But Flacco moved the team pretty well; basically the same team that you cite as hampering Darnold. There is no need for a binary choice and no reason the Jets can't open training camp with both Darnold and a draftee. That's why I see it as almost imperative to fire Gase before the sun sets and change the way the team operates while using the next seven games as the beginning of the evaluation and preparation process for 2021.
Apples to Apples Flaco is the better QB right now than Sam so no need to hear the better talent argument. He played well last night and looked calm and collected. I know thats a bad pats team but the eyes don't lie. Darnold is a wild chicken out there with no arm
Thanks for the article (BTW: you might want to edit your post to remove the italics from your part of it). I agree that Darnold needed (needs) to be more open to changing his throwing motion, and other mechanics, but we don't know that he isn't, and we don't know how much help he's gotten from his coaches. And from what I've seen I don't know how much his throwing motion has been the issue, it's much more his footwork, which also wasn't very good in college. Still, it is up to him to fix these issues and he doesn't done much to do so. But I disagree with the assertion that the forcing of throws and bad reads are entirely on Darnold. Poor coaching and poor talent have contributed a great deal to that. In contrasting what Flacco showed last night to what Darnold has shown, it's clear to me that Flacco had the great advantage of learning how to play QB on a good team with good coaching and talent. By the time he finally arrived here, he had deeply learned the good habits needed. That doesn't mean he doesn't still make mistakes - like that INT - but you can see he's not rattled even when under pressure. That comes from having a good foundation and experience. Darnold has neither. And it looks like Gase isn't going anywhere at least until the end of the season so nothing much will improve for Darnold on that front. And if Gase IS finally canned, I believe Douglas will want to start with a fresh new page all around, so fair or not, it's time for Darnold to move on. Actually, I could see Belichick taking him on and resurrecting him.
Well, TBF, Darnold has not had Crowder, Perriman, and Mims to throw to, so it's hard to say for sure that Sam couldn't move the team better with those weapons. Still, it looked like the team played with a sense of calm which I attribute to Flacco's veteran demeanor. Even if Darnold did do much better than he has with those additional weapons, I don't think the team would've played as well. I hate to say that this is due to Darnold, but it is what it is. The Jets failed him, but in the end he has to still perform, and he hasn't consistently done that enough. Maybe if the Jets fire Gase it would help and he could show over the next 7 games that he's better than he's looked, but I don't think that's going to happen - A) firing Gase; B) Darnold improving that much at this point, especially since there would be someone completely new again for him to work with.
I know you might disagree with me but I’m going to make this very simple, neither is any good, Gase sucks as a HC and Darnold after three years is not the answer. He might be a backup QB that’s his ceiling there is nothing wrong with that either, it’s a privilege to play at the NFL level, and not many top picks live up to their hype. The mistake I don’t want Jets to make is to hang on to Darnold and try to force development with another coaching staff and he’s still not the answer.
I pretty much agree with everything here, I just don't have any idea that Darnold was ever given what was recognized that he needed when he was drafted - coaching, meaning he hasn't been given the shot he should have been given. At the same time, I can't agree with the excuse makers here who want to give him a pass because the line was weak and the receivers bad. I don't know what he is today or can be down the road. There is kind of a unique situation here that can give both the Jets and Darnold a do over even if Lawrence or Fields is drafted. Signing Darnold to a new contract before May can keep him here without paying him the crazy money (around $35 million) that picking up his option would require and delay the decision making process. How Jetlike would it be to cut him loose only to have him surface somewhere else as a star?
Yeah that's the thing. Whether or not anyone thinks Darnold is salvageable is irrelevant at this point. He's shown enough to where it doesn't make sense to take the chance of passing up a QB in the draft and hoping Darnold miraculously improves. There just isn't enough evidence of good play to take that chance. This is a guy who has less career 300 yard games than Joe Burrow who is halfway through his rookie season. On top of all the turnovers Darnold commits there isn't even enough evidence that he sometimes has high upside. He's a low ceiling low floor guy. I wish that wasn't the case but it is.
Sorry, I completely disagree. If it were that easy, every team would have a great QB. The reality is that most QBs fail to achieve FQB level. And when you have a team as bad as the Jets have been at evaluating and developing QBs, the failure rate is even higher. That's why I've cautioned against tossing Darnold aside too soon. But at this point, the Jets do have a very good chance of landing a QB with much better potential than Darnold, and so they need to move on. And while up until now I've leaned towards them keeping Dranold and letting him compete and maybe even being the starter so that TL or JF can be brought along at the right speed, as long as Gase is here Darnold isn't going to get any better, and he needs to be better to play that role. No, the best choice for both he and the Jets is for him to move on. As I suggested in another response, I could see Belichick taking him on and resurrecting him, and then tormenting the Jets.
