The virtue of patience

[Paintrain]

I posted something similar to this on another board a couple months back but I thought it'd be relevant with all of the "IR/Bench" Kelly sentiment around here..

There's so much negativity about JC and our rookies from last year I wanted to give a little recent (this decade) historical perspective on patience with letting players develop..

QB- in his first 28 starts he compiles stats of 29 TD, 31 INT, averaging right around 200 yards per game, 6.7 yards per completion, 79.7 QB rating while posting a sub .500 record. He's roundly criticized by his team's fan base for his lack of production, lack of consistency, accuracy and leadership abilities. Their was excitement was boundless when his replacement was sought, even though it was publicly botched.

WR- in his rookie year as a first day pick he plays in 15 games, starting 1, gets 10 catches for 154 yards and no TD. He's got a ton of raw talent but fans and media wonder if he will ever amount to anything because he's a bit of a knucklehead.

WR- in his rookie year as a first day pick he misses 11 games with a knee injury, playing in only 5 games. He amasses 2 catches for 40 yards and no TD and is widely criticized as a player who will always be injured and will struggle to be a consistent performer for his team.

TE- in his rookie year he comes in as a first day pick. Starts 10 games in a pass friendly offense and racks up 29 catches and 1 TD. His tools are unquestionable but his production pales in comparison.

At a glance, what would you have felt about those players at the points of their careers that JC, Thomas, Kelly and Davis are at right now? Any guesses about who those players were/are?

[MTK]

Overall people just need to calm down, it's freaking May. Save the drama for training camp.

[JoeRedskin]

The QB is drew brees.

[JoeRedskin]

and Santanna is one of the WR's (the injury prone one). No clue on TE or other WR.

[Paintrain]

^Correct on both..

[gibbsisgod]

Steve Smith is the other WR

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

QB- in his first 28 starts he compiles stats of 29 TD, 31 INT, averaging right around 200 yards per game, 6.7 yards per completion, 79.7 QB rating while posting a sub .500 record. He's roundly criticized by his team's fan base for his lack of production, lack of consistency, accuracy and leadership abilities. Their was excitement was boundless when his replacement was sought, even though it was publicly botched.

Drew Brees

EDIT: Late to the party I see. That's what I get for looking away from the computer to try and noodle it over!

[gibbsisgod]

The TE is Clark from Indy.

[JoeRedskin]

So what do we win?

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

So what do we win?

An extra large bucket of pride.

Seriously, the point is acting the way we're acting we would have given up on Drew Brees, Santana Moss, Steve Smith and Dallas Clark. Not to project that Campbell, Kelly, Thomas and Davis will become those types of players but so many 'fans' are so willing to throw in the towel on guys early in their careers it's mind blowing.

[gibbsisgod]

that was fun. I wanna play again.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

An extra large bucket of pride.

Seriously, the point is acting the way we're acting we would have given up on Drew Brees, Santana Moss, Steve Smith and Dallas Clark. Not to project that Campbell, Kelly, Thomas and Davis will become those types of players but so many 'fans' are so willing to throw in the towel on guys early in their careers it's mind blowing.

I 100% agree. I think too many fans look around the league and see one or two (skill-position) rookies really having impacts every year and 8-12 second year guys and forget about the 100+ 3+ year players having huge impacts. For every Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco there are 5 or 6 Heath Shulers, Ryan Leafs, Tim Couchs, Kyle Bollers, etc..

For every Desean Jackson there are DOZENS or WRs who don't do suat for at least 3 years.

It is the way it is. Hell even the mighty Sean Taylor, as good as he was, struggled at times his rookie year. And he is pretty roundly considered our best draft pick in probably 25 years.

Patience is part of it but I also think it requires fans to actually know what the hell is going on and have some kind of clue what they are talking about. For each person on this site that tries to stay informed and knowledgeable there are 100 who read Peter King and JLC as gospel every now and again and think they know what is "wrong" with the Skins. Not that they need to spend hours of their life on message boards discussing this stuff and educating themselves but most fans are dolts and don't know it. There's a reason why it is hard to win in the NFL. If it was as easy as most dolt fans think then more dolt fans would be running teams.

[redsk1]

I think for the most part fans have been patient w/ JC. I see a little impatience w/ MK, DT, and Fred Davis. I think most fans are willing to give JC a full year this year to see how he progresses.

Now, the FO, has been impatient w/ JC and lacks anything resembling a plan. Actually, they did have a plan to alienate our starting qb on multiple occasions all the while misleading him and us along the way. So, maybe they did have that plan.

So I'm patient w/ JC and want to give him a full year to show his improvement. I want to see him do that. If he doesn't show any signs of having the so called "it" we've been talking about, well, we have a decision to make.

[Lotus]

Excellent thread.

[53Fan]

Whenever comparisons are made, they are usually made with someone who is the exception to the rule. Disappointment is inevitable in most cases. If comparisons were made with the norm, there wouldn't be so much reason for panic. You would understand that most receivers take 2-3 years to develop. That the WCO takes 2-3 years to become efficient. That QB's do better when playing in the same system instead of changing every year or two. This isn't bad, it's just normal. Impatience says we want it to happen now, not after the time it has been proven to normally take. But then again there's always the exception to the rule, and that's what we continue to make comparisons to. "Well Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco took their teams to the playoffs in their rookie years and they had a new system." Once again, an exception to the rule. Drew Brees did'nt. Peyton Manning didn't. Troy Aikman didn't. Realistic expectations based on history make for a sound outlook. Unrealistic expectations based on the exceptions of a few create anxiety and disappointment.