It isn't a matter of physical build. It's a matter that Teddy and McCown are veterans and they've seen a lot during their time in the NFL. They're used to seeing more complex defensive alignments, exotic blitzes and disguised coverages. Darnold isn't. All he has faced is preseason vanilla Ds, so he could be slower in making decisions and getting the ball out than Teddy or McCown, and that could be all it would take for him to suffer a big hit and serious injury. I believe that Teddy is also quicker, more nimble than Darnold and less of a target. Due to his experience, he also sees the field better. More importantly, Darnold is the future of the franchise. Do you really want to risk playing him behind our OL that hasn't had preseason to get in sync? It could take a minimum of 2-3 games for the OL to get in sync once Beacham and Winters return to the starting lineup, and even then they're questionable. It would suck to see Teddy get hurt again and to lose out on possibly trading him for a draft pick, but imo that's a better option than having Darnold get seriously injured.
Teddy may or may not be more likely to get hurt. Just because he got hurt 2 years ago, doesn't mean that he will now. For one thing, he is a smaller target than Darnold, and is both quicker and faster than Darnold, so he can avoid a lot of hits. Also, because Teddy has experience facing more complex D alignments, seeing exotic blitzes and disguised coverages, he can probably make decisions faster than Darnold and get the ball out quicker. Darnold hasn't faced any exotic blitzes, complex d alignments or disguised coverages in preseason and probably won't, and that could be enough to slow his decision making down just enough where he could take some big hits and possibly get injured. Yes, the OL should be better by the 4th game. They'll have had Beacham and Winters back for 4 weeks, and will have had a chance to get in sync or at least start getting in sync. They'd better get better by the 4th week, or we could see all of our QBs get banged up and it could be a VERY long season.
TL/ DR Remember when Cousins was a scrub backup to the all world game changing RG3? Mac better think LONG and HARD before trading Teddy for a hope and a dream.....
Perhaps, but there's a big difference between those two in terms of attitude, talent and temperament. Regardless, Darnold will be given 2-3 years at a minimum to prove himself.
Teddy tore his ACL as a HS senior. He opted for rest and rehab vs surgery, same as Tannerhill in 16. That leaves the knee joint loose and unstable. It is what lead to Teddy's near amputation. He was very close to losing his leg.
Good post and a lot of these ACL injuries aren't even because of big hits. "Non-contact". Can take place and occur during dress rehearsal or a casual warm-up. Which is what makes them scary, can happen to anyone while playing at any position and without any prior warning signs. Just look @ NE's 1st round pick of 2018 I mean it doesn't even feel safe drafting an O-Lineman anymore. Lots of weight on their bones, knees, joints and ligaments. I don't know too much about which positions are affected the most by these injuries but I'd imagine that ACL injuries to Offensive Lineman have been around the game of Footballl for a long time no? I can't imagine these guys having good knees when it's all said and done with after say 10-15-20 years...
Last season there were 51 acl tears, 31 in the preseason. Almost all no contact. 7 olineman. Most are CBs,WRs, LBs and RBs. It usually happens making cuts. Weight shifts to one knee and it tears. Less time with trainers since the new CBA seems to be one reason for the increase. Less cross training before camp.
Wow, that's insane (pre-season ACL tears). It's weird, total knee replacements and arthritis is occurring/starting earlier and earlier even amongst regular folks/non-athletes. That aside, the knee is the most poorly designed part of human anatomy. It really is. Pretty crazy, too, that all the dings you got as a kid come after you with a vengeance when you're older. And by older I don't even mean old.
I read the entire post but the bold is alarming to me. How can there have been 51 ACL tears and 31 came during a 4 wk preseason? That means that 60.7% of ACL injuries suffered last year came during a 4 wk period (preseason)... when compared to only 39.2% of ACL injuries occuring over the course of a 17 week span (regular season). That is telling. These players most fall off the strength and conditioning/health wagon come the offseason. And then by the time Training Camp & Preseason comes around their bodies are no longer ready for punishment (after a few months away from the game). I think that's what makes the NFL warriors such as Curtis Martin gridiron gladiators. Their offseason regimen has to be on a completely different level.
I don’t understand why you keep calling Teddy a “veteran”, he has played ONE season. I love Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye but I do not consider them “veterans”.
Same question I asked sec336: Just curious, are you throwing out Teddy's 2014 ROY season , Or his 2015 Pro bowl season? He was still with the Vikings in 2016 and 2017. Four acrued seasons. He is a veteran.
I am not throwing it out. I wouldn’t consider Leonard Williams at this point a veteran. I like Teddy as a player, but I just don’t think it wise to start the season with him and then trade him mid way. I also don’t think it would be wise to sign him long term and have both him and Darnold on the team next year. To me the only 2 options to keep Teddy this year are to consider him the starter and let him play the whole season unless he stinks it up and let him go at the end of the season - which doesn’t help us long term or keep him on the team and start Darnold/McCown and he is our insurance policy and let him go at end of season.
What is the point of starting Teddy? The Jets should keep Teddy in bubble wrap until a QB goes down and they can trade him. McCown should start the first three or four weeks before giving it up to Sam. Did anyone watch the game on Thursday? The team is going nowhere and fast. This season is about giving Darnold some burn.
3 games in 10 days but the first game has a full week of prep. The second game has one less day of prep, and the third game is on a short week since its on TNF. Way overblown concern, I'm tired of hearing this as a reason to sit Darnold.
Don't get me wrong. I love Teddy and if there aren't any good offers for him and he outplays Darnold next week then I want him to start. We need to start winning games as it will build confidence and change the losing culture here. Teddy would make a great "bridge" QB for Sam to take over either midseason or the next.
this brings up the issue of the smaller size of an nfl field vs the larger field used in canada. the larger field puts more emphasis on less fatter,faster guys as opposed to he 300-350 lb guys on nfl offensive and defensive lines. don't you think that using the larger field would cause each position to prioritize less weight and more speed/quickness?
if you assume that josh is not an active player next year, why not sign teddy to an extension? you have at least $10 million available next year, and having teddy under contract means he can battle for the starting position, can still be a veteran backup, or you can get more in a trade if he has years under team control.
