Is Darnold "coddled" ?

[TheMostInterestingMan]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

Week 1 is too early to draw a conclusion. As Panthers fans we should know that better than anyone after the Kyle Allen and Teddy Bridgewater fiascos in recent memory. I'd be reticent to pass judgement on Darnold until at least half a season of play, unless it is all bad or all good.

I completely agree with you. The reality is it’ll likely take a full season to really know if this experiment can work or not. But that’s actually my point. It seems we can draw the conclusion that Rhule is incompetent and regrets trading for Darnold and is now coddling him after just two PRESEASON games and yet I know this same crowed will discredit him and not buy into him if he goes 3-0 to start the regular season. That’s my issue lol.

[kungfoodude]

Just now, TheMostInterestingMan said:

I completely agree with you. The reality is it’ll likely take a full season to really know if this experiment can work or not. But that’s actually my point. It seems we can draw the conclusion that Rhule is incompetent and regrets trading for Darnold and is now coddling him after just two PRESEASON games and yet I know this same crowed will discredit him and not buy into him if he goes 3-0 to start the regular season. That’s my issue lol.

Darnold was an extremely polarizing player(even more so than Bridgewater), so I think you have more people that are staunchly anti-Darnold. Don't get me wrong, I have little to no faith that this experiment will work out but I am not going to jump off a cliff until we start seeing him play actual games, and quite a few of them. 

There is no reason to be getting this worked up over the preseason. It rarely matters for veteran players(unless they get injured) and this preseason is the first of the "new" preseason format, so it actually has even less meaning than ever before. I suspect that it will continue to decline in relevance as the NFL schedule expands(18 regular season games is all but an inevitability). I imagine eventually there may be almost no starters playing when it cuts down to two preseason games. 

[TheMostInterestingMan]

4 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Darnold was an extremely polarizing player(even more so than Bridgewater), so I think you have more people that are staunchly anti-Darnold. Don't get me wrong, I have little to no faith that this experiment will work out but I am not going to jump off a cliff until we start seeing him play actual games, and quite a few of them. 

There is no reason to be getting this worked up over the preseason. It rarely matters for veteran players(unless they get injured) and this preseason is the first of the "new" preseason format, so it actually has even less meaning than ever before. I suspect that it will continue to decline in relevance as the NFL schedule expands(18 regular season games is all but an inevitability). I imagine eventually there may be almost no starters playing when it cuts down to two preseason games. 

Agreed. It’s already happening now. More and more teams are just sitting starters and that’s only going to continue tending in that direction. All it will take is one significant injury to happen for all teams to shut down the starters in the preseason other than maybe draft picks. People keep saying “even Mahomes is getting reps” and I think that’s absolutely stupid. Imagine Mahomes blowing out a knee in a preseason game. Same people would be calling KC idiots and they would be right. Mahomes doesn’t really NEED the reps. So why play him?

Edited August 22, 2021 by TheMostInterestingMan

[CRA]

18 minutes ago, Khaki Lackey said:

Coddled? Maybe a little. So what?

 

Well, nothing.  That’s just about it.   It is what it is.  There isn’t much to say about it once it is acknowledged. 

[Khaki Lackey]

2 minutes ago, CRA said:

Well, nothing.  That’s just about it.   It is what it is.  There isn’t much to say about it once it is acknowledged. 

Well, I’ll get long winded if you insist.

The kid is 24 and his career depends on this year. His life is going to radically change in the next 5 months. That’s a lot of pressure and I don’t have a problem with our staff not giving him the Jets treatment.

[LinvilleGorge]

1 hour ago, TheMostInterestingMan said:

I agree with you. But it would then seem more appropriate to wait until week 1 to determine if Darnold is being coddled aclusio if this decision matters right now or not, no? So can we wait for week week 1 before drawing our conclusion here? 

I can already tell you this. If Darnold comes out and looks even decent. If Darnold comes out and completes 59% of his passes with one TD and one turnover and we win the game then I can already see the argument being "well he played one of the 3-4 worst teams in football. It really doesn't mean he is a good QB. Get back to me in week 8" and that is a completely valid take. So why is it that these preseason games seem so unbelievably important when virtually nobody will give him credit if he gets the job done in a real regular season game? 

My point is we just have to let this play out. But if anyone is banging the table about him needing to play right now then frankly I don't want those same people saying "its just the Jets" if he does okay and gets a W when the games actually matter. Because week 1-4 of the preseason is frankly NOTHING like week 1 of the regular season. I know we are all aware of this. I know the coaching staff and the players are aware of this. Getting worked up about ANYTHING other than, I dunno, your starting QB getting a serious injury during the preseason seems pretty pointless. 

If we're supposed to just wait until it plays out what's the point of this forum? Why did you do all that typing to punt on having an opinion on anything?

[CRA]

4 minutes ago, Khaki Lackey said:

Well, I’ll get long winded if you insist.

The kid is 24 and his career depends on this year. His life is going to radically change in the next 5 months. That’s a lot of pressure and I don’t have a problem with our staff not giving him the Jets treatment.

Yeah, I don’t take issue with any of that.  

But then the FO should just have to own the reality.   Sam is essentially getting heat that is really FO heat.  

