dbatesman

So do you think if the situations were reversed, the numbers would be too?

Ah! Well. Nevertheless,

Beggars can’t be choosers, of course, but if we’re fantasizing about stealing one of these last two, I’d rather it be against the Bills, because it could very well knock them out of the playoffs.

JoJoShane1

I don’t disagree with this, btw. Both Watson and Mahomes were drafted into situations far better than the one Darnold was drafted into, for a whole host of reasons. But there seems to be an almost institutional belief at this site that Darnold has been as successful as any QB possibly could under the circumstances, and that it’s unfair to judge him until we upgrade the roster. Even making allowances for gaps in talent and/or coaching, I absolutely believe that Watson or Mahomes would be outperforming what we’ve seen from Darnold, even if their most reliable targets were Robby Anderson and Ryan Griffin, and I absolutely believe that Darnold would not be putting up the numbers Watson and Mahomes have if he were throwing to Nuk Hopkins or Tyreek Hill. Obviously that’s not verifiable, but the only other way to approach this is to convince ourselves that Darnold’s secretly great but we just haven’t seen it because of his supporting cast. On the one hand I pray that it’s true, but on the other it’s exactly the kind of thinking that resulted in Sanchez getting a huge extension. I’m not saying Darnold is definitely not the guy, and I’m certainly not denying that the infrastructure here is not conducive to success for a young QB. But we need to be open to the possibility that he’s not, and more to the point Douglas absolutely cannot be operating under the assumption that QB is a settled matter.

Really? Because a year after they drafted Watson and Mahomes, both the Texans and Chiefs traded a first rounder plus for veteran players.

Watson and Mahomes off the top of my head

wish people would get a life and stop complaining about the team that's 10-20 over the last two seasons

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the sum total of this guy's evidence that Darnold is Favre 2.0 appears to be: 1. Darnold doesn't have Favre's arm strength 2. Darnold made a really good throw last night 3. Darnold also made a really bad throw last night

I read the News Transcript every day bub, haven't seen any Farve comps

It’s not disingenuous at all. The fact that he’s been unavailable for 20% of the games he’s been eligible to play sure as hell doesn’t go in his favor.

I wouldn't be opposed to it

I was only upset by the Darnold trade in the sense that I spent the previous offseason screaming for Watson and then we took a safety instead. Given the available options in 2018, I thought trading to 3 and taking Darnold was a swing worth taking. The problem is that the roster needed help in like a dozen other areas. But when you give up four top-50 picks for one guy, you give up the opportunity to fix those other areas in the hope that the one guy is good enough that the other areas don't matter. So far, no dice.

I'm not casting blame so much as stating a fact. The team was 5-11 the year before we drafted Darnold, it was 4-12 his first year as a starter, and it's going to end up 5-11 this year. The reason you give up four picks for a QB is because you think he can paper over all the holes you can't fill because you gave up four picks for a QB. So far he hasn't done it.