Film Study: GREAT FIT: Why Sam Darnold will be a great Quarterback for the Carolina Panthers.

[1usctrojan]

1 hour ago, XClown1986 said:

A couple things are very clear after watching some of the analyses on Darnold.

1 - His improvisational skills and ability to extend a play are great. He is a player that CAN be the difference. Teddy was not that type of player.

2 - His interior offensive line was absolute garbage. Van Roten got destroyed routinely, McGovern could barely handle the guy he was assigned, and Alex Lewis was solid at times but was hurt for a portion of the year. Fant at RT was basically Byron Bell; he would get in the way and if he latched on to you he was good, but he got torched by speed and bend. Becton was the only solid piece on the line. AND his backs? Terrible in pass pro.

3 - Darnold played some damn good defenses last year. Darnold had to play that Bills defense twice, a Belichick defense twice (though shorthanded, they were still coached well), and a Miami defense that proved to be much better than anticipated, twice. And that was just his division. He also played the Colts, the 49ers, the Chargers, and the Seahawks.

4 - He made guys look better than they are. He is owed a nice 'thank you' check from Breshad Perriman for his ability to make him look like a solid number 2 receiver acting as a number 1 for portions of the season out of necessity. Behind his offensive line and with Crowder, his top and only receiver, out for NINE games? Breshad Perriman was the only starting wideout to play 12 games or more. And no running game to speak of. 

5 - Darnold can make every pass. He really can. His arm strength is a little overblown, but his touch is vastly understated. He can throw on the run, he can throw between defenders, over defenders, and throw guys open. He is a legit NFL arm.

6 - All of that being said, Sam is a gambler. He perhaps trusts his ability too much at times. I realize he is trying to make something happen, but oftentimes his risk-taking resulted in failure. He has a little bit of Favre and Delhomme in him. He wants to take shots. That can be both exciting and frustrating. He will need to be more controlled to make this offense work. He doesn't have to risk as much now, but that seems to go against his natural instincts. Can he be coached to take calculated risks? We will see.

Overall, I think the 2021 Panthers will be much more exciting to watch with Darnold at QB. It may not work out, but it won't be for conservative play.

Best analysis of Sam that I have read so far....he has more than enough weapons, an actual run game and better coaching (better than in college as well) to not be so reckless with the ball.  
 

He can compensate for a mediocre offensive line with his mobility.  Sammy will always be a gunslinger, that will never change, but he does not have to do it himself this time.  He has to get that through his head. 
 

He just wants to win.  He has a lot to prove, the naysayers do have validity.  

[bythenbrs]

2 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Some of my birds have a "thousand yard stare".

You showed them the frozen turkey?

Edited May 6, 2021 by bythenbrs

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, bythenbrs said:

You showed them the frozen turkey?

They like turkey, and chicken, and eggs.

(that last one does disturb me a little bit)

[glenwo2]

1 hour ago, 1usctrojan said:

Best analysis of Sam that I have read so far....he has more than enough weapons, an actual run game and better coaching (better than in college as well) to not be so reckless with the ball.  
 

He can compensate for a mediocre offensive line with his mobility.  Sammy will always be a gunslinger, that will never change, but he does not have to do it himself this time.  He has to get that through his head. 
 

He just wants to win.  He has a lot to prove, the naysayers do have validity.  

The thing is that when he was on the Jets, the line was not mediocre.    It was TERRIBLE with just ONE O-lineman(Becton) worth a crap. 

So a Mediocre line would be a massive upgrade for him. 

[1usctrojan]

8 minutes ago, glenwo2 said:

The thing is that when he was on the Jets, the line was not mediocre.    It was TERRIBLE with just ONE O-lineman(Becton) worth a crap. 

So a Mediocre line would be a massive upgrade for him. 

Agree, and the reason I’m not concerned too much about your oline. 
 

