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It was quite a statement
There is an old expression – “Leading from behind.”
That is what bad leaders do. They lead scared.
Joe Douglas was asked if he was fearful he could end up looking bad for trading Sam Darnold.
“Whether I look bad or not [for trading Darnold], I could give two [bleeps] about that,” Douglas told SI’s Albert Breer. “I know that he’s gonna have success. The timing didn’t really work out for him here. We couldn’t turn this around fast enough for him. And that’s not his fault. I root for good people, and that dude’s a good man, and he’s gonna do good things. I believe that.”
Not a lot of GM’s would say something like that, but Douglas is comfortable in his own skin, and doesn’t govern by public opinion polls.
He’s also not worried about ending up getting fired after making bold moves that might backfire. The Jamal Adams trade took guts to do, but he went ahead with it. The Darnold trade didn’t take as much guts based on the player’s body of work, but not every GM would have done it, due to where he was picked.
So the bottom line is he’s always going to do what he thinks is right from a football standpoint, and not worry for one second about the white noise. Past administrations had issues worrying too much about the opinions of the media and fans. Not this guy.
Look, I’m not putting him in Canton as a GM just yet, just saying he’s a leader. Time will tell how his personnel moves turn out.
But breaking down the quote, does Douglas really think that Darnold is going to have “success” and “do good things” in Carolina? And if so, why trade him, even it’s financially beneficial to move on to a rookie QB, who will be locked in his initial contract for the next four years? Because if you think is a QB is the answer, you don’t let him out of the building, and you pay him whatever it takes to keep him around. The NFL is a QB-driven league. You don’t let answers at the position out of the building, even if it costs you a lot.
So Douglas probably isn’t too concerned with Darnold becoming a star in Carolina.
Yes, he will have “success” at times, and “do good things” at times, just like with the Jets. Darnold has a lot of natural ability, will win some games. When the first reads are open, and when he makes magical plays creating times with his legs, he will have some good plays/games.
But the problem is consistency. With the Jets he showed flashes at times, but was somewhat uneven. One great pass could be followed by two bad ones.
So if Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady, consistently dials up amazing plays that allow Darnold to do his thing, without asking him to get to his third or fourth read, the QB will have some “success” in Carolina, no doubt.
However, to be blunt, I don’t think Douglas is losing sleep over this trade.
Because whether it was at USC, or during his first three years in the NFL, Darnold struggles reading defenses, and the chances of that changing are remote. Reading defenses is a really hard thing to do, most quarterbacks struggle with it, and it almost never changes with most guys. This is not an area where the light bulb all of a sudden comes on. Very rarely.
It is what it is, as they say.
April 9, 2021
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