The Development of Sam Darnold

[GangGreen420]

Just watched a ton of tape from Sam in 2019. At no point this season did he look better than he did vs HOU/GB last year. This is a dangerous marriage 

[Bobby816]

2 minutes ago, GangGreen420 said:

Just watched a ton of tape from Sam in 2019. At no point this season did he look better than he did vs HOU/GB last year. This is a dangerous marriage 

I think the fact that he did a tad bit better than his rookie year with what he had around him was a HUGE step for him. 2nd year is hard for QBs normally anyway. Package that with the worst OL in the league and a poor group of weapons and its quite incredible that he did what he did. Kinda reminds me of Geno's 1st year starting. Not comparing Darnold to Geno... but comparing the fact that it was incredible to do what they did with what they had around them.

 

I think you will see a HUGE leap into a for sure franchise QB if we do the offseason right. Rebuild the OL and get at least 2 new WRs. That should be enough to make him great. Bc from a skill set standpoint he's close. But a 22 year old cant do it on his own. He needs to be protected and have playmakers. Even the playmakers we have will be way better once we (hopefully) get an OL.

[NYJets4716]

Really, the one game where Sam played really bad was vs the Patriots which was also a elite defense.

The Bills, PAtriots, Steelers, and Ravens all had elite defenses this year. 

Our OL was historically bad this season. We had like 9 or 10 different OL groupings. Yes the Bills were playing backups the last game, but so were we. We had backups play most of this season. Vs the Bills we had 2 guys starting on the OL literally signed from the streets.

And Harrison looked pathetic vs the Bills, thrown around like a rag doll. 

We need to add a few new starters on the OL.  

At the end we had guys like Daniel Brown and Vincient Smith getting targets. We lack talent, years of bad drafting and roster building. 

That extra 3rd round pick can help, because its a high 3rd and could potentially land a starter. 

I think we should worry about building a team rather than worry about Darnold, if you build him a roster like some of these other QBs have, watch him ball. 

People want to talk about how good other QBs are doing, that are placed into much better situations and teams. 

This is not another Mark Sanchez who had a elite run game, elite OL, elite defense, and some electric WRs. Who we made excuses like blaming Brian Schottenheimer, instead of that Sanchez was just trash. 

Sam Darnold was put on a rebuilding team with little talent, historically bad OL, and had to learn 2 new offensive systems already.  At least he won't have to learn a new offense for next season and hopefully will have a better OL. 

[ekill08x]

3 hours ago, NYJets4716 said:

Really, the one game where Sam played really bad was vs the Patriots which was also a elite defense.

The Bills, PAtriots, Steelers, and Ravens all had elite defenses this year. 

Our OL was historically bad this season. We had like 9 or 10 different OL groupings. Yes the Bills were playing backups the last game, but so were we. We had backups play most of this season. Vs the Bills we had 2 guys starting on the OL literally signed from the streets.

And Harrison looked pathetic vs the Bills, thrown around like a rag doll. 

We need to add a few new starters on the OL.  

At the end we had guys like Daniel Brown and Vincient Smith getting targets. We lack talent, years of bad drafting and roster building. 

That extra 3rd round pick can help, because its a high 3rd and could potentially land a starter. 

I think we should worry about building a team rather than worry about Darnold, if you build him a roster like some of these other QBs have, watch him ball. 

People want to talk about how good other QBs are doing, that are placed into much better situations and teams. 

This is not another Mark Sanchez who had a elite run game, elite OL, elite defense, and some electric WRs. Who we made excuses like blaming Brian Schottenheimer, instead of that Sanchez was just trash. 

Sam Darnold was put on a rebuilding team with little talent, historically bad OL, and had to learn 2 new offensive systems already.  At least he won't have to learn a new offense for next season and hopefully will have a better OL. 

Great Post. 

[NJC33]

Let me start by saying, as I have reiterated numerous times, I have full confidence that Sam is our guy..

