How much preseason time should Darnold play?

[Zod]

On the one hand Darnold needs as many reps as possible in a new system.

 

On the other hand his offensive line isn't good and the season is over if Darnold is hurt.

 

What to do?

[SmokinwithWilly]

As much as possible.

On the one hand, the more reps he gets, the better he should be in the new system and we really need that to be the case.

On the other hand, if he does get hurt, we're likely looking at a high draft pick for a QB or LT. It's another year lost but I'd rather him get hurt preseason than halfway through the year and end up at pick 8-15 where we just miss out on the elite level talent. 

[MHS831]

He needs to play at least 3-4 quarters if combining all 3 games.

[1of10Charnatives]

Play him. 

The quality of his line isn't going to improve meaningfully as both the preseason and season progress. It can only get worse due to injury. There are no promising young linemen expected to start in their first or second season who just need time to improve. 

Therefore the fact he needs reps in the new system remains and there is no meaningful reason to believe his protection is going to change for the better. A qb you don't play when the single most important thing about him is evaluating him and his long term potential is pointless. Put him out there. If he gets hurt, then maybe we'll do something substantial about the oline for once.

Or maybe we'll just keep beating our organizational head against the same brick wall we've been beating it against for the past decade and keep acting surprised when the results are the same.

Edited August 7, 2021 by 1of10Charnatives

[1of10Charnatives]

1 minute ago, 1of10Charnatives said:

Deleted due to redundancy

 

Edited August 7, 2021 by 1of10Charnatives

[Moo Daeng]

A lot.

[jfra78]

The problem with playing him against 2nd and 3rds is that you will have people trying to make a name for themselves gunning after him.  He does need a lot of reps tho, do we keep in all the 1s with him?

[CanePantherHornet]

Man, everything I'm hearing about Darnold out of camp has severely dampened my excitement.

[top dawg]

Don't play him any more than any other year. The o-line is what it is. The other QBs need their requisite reps also. 

[Tbe]

Play him as long as the starting OL is in there.

[rayzor]

At the most a total of one game spread out over all three. 

[LinvilleGorge]

He and the starting OL need as much PT as possible IMO. The season hinges on those two things. If we're better than expected there we could potentially compete for a playoff berth. If we aren't, we're probably talking draft before Halloween. Again.

[L-TownCat]

There is no good time for an injury.  They happen.  Let’s him work up a sweat, get in a rhythm, then sit him after a score of possible.

It shouldn’t require a ton of reps to turn and hand it to 22.  That’s gonna happen a lot.

[OceanPanther]

First quarter of each game. The 3rd one, if he needs more reps , maybe play him a little more.