Breaking down why the Panthers were right to not take a QB in Round 1

The case for Carolina Panthers QB Sam Darnold

We get it. To put it kindly, Sam Darnold was a below-average quarterback during his tenure on the New York Jets.

In three seasons, he posted a 59.8 completion percentage, 8,097 passing yards, 45 touchdowns, and 39 interceptions. Last year, Darnold threw more picks than scores and received an abysmal 58.4 overall grade by Pro Football Focus.

However, it would be a huge mistake to judge the 23-year-old by his stats without providing context.

A two-year starter at USC, Darnold completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 7,229 yards, 57 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions. By comparison, Zach Wilson, who the Jets drafted No. 2 overall to replace him, completed 67.6% of his throws for 7,652 yards, 56 TDs, and 15 INTs in three years at BYU.

And if you remove Wilson’s outlier third season, his completion percentage averages to about 64.2, slightly below Darnold’s.

Upon arriving at the Jets, Darnold became the NFL’s youngest opening day starter since 1970 and he spent his first season under defensive head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates who was not popular in the locker room.

Bates also only had one year of experience as an offensive coordinator before New York, with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010.

Following an underwhelming season, Bowles and Bates were fired and replaced by Adam Gase. In 2019, Darnold overcame a “mono” diagnosis that could have derailed his season and went on to a 7-6 record as a starter and improved his completion percentage, yards, touchdowns, and interception rate from the previous year.

So what went wrong?

It’s well documented how inept Gase was as a head coach last season but making matters worse, the Jets parted ways with several key offensive pieces including Le’Veon Bell, Robby Anderson, Ryan Griffin, and Demaryius Thomas.

Those players were replaced with Frank Gore, Denzel Mims, Chris Herndon, and Breshad Perriman. Darnold’s 12 starts in 2020 were the worst in his short career, but so was the talent around him.

It’s too early to definitely say what Darnold will be with the Carolina Panthers. But it’s quite obvious his new coaching staff and offensive talent are a massive upgrade.

He’s going to have to improve his tendency to take unnecessary chances that lead to turnovers, but his college numbers encourage that he may be able to be coached into being a more efficient passer.

Darnold is still young for a fourth-year quarterback and if he does improve, what does the team gain from a rookie prospect sitting on the bench?