5 Carolina Panthers who are living on borrowed time
By Dean Jones
Sam Darnold – Carolina Panthers QB
The Carolina Panthers might be tied to Sam Darnold in 2022 given they picked up his fifth-year option without properly evaluating the quarterback for themselves. But it’s clear for all to see that he isn’t the man to take this team where it wants to go.
It was a huge gamble giving up three draft picks to land Darnold from the New York Jets. Things looked promising initially, but as soon as Christian McCaffrey was forced out through injury, the former first-round pick out of USC reverted to type.
Erratic decision-making, panicking in the pocket, and not going through his progressions efficiently are all trademarks of Darnold’s disappointing career so far. Although head coach Matt Rhule remains confident in the player and has defended him far more than he ever did when Cam Newton was manning the plate.
The Panthers’ play calling at the Saints indicated they weren’t all that confident in Darnold’s ability to stretch the field behind a suspect offensive line. To say the scheme on offense was conservative would be understating things and it was perhaps inevitable that the game ended on an interception with the player forcing things downfield.
Even if the protection improves and the Panthers decide to give Darnold one more season, there are some major flaws in his game that simply cannot be rectified.