Biggest difference (I think) between Josh Allen going to Buffalo vs the Jets, is Buffalo was patient. They stood firmly behind Josh for 3 seasons before they got a good pass out of him! Jets fans woulda had a banner flying over the stadium and billboards in Time Square by week 3 of his rookie season
He got better every year and went to the playoffs in year 2 and then every year since. How is that being patient? I’m not saying Darnold got a fair shake here but he got three years here and regressed badly in year 3. Not saying he had a good staff or supporting cast, but it’s not like the Jets punting on him after half a season. Two other franchises have since given up on him as their starting QB.
Darnold needed to get kicked in the nuts first before he got serious as a professional. Unfortunately we were there for the nuts kicking
Probably but Darnold is also very romanticized here. He had a great year last year although that was with probably the leagues best receiving corps, a top offensive coach and a top 5 scoring defense (that also lead the league in forcing turnovers). We’ll see how he fairs in his new situation in Seattle which is definitely stripped down as compared to what he had last year in Minnesota.
Yeah for sure…Seattle is not as good as Minnesota and we’ll see about the coaching…he had a very good HC who is a former QB and kind of a QB whisperer in Minnny so I fully expect Darnold to come down a bit. That being said, I still think he’s better than Fields.
Just got done watching the SEC Doc on Netflix and USC was my favorite of all the teams they covered. Just love Shane Beamer as a HC. Sellers did look really good.
Based on everything we saw on the field in Yr 3 from Darnold, the Jets were not crazy to move on from him. That being said, Gase was so awful as a HC, they probably should have given him one last shot under a new regime. IMO, the main reason they moved on was that they had such a high pick and had FOMO from an overhyped QB draft class. In hindsight, that QB class sucked and there were multiple non-QB prospects they could have selected that might have changed this franchise.
I'm right there with you. I had Darnold, Rosen, Mayfield in that order and also thought Lamar and Allen would bust.
Cade Klubnik, Garrett Nussmeier, Fernando Mendoza, Drew Allar, LaNorris Sellers, Sam Leavitt These are the prospects I'll monitor throughout the college season. I didn't mention Arch because I get the feeling he's not coming out until 2027.
As a fan of an opposing SEC team, LaNorris scares me. Not sure what his pro career will be, but if I were betting Heisman futures, he’d be up there. On Arch Manning - I don’t get it. Yeah, he was a coveted recruit, but UT mostly used him as a better RPO sub for Ewers. His biggest games were when UT gave him the keys against second-tier teams. Quinn Ewers was no World Beater, and had enough fans clamoring for his benching. So, the question is - what does the world see that Steve Sarkisian hasn’t yet. Even without his grandfather’s comments, I just don’t get how you’d put him at the top of the 2026 draft - based on a pedigree and a high school career.
What’s impressive about Sellers to me is that he looks every bit as big as he’s listed. Anthony Richardson was/is listed at like 240 but he has a slender mid section and narrow shoulders. Same with Trevor Lawrence. Sellers looks like he’s built like Ironman. Pretty cool that he stayed at South Carolina too.
With Sellers, I kinda get a Cam Newton vibe. Different frame - LaNorris is bulkier. But their play style gives me the same feeling I had watching Cam play. Not exactly, but similar.
I’d add Carson Beck. Wasn’t too long ago he was projected as a 2025 first round pick. We’ll see if that was all Bowers/McConkey. For 2026 draft-likely QBs, I can’t see LaNorris coming out unless he has a top-10 pick sort of year. The guy I’d put at the top of the list today is Nussmeier. After that, a bunch of good-not-great QBs, with no real game-changer. I think you have to wait until 2027 for one of those. Several candidates, LaNorris included. For 2026, Nussmeier is the only guy I see as a potential game-changer - mostly because I watched him change a game. His 2024 was solid, but if he’s the player we saw in the 2022 SEC Championship, there’s no close second. Ignore the score. LSU was getting curb-stomped in the first half, until Nussmeier came in and tore through an NFL defense. LSU out-played and out-scored UGA in the second half. The final score is only because UGA found enough of running game to keep Nussmeier off the field. That’s the player I’d want. Except, he had to spend the next season on the bench behind a Heisman winner and wasn’t able to build on that game.
