CRA

Extrapolate to 17 games. Sam would be about 32nd in completion %. Sam would lead the NFL in fumbles by a QB by a FAR margin. He was top 5 barely playing. That's Sam. That's been Sam his entire life dating back to college. Sam would be about 26th-ish in yards. but yeah, I guess for the first time he would have a good TD/INT ratio. That's not a middle of the pack QB though. Sam Darnold is not a good QB. Even cherry picking and doing a Madden like hypothetical season.

your big massive improvement of 2022…..still isn’t good. That’s the point. And that’s a cherry picked “high”. Somehow you think his career should all be dismissed in this conversation of what he has proven to be. what’s your best game? Bucs? A bad Bucs team. We lost. He had 3 turnovers. Put another on the ground. He had INTs dropped. And DJ bailed him out of poorly thrown balls that game. The bar is so incredibly low for Sam. Made worse by the fact we have seen nothing but bad QB for years and years now.

His best ball by far (4 credited wins in 2022 vs bad opponents)….is still below average QB play statistically. That’s what you hang your hat on. Sam Darnold factually has been a bad QB. You offer no actual counter argument rooted in anything. He is not a good QB. Both in NY and Carolina, overall he has had a poor career. And played poorly by NFL standards. Facts and stats back that. And he had been given more opportunity at this point than anyone else gets. Including other highly drafted guys. in fact, he factually has been statistically worse in Carolina than in NY. Worse completion %, worse record, worse TD/INT ratio, QB rating, passing yards per game. And on and on. Those are the facts.

gets really weird IMO with heavy zone read QBs. Because the line isn't actually run blocking like on a traditional run play.

We have 5 years of him starting in the NFL. Sam Darnold is officially terrible by the metrics we discuss starting QBs by in the NFL. Refuted by facts? He was credited with 4 wins in which people are using those 4 as the reason he should return. He averaged 144 passing yards in those 4 starts.....while we ran for a mind bogging average of 225 rushing yards per game. Jimmy Clausen could of found some wins to put by his name in that window. Sam wasn't playing good. He wasn't even playing average by NFL statistics. Wilks just wasn't letting him cost the team a chance. And that was only possible because our opponents were bad. Why folks are stanning for Matt Rhule's disaster QBs as we try to enter a new era is mindboggling.

Being paired w/ the #7 vs #29 ranked D is pretty significant. Hell, that alone would put Sam in a much better position. Because it requires a significantly different load and ask of an offense. And the Jets were the #7 ranked D despite being paired w/ the 32nd ranked offense. Which means in reality, they were even better than they statistically were ranked given the extreme handicap against them. and I have long argued Sam Darnold is an imploder. He makes the cast around him worse. Not better. QBs can impact the talent around them in both directions. LeVeon Bell, Thomas, etc. Those were legit talents. Bears didn't have those types. Sam Darnold simply implodes plays because he can't read a field or allow plays to properly function. Simms did a good video on how Sam Darnold implodes plays from fucntioning. A good play call, is something Sam alone would make look bad. Because he couldn't see the field and operate in time of windows. Everyone suffers and looks bad. Jets made moves for Sam Darnold in year 2. It just didn't work. And the D was good. That wasn't where Fields found himself in year 2.

saying Sam Darnold should stay is just this season's version of Matt Rhule deserves another chance after 2021.

Fields won't be the next Sam. Fields won't continue to get opportunities like Sam. Sam is sort of an anomaly. also, Sam Darnold was put into a much better position to find success year 2 than Justin Fields. So, that part doesn't sound familiar. Jets tanked their roster after Sam was so horrific in year 2 despite being put in a spot not to be so bad at quarterbacking. Because the load and ask wasn't going to be that massive. That wasn't the case for Fields. One man show with no defense. Bears have a long way to get to what the Jets had around Sam Darnold in his 2nd year. Jets had a top 10 D. #7 vs #29 for the Bears. That's a talented QBs real best friend. Also do it all RB in Bell. Been around the league and diverse/solid but not spectacular WRs. Jets tanked the roster after that year. Sam Darnold was already clearly fools gold. And they secured a top pick to replace him.

highly paid NFL folks seem to struggle with the most basic stuff sometimes though. Especially certain orgs. We have seen that here. It's not a given Chicago will be smart.

in the landscape of the modern NFL, if you don't have a QB.....you don't actually matter. Which IMO means you can't look at the QB hit rate in a vacuum. It means you simply have to buy the lotto ticket and keep scratching until one hits. not sure why it matters if someone traded up or not. Just matters where the NFL starters are found. Which is the first round overall. That's where you have to take your swings.

