Big Blue View
Ron Boswell asks: Ed, as the start of the new season begins this weekend, I was curious about your thoughts on this. When Shurmur was fired after Jones’ rookie season I had two thoughts. One, that Shurmur was not a good HC and deserved to be let go. The other thought was coming off a rookie season that showed some promise for Jones how would the change in coaching staff impact his development. We now know any hope for Jones was derailed when Judge and Garrett came to town. With Mara’s past comment “We’ve done everything possible to screw this kid up since he’s been here” referring to Jones, do you think that is something Mara and co would take into consideration regarding Daboll and Dart? Personally, I’m hopeful this is a 7–8-win team and the question will be a moot point. However, if the team wins 4-5 games but Dart looks the part of a franchise QB what’s your opinion on if Mara keeps Daboll around to see his development through?
Ed says: Ron, that is the big question that affects the future of the franchise. I don’t know if there is a magic number of victories that Daboll needs to keep his job. What I do know is that John Mara is very cognizant of the mistakes the organization made in dealing with Daniel Jones. He may never have been a great quarterback as I think we understand his limitations, but I always thought that given the proper support he could have reached an Andy Dalton/Ryan Tannehill level on a consistent basis.
I believe the last thing Mara wants to do is repeat the mistakes the organization made with Jones by putting Jaxson Dart in a constant head coach/GM/offensive coordinator spin cycle. I think Mara will be looking for reasons to keep Daboll for at least another year rather than looking for reasons to fire him. I think Daboll gets another year — unless this season goes so badly that there is no other choice but to move on.
Jim Jordan asks: So, what’s up with Darius Slayton? He didn’t get a single target in the preseason and I don’t remember his name coming up much during camp coverage either. I know the coaches were trying to use reps to evaluate the multitude of young receivers in camp, and Slayton is a known commodity. But I would think with a complete turnover of the QBs on the roster this offseason, they would want to take some time to develop a bit of chemistry going into the season. Am I overthinking this?
Ed says: Yes, Jim, I think you are overthinking this. Slayton got plenty of work with Russell Wilson, and probably Jaxson Dart, during the spring and summer. There is no issue there.
*Carl Wittenberg asks: The offensive line has taken a lot of heat over the last several years. Clearly blown assignments or missed blocks are the individual lineman’s fault, but how much of the...
