And you never stated how many games you predicted he'd play in. I thought you didn't care? Especially after you wrote this: "Hey, I said good prediction, you obviously used all of your football acumen to come up with those numbers. You don’t have to justify to me at all." But if you really want to know, look up post #69, where I did explain it. I know you read that one because you responded to it, telling us, in part. how good Kalil was going to be.
The results are in. Here are the categories people opted to include in their predictions and the season totals: Passing yards 3024 Completion % 61.9 Passing TDs 19 Interceptions 13 Rushing yards 62 Rushing TDs 2 Fumbles 11 Fumbles lost 3 Games played 13
Got 3 fumbles lost correct. His completion % went up and his Int % went down all while being sacked 30+ times.
Well, that didn't happen, so who cares? And in answer to the irrelevant counterfactual, I predicted 25 and 12, so yes, 23 and 16 would still have been disappointing. My prediction was not even as good as what Daniel Jones would have had if he had played the entire season, which is hardly superstar material, and Darnold didn't even reach that level. Whatever excuses there might have been (illness, OL, crappy weapons, bad coaching) Darnold didn't have a good year, and plenty of that is on him alone. That's just the way it is.
Sam Darnold reminds me a lot of a young John Elway. He doesn't have the cannon arm because he doesn't have the mechanics for that but everything else feels like Elway circa 1984-85. He believes in himself and takes good shots into tight windows nobody else sees. He scrambles a lot and extends plays outside the pocket but rarely takes off running. He is way too prone to a big oopsie but he's also on the field with his head high on the next drive and just as likely to make a great throw as not on the next close call. I hope the Jets build right around the kid. He has what it takes if nobody else is screwing the pooch.
I predict next year Namath's franchise yards record is going down. And I'm not trying to be funny or anything. I truly believe it. Assuming no mono and that the Jets get him a little help on the offensive line.
The record is 4007 yards, which this year would have put Darnold 11th in the NFL. He actually had 3024 yards, which was 25th. Had he played all 16 games, that extrapolates to 3722 yards, or tied with Kyler Murray for 15th. So it probably won't happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Regardless, 4007 yards back then is equivalent to 5000+ yards now.
