(01-02-2020, 12:32 PM)IndyJagsFan Wrote: I think his "struggles" were overrated by people putting standards in play not used with any other young QB and done because of draft position lack of pedigree. Outside of the end game mess in London, GM never looked lost like rookies do.

I also think he was handcuffed with the end season preoccupation with volume feeding Fournette that caused lousy first halves. Once that got corrected, Minshew went back to his earlier form.

Seeing the videos of him in the locker room and how the players respond to him was telling for me. I suspect that being snubbed for OROY will fire him up even more for next year. I'm all in on his future. I suspect the FO is too. I think that Star Wars pregame video was revealing.

I do appreciate how competent he has been, especially as a rookie. As we've seen some players (especially really young ones) can struggle getting used to playing at the professional level. I mean really struggle. Earlier this season Dwayne Haskins was really struggling and there was a report that Adrian Peterson told him he needed to get more into the playbook. (Adrian ended up refuting that report but still, things were rough enough that it was floating out there and people believed it.). 

Granted young QB's that really struggle can definitely improve and end up playing well and/or becoming good players. Jared Goff really struggled his first year, to the point to where people were questioning should he be a starter. And then he got a new coach and has improved a lot and went to a Super Bowl. But it's definitely a good thing if players look competent and adjust better early on.

And I've seen that with Gardner. For the most part outside of like the Texans game, he hasn't really looked overwhelmed or like the game is too much/much too fast for him. He's young and still have room for growth and improvement, but he has looked competent and like he has a solid grasp on the game. And him and the team can continue to build on that.

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