A critique of Darnold through 4 games

[LinvilleGorge]

Don't get triggered now. Read through it all if you're going to react. I'm going to try to be fair.

So far, Darnold has far exceeded my expectations. He's looked good under pressure. He's been much more of a threat with his legs than even his most ardent supporters would've expected. Sam Darnold running the football has shockingly been our biggest red zone threat, though that's something I would look for defenses to take away from us going forward now that it's established - but, that should also open up other opportunities forcing defenses to account for Darnold running.

Now for the triggering... Sam Darnold has processing issues in the pocket. I said it in the game thread today, it's weird but he actually seems to play better when pressured into making a quick decision. It's when he gets a clean pocket that the issue shows up. He's slow to process when given time and has a tendency to make a bad decision and/or throw when given time. I don't know why. It's weird. Just think back to today's game. He had two open downfield opportunities. Both from a clean pocket. Neither were even close. His two INTs and one should've been INT all came when he had time. The danger ball he tried to force to (I think Marshall) came when he had time. Almost every time when he threw to a blanketed WR (the throw to Robby on the near to the camera sideline comes to mind) came when he had time to scan the field. My observation has been that the better the protection and the more time he has, the worse he tends to play. His worst throws came when he had time. Oddly enough, our shoddy OL seems to actually be helping Darnold in our offense by forcing him to unload the ball earlier than he would like to on a lot of our passing plays.

All of the above are just my knee jerk reactions watching the games. So, I went to look at the numbers to see if they told the same story.

Darnold is ranked 25th in average time to throw at 2.87 seconds (Teddy's average time to throw last year was among the league's fastest at 2.6 seconds). That's wild considering how often he's forced to dump it off quickly due to immediate pressure.

And it's not because he's going down the field. He's ranked 23rd in average intended air yards at 7.9 yards per attempt. He's also 23rd in the league in average air yards differential at -2.5 indicating a lack of success on deeper pass attempts. He's 17th in the NFL in air yards to the sticks on 3rd down with his passes on 3rd down coming up an average of -0.7 yards short of the marker (Bridgewater's number here was -1.7 last year for comparison, so he's still not nearly as bad in this department as Teddy was last year much to our chagrin causing much teeth gnashing).

If we're going to have more consistent success on offense behind this porous OL we have to find a way to speed up Darnold's processing time. When he isn't pressured, he's simply too slow to read the field. I think he can do it. Like I said, oddly enough he seems to play better when early pressure forces him to make a fast decision. We just have to find a way to get him to make these decisions without the defense forcing his hand.

 

[TrevorLaurenceTime22]

Might be he's just shocked when he actually gets time.

[SmokinwithWilly]

I wonder if his timing is off when he has protection. He can't trust this line so while he's not seeing ghosts it is screwing up his rhythm. 

[Aussie Tank]

He was bashed to pieces in New York and now he’s 3-1 in a new offense with a terrible oline and he’s not processing fast enough for you 

[Harbingers]

He also didn’t have the safety blanket today. If he had the safety blanket I guarantee you we would have won. 

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, Aussie Tank said:

He was bashed to pieces in New York and now he’s 3-1 in a new offense with a terrible oline and he’s not processing fast enough for you 

No. He's not. He's one of the slowest QBs in the league to throw. That's not gonna get it done behind this OL and it's not because we're going down the field. Hence the thread.

[SBBlue]

Where are you getting you're time to throw stats?  
 

4 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

we have to find a way to speed up Darnold's processing time. 

I agree with this.  These last two games it feels like he is taking longer than the first 2.   Its not to excuse the line, they've looked bad the last two games, today was BAD.

Teddy had 2 years in this offense before he played for us.  Sam has had 5 months.  Sam is also much younger than Teddy.  Sam is going to get better.  

[ForJimmy]

Maybe when he is rushed it’s more of throwing the first guy open. When he has time he is still processing our offense and who he should throw to vs what the defense is doing. He does seem to play best when the play breaks down. It’s a new offense/scheme so hopefully this will get better as the season goes.

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, SBBlue said:

Where are you getting you're time to throw stats?  
 

 

NFL Next Gen stats

[WOW!!]

4 games into learning a new system with new coaching and learning his new teammates...

Every QB in the has misses and bad TO.. Especially when they are under pressure.. Even when they have time the pocket clock speeds up after being hit a few times...

He has far exceeded my expectations so far in all categories.. I didn't expect him to be out of the game manager phase until mid season... He is already past the point for me.. He is creating opportunities and moving chains even with long down and distance..

Again I wasn't a Darnold guy and still have questions.. But the proof on the field is hard to argue with and I can only see him get better as he gets more time in the system and his weapons get better adjusted with him..

[dave-o]

tl;dr

[Aussie Tank]

Just now, LinvilleGorge said:

No. He's not. He's one of the slowest QBs in the league to throw. That's not gonna get it done behind this OL and it's not because we're going down the field. Hence the thread.

Mate you’ve hated him from the get go and waited till we lost to start bashing him. Just be honest and say you don’t like the bloke and never will 

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, ForJimmy said:

Maybe when he is rushed it’s more of throwing the first guy open. When he has time he is still processing our offense and who he should throw to vs what the defense is doing. He does seem to play best when the play breaks down. It’s a new offense/scheme so hopefully this will get better as the season goes.

I'm hoping to see him improve here as he gets more comfortable in the offense. In the meantime, I think we have to help him with the play calling and encouraging him to hit the first open man he sees. Progressions exist for a reason.

[WOW!!]

2 minutes ago, SBBlue said:

Where are you getting you're time to throw stats?  
 

I agree with this.  These last two games it feels like he is taking longer than the first 2.   Its not to excuse the line, they've looked bad the last two games, today was BAD.

Teddy had 2 years in this offense before he played for us.  Sam has had 5 months.  Sam is also much younger than Teddy.  Sam is going to get better.  

Because he has to carry a bigger load on the team.. And the Pline have gotten worse..