We all know it’s excruciatingly painful to watch Cam Newton play football right now and, based on his latest Instagram post, he’s most likely on the way out.
Now that you’ve read that caption and 20 minutes have passed trying to decifer the hieroglyphics, welcome back to the English world.
Without Cam, Jarrett Stidham would be next in line to start for the Patriots. Now, we all know how much I love Stidham. There’s no reason for me to think he’s going to be amazing but I still like him and wanna see him do good.
But. What about Sam Darnold?
We are all fully aware the Jets will probably get the No. 1 pick and take Trevor Lawrence.
At 1-13, it’s a race between the Jets and Jags for that No. 1 pick. Looking at their schedules, the Jets play the Browns, who are still fighting to be in the playoffs, and the Pats. The Jets will not win these games. The Browns need wins to play deeper into January and Bill won’t let himself lose to the Jets. Meanwhile, the Jaguars play the Bears, who stink, and the Colts-the only team Jacksonville has beaten this year.
The Jaguars own the tiebreaker based on them having played a weaker schedule than New York. It seems much more likely that Jacksonville now will be where Lawrence lands.
However, if he lands in New York, where does Sam Darnold go? What about Sam Darnold?
New England?
Jarrett Stidham is riskier than Darnold. His cellar is lower but his ceiling could be higher. We seem to already know Darnold’s potential. But what if we don’t? What if the former 3rd overall pick has been like a lion playing against Rhodesian Ridgebacks while the lion is surrounded by hamsters?
“Darnold’s a big, athletic kid. He can certainly move if he has to, he can get out and escape the rush. He’s done that plenty of times. He has a solid skillset, no question about it – good arm, can make all the throws, big, strong kid, hard to get down in the pocket, has good feet, can get out if he needs to.” – Bill Belichick (2018)
A big knock on the Patriots is their lack of receivers. But with an incompetent Cam Newton under center, Damiere Byrd has 45 rec for 590 yd (4/14 games with 60+yds and a week 11 game against Houston with 6 rec on 7 targets for 132 yds) and Jakobi Meyers has 49 rec for 616 yds (2/12 games with 100+ yards and 6/12 with 50+yards).
Next year, these guys are going to be 28 and 25 respectively.
The offense already has a wild running game with Harris and Michel. There’s no gurantee James White returns next year. I’m pretty sure he’s a free agent at the end of the year but if he isn’t I’ll be on the lookout for a text from Pat calling me an idiot. My b my b.
If you’re upset about the TE situation, Matt “Bought A Alligator I Ain’t Talking Lacoste” LaCosse is pretty garbage, Ryan Izzo sucks, and Devin Asiasi is also on the team and possibly okay. So you’d probably be right that it’s a position to worry about. But I’m not a miracle worker and we’re here to talk Darnold.
In his career (including this season), Darnold has not put up stellar numbers. His most yards came last season with 3,024 and was coupled with 19 TD and 13 INT.
It looks like Darnold is at least a consistent performer with this year’s numbers falling without Robby Anderson-one of his favorite receivers. His consistency comes in the form of completion percentages in the order of 57.7%, 61.9%, and 59.7% this year. Each of these have been slightly below league average.
But, if we’re going to complain and say that the Patriots offesnvie woes have seomthing to do with their lackluster receivers, we have to say the same about the Jets.
Names like Robby Anderson, Jamison Crowder, Quincy Enunwa, Terrelle Pryor, Chris Herndon, Jermaine Kearse, Demaryius Thomas, Ryan Griffen, Breshad Perriman, Denzel Mims, and Braxton Berrios don’t exactly move the needle and sound more like characters from a Matt Christopher book than real NFL players. This is what Darnold has been working with in his short career.
I’m not going to say he’s setting the world on fire but being able to put up seasons of 2800+ yards with 15+ TDs and relatively decent completion percentages while having the receivers above being the ones waddling downfield and being led by Adam Gase’s dumb ass…
…That sounds pretty alright to me. Maybe Darnold isn’t that bad. Maybe he’s stuck in an awful situation. Maybe he’s in a weird spot where he’s not bad enough to be blamed and not excelling enough to be hailed so the only time out of market places, like us in New England, hear about him is when he sees ghosts or gets mono. Maybe it’s like when people-now I’m not directly comparing the players but I am comparing the situations-say Matt Stafford is woefully slept on because he puts up numbers but is on a bad Detroit team and a smaller market. Maybe Darnold is better than we all think because we don’t consistently watch him.
The Patriots would 100% be an upgrade for Darnold-who had a winning record as a quarterback last season. That didn’t need to be said.
Working with “actual” (a term I’m using VERY loosely) receivers in Meyers and Byrd and with the Patriots projected to draft Devonta Smith out of Bama while being able to stay on his feet behind a competent offensive line and a running game of Michel and Harris? Seems like a place where Belichick could get Darnold to prosper.
Sam Darnold is not the quarterback that’s going to win a Super Bowl in New England. But trading a 3rd and a 5th for him to compete against Josh Allen for the East? It sounds fine to me.
Deshaun Watson is the quarterback that could win in New England but now that Bill O’Brien is out of Houston I don’t know how realistic that trade is.
Let Cam retire or leave. Take Darnold for a spin. Find some receivers better than N’Keal Harry. Keep the defense in line. Bring back the 40 guys who opted out.
11-5 record? I don’t know-probably not-but it’s possible! I’m not sure about you guys but I’d take any winning record and any playoff spot. Everyone’s voice/scream and football related mental health could use the rest.
Darnold trumps Newton. Get it? Cuz of that guy? You get it, you get it.
Anything But E 