QB options for the 2026 season

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Your odds of finding your legit starter in free agency is slim. All I want out of free agency is a vet that can legitimately push Bryce and can play if Bryce goes down or falters again and we need to turn the page. Basically just get me an upgrade over the current washed up version of Dalton. That's not a tall ask.

People keep looking at the Mayfield's of the world and thinking that is the norm. It is not. Same with Geno. Darnold is a TBD but could he one.

Regardless, those are in fact outliers. People assume this is very simple to do every offseason, despite the fact it quite literally almost never happens.

[Tr3ach]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah but you don't want to be the guy that drafts the next Josh Rosen. Let someone else do that.

Howell is a decent 3rd string guy, for sure. We would still need to draft a potential 1st/2nd stringer, though.

 

Bcuz Panthers, bruh. Bcuz.....Panthers.

Yea if they are truly planning on moving on from Young then I would say Howell and a draft pick.

[LinvilleGorge]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

People keep looking at the Mayfield's of the world and thinking that is the norm. It is not. Same with Geno. Darnold is a TBD but could he one.

Regardless, those are in fact outliers. People assume this is very simple to do every offseason, despite the fact it quite literally almost never happens.

It's definitely not but what he and Darnold and now Jones are all doing does show that if you have a guy who checks a lot of the prerequisite boxes putting them in the right situation can make all the difference. The problem for the folks wanting to apply this logic to Bryce is that little "checks a lot of the prerequisite boxes" issue.

[strato]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

People keep looking at the Mayfield's of the world and thinking that is the norm. It is not. Same with Geno. Darnold is a TBD but could he one.

Regardless, those are in fact outliers. People assume this is very simple to do every offseason, despite the fact it quite literally almost never happens.

Seems like the landscape for college QBs is changing some of this stuff in a way that may not be really obvious. 
Because we have the last two or three years, more guys being redeemed. 
Is it possible they just aren’t as ready and that accounts for some later development? 

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, strato said:

Seems like the landscape for college QBs is changing some of this stuff in a way that may not be really obvious. 
Because we have the last two or three years, more guys being redeemed. 
Is it possible they just aren’t as ready and that accounts for some later development? 

I think Mayfield was just in shitty situations. I mean, he did the unimaginable and got the playoffs one year in Cleveland. As soon as he was out from under the poo show of the Browns and Panthers he blossomed immediately. Darnold is basically a guy who needs to be treated as a high level game manager. He's a guy who can make all the throws but you have to avoid putting too much on his plate or the turnover issues will show their head. I honestly doubt he's ever going to be the QB for a team that makes real post season noise just because as soon as you really have to lean into him I think he's gonna break. It's just who he is. Jones? We'll see. I think he's basically just leaning on the best RB in the league right now. He had a decent year in NY leaning on Saquan too and that's what led the Giants to making the mistake of paying him. He's probably in that Darnold category of being a high end game manager who can make all the throws but you have to be careful to protect him from himself.