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QB Sam Darnold, MIN (2 Viewers)

Ex-Jets C Ryan Kalil believes new Panthers QB Sam Darnold did not have enough freedom playing under ex-Jets coach Adam Gase. 

Kalil, who is now retired, was one of Darnold's centers in 2019. “It was a system that didn’t allow a lot of individual freedom. It was very, ‘You do it this way and that’s it,’” Kalil said. “A lot of the scheme was pre-determined (plays) based on what they thought they were seeing from the sideline. It didn’t give Sam a lot of room to grow, in my opinion, to make decisions on the fly. ... It wasn’t a system that allowed him to evolve and make decisions on his own. ... And I think that’s why ultimately the Jets made some (coaching) changes, too.” It's a charitable reading of Darnold's struggles in New York, as Gase was not the coach for Darnold's rough rookie year in 2018. Darnold showed modest improvement under Gase in 2019 before going off the rails in 2020. Something that is not up for debate is that Panthers OC Joe Brady will be by far the best coach to ever call plays for Darnold. The quarterback's supporting cast is also better than any he had in the Big Apple. 2021 is now or never for the former No. 3 overall pick. 

RELATED: 

New York Jets

SOURCE: The Athletic 

Apr 15, 2021, 5:59 PM ET
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kittenmittens said:
I never believed that one.  I don't even beleive the Jets are taking Wilson lol. 

I mean I do, but only because of the Jets and who the owner is. 
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I believe the Jets will take Wilson, but I never thought for a second the 49'ers would take Jones.  Now watch them take Jones.

 
Panthers GM Scott Fitterer said the team will wait until after the draft to make a decision on Sam Darnold's fifth-year option.

The Panthers want to see if a quarterback falls to them at the No. 8 pick before committing to Darnold. That's unlikely to happen and Carolina could use draft capital to build around Darnold, who at 23 is only slightly older than most of this year's top QBs. The Panthers have until May 3 to make a decision. Darnold's $18.9 million 2022 salary will be guaranteed for injury only if the Panthers pick up his option.

SOURCE: NFL Network

Apr 24, 2021, 10:07 AM ET
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Faust said:
Panthers GM Scott Fitterer said the team will wait until after the draft to make a decision on Sam Darnold's fifth-year option.
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Oof. That changes things up radically, not only for Sam, but for Carolina's draft possibilities. I thought they'd already picked up the option, but I guess cooler heads prevailed.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Love this as a lions fan. If Lance is there (and they don’t want to take him) someone will want to get ahead of Carolina. 

 
Panthers exercised the fifth-year option on Sam Darnold's contract. 

The Panthers are officially in the Sam Darnold business. Team officials said they would wait until after the first round of the draft to make a call on exercising the QB's fifth-year option -- which means his $18.9 million 2022 salary is guaranteed -- and they did just that after passing on Justin Fields and Mac Jones in favor of CB Jaycee Horn. "We traded for him because we believe in his potential," head coach Matt Rhule said. Darnold, still somehow 23 years old, is Carolina's quarterback of the present and future, for better or worse. Creative and forward-thinking offensive coordinator Joe Brady gives Darnold a far better chance of success than Adam Gase ever did. 

SOURCE: Tom Pelissero on Twitter 

Apr 30, 2021, 8:59 AM ET
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DO NOT trade Julio Jones; top positional battles; saving Sam Darnold
 

Excerpt:

PANTHERS: Nature vs. nurture and Sam Darnold

If you ask evaluators what matters most in the development of the quarterback, the conversation routinely leads to a debate over talent versus environment. But it's not necessarily an either/or scenario. Franchise quarterbacks need to possess blue-chip talent -- and they also must be surrounded by premier playmakers, protection and an A-plus play-caller to thrive.

In the case of Sam Darnold, we've seen enough from the 23-year-old to know the talent is there. But when it comes to the three Ps, the young signal-caller has rarely been exposed to even one facet, let alone the trifecta. That shouldn't be the case in Carolina, however, as the franchise seems to understand how important these factors are to the development of young quarterbacks. The Panthers' commitment to providing all three could help Darnold finally realize his potential as a pro.

"We're just trying to build the whole team, and I just believe in Sam, I believe that he deserves the opportunity to go out and play with us," head coach Matt Rhule recently said on the Rich Eisen Show. "Now, we just have to make sure Sam's a great player for us."

The vote of confidence is a bit of a surprise for a quarterback with a 13-25 career record and the worst passer rating in the league since 2018 (78.6). But the belief in the former No. 3 overall pick stems in part from his untapped potential. It's not thatlong ago that NFL scouts and personnel executives were painting Darnold as an elite quarterback prospect. The USC standout was lauded for his gunslinger mentality, clutch playmaking ability and winning pedigree.

Despite an up-and-down three-year stint with the New York Jets, Darnold flashed enough talent to prompt Rhule and the Panthers to not only dump their starter(Teddy Bridgewater), but bypass potential QB1s early on Day 1 of the draft.