But what if we can get a 2nd and 5th rounder for trading Darnold, as Schefter recently indicated we could? I think that's well worth it for a guy in Darnold who has consistently ranked as a bottom 5 QB in the league.
A lot of QB's fail, yes, but how many teams can you name without a great QB that stocked enough talent everywhere else to compete for a Super Bowl? The most recent Super Bowl champions have been: Chiefs Patriots Eagles Patriots Broncos Patriots Seahawks Almost every single one of those teams has a Hall of Fame or future Hall of Fame guy at QB. The nature of the pass happy NFL is that you basically need a top QB to win. That's just how it is.
I was on board with the approach of signing him to a reasonable contract and keeping him to compete and to give TL or JF time time to develop, a la Mahomes, but honestly, I think Darnold needs more work than the Jets are going to be able to invest in him. And there's also the matter of his shoulder which I don't think is going to heal on its own and will further impact his ability to make throws. He may even need season ending surgery, which would then require the Jets to wait for him to recover before they could even begin working with him. No, the smartest thing is for them to part ways.
I think that's pretty generous but having been a Jets fan forever I'm well aware that no draftee has ever come with a guarantee. The Jets aren't going to the Super Bowl in 2021 so you have another year at least to fill all the holes. It's just as likely that Darnold's value could increase as decrease in another year if it's in the Jet's best interest. Keeping him here also takes the pressure off both a draftee and the coaching staff to get the new guy on the field prematurely.
I don't disagree with that. The most certain path to a SB is having a great QB, but you're talking about five QBs total over the past 20 years, which actually proves my point that great QBs are rare animals. Certainly if you have a shot at getting one you grab him, but even if you do, there is still no guarantee he'll work out. The NFL is littered with "can't miss" QBs who failed to achieve that level. OTOH, you CAN win a SB with an above average/competent QB if the coaching and the surrounding talent are great. Which path is harder? IDK, they're both really hard, but to get an elite QB you almost certainly have to draft him, and the Jets have rarely been in that position, and when they were, Parcells allowed his ego to screw that up. And yes, you can find a HOF Qb in the 6th round every century or so, but with the Jets abysmal record of identifying ALL talent, especially QBs, that hasn't been successful either. At this point, the Jets are probably at least, 2 if not 3 years away from having enough talent to contend for a SB. So they have to choose: either stick with Sam and hope he can be salvaged and become at least an above average QB, or draft a prospect who has more potential than Sam had. It's pretty clear what the answer is at this point.
Should Sam be SHUT DOWN for the rest of the season? His shoulder is clearly not 100%. The team is (0-9). Him playing can only hurt the team and in multiple ways. If he plays well, the Jets could win some games and lose the #1 pick. If he plays terrible, his trade value goes down. If he gets even more injured, his trade value goes down even further. As a big Darnold fan, I would love nothing more than to see him get back to 100% and play great like I know he is capable of doing, but it is an interesting situation, to say the least.
Was thinking the same exact thing. The Jets have 7 games left and it is pretty clear that he won't be the future QB for this team. Wouldn't it make sense, not only for the team, but for him, to just bench him, and let him heal? Also, why is James Morgan not playing QB while Flacco is? The point is to secure 0-16, and playing the young guys. I would shut Darnold down and do what's in the best interest of the team and Sam
The best thing for the team long-term is to lose the rest of their games this season. I honestly think Sam gives them the best chance to do that. Flacco looked a lot better than Sam ever has this season.
Sam may have looked that good or even better with his 3 WR's being healthy, having solid pass protection, and going against a terrible and injured Patriots Defense.
I agree with you and I wish it was different with Sam, I find it hard to believe that everything is the problem with Jets offense except the QB, not saying it’s all his fault either but the results are staring all of us in the face. @legler82 where are you? I would like your input on Sam and this discussion.
The problem is who will the Jets hire to develop both of these QBs? There is no guarantee that the next HC is going to be the answer. They face a very difficult decision with Sam, keep him and let him try and develop with new staff or let him go and hand the reigns over to new QB with new staff. Look at what Arizona did with Rosen and Murray, they said screw it, Murray is the one and did a 180 on Rosen, cut ties with him instead of trying to waste time to develop him, they threw all their eggs in the Murray basket.
