Explaining Why Sam Darnold Could Be the Panthers' QB1 to Begin 2022 Season
Last week, the Panthers finally made a move for another quarterback by trading a 2024 conditional 5th round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Baker Mayfield.
The franchise lost faith in the former No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft to take them to new heights despite guiding the organization to its first playoff appearance in over 20 years.
Upon completion of the trade, many felt this was a move the Panthers made to shore up the starting quarterback spot. For those fans that are hoping that was the case, they may be upset when this move becomes publicly deemed as a way to infuse competition in the quarterback room.
General manager Scott Fitterer has been very open and honest to the team's current starting quarterback, Sam Darnold by informing him of the team's plan to take a quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft. The plan all along was to give Darnold competition so that it would push him to really buckle down and hone in on his craft. Had the trade for Mayfield been completed in time for OTAs, maybe this is a different story. Given the timing of the trade, it could mean Darnold is still in line to start against Baker's former team in the season opener.
How so?
Well, first things first, he's coming in extremely late as already noted. Although Darnold hasn't played a game in Ben McAdoo's offense, he has taken valuable practice reps in it during OTAs and minicamp; something Mayfield will not have the opportunity until the team makes it to Spartanburg for training camp in two weeks.
Yes, most offenses have the same concepts and base plays but learning the nuances of the offense and the tendencies of his receivers, backs, tight ends, and offensive line is something Mayfield is going to have to learn on the fly. Many of the Panthers' offensive players such as Darnold, Matt Corral, DJ Moore, and Christian McCaffrey have talked about how in-depth McAdoo's offense is, so it's not going to be something he can just pick up by putting his nose in the playbook for 14-16 hours a day.
Secondly, McAdoo was higher on Mayfield four years ago when the two quarterbacks came out of college. Now, obviously, his opinion of each quarterback could have changed by then but he had Darnold ranked as the third-best signal-caller in that 2018 draft, while he had Mayfield sixth.
McAdoo's 2018 analysis of Baker Mayfield
“He’s got an edge to him, I like that. He’s gonna lead, they’re gonna follow him,’’ McAdoo said in 2018. “I didn’t see a lot of pro-style football in his college tape. And if you’re short you have to be able to make up for it some way, somehow, and personality doesn’t do that. I didn’t think he was a great athlete. This guy is kinda like a pocket quarterback that is short and with small hands, that’s what I worry about.”
McAdoo's 2018 analysis of Sam Darnold
“I think the kid the Jets drafted has a lot of magic in his game,’’ McAdoo said. “I think he’s special. He’s obviously a talented guy, he can make plays with his feet. I’d just have a hard time drafting a guy in the first round where you don’t necessarily like the way he throws.
Back in the spring, McAdoo was asked about his thoughts on Darnold having worked with him for a few practices. His response was a little surprising to say the least.
“Sam was one of the people that intrigued me to the job, to be honest with you,” McAdoo said. "I think Sam does have some magic in his game. I think he’s got some athleticism to him. I’m excited to work with Sam, and we’ve been working the last few days here to kinda get up to speed on the offense. And he’s shown flashes of being a good player in this league. And working together, hopefully we can get that to show up more consistently.”
If McAdoo truly believes there is "some magic" left in Darnold, then it would only make sense that he prefers him over Mayfield - a quarterback he was never high on in the first place.
To cap it all off, Darnold is owed $18 million in 2022, whereas Mayfield will only receive $5 million from the Panthers this upcoming season. Winning games is important and Mayfield probably gives them a better chance to compete deeper in the season, but it wouldn't be all that surprising to see them give one last chance to Darnold - the quarterback they have $13 million more tied up to.
Should Darnold "win" the starting job out of training camp, not only would it give him his one last chance, but it would also afford Mayfield the proper time to learn the offense and establish a connection with the receivers in the offense. Mayfield may be the better quarterback, but when you lay out all of the factors listed above and you see the two take reps side by side at training camp, the battle will favor Darnold. He has the bigger arm, bigger build, and has more athleticism than Mayfield. If Darnold fails to find success a few weeks into the season, then they can turn things over to Baker. I don't know how well it would work vice versa.
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