work and learn. The Jets have the right pieces in place to teach him. We have what we've all dreamed for many years of right in front of our faces. Bottom line: Our much maligned, ridiculed, unlucky, unfortunate franchise has this thing set up absolutely PERFECTLY for long-term success at the QB position. The only thing that could possibly f*ck that up now is to play Darnold too soon, ruin his health an/or his confidence for no reason. They'd better resist the temptation. Silly me, I have faith that they will this time.
I strongly prefer Darnold sit year one to get his mechanics straightened out & for the team to evaluate the best way to build/scheme around him moving forward.. Despite this..im having a hard time seeing how it happens.Hes simply too good..and too much better than the other options including Mccown. This team is young & very hungry..if he lights it up in TC which he likely will the players are gonna want him out there leading the offense. Is the FO/CS gonna stand in the way of that for his own good?Have a hard time seeing that after whats happened w Petty/Hack
I can't agree with the statement that he has to play because he's simply too good. How many other 20 year old (OK, I guess he'll be 21 once the season starts) QB's step into the NFL and dazzle everyone? Veteran NFL players will not demand that a kid be starting at the teams' most important position. Darnolds' flaws are documented. Let's work on making sure he begins life in the NFL without them. The potential for turnovers will be great if he's under a lot of pressure and he feels he's playing must-win games from the get-go. The 2018 Miami Dolphins are far more talented than the Penn State Rose Bowl team he defeated in the game that put him on the map.
When you think about it this is an entirely challenging event for the present CS to figure how they play or dont play SD Bowles is used to shelving his scrubs (Petty Hack) and getting the job done with all the journeymen hes had ..Fitz Josh M and now Teddy..Telling the Press they are "fighting it out in TC..but McCown is the starter etc.." DOES THIS MEAN BOWLES MAKES A REAL DECISION?
I dont disagree w any of this..i just think hes gonna have great camp & the likes of Adams,Quincy & Lee are gonna be pushing for this guy to play along w the fans & perhaps even ownership. Hes not a finished product & yes only 20 years old..but hes still a gamer who can make big plays right off the bat. Thats more than any other QB on the team can claim.. The best place for him is on the bench year 1..but w Bowles always preaching “the best players will play” this could really throw a wrench into things..
Pitting Darnold starting vs. Toilet getting fired or keeping his job isn't right. Unless toilet bumped his head at night and suddenly the ghost of Lombardi came to rest inside his cobwebbed mind I think toilet will make enough head scratching mistakes all on his own to get canned at the end of the year. Until the O line shows it can keep a QB upright with regularity I'd start McCown until he becomes.. well the McCown we've all seen over his career which could be Fitz 2.0 (certainly possible although Fitz was way more of reckless gambler). If the line is healthy and beats up on the Giants starting DL in the 3rd pre-season game while Darnold is in there and Darnold has out-played McCown throughout camp then I'd consider starting the season with Darnold but that is the only way I'd start him.
That's all that needs to be said as to why Darnold should not be out there. Too many questions in this area.
Look, I want to see him as soon as possible but I want him to be put in a position to succeed. There is no reason to throw him out there behind a slap dick line because “Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning learned at the school of hard knocks and how they turned out”. If we had Dallas’ line from 2 years ago and Zeke, maybe. But we don’t. I’d be just as interested in seeing Teddy play for the first half.
So I think this is where we're at with the QB hierarchy: A. Bridgewater + Working Knee + Looks Good B. McCown + Looks Good C. Teddy + Working Knee + Looks Average D. Darnold + Looks Exceptional E. McCown + Looks like McCown F. Hackenberg + Looks Exceptional G. Darnold + Needs Work ... Does this look about right?
Red shirt him. McCown is the perfect mentor for him. In a perfect world McCown retires after this season and becomes his QB coach next season. This isn't the Brunell/Sanchez joke. Brunell was done and clearly whatever 'mentoring' went on it didn't have any long-term benefits for Sanchez. Petty goes bye bye the second Bridgewater is deemed healthy enough to play and backup McCown. Hack gets scout team duties. Darnold is #3 all season. If Bridgewater is cut, keep Petty as #2. I don't want to see a repeat of the Sanchez disaster and playing him too soon. Granted, Darnold seems to be closer to Eli than Mark, personality wise, so maybe he'll be ready sooner than later...
If McCown is the starter is it worth keeping Bridgewater? My guess is he'd ask for his release to go somewhere he'd get more reps.
I think it's worth it. For now. I like Bridgewater a lot, actually. They had the cap space to splurge a little, and getting him was a great insurance policy heading into the draft. After lucking into Sam Darnold, it's less likely Teddy will be important to us, but he could be trade bait once another QB in the NFL goes down in August - provided everything we expect from Sam comes to fruition. Also, looking ahead to 2019 and beyond, he'd be a great back-up. Or in other words, QB2.
Except why would anyone trade for Teddy when you know he wouldn't stay on with the Jets? He would want to go somewhere where could start and the Jets aren't going to pay what a healthy Teddy would cost with Darnold on the roster
History shows that McCown can't stay healthy. If Bridgewater's knee can't cut it, are we going into the season with Darnold as #2? If so, what happens when McCown goes down in game 1 or two of the season? Our QB depth chart becomes Sam, Bryce, Hack??? If Teddy's knee isn't good to go by the start of camp, we need to bring in another veteran QB to be the #2. On the other hand, if Teddy's knee checks out, I'm all about him being #1 and McCown being #2. If we go through training camp with only Glass Joe McCown ahead of Darnold, and tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum as his backups/competition, I think that's just asking for a nightmare season. *PS: I think we could get Cade McNown cheap. Just to make a lot of poorly spelled posts on here that much more fun.
I'm not seeing these scenario's where Darnold sits, the offensive line is not properly configured and McCown should play the whole season. Darnold should be starting Day 1. A blind deaf man can beat out McCown in training camp. If he shows any talent in preseason then he should play. Messing around with McCown does not advance anything. Wasting a year of development.won't do anything except keep this team from getting to where they need to be. Darnold is a sound adult and can handle this. Jets need to stop with the training wheels development. It didn't work for Petty or Hackenberg. Let's try something different and visionary, like play the guy.
I wont say he should be starting, but i'd have no problem with it. For me it depends on how quickly he devours the playbook, line calls and reading defenses. The Shanahan offense used a lot of roll outs and moving pockets which should help him as it goes along with his ability to throw on the move. I cant see him sitting more than a quarter of the season.
Jets can franchise tag him if they think they can score draft capital for Bridgewater. A team would trade for him if they were convinced he had gotten over his health issues and was back to playing at a high level. QBs as naturally talented as Bridgewater don't grow on trees. Again though, Bridgewater would actually need to have that sort of season to even consider that scenario. No guarantees or even likelihood here. It is just a scenario, and in my mind, the reason they even have him here.
The reason he is here is to possibly play/start. Not for draft capital. That's stupid, and not the reason.
