ECHornet

No one thinks Darnold is a top 15 QB. Pointing out that his stats this season would have ended up around 15th in a lot of categories doesn't mean he's a consistent, top 15 guy. It means that his stats were 15th in those categories, which is ~average production. There's about 4 of you on this thread struggling with comprehension. My final thoughts on Darnold (at least for today) because I'm tiring of the discussion: Darnold is likely a long term #20-40 QB in the league Darnold, at 25 years old, isn't a finished product even after 5 accrued seasons #25-40 QBs are worthy of a backup contract I was impressed by his performance in 2022 compared to all of our expectations I think it would be a good move to sign him ~2 years at 5mil per if he'd take it

Wasn't referring to before Rhule was fired. I was talking about the 12 games after (6 without Darnold; 6 with)

We played 12 games after Rhule was fired. 2-4 in games without Darnold at QB. 4-2 with Darnold. Same coaches. Same running game. His completion percentage was tanked by his last game. I haven't been able to watch it yet, but seems like it was terrible. That's still the only big QB stat that was bad from him this year. He also had more yards per attempt than most NFL QBs (#2) so you would expect a slightly lower completion %. But you go on with your eye test assessment of Darnold 2022 and ignore all the stats that show he was decent.

Cheers. It's baffling they can't even acknowledge a little progression. Also, I think many of them are just ignoring that Corral looked out of place in the preseason.

He played over 1/3 of the season. It wasn't just a game or two. If we draft Levis and he becomes starter in Game 12 and puts up similar numbers, Huddlers will proclaim we've found our guy. They're the same age or right at it. lol Baker wasn't winning. PJ couldn't lead us to wins. Darnold enters, puts up the best stats of his career, and we go 4-2. That's back up worthy.

Depends on the money, I guess. It sure didn't sound like he was a part of Fitt's plan from what was posted in the Presser thread.

23 year old Matt Corral - the world is your stage young man. 25 year old Sam Darnold - hang 'em up you ol' geezer

Sam Darnold in 2022 was the definition of average NFL starter. The majority of his rankings are around 15th in the league. QBR is built on a 0-100 scale with 50 being average. Darnold 2022 was 49.2. ---- If you can sign an average NFL starter for backup money, you do it. Even if you think he may regress to lower end starter to top end backup, it still makes sense value wise. Unless your plan is to tank. The tricky thing is, no one here knows if Sam's progress this year will continue or not.

Do you think Matt Corral and PJ Walker are better?

And you're driving. I posted where those stats you keep spouting would rank in the NFL. Sorry, but 15th best in the NFL doesn't = not worth a back up role. You can tout the historic rushing numbers if you'd like, but Darnold had average starter outings when the rushing game no showed.

That's my preferred route too. Also more fun for fans instead of the cycle we've been in the last three years.

If we’re going that route, give me Max Duggan in mid to late rounds or a guy like DTR from UCLA in the 6th/7th. I think DTR could replace PJ Walker as a 3rd QB type. I’d want to spend our early picks setting it up for the 2024 rookie to come in and hit the ground running. Unless, of course, Duggan or Corral become the guy. I’m rooting for Corral, but those seem like long odds.

I just don’t see backup QBs out there that intrigue me more than Darnold who can also be had for cheap. Minshew and Brissett are probably closest to Darnold, but Brissett is 30 y.oz and Minshew played worse this year. Under an excellent offensive team too. Give me Darnold, unless we want to do the smart thing and truly tank for a 2024 QB.

Please name a few of the backup QBs with higher ceilings than 25 y.o. Darnold. I can't think of many.

He played right around middle of the pack for starting QBs in the league during his 6 game stretch. Fortunately, we might be able to sign him to a cheap, back up level contract.

3238 Yards - 15th in the NFL 20 Pass TDs - 15th in the NFL 9 INTs - Tied at 15th worst in the NFL

In spite of, but he did land the coveted "game winning drive."

"Every conceivable metric" - except the ones from this season.

Brian Branch is my favorite safety. A bunch of good CBs will go mid-late first.

Going to make it hard to move Elflein with injuries to both guards. He was a prime candidate to clear up some cap space.

Looks like the Bears were 6th in pass block win rate in 2018. Pretty similar, but Fields had better protection according to those stats. So saying Fields had poor protection this year doesn't hold up.

According to ESPN, the Bears had the 2nd best pass block win rate in the NFL and the 5th best run block win rate. I think Trubisky would have loved that kind of support up front. Source: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34536376/2022-nfl-pass-rushing-run-stopping-blocking-leaderboard-win-rate-rankings-top-players-teams

You and I have a different recollection of those Bears teams. They were built on defense and never invested in offensive weapons around Trubisky. That doesn't really matter. I'm not arguing Trubisky should be a franchise QB. I'm providing reasons why I would draft Young if I were the Bears.

What's that?

Career Stats Per Game - Fields / Trubisky Total Yards: 210.2 / 203.5 TDs: 1.3 / 1.3 INTs: 0.8 / 0.7 Comp %: 59.7 / 64.2 Passer rating: 79.7 / 86.4 Win % in Games Started: 20% / 56% Source: https://stathead.com/football/pcm_finder.cgi?player_id2=FielJu00&player_id1=TrubMi00&sum=0&request=1 One is apparently a franchise QB and the other, despite having equal or better stats, is considered backup level.