Peter King on Sam Darnold experiment so far

[NAS]

It is early, and we must underline that. Okay, I will. It’s early. But the Sam Darnold experiment, through three weeks, both in what the eye can see and through the various analytical lenses of Pro Football Focus, is going well. September 2021 will be the second-best month of his pro career (he was 3-1 in November 2019 with the Jets, with a 107.5 rating), and with some soft defenses coming in October, Darnold just might keep this career renaissance going.

What is better for him as a Panther than as a Jet (other than, of course, everything):

• He’s taking better care of the ball. Last week, coach Matt Rhule told me to watch how they call plays late in games, putting the ball in Darnold’s hands instead of running it more (even with Christian McCaffrey out). “We trust him,” Rhule said. So far, through 12 quarters, Darnold has one interception and one lost fumble. PFF figures show his turnover-worthy plays—plays that should have resulted in turnovers—were at 4.1 percent in his three Jets’ seasons, and are at 2.5 percent so far this year.

• He’s been protected better. You don’t think of the Panthers as having a formidable front line, but Darnold has been pressured on 32.5 percent of pass-drops. In his last two years with the Jets, he was pressured 42.0 percent of the snaps.

• He’s making big plays. Another PFF metric is “big-time throws,” meaning passes that can result in big gains. Career average with Jets: 3.6 percent of his throws. Three-game average in Carolina: 5.3 percent.

• Joe Brady’s helping. Nobody talks much about the effect of play-action on quarterback success, but the Carolina offensive coordinator is a firm believer. Darnold’s rate of play-action in his three Jet seasons: 25, 24, 21 percent. This year, it’s 30 percent in Carolina.

 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/09/27/fmia-week-3-nfl-sean-mcvay-tom-brady-new-england-peter-king/

[Fox007]

Well we get the ball out fast or that pressure % might be 100% lol there are guys on him even still. I love how they think our OL is even remotely good. I did heard Colin Cowherd say our OL sucks and seems to actually understand our team better than most pundits. 

[Chaos]

He's taking better care of the ball - jury's still out on that.  We've been lucky as hell to fall on his fumbles when the pocket breaks down.  Ball security needs to improve.

[PanthersATL]

I enjoy the concept of FMIA (or MMQB, take your pick), and I like reading much of Peter King's stuff. But his fanboyz love of certain player/teams leaves a bit to be desired.  Do we need 2500+ words on how much New England misses Tom Brady? Probably not.

I'm glad he gave us more than a passing reference in this week's column after this headline at the top :

[L-TownCat]

Believe it or not Panthers fans but your team is actually better than the Jets.

Hard to grasp I know.  But it’s true.  We are actually better.  We are.  It’s true.