Darnold Starting and QB Development

[ZachEY]

This is a question more of overall strategy.  Let's assume Darnold looks solid, but not spectacular in TC and Preseason.  He's not the best QB on the roster at the moment.

What do you want to happen as far as bringing him along?

[JoJoTownsell1]

Option 6- When he is ready. 

[Maxman]

2 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

Option 6- When he is ready. 

That is my vote. The the offensive coaches feel that he is ready.

[DoubleDown]

Under the condition "looks solid but not spectatular," I went with mid to late season when Jets are out of contention. Unless he looks great right out of the gate, it makes no sense to rush him. The Jets are in this for the long haul. Some late season snaps could prove to be beneficial to his development.

[MDL_JET]

If he looks spectacular - Week 1 

Looks solid - Week 4 unless McCown or Teddy are rolling.

Looks lost like Hack - Redshirt and pray

[ZachEY]

9 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

Option 6- When he is ready. 

 

6 minutes ago, Maxman said:

That is my vote. The the offensive coaches feel that he is ready.

What does “ready” mean?  It’s a completely ambiguous concept.

Also, if you do accept this as the primary measure, and McCown starts 16 games and the teams goes 3-13, you will be content with Bowles saying that Darnold isn’t “ready” and “Josh gives us the best chance to win?”

[whodeawhodat]

1 minute ago, TeddEY said:

 

What does “ready” mean?  It’s a completely ambiguous concept.

Also, if do accept this as the only measure, and McCown starts 16 games and the teams goes 3-13, you will be content with Bowles saying that Darnold isn’t “ready” and “Josh gives us the best chance to win?”

yup, cant force it

[JetFaninMI]

I said when the Jets are out contention because thats the only time Bowles may consider letting Darnold start. Other than that who knows?

[Jets Voice of Reason]

I think the flaws that Darnold need to work on are really only going to get better with regular reps. Footwork, quick decisionmaking, reading defenses are things that he'd benefit most from live reps. Plus i want him as ready as possible for next season when they might actually have a chance at being good. 

Him being behind an ass oline isn't going to really change between now and midseason. So i don't see why the injury risk would be much different. 

 

[Bleedin Green]

2 minutes ago, Jets Voice of Reason said:

I think the flaws that Darnold need to work on are really only going to get better with regular reps. Footwork, quick decisionmaking, reading defenses are things that he'd benefit most from live reps. Plus i want him as ready as possible for next season when they might actually have a chance at being good. 

Him being behind an ass oline isn't going to really change between now and midseason. So i don't see why the injury risk would be much different. 

 

In regards to the OL, the only argument that could really be made is cohesion.

The one point that a few people have made, which I can actually understand the mindset of, is to give Darnold a break by not having him start off with their early season schedule of:  road on Monday, home on Sunday, road on Thursday.  That would be a serious baptism by fire right there.

[Thai Jet]

Bring him along slowly . Huge learning curve. I voted mid - late season for that reason. If McCown is on a roll then keep with the hot hand.

[Thai Jet]

30 minutes ago, JetFaninMI said:

I said when the Jets are out contention because thats the only time Bowles may consider letting Darnold start. Other than that who knows?

You think old Toddo would have done that with Hack last year. We had NOTHING to lose but he stayed with Petty. Tough to figure that out. Only thing I could think of was that Hack was THAT bad.

[slats]

Third time I'm typing some version of this today, but...

The Jets open with three games in 11 days, and 3/4 on the road, with Robby Anderson most likely suspended and the team learning yet another new offense complete with a new zone blocking scheme for the OL. Let McCown handle that stretch while Darnold takes it all in from the sidelines. 

Week five is the first or three straight home games in what should be perfect football weather, week five is when I toss Darnold the keys and see what he can do. He'll get a ton of home crowd support, and even if the Jets are 0-4 at that point, not all hope will be lost. 

That first month is brutal, but waiting until the Jets are completely out of contention doesn't give Sam enough reps and, more importantly, doesn't give him enough quality reps. Week five is just right. 

