Sam Darnold

[travisura]

9 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

Sam played the hand he was dealt and did what he could to help the team. He helped us to 4 wins in 6 games and managed the game which is his job. At the end of the game it is about wins and losses and scoring points and he did that pretty well.

The offense was literally designed so that Sam would have the ball as little as possible. I'm sorry but a liability like that is not franchise QB material. I don't even want him as a backup. We can do better.

[PNW_PantherMan]

I'm ready to see him go so we can stop talking about him.

[CamTheMan]

6 minutes ago, frankw said:

Well there's not much to engage with if you're going to remove that game to make your argument look better. Sorry bud the world doesn't work that way and the Carolina Panthers aren't running a charity. Enjoy your day!

That game wasn't removed though? If I had, the following would have been his stats:

3740 yards (10th)

24 TDs (10th)

3 Ints (1st)

105.4 Rating (2nd)

I included that game in the original post though. He played objectively average football throughout the course of 6 games. I wouldn't count on that regressing after he goes from McAdoo to Reich, personally. Seems like if anything, he'll get better. Most of the people against him are basing their arguments on how they personally feel about him, which is totally fine. Just say you want to move on because you're scarred from how bad he was in 2021. Completely acceptable take. What isn't an acceptable take is to pretend like he was genuinely bad last year.

Edited February 9, 2023 by CamTheMan

[Bear Hands]

There's no need to go out of our way to keep him.  At this point in his career, he pretty evenly blends with the rest of the FA crop. Compared to the rest of the FA (minus Jones & Geno), Reich may want someone else.  I don't quite care either way, our future isn't in the batch of:

Sam Darnold

Jacoby Brissett

Mike White

Gardner Minshew

Taylor Heinicke

Jimmy G

Jarrett Stidham

Andy Dalton

 

 

[CRA]

20 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

Sam played the hand he was dealt and did what he could to help the team. He helped us to 4 wins in 6 games and managed the game which is his job. At the end of the game it is about wins and losses and scoring points and he did that pretty well.

PJ Walker had a winning record as a starter in Carolina.   He did his job too.   Doesn't mean we should waste a roster spot on him.   Especially as we seek to wash ourselves of the Rhule era. 

Sam remains the posterchild of the Matt Rhule era.  He also remains the worst starting QB over the last half decade. 

We did win 4 games with Sam Darnold slotted in as QB.  He threw a grand total of 3 touchdowns in those 4 wins.  That's less than a passing TD per game.   We were winning because of a formula to minimize the QB impact and to run the football.  It's a hats off to the rush attack and Steve Wilks.  Not Sam. 

Sam doesn't have potential to develop into a legit starter at this stage.  And he doesn't offer what you seek from an old vet on a depth chart.  So what's the argument to continue to waste a roster spot on him......when you could either fill the spot with potential or wisdom/coaching. 

[Jon Snow]

[ForJimmy]

5 minutes ago, Bear Hands said:

There's no need to go out of our way to keep him.  At this point in his career, he pretty evenly blends with the rest of the FA crop. Compared to the rest of the FA (minus Jones & Geno), Reich may want someone else.  I don't quite care either way, our future isn't in the batch of:

Sam Darnold

Jacoby Brissett

Mike White

Gardner Minshew

Taylor Heinicke

Jimmy G

Jarrett Stidham

Andy Dalton

 

 

I couldn't have said it better myself.  Well done!

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, KSpan said:

My point is that Brissett is even worse than Teddy, and absolutely should not be any kind of starter. Has Sam (or other guys like him) sucked pretty hard at times? Sure, but even those flashes are more than milqueotast on-field players like Brissett and Bridgewater. Maybe just perosnal preference, but no thanks.

It depends on how you want to lose, I guess. If you want to lose most of your games, Darnold is your guy. He is going to absolutely lead you to a sub-.500 record. Proven commodity in that regard. Shouldn't really matter how good or bad the team is around him, those will be the results.