I’m deemed a Sam hater.   But I lobbied for him before he was linked to Carolina.  Seemed like a decent enough lotto ticket to bring in and tinker with.   

FO office made the low odd project…the only option and even passed on high valued QB prospects that fell in their lap.  Which doesn’t happen often. 

The issue isn’t the FO coddling him.  He probably needs it . Because he probably shouldn’t be the dude this year.   Nor the only option.  

[LinvilleGorge]

21 minutes ago, Khaki Lackey said:

Well, I’ll get long winded if you insist.

The kid is 24 and his career depends on this year. His life is going to radically change in the next 5 months. That’s a lot of pressure and I don’t have a problem with our staff not giving him the Jets treatment.

Being financially set for life several times over should take a lot of the edge off of that pressure.

[Toomers]

Guaranteeing Darnold 19M, for no apparent reason, is about as much “coddling” as a team can do for a QB. 

[kungfoodude]

45 minutes ago, TheMostInterestingMan said:

Agreed. It’s already happening now. More and more teams are just sitting starters and that’s only going to continue tending in that direction. All it will take is one significant injury to happen for all teams to shut down the starters in the preseason other than maybe draft picks. People keep saying “even Mahomes is getting reps” and I think that’s absolutely stupid. Imagine Mahomes blowing out a knee in a preseason game. Same people would be calling KC idiots and they would be right. Mahomes doesn’t really NEED the reps. So why play him?

Yeah and I can understand wanting to get some players reps too. Ultimately, I don't think one side is more or less wrong than the other. It's just different philosophies. Rhule obviously is very worried about injuries in the preseason and he has lots of reasons to worry because our 2nd and 3rd teams haven't done a tremendous amount to show that we will be okay if we starting losing starters. 

Once we get our "dress rehearsal" game against Pittsburgh, I think a lot of the discussion will finally die off and we can focus on the season. I am already pretty over the preseason games. It rarely takes me more than one game to be over it but with basically little to no starters playing, I ready to get this show on the road now. Meaningless football games are only better than no football games, and barely that.

[TheMostInterestingMan]

34 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

If we're supposed to just wait until it plays out what's the point of this forum? Why did you do all that typing to punt on having an opinion on anything?

Opinion based on previous seasons: I don’t believe Darnold is the answer based on what I have seen in the NFL. I don’t really buy Gase as the reason he couldn’t put it together and think he’s a second too slow processing plays to make it in this league. 
 

Opinion based on fugging nothing whatsoever: Rhules is coddling Darnold and trying to cover his own ass for trading for him even though he’s going to start week1 anyway.

Come on man. Seriously? I know you strongly dislike the decision to roll with Darnold but you are really in the camp of he’s being coddled? That’s your opinion? Well, by all means you are entitled to it. And I am entitled to point out how dumb I think it is. He’s going to start week 1. They aren’t coddling him. They just have a different philosophy about the preseason than you do.

Again. I know your argument on these things is it’s a football forum and is for discussing opinions. But this is just wild speculation. Other than not playing very much (along with many of our starters) where are you drawing this coddling conclusion from exactly? It just doesn’t even make sense.

Edited August 22, 2021 by TheMostInterestingMan

[Khaki Lackey]

11 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Being financially set for life several times over should take a lot of the edge off of that pressure.

Finding out that you aren’t good enough on a national stage probably isn’t fun, regardless of the price tag.

Being called a failure and washed up sucks at any age, but I suppose it would be pretty humiliating at 24. 

I’m sure it’s nice to not have to worry about money, but I’d bet most pros take little solace in that when facing failure. 

[Tr3ach]

1 hour ago, Fright said:

Coaches are saving the panic for the actual season because they have no backup. If he implodes in the preseason, they’re f’d and they know it.

We’re banking everything on a player who has been mediocre or poo from college to pro.

If they were panicking they would have just thrown him out there and not stated from the very start that he was the week 1 starter and there was no competition.   A lot of fans just think they are maybe owed something in the preseason that they're not.   The coaches obviously think the snaps at the joint practices are more important.  Anything besides that is just a difference of opinion. 

[LinvilleGorge]

6 minutes ago, TheMostInterestingMan said:

Opinion based on previous seasons: I don’t believe Darnold is the answer based on what I have seen in the NFL. I don’t really buy Gase as the reason he couldn’t put it together and think he’s a second too slow processing plays to make it in this league. 
 

Opinion based on fugging nothing whatsoever: Rhules is coddling Darnold and trying to cover his own ass for trading for him even though he’s going to start week1 anyway.

Come on man. Seriously? I know you strongly dislike the decision to roll with Darnold but you are really in the camp of he’s being coddled? That’s your opinion? Well, by all means you are entitled to it. And I am entitled to point out how dumb I think it is. He’s going to start week 1. They aren’t coddling him. They just have a different philosophy about the preseason than you do.

Again. I know your argument on these things is it’s a football forum and is for discussing opinions. But this is just wild speculation. Other than not playing very much (along with many of our starters) where are you drawing this coddling conclusion from exactly? It just doesn’t even make sense.

I don't know if he's being coddled or not. I simply said Rhule said that Darnold was "basically a rookie" and he's clearly not being treated as such.