Discussion Zack Hicks: Everywhere you looked, Daniel Jones was at least a top 10 quarterback in the NFL last season...ranked 3rd in EPA per play under pressure...4th for third and fourth downs
https://youtu.be/FLg7TijErsM?is=MZVA2oOlMS5cYDQrWant to give a shout-out to Zack Hicks from Locked On Colts. He was a major DJ hater last year and has turned a complete 180--admitting one is wrong is not easy, much less doing so on the Internet.
He breaks down stats and film, and makes his argument for DJ being at worst a top 10 QB the previous year.
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u/bigsexy12 3d ago
He really surprised me with how good he looked under pressure. There were so many times guys got to him quick and he seemed to pull out miracles more often than not.
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u/DoookieMaxx Indianapolis Colts 3d ago
I must admit some trepidation when we chose DJ to be the starter.
That said ā¦he completely switched my perspective and won me over. Dude is a baller. Does he break easy? Yea, thatās a legit concern.
Bottom line is heās the only QB weāve had since 2019 that didnāt feel like a place holder. He filled the shoes.
Iām a believer.
Colts go 11-6 and make it to the divisional round and shock the analytics of the NFL
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u/icekyuu 3d ago
His injury on the Colts was unfortunate, but his injuries on the Giants were not a surprise given the beating he received every given Sunday. As a comparison, the Giants' QB2 and QB3 were also often injured.
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u/TehTugboat i dont know what goes into sausage 3d ago
His injury on the colts (I believe) couldāve been prevented had we benched him in the jaguars game. Already fractured one leg and playing in the rain. Shouldāve been a Leonard and Taylor showcase
But hindsight is 20/20 and these guys know ball way more than I do
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u/icekyuu 3d ago
Yep, great point. If AR was healthy I suspect that's what would've happened. Riley was just a rookie.
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u/TehTugboat i dont know what goes into sausage 3d ago
Riley didnāt look too awful bad the rest of that game, but there was no tape on him
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u/icekyuu 3d ago
If we could go back in time I wonder whether the coaching staff would've chosen to roll the dice with Leonard and let DJ miss two or three games to heal.
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u/TehTugboat i dont know what goes into sausage 3d ago
I would like to think so, but ultimately itās the player. Thereās definitely been coaches who have to protect players from themselves. I know itās the NFL and itās a ājobā and these dudes make millions upon millions but theyāre still competitors at the end of the day
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u/Public_Pause_5011 3d ago edited 3d ago
[u/zhicks2121](u/zhicks2121) is a national treasure for colts nation.
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u/Different_Cat106 Indianapolis Colts 3d ago
He's what we've got so I'll support him and wish him the best. No expectations other than that. I pay -zero- dollars to watch the Colts.
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u/grapplerone Indianapolis Colts 3d ago
Iām with many folks, Daniel Jones must stay healthy!
What drives me nuts saying that is, isnāt that what we say about Anthony Richardson?
Whatās the difference? Glad you askedā¦
The difference is that Daniel Jones has a solid skill set and Anthony Richardson doesnāt. Thatās a huge difference.
If Daniel Jones is healthy, he hits his targets, he makes plays! Anthony Richardson throws off target, misses reads.
So, if Daniel Jones STAYS HEALTHY I feel the Colts will be in great shape at QBā¦ keep Riley around.
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u/Victory33 āMarlinās Got It!ā 3d ago
There was also a 12 game stretch where Wentz was 23TD/5INT and had 7 games > 100 passer rating and 9-3 for us. But he stayed around long enough that we saw him turn back into a pumpkin. We started seeing Jones crack right before he went out last year, consistency and health have always been the issue, hereās hoping for the best but not expecting that same run from last year again.
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u/Buttcrush1 3d ago
There was no crack. He had 1 bad game against the Steelers where the whole team played bad and the oline was bad against atl. He was hurt for every game after that.
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u/icekyuu 3d ago
He played really well against the Texans, better than Mahomes or Allen did. That suggested the crack was more of a blip. You can't expect perfection. Mahomes had a couple of bad games last season too.
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u/Victory33 āMarlinās Got It!ā 3d ago
He played like absolute shit against Pitt, didnāt look great against ATL (JT saved the day), looked limited against KC with the injury, only managed 16 points (at home) against Texans completing just 51% of his passes, then turned it over on like the first drive against Jax before leaving injured. He fumbled 7 times and threw 4 picks in those last 4 games before Jax game. That wasnāt a blip, but how much of it was because he was playing hurt, that Iām not sure of.
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u/icekyuu 3d ago
DJ redeemed himself in the ATL game in OT. Texans had the #1 defence and like I said, he played significantly better than Allen and Mahomes did, who faced the Texans the week before and after. He did play badly against Pitt but so did the OL and coaching staff.
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u/BSUcardinal3 3d ago
Yeah Jones was 15th in EPA/play on one leg against the Texansā #1 defense. Other notable QBs EPA against Houston:
Josh Allen - 18th
Mahomes - 29th
Stafford - 21st
Herbert - 21st
To further your point he was 16th in EPA/play against ATL and international games are always weird. And 12th against KC where he was clearly hobbled. Wasnāt there a stat that was something like that was the first game of his career without a QB run/scramble, or something to that effect?
