Preseason Psychosis
The Hall of Fame Game was pretty good! As far as exhibition matches go. Entertainment level: high. Value level: low.
Every year we deserve the “Fell for it again” award. We get so starved for football that the pathetic morsel of hardtack in early August gets us going. Preseason as a whole does it. Outside the draft, no time of the year contains more hype and cope than preseason. We let ourselves get suckered into the stories of these fringe players who are probably going to be cut or end up as practice squad bait or depth reserves.
What’s worse is how we judge the performances. A good play by a fringe guy in the 4th means he’s a secret stud just ready to break out. A bunch of good passes from a QB and suddenly we’ve got competition. A bad performance? Who cares? It’s preseason. A good performance? STUD BABY. LEAGUE BETTER BEND OVER BECAUSE WE ABOUT TO FUCK IT UP.
You have to sit back in your chair from time to time in August and slap a cold rag on your face to remind yourself: it’s preseason. Preseason is a rehearsal. The teams and players aren’t even playing normal football. They are testing things, hiding other things, throwing shit at a wall. You can allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised by a guy having a good preseason, but you can’t emotionally invest until the actual show. Stars do come from preseason showings. Victor Cruz famously broke out in a preseason game against the Jets on Hard Knocks, but he didn’t actually have his breakout season until a year later due to injury. Russell Wilson is probably one of the most famous examples of a guy who broke out hard in preseason and turned into a real stud. Dak Prescott had a similar go of it. But these guys are not the norm.
I’m not surprised Beck had a good preseason game or when other rookie QBs from big-name schools taken in the mid-rounds have good preseasons. It would sort of track that a prospect playing the hardest position in sports with a lot of experience in big programs (Beck played for Georgia and Miami) would look good against guys who are fighting for a chance to even make a roster. 7th rounders and undrafted players who got picked up thanks to a GM with a bit of curiosity. Beck wasn’t out there playing Carolina’s A-Team. I’d be more alarmed if he looked bad out there, but even then: preseason.
Last year after the Hall of Fame game, I saw a disturbing amount of Trey Lance hype cross my timelines because he had a good showing. It was hilarious. Look how that turned out. He’s still back there warming Justin Herbert’s bench and you probably forgot about him until right now. Maybe we’ll see him again someday. Don’t let yourself fall victim to Preseason Psychosis. Just enjoy some football hors d’oeuvres.
Ah preseason predictions, where even the worst of the worst are projected to be around .500
I like preseason and grading on a curve, it lets me get hyped when a guy like Efton Chism comes off the bench.
I like the hype though. It’s fun to hype these end-of-the-roster-if-they’re-lucky blokes because let’s be honest, most of them will never see a regular season game. But it’s the NFL, and and no matter what, even getting playing time in a preseason game is a huge accomplishment. Do I seriously think Carson Beck and Haynes King are studs? Hell no. But damn it’s fun to hype them up since they had a good game.
I was honestly more impressed with Haynes King. Beck did good. But he should’ve done good. He was playing the equivalent to some school’s second and third stringers. That being said, the Card’s have to be happy. Beck playing competent ball means Brissett might have a shorter leash. He really fell into a great situation for him to become a starter. Being successful? These are still the Cardinals, so approach with cautious optimism.
Im trying to think of guys who looked bad in preseason and turned into studs.
I remember Ja’Marr Chase had a drop problem. It was all the talking heads could talk about.
JJ Watt and Peyton Manning both weren’t great, though for Manning that continued for a lot of his first actual season. Cam Newton was absolutely terrible and then had a great rookie season
Mitigate*
Football is football, even when it’s only kind of football.
I remember the time when the Lions pulled off a legendary perfection in 2008 by winning all 4 games in the preseason. Then they pull off another perfection the same season.
Tbf some of it is legit. I had good feels watching Kaep and Purdy play snaps in preseason that were justified.
Not going to lie, Haynes King did impress me and I think has a higher upside than Pickett if he gets a chance. Too bad he got hurt at some point.
If only we could get this kind of hype for the Pro Bowl.
Why are you stealing hope from these poor franchises? These are the few weeks that they can dream every year.
Also, preseason isn’t really a competition between teams, but within teams to see who will be in the final 53. It’s the first chance to see how the draft and trade picks perform on the field against similar competition.