Really good article on Sam Darnold. Worth a click.

[Dunn]

I'm still on the fence with Darnold.  I think he's gotten away with a few throws that were VERY risky.  double and even triple covered receivers and the ball went incomplete that could have been INTs.  I thought to myself a few times 'why did he try to make that throw?'  I think he still has some issues making the smart throw and we've dodged those bullets so far...I feel there will be a game coming up soon though that he'll put up some ugly numbers.  

Edited September 21, 2021 by Dunn

[panthers55]

3 hours ago, mav1234 said:

The bit about differences in the offenses between Gase and Brady was maybe the most interesting to me.  It does make Brady's offense sound much easier to get into and process quickly.

I'm very happy with Darnold and optimistic he can be the guy here. Still need to see more, especially in high pressure situations, but it's hard to argue his first couple starts could have been better given where his starting point was (2020 was simply brutal for him).  

That was exactly what I was saying about why Darnold will be more successful in this scheme. This scheme is QB friendly and let's him audible at the line which he couldn't do with the Jets. And obviously having more talent helps 

[panthers55]

7 minutes ago, Dunn said:

I'm still on the fence with Darnold.  I think he's gotten away with a few throws that were VERY risky.  double and even triple covered receivers and the ball went incomplete that could have been INTs.  I thought to myself a few times 'why did he try to make that throw?'  I think he still has some issues making the smart throw and we've dodged those bullets so far...I feel there will be a game coming up soon though that he'll put up some ugly numbers.  

You can say the same thing about any QB.

[Greatman77]

Good article. I agree that Darnold has played well so far but he really hasn't been tested, as the article mentions. And with a rookie QB facing the Panthers in a short week, he likely won't be tested this week either. Hopefully these early games will build his confidence for future success!

[rayzor]

I understand the point he made about Sammy having troubles on the road, but I think a lot has to do with an inability of the coaches to get him ready for those situations. 

He'll be better at home, but he'll still be good on the road.

What has made this offense so good will still be there in texas and everywhere else.

It's a well managed offense with a lot of options for Sammy to get the ball out quickly. 

Throw everything at Sammy and try to frustrate him and he'll use his safety valve. Throw everything at CMC and you open up the field for DJ, Robby, Dan, Zylstra, etc etc etc.

Sam & co. are only going to get more comfortable in this offense. The more they get comfortable, the more they're gonna do.

And this defense is going to really help make things easier for the offense. 

I dig it.

 

[rayzor]

19 minutes ago, Dunn said:

I'm still on the fence with Darnold.  I think he's gotten away with a few throws that were VERY risky.  double and even triple covered receivers and the ball went incomplete that could have been INTs.  I thought to myself a few times 'why did he try to make that throw?'  I think he still has some issues making the smart throw and we've dodged those bullets so far...I feel there will be a game coming up soon though that he'll put up some ugly numbers.  

There might be, but there won't be many beyond that. 

[1usctrojan]

 

[1usctrojan]

23 minutes ago, Dunn said:

I'm still on the fence with Darnold.  I think he's gotten away with a few throws that were VERY risky.  double and even triple covered receivers and the ball went incomplete that could have been INTs.  I thought to myself a few times 'why did he try to make that throw?'  I think he still has some issues making the smart throw and we've dodged those bullets so far...I feel there will be a game coming up soon though that he'll put up some ugly numbers.  

Close your eyes, my dear….it’s in Sams’ DNA to make those throws, he and his WRs are capable of cashing in on them.  You can’t attempt those throws with mediocre receivers, thankfully he has great offensive weapons now, and he had the mental makeup to bounce back (lost in NY), hopefully he still has that ability to shake off an error to drive back on the next series.

That defense….good lord, what QB wouldn’t be salivating for that dominating performance.  Against a QB and offense on the opposing team.  
 

Fingers crossed, this can be a very, very exciting team to watch.

[Dunn]

12 minutes ago, 1usctrojan said:

Close your eyes, my dear….it’s in Sams’ DNA to make those throws, he and his WRs are capable of cashing in on them.  You can’t attempt those throws with mediocre receivers, thankfully he has great offensive weapons now, and he had the mental makeup to bounce back (lost in NY), hopefully he still has that ability to shake off an error to drive back on the next series.

That defense….good lord, what QB wouldn’t be salivating for that dominating performance.  Against a QB and offense on the opposing team.  
 

Fingers crossed, this can be a very, very exciting team to watch.

I hope you are 100% right, believe me.  We need someone that can cash in on our elite WR core that we have.  

With him throwing into double coverage...someone is out there 1v1 or even open and he missed their read, or perhaps never got to that read due to pressure.  I hope we struck gold with him so only time will tell.  

[KB_fan]

It will be interesting to see how he plays on the road.  Not sure what to expect in terms of crowd noise in Houston, but in the preseason Panthers didn't handle it well in Indy.  Hopefully our coaching staff is good with the communication, and Sam too.  And hopefully they're working on silent counts in practice this week!

[panthers55]

If you are a Jets fan who migrated with Darnold, welcome aboard. You are going to like this ride. Darnold always had the ability but now he has a good team around him and coaches who can teach the concepts. That is one of the advantages of having coaches that coached a lot in college. They know how to break it down and help players assimilate it quickly as they don't often have lots of years with a starter  unless they are good enough to start as a freshman or sophomore.

[Jon Snow]

2 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

If you are a Jets fan who migrated with Darnold, welcome aboard. You are going to like this ride. Darnold always had the ability but now he has a good team around him and coaches who can teach the concepts. That is one of the advantages of having coaches that coached a lot in college. They know how to break it down and help players assimilate it quickly as they don't often have lots of years with a starter  unless they are good enough to start as a freshman or sophomore.

Wouldn't it be hilarious if they started running his old college offenses?  He now has top shelf talent that he wasn't able to lure to his program to plug into the mind of Brady.  That would be the badest thing a coach has ever pulled off in all my days of watching football. 

[mc52beast]

5 hours ago, glenwo2 said:

I also believe that the naysayers here will forever be throwing a tantrum no matter how well Sam is for this franchise 'cause they didn't get their way and are a bunch of little babies.

Some of them are still waiting for Cam to return.

[jb2288]

3 hours ago, Dunn said:

I hope you are 100% right, believe me.  We need someone that can cash in on our elite WR core that we have.  

With him throwing into double coverage...someone is out there 1v1 or even open and he missed their read, or perhaps never got to that read due to pressure.  I hope we struck gold with him so only time will tell.  

That’s not really how that works. Just because you have a LB playing zone 3 yards off your safety net doesn’t mean you have to take that throw vs pushing a ball downfield into a more covered route with excellent timing. Situation A is how you get Teddy which is exactly what we moved on from. Let a gunslinger make throws