Sometimes a change of scenery is all one needs to succeed in the NFL.
Players are drafted with high expectations, only to fail and be labeled busts.
But there are so many factors that go into one’s NFL success or failure.
That is especially true at the quarterback position.
A bad offensive line, bad play-calling, or just bad system fit can doom a player from the start.
Two NFL quarterbacks in particular stand out as recent examples of high picks who flamed out with the teams that drafted them.
Now, apologies may be in order once the ties were severed.
2. Sam Darnold
Sam Darnold is looking like a new man with the Carolina Panthers.
It sure is amazing what can happen when one is no longer coached by Adam Gase.
jets fans seeing the panthers 3-0 with sam darnold pic.twitter.com/ZLdAJz2fcu
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 24, 2021
New York Jets fans may have seen Darnold as a huge bust after he was taken No. 3 overall in 2018.
The franchise essentially gave up on him in order to draft Zach Wilson.
That is the best thing that ever happened to Darnold because his Panthers are now 3-0 and he has gone for over 300 yards in each of the last two victories.
The poetic justice came in Week 1 when Darnold squared off against Wilson and the Jets.
His Panthers came out victorious and the Jets are still left looking for a win in 2021.
With proper coaching, things could have been much different with Darnold and he is proving that now.
1. Mitchell Trubisky
Adding Mitchell Trubisky to this list has less to do with what he has done since leaving Chicago.
I feel like we as a city may owe Mitchell Trubisky an apology if this is how he was being coached.
— Matt Lindner (@mattlindner) September 26, 2021
Instead, it has to do with seeing how Matt Nagy continues to botch the Bears offense.
The Bears head coach had no real plan in place for Justin Fields‘ first start on Sunday in Cleveland.
The rookie lacked protection, there was no creativity to the plays, and he got no help from the running backs.
Does this sound familiar?
The Bears tried to pin all their problems on offense on Trubisky.
Now, Nagy appears to be the main culprit.
The organization cannot continue to use the excuse that they are held back by a young signal-caller.
Fields is an elite talent and there is no reason why he should go 6/20 in a game and take nine sacks.
Either he is terrible, or Nagy did nothing to help him out.
All Trubisky, and Bears fans, can do is sit back and watch this play out.
Nagy got a second chance at developing a franchise quarterback.
If he had done better work, they could have just stuck with the first one.
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