"We were sitting there one day on defense, and I can't remember (exactly) what we were watching, we were watching a cut-up, and Sam was playing on the other side of the ball, and a couple times he made some throws, and Phil Snow, our defensive coordinator, was like, 'Man, that kid looks like Matt Stafford.' And so, we put a couple games on -- and this is the defensive staff -- and they were all like, 'You know what, every game we watch, he makes a couple of big-time plays, and there has to be some meat on the bone there,' " Rhule said. "So, kind of went through the process and kept watching him and going back and watching him in college and watching his pro day and then going back and watching his first year in a different offense and the second year and his third year. When the compensation was enough where we didn't have to give up what we thought was too much that [it] would hurt our team and a chance to get him here, we'd watched so much tape on him that we saw enough shining moments."

As a young scout, I was taught by my mentors to grade the flashes, because if a player can do it once, he can do it again in the right situation. The Panthers are banking on an upgraded supporting cast -- a pair of 1,000-yard receivers (Robby Anderson and D.J. Moore) and a member of the exclusive 1,000/1,000 Club (Christian McCaffrey) -- creating easier big-play opportunities for the quarterback. In addition, the Panthers used the draft to add a several more weapons (WR Terrace Marshall, WR Shi Smith, RB Chuba Hubbard and TE Tommy Tremble) and upgrade the offensive line (OT Brady Christensen and OG Deonte Brown).

With offensive coordinator Joe Brady poised to dial up productive play calls, the Panthers believe the fourth-year pro will flourish in his new environment.

"After getting him here, talking to Robby Anderson, who played with him (the receiver was with the Jets in 2018 and '19 before joining the Panthers in 2020), talking to other guys who played with him, there's not many guys who've been his teammates who say anything bad about him," Rhule said. "Like, they all have believed in him and believe that he can be good. Hearing some of his former coaches talk about him, they believe that he can be good and so I've always been kind of a nurture vs. nature guy, I think people have to be in the right situations and, you know, hopefully a change of scenery is what he needs."

Considering how the Panthers have gone all-in on the Sam Darnold experiment, we will find out quickly if the former first-rounder can realize his potential in a new environment.
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College teams have a stable of QBs with backups capable and a hint of likeliness they might play. NFL teams have an alpha dog and can't succeed that way. Rhule doesn't see it.

I wouldn't take any QB from the Panthers for FF. This is how the Browns and Bengals and so many losing teams do things. Winning teams have an alpha

 
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Reactions: DAG
Bri said:
College teams have a stable of QBs with backups capable and a hint of likeliness they might play. NFL teams have an alpha dog and can't succeed that way. Rhule doesn't see it.

I wouldn't take any QB from the Panthers for FF. This is how the Browns and Bengals and so many losing teams do things. Winning teams have an alpha
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What do you mean by this? You don't think Darnold is the clear cut starter in Carolina - the price they paid to acquire him plus the cost of picking up his fifth year option tells me that's their plan. Now, personally I don't think their plan is sound - but as I said before Matt Rhule is more qualified than I to evaluate him.

 
Robby Anderson going to be doing a lot of needless sprinting this year. Or getting killed underneath by hospital balls. Sure he's loving this right now. And I know he just came out behind Sam, but what has he got to be thinking behind closed doors.

 
rockaction said:
He only lives in my head when the thread entitled "Sam Darnold" gets bumped. Then when I see the same excuses trotted out, I comment.

Meow, indeed!
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LOL, when the title of your team's thread on the board is referencing a player no longer on your team and a head coach who has never been associated with your team, then said player is living rent free in your heads. Sad to see.  

 
ConstruxBoy said:
LOL, when the title of your team's thread on the board is referencing a player no longer on your team and a head coach who has never been associated with your team, then said player is living rent free in your heads. Sad to see.  
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Dude it's a joke based on a statement Matt Rhule made:

"I don’t want (Darnold) to have great days, to be honest with you, right now,” Rhule said. “Because that means we’re not making things hard enough for him. I want him to have good days of just steady progress, to be good days slowly to great days.”
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Get over yourself. Seriously.

 
Waited at QB.  Drafted Lance to wait for late season boom.  Think I am starting Darnold over Cousins.  Revenge game, plenty of weapons, young secondary for NYJ.

:bag:

 
Buck Bradcanon said:
Waited at QB.  Drafted Lance to wait for late season boom.  Think I am starting Darnold over Cousins.  Revenge game, plenty of weapons, young secondary for NYJ.

:bag:
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I like it, @Buck Bradcanon

While I’m generally against weak crutch arguments - revenge games is up there with Its A Contract Year - I do think it’s a good upside play. There’s gonna be 4-6 anomalys in the QB1-12 results every week, and I think most players are unaware or just chicken out at streaming QBs. Heck most people don’t want to do it for a DST. Must be all those late night set it and forget it Ronco infomercials from childhood creeping into their subconscious.

I’m betting on Fields for my late year cheat code QB and have Baker as a placeholder. I like Mayfield trying to keep up with Mahomes but I‘m def considering Darnold in a tasty matchup.

 
ConstruxBoy said:
He might not end up being good enough to lead the Panthers, but he’s good enough to beat the Jets. 
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I liked what I saw. Was playing with confidence, and more importantly looked like he was having fun, at least in the first half. Dude always looked like he was doing quantum physics at the line with the Jets.

And he's still gaining chemistry at game speed with his new guys. Think there could be something there.

 
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