At the end of the day, he needs to play better. As fans, we so desperately want to believe certain things to be true that we get ahead of ourselves in doing so (Myself included). Everyone on here is well aware of the fact that we had a historically bad offensive line, limited skill position players and dare I say it, questionable coaching. That doesn't fully exonerate Sam from some of the metrics above. He was far from perfect this season and at times his mechanics/footwork would go to **** and he'd look flat out lost. There's a reason he still has so many critics, and while I don't agree with them, I can understand where they're coming from. 

I've seen enough "good" Sam to be incredibly excited about his future and ultimately, the future of this team. He's immensely talent, and simply put, does things that your average quarterback can't, he just needs to work on doing those things consistently and that will come with confidence and composure. I fully expect that with a full offseason to master the complexity of Gases system we will see a huge jump from Darnold next season. Obviously, a revamped OL will play a part in that success.

 

[jetskid007]

1 hour ago, NJC33 said:

Let me start by saying, as I have reiterated numerous times, I have full confidence that Sam is our guy..

At the end of the day, he needs to play better. As fans, we so desperately want to believe certain things to be true that we get ahead of ourselves in doing so (Myself included). Everyone on here is well aware of the fact that we had a historically bad offensive line, limited skill position players and dare I say it, questionable coaching. That doesn't fully exonerate Sam from some of the metrics above. He was far from perfect this season and at times his mechanics/footwork would go to **** and he'd look flat out lost. There's a reason he still has so many critics, and while I don't agree with them, I can understand where they're coming from. 

I've seen enough "good" Sam to be incredibly excited about his future and ultimately, the future of this team. He's immensely talent, and simply put, does things that your average quarterback can't, he just needs to work on doing those things consistently and that will come with confidence and composure. I fully expect that with a full offseason to master the complexity of Gases system we will see a huge jump from Darnold next season. Obviously, a revamped OL will play a part in that success.

Absolutely needs to play better, but I do think he showed signs of growth this year that you won't capture on any of those stats above, especially in the second half. We saw Sam reduce the amount of times he threw off his back foot, increase the amount of times he threw the ball away, increased the amount of times he checked down when the play simply wasn't there to be made. These are small steps, but when you compile all the factors that worked against him (age, talent/protection deficiency, illness/off-the-field distractions, new offense) and compare it to the positive things he did this year, there should be a good feeling that he's going to be a good one. 

Look at the young QBs in the NFL and what they had to work with, then look at us. I expect Sam to have a breakout year next year as he'll be that much more versed in the offense, we should expect his 1b target to be back (Herndon) and at the very least our offensive line will be a lot better than it was this 2019. Even if we lose Robby and didn't replace him, I think our offense will be lightyears better. 

[NJC33]

8 hours ago, jetskid007 said:

Absolutely needs to play better, but I do think he showed signs of growth this year that you won't capture on any of those stats above, especially in the second half. We saw Sam reduce the amount of times he threw off his back foot, increase the amount of times he threw the ball away, increased the amount of times he checked down when the play simply wasn't there to be made. These are small steps, but when you compile all the factors that worked against him (age, talent/protection deficiency, illness/off-the-field distractions, new offense) and compare it to the positive things he did this year, there should be a good feeling that he's going to be a good one. 

Look at the young QBs in the NFL and what they had to work with, then look at us. I expect Sam to have a breakout year next year as he'll be that much more versed in the offense, we should expect his 1b target to be back (Herndon) and at the very least our offensive line will be a lot better than it was this 2019. Even if we lose Robby and didn't replace him, I think our offense will be lightyears better. 

Well put, I agree with all of this with one slight hesitation. 

Sams biggest flaw this season, mechanically speaking, was his tendency to throw off his back foot out of habit and not because he was forced into doing so. Credit to him for improving this as the year went on, but I don't remember it being as big of an issue last season, recency bias, sure, but is it possible he's actually regressed year-to-year from this specific standpoint? Nothing to be overly worried about because as you've stated he's seemed to clean it up, just an observation. 

[Bobby816]

21 minutes ago, NJC33 said:

Well put, I agree with all of this with one slight hesitation. 

