He has a quick release, yes, but he wasn't asked a ton to get rid of the ball as quickly as you're alluding to because of the nature of their down field offense. Not really sure how he plays smarter - Baker rarely turned the ball over in college with a ridiculous career completion percentage over the course of a ton of games. Do you have any sort of statistical backing as to his receivers dropping all these balls? Oklahoma obviously has better talent but I imagine Dax Milne finds his way to an NFL roster. BYU could have as many as three other offensive players selected this year even if in the lower rounds. I believe the talent gap from BYU to their opponents is very comparable to Oklahoma and the lower tier Big 12 teams they played. And Oklahoma played 6 ranked teams in 2015, 7 in 2016 and 5 in 2017. It's not like their talent gap is so far above other teams.
I bet BYU games every weekend as I've previously pointed out. As I said, I had Baker #1 because of his accuracy with rifle like throws over the middle between defenders. But that is not the same as Lance. Lance is not as accurate and I fear he will be an interception machine in the pros. I was 100% certain we traded up to take Baker. Threw up when Cleveland took him because I knew the idiot Mac was going to take media darling Darnold. Yuck. Now onto the pros. At first, Baker was the same player he was in college. Then that second year things changed. I was like, is his arm hurt? Something is not right here. Then I saw how he would always focus on Beckham which completely screwed him up. He was missing easy throws and he's still not anywhere like he was in college. I really believe Beckham is a horrible player for a QB because of his commanding presence. Baker was much better without him. I understand your fascination with Lance. This is how I was when I hated Darnold. I wanted anyone but him and Rosen. I was even willing to take Allen over him without even watching him play. I watched about 75% of Darnold in college until I could take it no more. My focus was on Baker and if we could not get him, I wanted to trade down and take Jackson. As for Wilson and his drops. Judge for yourself.
I agree with the bold. Unless it's a Rodgers/Brady/Mahomes to reel him in and get total buy in, he's going to be a nightmare for a QB. He doesn't even have to whisper to get him the ball because his mere presence indicates that. I'm right there with you on watching BYU and betting and what not. I've seen a lot. I prefer Fields by a wide margin and he's undervalued at this point because he had his first two bad games this season in a strange CFB year which was even stranger for the Pac-12 and Big Ten due to the late start and all the conference in-fighting over whether to play or not. Let's say the Wilson bad attitude stuff is completely false and overblown - I dunno something about him just seems like a passive personality similar to Darnold. Fields reminds me of a Kobe Bryant-style alpha. And I don't think this year was a true representation of his full ability given the fact that I think (like I've pointed out with Lawrence in 2019) with a full season he would've worked through those couple of 'early' season struggles.
I'm going to be honest and say I did not watch Fields as much as the other QBs. Not a fan of the Big 10. I watch the SEC and Big 12 and Mountain West. However, there are a lot of things that I like about Fields when I did see him. I loved that throw he made against Alabama in the endzone over the defenders in the corner. I thought that was a thing of beauty & I was like damn, that guy has some serious touch on his passes. So for me, it comes down to the QB I'm most familiar with between the 2. Everything else regarding Fields I go by scouting reports. You may very well be right and he will be better than Wilson. Nobody really knows yet. But, I can say from what little i have watched of Fields is that he's much slower on the release. Not saying that's a bad thing, but maybe he needs a bit more time to adjust to reading defenses quicker & also clean up his flaws to be successful in the NFL. At least that's what I see when I watched him live and on tape. It seems like the scouts say that about him over and over again. Sometimes you just get bad feelings about a player, which you have with Wilson. I'm not here to convince you otherwise. As you know, anyone can bust, even Lawrence. There may even be a QB that nobody is talking about that Belichick takes in the 6th round who turns out to be a superstar. I hope all the QBs are great in this draft, and if we take someone else, I will root for that QB. There's nobody I really dislike in this draft the same way I hated Darnold and Rosen. So if it's Fields, I'm on board. Good scouts and GMs seem to get it right more often than not. Hopefully, this group gets it right & we're both happy no matter who the QB is. (Just as long as it isn't Darnold) LOL
I think it really comes down to camp this year. If Darnold doesn't look like he has it all figured out he won't be getting starter's reps in camp and then the question is who will be getting those reps? Remember that whoever is in that QB room if his name is not Garoppolo he has an entire offense to learn in about 8 weeks this spring/summer. If Darnold is not on it hard from the beginning of camp he is not going to be getting second chances to get it down. One reason the average fan doesn't really understand QB's is that most of us weren't front desk sitters in school, polishing apples for the teacher and generally showing off our knowledge to the class. That's the life of an NFL QB.
I'll be really surprised if Darnold is on the team within a week of the draft. I know the talk is that Douglas controls the roster but the Johnson boys haven't been able to help themselves when it comes to the PR angle.