[JoJoTownsell1]

37 minutes ago, TeddEY said:

 

What does “ready” mean?  It’s a completely ambiguous concept.

Also, if you do accept this as the primary measure, and McCown starts 16 games and the teams goes 3-13, you will be content with Bowles saying that Darnold isn’t “ready” and “Josh gives us the best chance to win?”

It means that he is a better option than the "competent" 39 year old starter. That could be week 1 or it could be Week 8. I fully expect him to take over at some point this season just like Eli, as a rookie, took over for Kurt Warner despite the Giants being 5-4 at the time and Warner playing pretty well. Eli proceeded to stink up the joint and the Giants finished 1-6 in their last 7 and every Giant fan was hating Eli.

I hope Darnold plays lights out in camp/exhibition games and Bowles is forced to start Darnold. But the odds of that are pretty slim. Luckily we have a vet QB that will play well in the interim and will gladly turn the reigns over to the kid when the time comes. 

[pointman]

I bet he is ready much sooner than later. In fact, I bet if Todd is fair.. we see Sam week 1.

[JetsFanatic]

57 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

Option 6- When he is ready. 

That’s my vote!

[nico002]

Let him compete for the job fair and square. Even split of snaps betweeen him/teddy/McCown. If Sam is better- he plays.

[Snell41]

I think the assumption that McCown won’t have declined needs to be analyzed. McCown is old. Really old. He’s also historically fragile. Chances are realistic that McCown comes in playing like sh*t. I think you have to weigh the ability of Darnold against McCown with the notion that Darnold will likely improve and McCown can only decline. Having said that if these two look to be on or near equal footing in TC then Darnold must get the nod.


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[Larz]

I'll take when he is ready Alex 

[jetstream23]

When he's ready and can execute the offense safely and effectively.  I don't want the guy to be shellshocked, but I also have no interest in wrapping him in bubblewrap for a season.  After a summer of training camp and 4 preseason games I'm hoping he'd be ready around say Week 3 or 4 to be put out there.  If that coincides with a half-time change after the Jets offense puts up 0 points in a 1st Half then maybe that's even more convenient.

[Pcola]

I voted with how I think it will play out.  He hasn’t even been to rookie minicamp and there are “leaks” that the team thinks he’ll be ready week 1. You cannot undo that.  The fans are going to lose their **** waiting for him to come in.  After reading Costello’s piece about how the Darnold and the Jets came about, understanding how much this CS love him.  He will have every chance to play in preseason.  As long as he doesn’t look really bad, they are going to go with him.

[Lupz27]

3 hours ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

Option 6- When he is ready. 

Everyone is going to define “ready” differently thou.  To me “ready” means when he can go in there, and be able to not panic, and get himself killed.  Throwing bad INT’s is fine IMO it’s part of the training needed to get from where Darnold is to where we all hope he gets, elite.  Don’t give me the crap he is on the bench because McCown, or Teddy give us the best chance to win, don’t care if he will cost us games this year because of lack of experience that maybe those other 2 might not have, Darnold NEEDS that experience to learn, and if a few loses this year lead to lots of winning quicker then sign me up.

[Bruce Harper]

Doesn't the matter of how well he is playing factor in at least a little bit?

[rangerous]

3 hours ago, MDL_JET said:

If he looks spectacular - Week 1 

Looks solid - Week 4 unless McCown or Teddy are rolling.

Looks lost like Hack - Redshirt and pray

maybe but waiting until week 4 gives the rest of the team to solidify.  of course it all depends on him having a good pre season and then winning the team over.

[JetFaninMI]

3 hours ago, Thai Jet said:

You think old Toddo would have done that with Hack last year. We had NOTHING to lose but he stayed with Petty. Tough to figure that out. Only thing I could think of was that Hack was THAT bad.

Yeah you're probably right on that one. I have given up on trying to understand the moves Bowles makes at any given time.