Sams biggest flaw this season, mechanically speaking, was his tendency to throw off his back foot out of habit and not because he was forced into doing so. Credit to him for improving this as the year went on, but I don't remember it being as big of an issue last season, recency bias, sure, but is it possible he's actually regressed year-to-year from this specific standpoint? Nothing to be overly worried about because as you've stated he's seemed to clean it up, just an observation. 

My biggest issue that I think will be one next year is even if/once we improve the OL. Him not driving his throws, rushing things, quick to leave the pocket, etc. Bc of poor habits formed by having a bad OL his 1st 2 seasons.

[NJC33]

12 minutes ago, Bobby816 said:

My biggest issue that I think will be one next year is even if/once we improve the OL. Him not driving his throws, rushing things, quick to leave the pocket, etc. Bc of poor habits formed by having a bad OL his 1st 2 seasons.

Absolutely, that's the biggest concern when you throw a young QB behind a revolving door for an OL

[jetskid007]

 

 

[Bobby816]

43 minutes ago, jetskid007 said:

 

 

Well he was drafted as the 2nd QB. So he’s shooting par 😉 

[NYJets4716]

12 hours ago, jetskid007 said:

 

 

IDK who would disagree, currently he clearly is. Allen had a better record cause he was on a better team and his team barely had any injuries.  Allen's passing is terrible, the last month he averaged like 52% of his passes. 

When you watch the throws Darnold makes and the advancement in his game for a 22 yr old, its something legit. As Darnold matures more, remember his game should get better with time like fine wine, its not like hes relying on running which is short lived. They get him a better OL and receivers. Darnold should be a legit QB. 

He has that accuracy and poise, the playmaking ability. We are set at QB. 

[Malik]

I don't think the 2018 NFL draft is going to be remembered as the 1983 draft, so I don't know how meaningful being the 2nd best QB in that draft really matters. The obsession with peaks is weird. It's about how people play on a consistent basis. Almost every 1st round QB drafted has high peaks. That's why they're drafted in the first round. He's better than Sanchez and Geno were at this current point and time, but I will call every Jets fan here a liar if they would say with a straight face that they felt Sam could consistently move the ball on every drive. Not SCORE, but get a couple first downs every drive. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Malik

[Bobby816]

1 hour ago, Malik said:

I don't think the 2018 NFL draft is going to be remembered as the 1983 draft, so I don't know how meaningful being the 2nd best QB in that draft really matters. The obsession with peaks is weird. It's about how people play on a consistent basis. Almost every 1st round QB drafted has high peaks. That's why they're drafted in the first round. He's better than Sanchez and Geno were at this current point and time, but I will call every Jets fan here a liar if they would say with a straight face that they felt Sam could consistently move the ball on every drive. Not SCORE, but get a couple first downs every drive. 

We are not a good football TEAM. Meaning to just take 1 individual that is very reliant on what's around him (i.e. Adams can make plays still if he doesn't have good players around him bc he's a SS) isn't looking at it right. You can put (insert any great QB you want here) and give them the worst OL in the NFL and below average receiving options... they wont consistently move the ball every drive.

Like I've stated numerous times upgrading the OL and WRs should be the focus of this whole offseason to put Sam in position to succeed. The hope is that once he has time to throw and has players that can make plays once he gets them the ball, he takes a big leap. That's the hope. The worry part is bad habits he might have formed from 2 years of playing in the NFL with no time to throw. Throwing off his back foot, quick to escape the pocket, not driving throws, rushing things, etc. These are what worry me. Not the actual skill set mentally and physically with him. But we have to create a TEAM around him to evaluate him and even more importantly groom him to be a franchise QB.

[JetsFan15]

On 1/3/2020 at 9:50 AM, Bobby816 said:

My biggest issue that I think will be one next year is even if/once we improve the OL. Him not driving his throws, rushing things, quick to leave the pocket, etc. Bc of poor habits formed by having a bad OL his 1st 2 seasons.

I think that can be cleaned up with an improved OL.