Biggest issues for Fields seems to be the biggest issue Trevor had early on IMO. Both went to horrible spots and looked bad. Jacksonville drastically upgraded around Trevor in coaching and talent. Bears got a lot of issues around Fields and he has way too much on his shoulders for such a young player. Talent is there in Fields. That was evident his rookie year. Evident last year. You want growth and consistency? It's about more than Fields IMO.

He also added 132 rushing yards on the ground. So when he sucks as a passer, he compensates in other ways. Justin Fields has shown legit elite and special ability. Largely as a runner. But there is something special about him. And only 2 years under his belt. And the team last year was prepped to be a Andy Dalton O. The one year they went in with Fields as the starter, he did near historic stuff. Sam has a half decade in the league and has been given legit opportunity. And there is nothing special about him that has ever popped in those 5 years. These two things are not the same. There is a legit argument to continue the Fields experiment and buy into him developing. There isn't for Sam.

PJ Walker had a winning record as a starter in Carolina. He did his job too. Doesn't mean we should waste a roster spot on him. Especially as we seek to wash ourselves of the Rhule era. Sam remains the posterchild of the Matt Rhule era. He also remains the worst starting QB over the last half decade. We did win 4 games with Sam Darnold slotted in as QB. He threw a grand total of 3 touchdowns in those 4 wins. That's less than a passing TD per game. We were winning because of a formula to minimize the QB impact and to run the football. It's a hats off to the rush attack and Steve Wilks. Not Sam. Sam doesn't have potential to develop into a legit starter at this stage. And he doesn't offer what you seek from an old vet on a depth chart. So what's the argument to continue to waste a roster spot on him......when you could either fill the spot with potential or wisdom/coaching.

Age at this point with Sam is irrelevant. He has been an NFL starter for a half decade. He isn't a top 5 backup. Because he doesn't offer any of the boxes you look to check for in a backup QB. That would be like claiming PJ Walker is a top tier backup QB. He isn't.

Tampa Bay was a trash team. Next week rookie Ridder had the best game of his season vs that trash D. Who wants to keep around the worst starter in the NFL over the last half decade because of a random game here or there. Sam Darnold is a very bad NFL starter. What is he going to offer Matt or anyone else we might draft this year. He doesn't play the game well between the ears. Which is what you would want from a backup caliber QB. You either want potential or a has been that is at least smart. Sam offers neither.

Sam still sucked in 2022 though. 58% completion on the year. Only his rookie season was worse. The run game was good vs bad teams. It allowed them to minimize Sam's ability to negatively influence games. To me the 2022 hype is just a variation of the early 2021 Sam hype. The bad Sam is clearly still there. He just went a tiny stretch where he didn't totally implode games. Which is something you have always been able to cherry pick in his career. In New York too. Sam Darnold simply isn't a decent NFL QB.

I mean, height is just that. Doesn't mean durability. Mike Glennon being tall doesn't make him better suited to deal w/ punishment than someone shorter. Doesn't mean you are well built. Eli Manning is built like a middle schooler. So was Tom Brady. IMO, you want a QB with a high football IQ. That will help him stay healthy. Then it's largely flat out luck IMO

Longest start streaks. Favre. Rivers. Eli. Brady just logged a relatively 20+ year career. Those guys aren’t physical specimens.

Coaches largely don't let Cam Newton's happen. They become DEs long before NFL draft time.

66% completion vs 53% completion 30 passing TD vs 17 passing TD 20 rushing TD vs 9 rushing TD 4300 total yards vs 3200 total yards An average SEC QB that can run isn't Cam lite. Cam is a unicorn that probably doesn't even need to be talked about. There won't be a next Cam.

Cam Newton day 1 in the NFL was the dominant physical runner at the QB position in NFL history. That's what made him special. Cam Newton was a unicorn.

Batted balls are going to happen. Especially if you like to stay in the pocket. Defensive lineman are too big and athletic vs offensive lineman. and you can't get predictable. I mean, if Julius Peppers largely knows what you want to do. Over doing RPOs for example. His mitts are getting on the ball. You could be 7ft tall and playing QB. Baker having a batted ball fest that exceeded his norm was Rhule over doing the RPO stuff and defenses just being able to time up too much.

I assume it’s more the old school model where you have an athlete personality in 89 and a “nobody” that is just there to largely steer 89 to do his thing. Which sort of doesn’t exist anymore in a lot of the new popular sports type stuff or podcast in general.

way to early to grade him. See Jeff Otah. Historically deemed one of our worst picks by the board. Horn is off to a worse start than Otah.