Not playing Darnold if he's even close to ready would be a cardinal sin. I can't see them not playing him unless he's completely not ready. We gain nothing by having Mccown play the entire season - start the season? Maybe. He's almost 40, if Darnold can gain valuable experience starting maybe half or more of the season, you don't leave him on the bench. You let him start and take his lumps for a year or two.
If that ruins him, he was Nacho part 2, otherwise he cuts teeth on tough objects, not his mommy's tit! It won't kill him. I don't feel like he is Nacho part 2, he has something. Nacho was a puss day one!
Hey, that guy sees a lot of women he could rape. Does he rape them? Nine times out of ten, no, he doesn't. Because it's not nice.
You may be the first guy here to make that distinction - Thank You! Everybody else wants to either lock him away in Tibet or throw him to the Lions, Jaguars, Panthers and Bengal (tigers) on day one. Can we at least wait until maybe the second or third time that he is wearing full pads and seeing an NFL defense perform at 3/4 speed before we decide his fate? I'm certainly no fan of Bowles but, in the absence of Chris Johnson hiring me I believe that Bowles is the guy in the best place to make this decision.
I don't understand why the Jets would make this kid wait. For what? Not to ruin his confidence if he fails? If that ruins his confidence he is the wrong guy for the job. Don't play around. Don't have fans rooting for JM to go down or the Jets to lose enough to then put him in. I'm so tired of that game. He is a tough kid...let him go.
If he starts he starts. At the same time you don't force feed it come hell or high water into a shellshocked David Carr trainwreck. .
Darnold should not be rushed into a start if he is not completely ready and able to succeed. That is simply bad coaching. He should, however, be given every opportunity to beat the competition in training camp and gain the team trust as a starter first. He might not be able to do it that fast, but if he does and proves he is the best option so be it. Joe Willie Namath has spoken, and he thinks he won't be ready in the early part of the season. So who the hell am I to challenge the legend? I want him to be successful in the long run, not a rush to nowhere. This preseason will be a lot of fun to watch.
Weapons are fine. Oline isn't but could be average. Bottom line here: play him when he's ready. If he's the best qb in training camp then he's ready. If he's not ready to beat out a mediocre qb like mccown then sit him until he is.
I just finished listening to the SD interview on the c Cowherd show. He is..just unbelievably mature ..recognizing that even tho he is 20 "men..30 year olds... want someone to tell them what to do in the huddle" Just brilliant imo Gut says that if ya put him in the kitchen kid can take the heat..I think Sam will put on a show!
Come on PJ. He is not a can't miss prospect like Andrew Luck, who has been suffering behind a shitty Oline for years. The most important position on the Oline is center. Neither of our options at center have been on this team for more than a couple of months, and we have a new OC. This is not a role playing game, this is a football team full of human beings and you can't roll dice to see how they do. He should sit back and let a couple of crash test dummies test the waters. I can't believe this is even an argument.
I'll be shocked if he starts the season. The kid us just turning 21 and doesn't have a lot of games under his belt relatively speaking. It's common sense to me see how the team gels first, but more importantly to allow Darnold time to adjust, work on his fundamentals, and observe McCown and Teddy to learn what it takes to be a starter in the NFL. Of course the obligatory 'Toilet doesn't play young guys' stuff will have to be endured in the meantime
Again my point is it is better to be conservative then rush his development. He may have a few good plays in pre-season but you can't expect him to master the offense and be able to make the right adjustments in a real game situation. Remember teams tend to play vanilla defenses in preseason, so its not the same as the regular season. If the Jets put him in to late by 2-4 games, what is the big deal? If they put him in to early by 2-4 games, this is a big deal. Besides this is a rebuilding season or am I wrong?
There are a lot of new moving parts beyond just Darnold. New QB, new OC and updated offensive scheme, new zone blocking scheme for OL. There's no reason he can't play if things are looking good, but simultaneously the team shouldn't be compelled to play him immediately if something isn't right. There is also the Bridgewater wild card. It is too early to project what should be done because the team needs to see it actually come together first.
I think you are both right. There are so many philosophies on how to do this, but really it needs to be a product of circumstance. Too many unknown variables right now, and it would be totally negligent for the coaching staff to rush any decision until the answer to those variables becomes clear. They need to protect Darnold, but not baby him.
