Week 2 Underrated: Darnold and Fox

[mav1234]

Thought I'd share some love our players are getting from USA Today, https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/lists/derek-carr-sam-darnold-rashawn-slater-underrated-players-nfl/amp/ ...

First up... Darnold is one of their secret week 2 superstars.

 

"Darnold has officially become yet another player allowed to excel once freed from the clutches of Adam Gase. In his first two games as the Panthers’ starting quarterback under Matt Rhule, Darnold has been a revelation."

Next is Morgan Fox...

"Phil Snow is in his second season as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator, and Snow — a longtime college defensive coordinator who Panthers head coach Matt Rhule took from Temple to Baylor to Charlotte — throws as much weird stuff at opposing offenses as any coach in the NFL. This was the defense Aaron Rodgers called “strange” last season, and Snow now has more players who fit with his schemes. One of those players is defensive lineman Morgan Fox, an undrafted free agent out of Colorado State-Pueblo who spent his first four seasons with the Rams, and signed a two-year, $8.1 million contract with the Panthers in March. If Fox plays as he did against the Saints on Sunday, this could prove to be an almighty bargain."

Check the link for some videos and additional thoughts from Doug Farrar. Nice read overall, love the attention our players are getting!

Edited September 22, 2021 by mav1234

[Luciu5]

I saw some show yesterday, can't recall which, but the guy on there also called our defensive a college defense and described the dline as "defense played like it's the offense."  It was somewhat over my head, but it talked a lot about the dline shifts, stunts, and pulling like an oline would.  It was complimentary for sure.

[cookinbrak]

But...so many people here say Darnold doesn't make reads and checks everything to CMC. They are obviously super informed.

[User Name]

9 minutes ago, cookinbrak said:

But...so many people here say Darnold doesn't make reads and checks everything to CMC. They are obviously super informed.

Mccaffrey is often the best option, a dump off can result in a 40 gain at anytime if he has space. I'm sure some of the underneath throws vs the Jets were basically one read. 

Hard to understand why anyone has issues with the QB making the correct throw vs spreading it around to lesser options. 

[Pejorative Miscreant]

Aside from the one play Darnold looks like a different player.  Perfect?  No, but does he look like he can lead this team to playoffs?  Yes.  Not saying we will get there this year and there won’t be more WTF moments but so far he looks capable. 

[mav1234]

46 minutes ago, User Name said:

Mccaffrey is often the best option, a dump off can result in a 40 gain at anytime if he has space. I'm sure some of the underneath throws vs the Jets were basically one read. 

Hard to understand why anyone has issues with the QB making the correct throw vs spreading it around to lesser options. 

I think some of our fans just want to see fault where none lies... It is really hard to argue Darnold isn't spreading the ball around when it warrants it.  Teams are having to choose where they want the mismatch to be.  Going to CMC in a mismatch is a big boon for us.  Yet DJ has more yards receiving than CMC, and our WRs have a total of 341 yards in 2 games.  Given we've also had two TEs active in the passing game, this offense IS more than CMC through the air.  Darnold is finding the right target consistently, IMO.