If the Carolina Panthers are looking to make significant improvements on their win total, they will need their new signal caller, Sam Darnold, to be much better than their previous quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Although Darnold has more physical gifts than Bridgewater, the statistics he has put up thus far in his career don’t show that he will make a bigger impact on winning. In a few aspects of his game, not only is he not an improvement, they show that his numbers drop off compared to Bridgewater.
It is already established that Darnold has trouble completing passes on the move. He was named the NFL’s worst passer by Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire. Darnold also has his problems when he has time to throw with little to no pressure.
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Darnold has the lowest passing grade (55.7) from a clean pocket since the 2018 season. Last season, Bridgewater was at the No. 32 position, while Darnold was seven spots lower, ranking last at No. 39.
The area the Panthers need to improve the most is in the red zone. Last season, they really struggled converting in the red zone and finished No. 28 in red zone scoring percentage, which means they had to settle for a lot of field goals. This is another one of Darnold’s inconsistencies as well. PFF say Darnold’s passer ratings in the red zone (77.6), is also the lowest in the league going back to 2018.
The Panthers gave up three draft picks to the Jets to acquire Darnold, a late 2021 sixth-round pick, and a second and fourth-round draft selection in 2022. Carolina is counting on Darnold to perform much better than he did with the Jets because he has more skilled players around him. Even though Darnold has shown stretches of good play, he has been extremely inconsistent and may not live up to what the Panthers expect.
