Can Sam Darnold play himself into becoming the 2023 starter?

[*FreeFua*]

I’m willing to give up just about anything to move up and grab our guy this draft but our OL was so damn bad last year. Like worse than anything Sam had in NY bad. So I can understand why Fitterer would want to see Sam behind a competent OL.
 

Today will tell us a lot. At some point Sam is going to have to make a play or two. All the talk about Sam beyond this year is premature, we’ll get our answers with these next two games 

[kungfoodude]

55 minutes ago, ECHornet said:

What’s your thoughts on this:

I think most here are skeptical this type of play from Sam continues over the next two weeks. If it does, prepare yourself to embrace bearded Sam.

I watch the games so I know what that is built on. At one time Kyle Allen was the hottest QB in the league. Stats are great, I love them. But stats without eyeballs and a brain attached don't usually work out well.

That Tweet is exactly what I just described. 

[Green-Ghost]

I don’t know.  The expectation for a QB has changed since approximately 5 years ago.  Everyone wants to draft, the next superstar QB.  Ie Trevor Lawrence.

I have watched NFL football since 1967. Approximately five years ago, I started hearing questions about tanking your team to get a better draft pick.  Most of the time the tankers seem to be wanting to get that next Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, etc.  

my question is, could somebody like Sam Darnold, Teddy, Bridgewater, etc, play well enough to satisfy people who are looking for the next super star quarterback?

Edited January 1, 2023 by Green-Ghost

[MHS831]

I am not sure if Darnold has improved or the OL/run game has.  He has been given leads--can he bring us from behind?  He has not really been charged with throwing the ball downfield that much---but when you are leading and running the ball, all passing gets easier.

He is 24--if only any QB in the history of the league took 5 years or so to become good.  Never happens.

 

[ECHornet]

18 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I watch the games so I know what that is built on. At one time Kyle Allen was the hottest QB in the league. Stats are great, I love them. But stats without eyeballs and a brain attached don't usually work out well.

That Tweet is exactly what I just described. 

I agree with the poster who said it’s too small a sample size. Let’s see what happens today, but put me in the camp that doesn’t care what a top 5 passer rating is built on if the team keeps winning 3 out of every 4 games. 

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, ECHornet said:

I agree with the poster who said it’s too small a sample size. Let’s see what happens today, but put me in the camp that doesn’t care what a top 5 passer rating is built on if the team keeps winning 3 out of every 4 games. 

I mean, at the end of the day, winning is what matters most. But, the glaring issue is that we don't have anything close to an effective passing attack. Being a one trick pony offense has very serious long term limitations unless that trick is almost unbeatable or you have an all-time caliber defense(Ravens, Broncos, etc). 

I look at a guy like Bridgewater and can easily and immediately say he would be a big upgrade in our offense right now. Now, that's a fairly low bar to hit. 

I think once we get rid of McAdoo and hopefully hire an OC capable of adapting and adjusting(this will be a big Wilks limitation, as well) an offensive gameplan, I think we will see this offense be a lot better with even just a middling quality NFL starter(which Darnold has never been in his career nor will likely ever be).

I am not advocating putting Darnold on ice for the last two games, you gotta ride the hot hand and the other options aren't any better. But we do need to realize that this could and may come to a screeching halt. I genuinely hope no one would be surprised by that.

[TheRumGone]

I’m honestly a little curious how he plays in a pressure cooker game where playoffs are on the line. I don’t think he’s ever been in this situation before in the pros. If I had to bet; he melts down if the run game doesn’t go and the offense has to solely rely on him to go through his reads.

[kungfoodude]

23 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

I am not sure if Darnold has improved or the OL/run game has.  He has been given leads--can he bring us from behind?  He has not really been charged with throwing the ball downfield that much---but when you are leading and running the ball, all passing gets easier.

He is 24--if only any QB in the history of the league took 5 years or so to become good.  Never happens.

/cdn-cgi/mirage/338975d0e6d2b86e6d117d6bfb3eae8b0887a6433a67bc51f0f5769ff2c1c629/1280/https://media4.giphy.com/media/Zz95DfBp03oRWPQRaW/200.gif

 

Yeah and banking on outliers is how bad teams stay bad. It's how people lose money investing, gambling or just generally make stupid choices in life. You abandon all logic and reason. It's not impossible but it is statistically unbelievably unlikely. 

[ECHornet]

19 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah and banking on outliers is how bad teams stay bad. It's how people lose money investing, gambling or just generally make stupid choices in life. You abandon all logic and reason. It's not impossible but it is statistically unbelievably unlikely. 

I understand your hesitancy, but what makes it tougher is Darnold's youth. If we drafted one of the older QBs in this draft who are right at Darnold's age, most would be ecstatic if they provided the steady performances of Darnold's last five games. 

The toughest thing to accept is we may not know if it's an outlier or the development of a young QB by the end of this year. That's why a short, Trubisky-esque contract might be the play.

[mrcompletely11]

51 minutes ago, Green-Ghost said:

I don’t know.  The expectation for a QB has changed since approximately 5 years ago.  Everyone wants to draft, the next superstar QB.  Ie Trevor Lawrence.

I have watched NFL football since 1967. Approximately five years ago, I started hearing questions about tanking your team to get a better draft pick.  Most of the time the tankers seem to be wanting to get that next Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, etc.  

my question is, could somebody like Sam Darnold, Teddy, Bridgewater, etc, play well enough to satisfy people who are looking for the next super star quarterback?

no, next question

[mrcompletely11]

38 minutes ago, ECHornet said:

I agree with the poster who said it’s too small a sample size. Let’s see what happens today, but put me in the camp that doesn’t care what a top 5 passer rating is built on if the team keeps winning 3 out of every 4 games. 

He could be lights out the next 3 games and its still a hard pass.  We have now seen to just get Sam to average everything around him has to be elevated so high its not sustainable.   2 national podcasts this week both referred to the Panthers placing "bumpers" on sam and this offense.  They are playing him a very rigid way and he still has his bad mechanics and missed wrs. 

[ECHornet]

5 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

He could be lights out the next 3 games and its still a hard pass.  We have now seen to just get Sam to average everything around him has to be elevated so high its not sustainable.   2 national podcasts this week both referred to the Panthers placing "bumpers" on sam and this offense.  They are playing him a very rigid way and he still has his bad mechanics and missed wrs. 

Top 5 passer rating is not average QB play. 
 

Every single QB in the game will miss WRs. His mechanics have been improved this year. He’s not getting the antsy, happy feet of previous years. At least not yet. 

[MHS831]

Darnold's Age

Hendon Hooker QB Tennessee is 6 months younger than Darnold.

Stetson Bennett, QB Georgia, is 2.5 months OLDER than Darnold.

[mrcompletely11]

1 minute ago, ECHornet said:

Top 5 passer rating is not average QB play. 
 

 

Thats a bit disingenuous and you know it