3 realistic targets for Carolina Panthers QB Sam Darnold in 2021
By Dean Jones
Completion percentage above 65
One of the only positives Teddy Bridgewater could take from last season was his completion percentage, which doesn’t tell the full story of a quarterback’s production. It’s clear that this doesn’t translate into wins of 2020 was any indication, but Sam Darnold needs to get better in terms of distribution to make a real go of things for the Carolina Panthers.
Darnold’s career completion percentage is 59.8, with his best campaign in this statistical category coming in 2019 at 61.9 percent. Hardly world-beating by any stretch of the imagination, but this might have a lot to do with the lack of protection and weapons around him.
Only time will tell, obviously.
But there is far more going for Darnold in Carolina than he ever had in New York.
Firstly, he has a security blanket alongside him in Christian McCaffrey, who is arguably the NFL’s best dual-threat running back and is sure to be raring to go after appearing in just three games last season.
Couple this with the likes of D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, David Moore, Dan Arnold, and the possibility of some more talent coming in via the 2021 NFL Draft to further boost options in the passing game, and it’s hard to envisage a situation where Darnold cannot improve his completion percentage if the protection improves further.