Leave Landry Alone

More often than not, the inspiration to write my column comes from defending players against overreacting fans. If you had told me one year ago, that I would write one of these exposes defending Steelers QB Landry Jones, I might’ve laughed in your face.

But this is where we are on a Monday morning: fans are already in arms over 2 preseason losses. While the taste of victory is nice, there’s a reason preseason records don’t count: and that’s due to the amount of talent being tested in game-like situations.

This is precisely where we are with Landry Jones.

Jones is likely a player on the bubble to make the regular season roster. Mike Tomlin has always kept 3 quarterbacks on his roster, however, Jones has never been activated for any regular season action in his 2 years in the NFL. Entering year 3, the team brought in free agent Tajh Boyd, to challenge Jones for the clipboard position of 3rd string quarterback. For most, this was a sign that Landry’s best days (if he had any) were behind him, and the team was looking to move on after making Jones the 115th overall selection in the 2013 NFL draft (a 4th round pick many feel was wasted.)

Good fortune would shine upon Jones, however, who would see his opportunities expand due to two preseason circumstances:

1. The Steelers would play in the Hall of Fame game, adding a 5th exhibition game to their summer schedule.
2. Backup QB Bruce Gradkowski‘s shoulder injury would land him on the PUP list for the start of training camp, making Jones the defacto number 2 option, and thus, receive a larger share of reps both in practice and in preseason games.

Now it was up to Jones make the most of his opportunity. I was not thrilled with the thought though, having been one of the fans with a pitchfork in one hand and a torch in the other, due to Landry’s awful performances in the 2014 preseason. I now find myself defending him from the same heat from the torches of others, as he’s performed exceptionally through 2 games thus far.

My biggest knock on Jones last season, was his inability to find an open receiver. Granted, he might find them now and overthrow them, but that’s half the battle. Consider that Jones has completed 50% of his passes this preseason, and that a number of his passes were on the money… and dropped. Devin Gardener, Sammie Coates, Jesse James and C.J. Goodwin have all had a case of the dropsies, which points to another overlooked criticism of Jones: he hasn’t turned the ball over in 2 games.

Now, I understand that NFL.com has Jones listed for 1 interception this preseason, but anyone with two eyes and a brain can be objective and see that the play where Jesse James was stripped of the ball, was not technically Landry’s fault. The same could also be said of his lone touchdown pass, where some of the aforementioned also whiffed in the red zone. Again, not Landry’s fault.

Jones has also only taken 4 sacks or an average of 2 per game. Considering that Ben Roethlisberger was at one time getting nailed an average of 5 times per game, I would consider that successful too. Instead of forcing passes, Jones has thrown the ball away when facing pressure behind 2nd and 3rd string offensive linemen. There was even a moment in the Hall of Fame game where Jones used his feet to scramble for a first down, diving head-first and taking a pretty decent shot. He’s no longer a sitting duck, and looks comfortable in the pocket, albeit not 100% confident, who could be when playing with the equivalent of replacement players

Also taking that into perspective, Jones’ quarterback rating has progressively gotten worse as the games go on, meaning he is having more success with the Steelers regulars than the hopefuls: this is a good thing, as you would want to see him be more consistent with those players he could be on the field with, should a major injury occur to the quarterbacks ahead of Jones in the pecking order.

It makes me feel at least a bit more comfortable about Jones as a fill-in, and that’s where the criticism has to end: Jones is young backup. He is not Big Ben, nor will any quarterback be. Ben’s shoes are big ones to fill, as he is, in my opinion, a first ballot hall of famer. Look around the league and ask yourself who has admirably filled the shoes of Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Jim Kelly or even John Elway (pre-Peyton Manning signing that is.) It’s a struggle to find one good QB in the National Football League, let alone three, since Jones is a third stringer.

So I say leave Landry alone. It hasn’t always been pretty, but he hasn’t been nearly as ugly as those would make him out to be. Now, if for some reason Jones becomes the top signal caller during the regular season, and falls flat on his face… I’ll rejoin the fans the pitchfork and torch line.