Really excited he has an elite RB, always loved McCaffrey when he was at Stanford, IMO, USC’s second biggest miss, which includes Tom Brady. Can you imagine turning one away (Brady), and never offering the other (McCaffrey) ?  

[thunderraiden]

16 hours ago, Rubi said:

We’re gonna know within about 2 games or less if he’s going to be a long term solution IMO 

Remember we did that with kyle allen?

[Sgt Schultz]

5 hours ago, Agent Blue said:

Sam is one interesting QB.

On one hand, he makes some spectacular throws and runs.

On the other hand, makes some really boneheaded throws/reads.

Lots of talent.

Not sure if he has what it takes between the ears.

Hopefully Rhule and Brady can figure this out.

Other than the last sentence, it sounds like Brett Favre. 

And no, I am not predicting Favre's level of success for Darnold.  I am also hoping Darnold does not have Favre's penchant for boneheaded throws in big games.  Somewhere in the middle of the good and bad would be a pretty good settling point.

[GRWatcher]

6 hours ago, rayzor said:

His ability to scramble and keep a play alive reminds me of Cam. His gunslinging, or as you probably better put his gambling, reminds me of Jake.

I think he's got a lot of potential that just needs to be channeled. I have every confidence that Rhule and Brady can help him reach that potential.

Darnold actually reminds me of Josh Allen of the Bills which is why I'm excited for him. Allen came into the league with a big arm but had a lot to learn and mechanics to correct. Each year he took the offseason to learn and improve to the point that by last year, his 3rd, he was in the MVP discussions and took he Bills to the AFC Championship. lol even with Darryl Williams at RT. I'm optimistically hoping for the same for Sam.

Ah, the gambling of Jake. I'd take that again. It worked for Jake because he had a good offense built for it, competitive and smart. Cam's scrambling was too often for naught because of the middling offense he had. How many of his WR's would come back towards him when he scrambled as they would for Jake? Not many.

[MadHatter]

17 hours ago, Aussie Tank said:

If he’s terrible we will know but the problem is people will want all-pro out the gate because apparently Fields is already 

Much like the last 3 qb’s from the QB friendly OSU offense.... who looked like heisman winnining talent only to suck in the nfl.

Jones, Pryor, and  Haskins all lit it up at OSU......so hard to evaluate Fields given how poorly they transitioned to the nfl game 

[Aussie Tank]

1 hour ago, MadHatter said:

Much like the last 3 qb’s from the QB friendly OSU offense.... who looked like heisman winnining talent only to suck in the nfl.

Jones, Pryor, and  Haskins all lit it up at OSU......so hard to evaluate Fields given how poorly they transitioned to the nfl game 

I don’t like the school narrative for QB failure or success. You need to evaluate each QB on their merits and traits. But I’m not anointing Fields a franchise QB

[ickmule]

He’s haunted by ghosts now. I hate to say it, but he won’t overcome that. I’m starting to think this staff has no idea what a good QB is.  As much as I feel Cam is done this team would have won the same amount of games with Cam as they did with Teddy. 

[Agent Blue]

8 minutes ago, ickmule said:

He’s haunted by ghosts now. I hate to say it, but he won’t overcome that. I’m starting to think this staff has no idea what a good QB is.  As much as I feel Cam is done this team would have won the same amount of games with Cam as they did with Teddy. 

most coaches don't want a QB they feel are not good between the ears.

cam was no spring chicken.

 

[kungfoodude]

10 hours ago, mrcompletely11 said:

His podcast appearance on One day contract is damn good. He breaks down all of our picks.  He doesnt really poo on them per se but he def says temper expectations especially with Christenson

I see a lot of depth guys and very few starters. Not great but admittedly our depth has been fuging atrocious after the post Ron Roster Purge.

Definitely not what I would have done but if we get more than one good starter(assuming Horn is a given) and some solid depth/rotational guys, I won't be super pissed. 

[Panthers8969]

6 hours ago, thunderraiden said:

Remember we did that with kyle allen?

“We”

 

insert fresh prince vid