If you want to be around .500 or possibly a little better, Teddy and Jacoby can get you there. They just need a team around them to support a 9+ win season.

[frankw]

16 minutes ago, CamTheMan said:

That game wasn't removed though? If I had, the following would have been his stats:

3740 yards (10th)

24 TDs (10th)

3 Ints (1st)

105.4 Rating (2nd)

I included that game in the original post though. He played objectively average football throughout the course of 6 games. I wouldn't count on that regressing after he goes from McAdoo to Reich, personally. Seems like if anything, he'll get better. Most of the people against him are basing their arguments on how they personally feel about him, which is totally fine. Just say you want to move on because you're scarred from how bad he was in 2021. Completely acceptable take. What isn't an acceptable take is to pretend like he was genuinely bad last year.

From my view when combining the highs and the lows he was mediocre at best overall. As another poster pointed out he averaged less than a TD a game over 4 wins and one of those wins we had an historic rushing output from our backfield. That's the best you can hope for from a 25 year old in his prime? We can replace that with any other option in the free agent QB market. That's the rub

Edited February 9, 2023 by frankw

[Bear Hands]

If we want a vet to backup and/or take on the dreaded "bridge" label, I prefer Taylor Heinicke.  

He may be interested in coming back as well.  Reich will have a preference, could be Brissett.

I hope we don't have to see these guys play anyways and we land Stroud, Young or AR.    

Edited February 9, 2023 by Bear Hands

[ECHornet]

54 minutes ago, frankw said:

Those 4 wins were more due to the pieces around him and the losses highlight his limitations the same as they did in New York. When he absolutely has to win you games with that arm talent he can't. Look at all the team had to do to put them in position to defeat an Andy Dalton led Saints team coached by Dennis Allen. If you're Frank Reich and Scott Fitterer you leave no stone unturned. Would you settle for Sam if your job and career were on the line?

/cdn-cgi/mirage/da033922c06a714d2e83c4b9b6d5e38309d1faa0fbd603f795afa78708430833/1280/https://media0.giphy.com/media/gGwwL3rf3h5MN2IXGJ/200.gif

As my backup QB? At the right price - definitely. 

[CamTheMan]

4 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

It depends on how you want to lose, I guess. If you want to lose most of your games, Darnold is your guy. He is going to absolutely lead you to a sub-.500 record. Proven commodity in that regard. Shouldn't really matter how good or bad the team is around him, those will be the results.

If you want to be around .500 or possibly a little better, Teddy and Jacoby can get you there. They just need a team around them to support a 9+ win season.

Darnold actually has a higher winning % than Brissett and Darnold's winning % is pretty similar to Teddy's in the past 3 years. Brissett went 4-7 with a Cleveland team that isn't too much better or worse than ours. Teddy went 7-7 in Denver and 0-2 in Miami. I'd agree that Teddy is probably better than Darnold in a lot of ways but personally, I'd rather watch Darnold chuck it to the other team than watch Teddy throw 3 yard passes every play and refuse to push it down field regardless of the situation or who is open.

 

3 minutes ago, frankw said:

We can replace that with any other option in the free agent QB market.

Don't disagree. Lots of average quarterbacks to be had, comes down to a value thing and how much they are going to want from us. That is why the argument for Darnold is dependent on a great contract, as has been repeated many times. Regardless of who we get, we still need to plan for a replacement. 

[ForJimmy]

Hey if our biggest concern is who our backup QB is next year then I will consider it a good offseason.

[Wundrbread33]

27 minutes ago, frankw said:

Well there's not much to engage with if you're going to remove that game to make your argument look better. Sorry bud the world doesn't work that way and the Carolina Panthers aren't running a charity. Enjoy your day!

You are correct that it’s unfair removing the last game. It’s equally unfair that you don’t consider his other starts down the stretch this year. 
 

When he plays well, it’s because of the team. When he doesn’t, it’s on him. 
 

It’s just not that simple in football.