[jetspenguin]

On 5/3/2018 at 1:37 PM, nico002 said:

Let him compete for the job fair and square. Even split of snaps between him/teddy/McCown/Hack. If Sam is better- he plays.

lol fixed.....what if Hack looks better than Sam? This place will have a meltdown.

[JohnnyLV]

Useless thread. Darnold is starting Day 1, it is preordained.

[UntouchableCrew]

I’d start him week one if he was even close. There aren’t as many reps to go around under the new CBA. The best chance to get better is game experience. He seems to be a cool headed kid that doesn’t get rattled by mistakes so I don't think you have to worry about babying him. 

If he's struggling in camp I don't think it’s crazy to let him sit for a few weeks and have the three game October home stand be his first action, but unless he’s really shaky I don’t really see the benefit to playing McCown.

[Jetsplayer21]

On 5/3/2018 at 3:45 PM, DoubleDown said:

Under the condition "looks solid but not spectatular," I went with mid to late season when Jets are out of contention. Unless he looks great right out of the gate, it makes no sense to rush him. The Jets are in this for the long haul. Some late season snaps could prove to be beneficial to his development.

We have a lot of stupid fans who would love to rush him out of the gate. If sitting 1 full yr will make him a better qb for next 15-20 years I’m all for it. Screw the impatient fans 

[56mehl56]

On 5/3/2018 at 4:06 PM, Jets Voice of Reason said:

I think the flaws that Darnold need to work on are really only going to get better with regular reps. Footwork, quick decisionmaking, reading defenses are things that he'd benefit most from live reps. Plus i want him as ready as possible for next season when they might actually have a chance at being good. 

Him being behind an ass oline isn't going to really change between now and midseason. So i don't see why the injury risk would be much different. 

 

What getting live reps to fix your flaws - what is this concept you speak of . Isn't that illegal in Jet land. 

[Warfish]

Start him.

NFL QB's are not Faberge Eggs. 

Learning is best done by doing. 

A QB who falls apart because he plays poorly as a rookie.....was never going to be great anyway.  

Every down played by McCown is a wasted and pointless down.

Unless Darnold is literally Hack-like, he should start, not be coddled and protected like a little kitten.

The same thing, tbqh, that probably should have happened last year with Hack, sink or swim.

And please, spare me the "but we have to play the best QB or the team will revolt" line.  No, they won't.  

[GATA]

On 5/3/2018 at 3:37 PM, JoJoTownsell1 said:

Option 6- When he is ready. 

Exactly ^^^^ He’s not a pro yet let him adapt and get ready

 

 

Who ever said throw him into the fire we’re also probably asking for Tebow to start. 

[slats]

5 hours ago, UntouchableCrew said:

I’d start him week one if he was even close. There aren’t as many reps to go around under the new CBA. The best chance to get better is game experience. He seems to be a cool headed kid that doesn’t get rattled by mistakes so I don't think you have to worry about babying him. 

If he's struggling in camp I don't think it’s crazy to let him sit for a few weeks and have the three game October home stand be his first action, but unless he’s really shaky I don’t really see the benefit to playing McCown.

Darnold is not a finished product. He needs some coaching up. Work on that footwork, maybe that throwing motion, certainly ball security. When these kids get thrown into the fire too early, they tend to revert to bad habits. The focus should be giving him that coaching. He'll do the work, and he's smart enough that it'll sink in. There's also no harm in taking a few games with a QB we're already planning to still be rooting for in 2033. Send Josh out there for that first crappy month of the season, and use that month as a QB course for Sam. Have him on the feed between Bates and McCown, in every sideline huddle, and have him drink it in. 

Week five opens a three-game home stretch, perfect time to throw him in there. 

[Pcola]

7 hours ago, jetspenguin said:

lol fixed.....what if Hack looks better than Sam? This place will have a meltdown.

The fact that in rookie minicamp Darnold was throwing passes in front of the media versus hiding Hack away on a field where reporters needed binoculars to even make out the jersey number during the entire preseason, I think we can lay this to rest.

[32EBoozer]

now that Darnold got paid, I want that mole gone before TC!