What Should the Panthers Do at Quarterback?
After yet another poor showing on Sunday, it has become even more apparent that Sam Darnold is not the long-term answer for the Panthers at the quarterback position.
The decision-making aspect of his game is the most troubling. It has never been a question of whether or not he's talented enough to have success in this league. He has all of the tangibles to get the job done, yet has failed to do so nearly four years into his NFL career.
How did he play so well early in the year when the team was 3-0? My theory is that his confidence was at an all-time high. He was playing within the system, taking what the defense was giving him, and wasn't overthinking every decision. He was just playing football. This was the first time in his career where he had good coaching and a full arsenal of weapons at his disposal. The moment Christian McCaffrey exited the game in Houston with a hamstring injury, you could see a sense of doubt creep into his mind. From that game on, Darnold has not been the same and has turned the ball over at an alarming rate.
McCaffrey returned back to the lineup on Sunday, but that didn't help Darnold's confidence. He made some really bad decisions to force the ball into tight coverage and second-guessed himself on a pass to Ian Thomas, which led to a bad ball being intercepted for a touchdown by JC Jackson. The theory coming into the season was that Darnold was stuck in a bad situation in New York and that a change of scenery would do him good. It might have been a case of a bad player stuck in a bad situation. All of the blame was placed on former Jets Adam Gase for being a bad coach, but it's certainly possible that both Gase and Darnold are bad and that's starting to ring true.
So with Darnold clearly not being the guy moving forward, what do the Panthers do? Well in the short term, they're going to have to turn to P.J. Walker while Darnold is out with an injured right shoulder. Walker starting multiple games means that Carolina will almost certainly be picking in the top 10 of next year's NFL Draft. Walker is probably in the bottom five of backup quarterbacks. We've seen how inaccurate he is both in the preseason and in the regular season. I mean, let's be real, Walker completed less than 50% of his passes in the preseason against guys that aren't even on rosters right now. So for those clamoring for Walker to have the starting job, you might want to be careful of what you wish for.
What makes matters even worse for the Panthers is that this is a bad year to be a quarterback-needy team. This draft class has some intriguing quarterbacks such as Matt Corral (Ole Miss), Sam Howell (North Carolina), Malik Willis (Liberty), and Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati), but very few expect any of those guys or the rest of the quarterbacks in this class to be franchise changers.
This brings us back to Deshaun Watson.
The Panthers did not pursue him at the trading deadline due to the uncertainty of his off-the-field issues. Once the season ends, I would expect that they reach out to the Texans to gain permission to speak with Watson and ultimately make a run at him via trade. The quickest way for the Panthers to fix the quarterback situation is to land Watson. Panthers team owner David Tepper and GM Scott Fitterer won't wait very long to get on the phones if the 22 lawsuits against Watson are dropped or if he is proven innocent.
Giving up multiple first-round picks and an established player to get the quarterback position right is well worth the asking price. If that is what it takes for Carolina to get their guy for the next ten-plus years, David Tepper will make sure it gets done. If it's not Watson, I'm not sure where the Panthers will go but I do not see Darnold returning in 2022.
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