This isn't a "monkeywrench"...it's simply reporting stuff we've all been arguing about here for a couple of months. I daresay that more than a few posters here know much more than most of the media - even the sports media. Some people here weren't even old enough to know that P. Manning had some doubters, so ALL QBs will have them. I've watched all of the tape on Wilson that I'm aware of, and then watched the breakdowns by JT O'Sullivan, Tim Jenkins, and Chris Simms, all of who played QB at a high level, and who I respect their opinions, and they reinforce my belief that Wilson can be elite. Of course they can be wrong, and Wilson might not be that good, or he goes into a situation - like Darnold did - that absolutely torpedos him, but I think Saleh and LaFleur can bring out the best in Wilson (or any QB), so I hope he's the pick. As for Fields, I've gone back and forth on him and most recently I'm in the "Like" camp, but I just don't think he's as ready as Wilson. That said, I think his running ability is a legitimate difference-making element and could be used to give him time to refine the other aspects of his game. He's tough and doesn't back down or play scared and that's something you can't really teach - (I also think Wilson has this quality). Lance has a lot of natural ability, but he's not as accurate as Fields or Wilson, even though he didn't throw an INT in his only full season - that doesn't prove accuracy as much as good decision-making which of course is a big plus in its own right. But he's only played one full season and has thrown only about half the number of passes as Wilson so he's really big gamble, and if they take him I hope they have an actual starting QB they can depend upon for a year or two. Mac Jones is the "wild card" for me. I really like him a lot. But he's not what everyone seems to want these days - a QB who can take off running. Jones CAN move, and actually manages the pocket really well, and he CAN run if needed, but no one is going to confuse him with Lamar Jackson. But his decision-making ability and ability to scan and read and make the right decision is super high, maybe the best in this class. I could be satisfied if Douglas trades back and gets some high picks and also gets Jones. As for staying with Darnold, I think that ship has sailed. Once Douglas said he'd listen to offers for him, I think that sealed it.
I'm not really sold on any of these QBs and that includes Lawrence. They all have some kind of flag that makes me want to trade back. But I have trouble seeing a scenario where they don't take a QB so I'm ranking which ones are the least uncomfortable to me, like which office chair squeaks the least and doesn't feel like a caster will snap off. Taking QBs this early are like getting married to a drunken one night stand in Saudi Arabia. When you wake up the next day and see all the moles and the giant nose and crossed eyes, the only way to get out of it is to have something chopped off with a huge curved sword. And yeah I know Saudi is a dry country so shut up.
ColoradoContrails, as always, it is a pleasure to read one of your well thought-out posts. What is your opinion of 2nd round qbs, such as Kellen Mond or Kyle Trask? are you a fan of theirs at all???
Yes, I think both have a lot of ability and could be "diamonds in the rough", but IDK if Douglas would take them in the 2nd (or later)round after having taken Morgan last year. IDK what Morgan's role is now. If JD trades him or cuts him (although he's on a relatively cheap rookie deal IDK if that makes sense), then I could see where he either keeps Darnold as his "vet", or trades/signs someone like Beatherd or Garropolo to run the team until they're ready. But Trask has a legitimate big time arm - close to Mahomes and Allen - but he's really not very mobile at all, probably less so than Mac Jones. I've only seen a little of Mond, but he seems to me to be a little more polished version of Lance (mainly because he's played a lot more games) with more accuracy, but probably not as strong an arm as Lance - this is just what comes to mind, and I could be off base with that comp, so take it FWIW. I hope that makes sense.
Odds are two of the guys from this class make it and become good NFL starters. Maybe 3 if somebody surprises.
No, I think that 6 or 7 have the potential to be NFL starters. Given all the variables, and how certain situations aren't conducive to success for any QB (see: Dranold, S.) the odds are against them, but I think 3-4 of them will actually succeed to that level at least, with 1 or two of them becoming elite.
Back away from the ledge guys. It is probably more than a 50% chance that Sam is starting for the Jets next year.
Sure the Jets roster stinks.Ozzie build the program around with Lewis and then Flacco. Belichick once Brady was stabilized the team build depth getting additional mid rounds picks. Jets get Watson and if the FA plays out with good young OLs/Edge/ and WR, then then the Hets could build Watson for the next two years. Else I am fine if JD doesn’t get Watson, but he s got to strike gold with the draft picks which the history speaks for itself. That to me is a mid to long shot IMO.
Honestly I could deal with it because it means they decided to build a real foundation for the team. I probably wouldn't post here all that often because 90% of the threads would be righteous monks of the Holy Temple of FQB lighting themselves on fire in all caps for an entire season, but I've found that time away from TGG to be rather enjoyable and productive, even though I'd also miss the conglomeration of unsavory louts that has formed here over the years.