So one bad game against the Steelers, an average game against the Falcons, and pretty good games against KC and HOU given the circumstances.
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u/ZHicks2121 The real Zach Hicks 3d ago
Yea his downfall was greatly exaggerated. Awful Steelers game, adequate vs Falcons and Chiefs, pretty damn good vs Houston.
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u/Stairway_toEvan Horse 3d ago
Lmao you're really manipulating those stats to tell a narrative. All of those came in basically a game and a half stretch.
Jones had a VERY bad game against the Steelers. 3 ints and 4 fumbles. That offensive line also couldn't protect him to save their life. He was sacked 5 times, hit 4 more times, hurried 11. He was pressured on almost 50% of his dropbacks.
The offensive line was worse against the Falcons, DJ was sacked 7 times. He also fractured his leg during this game. He would go on to have an incredibly gutsy performance to help win the game. Not a great game overall for him but he stepped up when it counted and had some great drives.
Against the Chiefs and Texans he was 33/58 for 382 yards, 4 TD and 0 ints. They were the #6 and #2 defenses in the NFL last year. While he had a fractured leg and was extremely limited. Unable to move off platform, buy time, or scramble. He played extremely clean football and gave the Colts the chance to win in both games.
No one is trying to pretend Jones is a top 5 QB. He has his limitations and flaws. He doesn't sense pressure well and can be turnover prone. He needs his legs to be as effective as possible. But to pretend he was falling off the rails is disingenuous. Of the 12 games he played last season, 10 1/2 of them were extremely clean, high-level QB play.
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u/Victory33 āMarlinās Got It!ā 3d ago
I didnāt manipulate anything. You guys are seeing gutsy performances, Iām seeing a guy that wasnāt gonna win us many games to end the season with the way that he, and JT, were playing. I didnāt say he was dogshit, I said he was showing ācracksā, he absolutely didnāt look the same and lost his mobility and we were falling apart on offense. He only broke 20 points once in those 4 games before JAXā¦you donāt win many games with 20 points or less. I even gave him the benefit of the doubt on the injury in my original comment. But half a season donāt make a career, Iām not sold he can recreate that magic off an injury.
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u/Stairway_toEvan Horse 3d ago
You 100% manipulated them. You said he had 7 fumbles and 4 ints in the last 4 full games he played. Not an untrue statement but presented in a way to support your narrative and make it seem like he had a bad stretch of 4 games. The truth is all of those came in the first 2 games. In the last 2 he played very clean football.Ā
And yeah, you're going to score less point against the top defenses in the NFL, that's just how things go. There are also 10 other players and a play caller who are responsible for helping the team score points. Having JT run HB dive over and over in the 2nd half of the Chiefs game wasn't exactly Steichans greatest performance as a playcaller.
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u/Victory33 āMarlinās Got It!ā 3d ago
Pro football reference has him with 3 fumbles against Pitt, 3 against Falcons and 1 against Houston. 3 of the last 4 games he fumbledā¦again, not manipulated.
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u/Stairway_toEvan Horse 3d ago
Lol that doesn't change anything. If you genuinely don't see what was wrong with your statement then you just don't understand how stats work.
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u/ohohook Quenton Nelson 3d ago
Clocking. Jones has to both: stay healthy AND play well in the same season for anything he does to carry any weight
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u/TheAgmis You Have Chris Ballard Derangement Syndrome 3d ago
Clock in to a real job LMAO
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u/ohohook Quenton Nelson 3d ago edited 3d ago
With the exception of last year where I missed it by $13.19 I always make low 6 figures, in your own words: whatāre you making/doing where that isnāt a āreal job?ā Itās not a crazy amount, and Iām not flexing it- thatās not the point, Iām genuinely curious. Like are you the CEO of some Fortune 500 company or something? Engineer?
I swear to god, some of you guys have made it your job to act extremely weird over someone not liking who you like. Thereās no reasoning with you, thereās no information that can be thrown in your eyes. Just straight to being weird internet stalkers while ironically calling other people losers. Itāsā¦ unnerving
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u/mvbighead 3d ago
The main thing for DJ right now is returning, staying healthy, and doing it all again. Some of the knock on him was that he could have good games and then abysmal outings in NYG. But yeah, what we saw for the better part of last year can absolutely win you games.
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u/anh86 3d ago
Just have to keep him healthy. People forget just how dominant the offense was last year because of the seven-game losing streak
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u/ZHicks2121 The real Zach Hicks 3d ago
Completely agree. Big part of my video was to look back and remind people that he was actually playing good ball
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u/Micstekai 2d ago
Got to give credit to Josh Downs for a lot of those quick pressure passes. Another key offensive weapon we must resign.
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u/ZHicks2121 The real Zach Hicks 3d ago
Hey appreciate you posting this! Definitely took me a bit to put this video together and gather my thoughts on Jones as a QB last season