Can Sam Darnold play himself into becoming the 2023 starter?

[kungfoodude]

Just now, glenwo2 said:

I'm referring to the few DESPERATE teams willing to sign him as a STARTER. 

And if Sam desires to be a starter. 

 

Lol. There are no NFL teams that desperate. There is no 2021 Panthers equivalent this offseason.

[mav1234]

Just now, kungfoodude said:

I am pretty sure Harbaugh would mean he's on the street. The closest thing he had to Darnold was Blaine Gabbert as a backup in 2014. 

We will see what the market is for Sam. I suspect he isn't going to be quickly scooped up as a backup option. 

Sam is a better backup option than Gabbert was at that point, I think.  If Harbaugh wants a young QB in the draft, and if you're right on Sam's value, he may be the cheapest option to just fill the position with a known good teammate until the rookie is ready.

[glenwo2]

Just now, kungfoodude said:

Lol. There are no NFL teams that desperate. There is no 2021 Panthers equivalent this offseason.

Well...I mean....you never know how things develop.... 

 

[mav1234]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

Lol. There are no NFL teams that desperate. There is no 2021 Panthers equivalent this offseason.

Hey maybe Rhule will get another offer he can't refuse, you never know.

[glenwo2]

Just now, mav1234 said:

Hey maybe Rhule will get another offer he can't refuse, you never know.

Cool. 

Can he go ruin the Cowboys this time?

[frankw]

12 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

I’m willing to trade the farm to get our guy at QB this offseason but I can’t put either of those fumbles on Sam

Sam wasn’t expecting the snap on the first one and the second Ickey was beat so cleanly Sam had no chance

I'm fine with him as a backup it's just about knowing his limitations and when he threw that pick it all came rushing back from last season. He can make you some plays in spots but you cannot depend on him to win you the game. He's basically where we were with Bridgewater but he will actually throw deep. Could do worse but can and will definitely do better.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, glenwo2 said:

Well...I mean....you never know how things develop.... 

 

Well most of the QB desperate teams are picking in positions to be able to get one through the draft.

It's really mainly the Colts, Texans, Raiders and Seahawks. 3 of those teams have better options for starters on the roster now and all of them pick in the top 8.

Not to mention he wouldn't be in the top 10 free agent QB's(some of which are likely to resign with their teams) in 2023. That is basically the recipe for being a backup QB.

His only chance at starting is likely here.

[mav1234]

1 minute ago, frankw said:

I'm fine with him as a backup it's just about knowing his limitations and when he threw that pick it all came rushing back from last season. He can make you some plays in spots but you cannot depend on him to win you the game. He's basically where we were with Bridgewater but he will actually throw deep. Could do worse but can and will definitely do better.

Thing is, the pick was the right read. The throw was bad. That may seem trivial, but last year he'd throw into trouble coverage on short routes and crap.  The TE had the coverage beat and if he just throws it into the endzone it's either an incomplete or a TD.

The fumbles gave me flashbacks to last year too, though. Ugh.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, mav1234 said:

Thing is, the pick was the right read. The throw was bad. That may seem trivial, but last year he'd throw into trouble coverage on short routes and crap.  The TE had the coverage beat and if he just throws it into the endzone it's either an incomplete or a TD.

The fumbles gave me flashbacks to last year too, though. Ugh.

He also had a couple of INT's dropped in the game.

His run this year shows that he has improved but he is still a backup caliber QB. One that really can't be trusted to do much more than manage a game with a light workload. The more he throws, the greater the odds of him making a lot of mistakes.

He's just very, very limited in his processing abilities. It's been discussed at length here but keep in mind he has very little background as a QB. His learning curve was already going to be much steeper than almost any other prospect. 

[glenwo2]

2 minutes ago, mav1234 said:

Thing is, the pick was the right read. The throw was bad. That may seem trivial, but last year he'd throw into trouble coverage on short routes and crap.  The TE had the coverage beat and if he just throws it into the endzone it's either an incomplete or a TD.

The fumbles gave me flashbacks to last year too, though. Ugh.

The only good thing about those fumbles (as good as "fumbles" can be viewed) is that they weren't self-inflicted.

Bozeman snapped it before Sam was ready (though you could argue that Sam should've just fell on the ball instead of trying to pick it up). 

He also got blind-sided thanks to Icky morphing into a turnstile.  

[glenwo2]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

He also had a couple of INT's dropped in the game.

His run this year shows that he has improved but he is still a backup caliber QB. One that really can't be trusted to do much more than manage a game with a light workload. The more he throws, the greater the odds of him making a lot of mistakes.

He's just very, very limited in his processing abilities. It's been discussed at length here but keep in mind he has very little background as a QB. His learning curve was already going to be much steeper than almost any other prospect. 

I recall reading about how he was a Linebacker(?) in High School or something?

[mav1234]

Just now, kungfoodude said:

He also had a couple of INT's dropped in the game.

His run this year shows that he has improved but he is still a backup caliber QB. One that really can't be trusted to do much more than manage a game with a light workload. The more he throws, the greater the odds of him making a lot of mistakes.

He's just very, very limited in his processing abilities. It's been discussed at length here but keep in mind he has very little background as a QB. His learning curve was already going to be much steeper than almost any other prospect. 

Every QB has INTs dropped in a game. His bad throw % this year is half  (~10%) of what it was last year (~20%) and is the same or lower than Burrow, Herbert, Mahomes, etc. He's processing faster and making better throws.  Not saying he's some kind of answer by any means, and you are right about a steep learning curve, but this stretch hasn't just been about limiting him.  He had fewer bad throws vs Tampa than he's had all year, despite being pressured more both physically and mentally in terms of not having a run game.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, glenwo2 said:

I recall reading about how he was a Linebacker(?) in High School or something?

He was actually a basketball player for most of his childhood. Went to football in HS and only played one full season as a QB. Played some spot duty due to injury as a sophomore.

So we are talking about the equivalent of a middle school or early HS player in terms of total experience versus most prospects. 

[mav1234]

Just now, kungfoodude said:

He was actually a basketball player for most of his childhood. Went to football in HS and only played one full season as a QB. Played some spot duty due to injury as a sophomore.

So we are talking about the equivalent of a middle school or early HS player in terms of total experience versus most prospects. 

And he's also still relatively young. There are a bunch of prospects entering the draft that are barely a year older than him.