Was there a specific moment when you realized a QB wasn’t going to pan out?

[7DnBrnc53]

12 hours ago, Jakuvious said:

It really was uncanny, our ability to avoid drafting franchise QBs. Some of it was self-inflicted, we had so many regimes and coaching staffs that preferred vets to young guys (both Marty and Vermeil definitely leaned towards vets over youth. Even Herm Edwards was that way.) But some of it was just bad luck. When we were finally bad enough to get a first overall pick, it just happened to be in 2013, when the highest drafted QB was E.J. Manuel at #16. That's the only draft since 2000 that did not have a QB drafted in the top 5. No QBs in the draft wound up panning out, either. We had top 5 picks in 08, 09, and 10, but never high enough to get the guys worth it. We could've reached for a Tebow or Sanchez or Flacco, but that was it. 89, like you point out, we did just too well for Aikman (though DT was certainly worth the pick.) In 88 we picked 2nd overall, but the highest drafted QB was Tom Tupa in the 3rd, and he played more punter than QB. We were always not quite bad enough, or just bad at the wrong time, to get a QB that seemed worth saddling the franchise to, in the draft (whether they panned out or not.) Makes it fitting, honestly, that we had to really go out of our way to get the guy that finally did pan out.

True, and that was a surprise.

Speaking of 1989, they did draft a QB that year in Round 2: Mike Elkins of Wake Forest. Don't remember much about him, either. They mustn't have given him much of a chance to play (like Blundin a few years later), because Mark Vlasic was the backup by 1991.

Also, in 1988, they passed on Chris Chandler to take S Kevin Porter. I heard that Chandler was uncoachable early in his career, but maybe Steve DeBerg could have helped him (if Marty and Carl didn't get rid of him for a veteran).

Edited April 27, 2021 by 7DnBrnc53

[Uncle Buck]

At the moment the pick was announced I knew the front office had totally panicked and made a massive reach.

[MikeT14]

29 minutes ago, Uncle Buck said:

At the moment the pick was announced I knew the front office had totally panicked and made a massive reach. (Christian Ponder)

Look, I root for a team that doesn't ever give me much to be happy or proud of, but I can selfishly say I remember laughing and laughing and laughing at this panic pick. Quite possibly the worst 1st round selection of a QB since 2010 to me based on his actual ceiling potential. No idea how he ever got them to the playoffs. 

[Uncle Buck]

3 minutes ago, MikeT14 said:

Look, I root for a team that doesn't ever give me much to be happy or proud of, but I can selfishly say I remember laughing and laughing and laughing at this panic pick. Quite possibly the worst 1st round selection of a QB since 2010 to me based on his actual ceiling potential. No idea how he ever got them to the playoffs. 

He didn't.  He rode Adrian Peterson's coat tails to the playoffs.  AD's yards per carry were actually higher than Ponder's yards per pass attempt.  I was really annoyed when they made the pick because I knew immediately they had just set the franchise back 3-5 years.  Oh well, it's ancient history now.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Uncle Buck

[MikeT14]

1 minute ago, Uncle Buck said:

He didn't.  He rode Adrian Peterson's coat tails to the playoffs.  AD's yards per carry were actually higher than Ponder's yards per pass attempt.  I was really annoyed when they made the pick because I knew immediately they had just set the franchise back 3-5 years.  Oh well, it's ancient history now.

That's... an incredible stat. 

[incognito_man]

[Mastercheddaar]

When they announced Brandon Weeden's name. 

MC

[jetjuice]

Ooooh this is a good one. Darnold believers read this. 

For me it was Jets-Dolphins at Hard Rock in 2018. I was at this game and still thought Sam Darnold was our future at this point. We were 3-5 and Miami was 4-4, they were starting Brock Osweiler that week so I figured we'd be able to get the win, even our records and have the tiebreaker, and make a late playoff push. Being live at the game showed me up close that Sam might not be all that. In the first quarter he threw an INT directly at Kiko Alonso who Sam obviously didn't see at all. The next drive he walked into a sack that a QB with better pocket awareness would've avoided with ease (bad footwork and vision caused this). His only significant yardage came in the two minute drill against soft defense. Miami kept giving us chances to get back in this game with turnovers, penalties, and stalled drives, only for us to completely not capitalize on that with 3 and outs of our own. In Q3 Sam had two should've been-INT's that he threw directly at the DB. He had no business making either throw. Sam highlighted his awful pocket presence by scrambling the wrong way into several more sacks throughout the second half or not feeling pressure and my hope diminished with each drive. As the game went on Sam got more and more conservative with his passing and stopped pushing the ball downfield. In the 4th quarter Darnold made an ill-advised throw directly to Jerome Baker where he lollipopped a deep out (to Eric Tomlinson of all people) which Baker ran back for 6. That ended up being the difference in the game. We didn't score a single TD even with gift-wrapped opportunities because of Darnold's ineffectiveness. Seeing it up close is what made me realize it wasn't just bad coaching - it was him. We barely converted the ball on 3rd down all game. One was during a two minute drill, the other was an insane catch by Quincy Enunwa (I miss him - he played hard and made life difficult for DB's, and almost put the team on his back this game). Even in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter we still had a chance. BUT, Darnold took a horrible sack on third down that he didn't feel coming from the right side, a result of him staring down his receiver, and then threw his third pick of the game the very next play to a wide-open T.J. McDonald. We even got the ball back after the two minute warning with the game STILL within one score, but guess what? Sam threw ANOTHER pick, this time it was the dagger. 4 picks, and two should've been picks. Sam's mental processing just wasn't there, and we lost a very winnable game to Brock freakin' Osweiler, who also prevented the Dolphins from scoring an offensive TD. It was Sam's turnovers that cost us. Leaving that game, I knew deep down that Sam wasn't it. This team gets significantly better just by replacing him with Zach Wilson alone.

