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

Justin Fields is no guarantee

It’s not a secret that a lot of Carolina Panthers fans and some of the media were baffled they passed on Justin Fields. But no prospect in any draft is a guarantee.

Every player has to eventually prove their worth on the field and sometimes even the most heralded college athletes fall short of expectations. This isn’t to say the now-Chicago Bears rookie quarterback won’t be a nice player in the NFL, but contrary to popular belief, Fields didn’t exactly live up to the “can’t-miss” hype during his last season at Ohio State.

In four games against ranked opponents in 2020, Fields threw for 993 yards, nine touchdowns, six interceptions, and a 58 percent completion percentage. Not terrible, but certainly unspectacular for someone who was billed to be only behind Trevor Lawrence in this draft class.

And for those screaming about the “Clemson game”, that’s all it was, one game. While Fields deserves credit for delivering an all-time performance on one of the biggest stages, it shouldn’t absolve him from criticism for poor performances prior.

While some of the criticism Fields faced leading up to the draft can be chalked up to lazy stereotypes and unfair bias, it is telling that three teams drafted other quarterbacks ahead of him and the Carolina Panthers opted to stick with Sam Darnold. But they (and a few other teams) will have to deal with the criticism if the former Buckeye turns out to be a Pro-Bowl level signal-caller.

At the end of the day, the Panthers’ choice has been made.

As with pretty much anything, the fanbase and media are split, but only time will tell if this was the right decision. These past few seasons have been tough and while some may be annoyed now, we should all be rooting for this team to be successful for years to come.