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by jetjuice

[Greene N White]

Sanchez I mean I think we all know when enough was enough, but honestly probably before that.

When geno smith got cracked by his own teammate in the locker room.

the ghost game against New England for darnold. 

[Greene N White]

14 hours ago, jetjuice said:

Ooooh this is a good one. Darnold believers read this. 

For me it was Jets-Dolphins at Hard Rock in 2018. I was at this game and still thought Sam Darnold was our future at this point. We were 3-5 and Miami was 4-4, they were starting Brock Osweiler that week so I figured we'd be able to get the win, even our records and have the tiebreaker, and make a late playoff push. Being live at the game showed me up close that Sam might not be all that. In the first quarter he threw an INT directly at Kiko Alonso who Sam obviously didn't see at all. The next drive he walked into a sack that a QB with better pocket awareness would've avoided with ease (bad footwork and vision caused this). His only significant yardage came in the two minute drill against soft defense. Miami kept giving us chances to get back in this game with turnovers, penalties, and stalled drives, only for us to completely not capitalize on that with 3 and outs of our own. In Q3 Sam had two should've been-INT's that he threw directly at the DB. He had no business making either throw. Sam highlighted his awful pocket presence by scrambling the wrong way into several more sacks throughout the second half or not feeling pressure and my hope diminished with each drive. As the game went on Sam got more and more conservative with his passing and stopped pushing the ball downfield. In the 4th quarter Darnold made an ill-advised throw directly to Jerome Baker where he lollipopped a deep out (to Eric Tomlinson of all people) which Baker ran back for 6. That ended up being the difference in the game. We didn't score a single TD even with gift-wrapped opportunities because of Darnold's ineffectiveness. Seeing it up close is what made me realize it wasn't just bad coaching - it was him. We barely converted the ball on 3rd down all game. One was during a two minute drill, the other was an insane catch by Quincy Enunwa (I miss him - he played hard and made life difficult for DB's, and almost put the team on his back this game). Even in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter we still had a chance. BUT, Darnold took a horrible sack on third down that he didn't feel coming from the right side, a result of him staring down his receiver, and then threw his third pick of the game the very next play to a wide-open T.J. McDonald. We even got the ball back after the two minute warning with the game STILL within one score, but guess what? Sam threw ANOTHER pick, this time it was the dagger. 4 picks, and two should've been picks. Sam's mental processing just wasn't there, and we lost a very winnable game to Brock freakin' Osweiler, who also prevented the Dolphins from scoring an offensive TD. It was Sam's turnovers that cost us. Leaving that game, I knew deep down that Sam wasn't it. This team gets significantly better just by replacing him with Zach Wilson alone.

 

I live in buffalo so I was at the pointless week 17 game at new era in 2019 and that was the first time I had seen Sam in person and he couldn’t even get anything going against buffalo’s backups and just completely lacked energy.

[UncleAdamz]

As soon as Josh Rosen had gotten through a quarter it was obvious it wasn't going to work, but it was tough to tell how bad he was because the rest of the offense was the worst I've ever seen take the field for us.

[Mr Bad Example]

On 4/21/2021 at 6:14 AM, sammymvpknight said:

Darnold mic’d up saying he was seeing ghosts. Running around scared. That’s actually a really good predictor of future failure along with someone being an off the field nightmare. 

I dunno, I am sure many QBs have had that moment where there just overmatched or things aren't going right. The main problem is randos like ourselves heard it and it became a big talking point. 

[Mr Bad Example]

On 4/26/2021 at 12:34 PM, BStanRamFan said:

When Jared Goff lost to the winless Jets. I jumped ship after that game. 

Turns out McVay lost faith after the 49ers loss on SNF to Nick Mullens. So I was 3 weeks late.

TBF, if you read the "Stafford traded for Goff" threads, there are plenty of people who are still tied to the mast of that ship. 

[BStanRamFan]

20 minutes ago, Mr Bad Example said:

TBF, if you read the "Stafford traded for Goff" threads, there are plenty of people who are still tied to the mast of that ship. 

Oh I'm well aware. Some people thought Goff needed a better IOL or more time. Some disagreed with the compensation for Stafford. In general, I'm siding with McVay. He knows more about Goff than any fan ever will and if he thought it was necessary to move on, then it was necessary.

[BullsandBroncos]

Drew Lock when the commissioner said his name.

 

Elway continues to only draft QBs that resemble himself in any way shape or form.