Where does Panthers’ Sam Darnold rank among NFC South QBs?
Aside from the nine years of rostering a true generational talent in Cam Newton, the Carolina Panthers have never been known for their exploits at the quarterback position. Will that change starting in 2021? Um, probably not. Sam Darnold is next in line and he has yet to turn heads for any of the right reasons.
Perhaps this is a more appropriate question: where does he rank among the other top quarterbacks in the NFC South?
5. Taysom Hill
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Okay, we'll play along. Taysom Hill is totally a quarterback and starts us off here at No. 5. The thing is, we haven't really seen enough of him actually playing the position to make an absolutely certain judgment. And what we have seen of him, well, isn't really that good. Head coach Sean Payton finally let Hill's arm loose a bit in 2020, as he threw for a career-high 121 attempts—a hell of a lot more than the seven in 2018 and six in 2019. Many of those throws came over his four consecutive starts in place of an injured Drew Brees, seeing the third-year weapon average 208.5 passing yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in that stretch. Not surprisingly, Hill wasn't much of a gunslinger. He averaged 7.0 intended air yards per pass attempt last season, which ranked 30th among all quarterbacks who made at least four starts last season. Until further notice, the gadget player who currently has 17 more rushing attempts than he does pass attempts is exactly that.
4. Sam Darnold
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Sam is lucky this list extends to five quarterbacks, with one of them not really being an actual quarterback. Because if that wasn't the case, he and his abysmal numbers—plain or advanced—would be right in the cellar. For all you old-fashioned folks out there—he ranked 35th in passer rating and 33rd in QBR in 2020, has more career turnovers than he does end-zone trips and has just 19 games (out of 38) where he's thrown for more touchdowns than he has interceptions. And for all you progressive football nerds—his 2020 campaign saw him finish 32nd in EPA (expected points added) per play, 31st in EPA+CPOE composite (a combination of EPA and completion percentage over expectation) and 21st in average depth per target. The Sam Darnold we saw at USC still has yet to arrive in the NFL, whether that be largely on his own failures or those of the fairly incompetent New York Jets franchise. Either way, or more likely a combination of both, Panthers coach Matt Rhule will try to tap into Darnold's buried potential and see if he can't bump him up these rankings in 2021.
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Say what you want about Jameis. "Oh, he has yet to live up to being the No. 1 overall pick from years back. Oh, he stole crab legs. Oh, he has a problematic past that includes multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct dating back to his college days." What you can't say is that he isn't one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the game—for better or for worse. You try to find me another guy that's ever thrown for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a season. Actually, don't try, because there isn't another. Winston's last full season as a starter, which gave us that aforementioned feat, also saw him chuck for a league-leading 5,109 yards. Turnovers and being a product of a pass-friendly Bruce Arians offense aside, that's still something worth mentioning. He hasn't proven himself to be a trustworthy player in what's so far been an underwhelming career, but Winston and his body of work thus far is definitely valid enough to scoot him past Darnold and his teammate, Hill.
2. Matt Ryan
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Is Matt Ryan a future Hall-of-Famer? Better yet, is Matt Ryan more of a Hall-of-Fame talent or does Matt Ryan have more of a Hall-of-Fame résumé? Well, we're not here to answer any of those questions. And thank goodness, because who wants to delve into that discourse considering there are cases being made for Julian Edelman? Anyway, Ryan has pieced together a pretty nice career over his 13 professional seasons and is still even solid to this day. Heck, he's not even being used like the declining 36-year-old specimen he's become, as he's led the league in completions in both of the past two years. Certainly, he's not the MVP that led his Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016, nor the strong-armed thrower wide receiver Julio Jones once knew. However, he's now had three straight campaigns of at least 4,400 passing yards and 26 touchdowns with fewer than 15 interceptions. Ryan isn't great. He isn't in the top-10 at the position. But he's still getting enough done to sit comfortably as the second-best quarterback in his division.
1. Tom Brady
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*rolls eyes* Ya know, we could sit here and list off many of the accolades and accomplishments that have gotten Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. where he's at. But how many more times do you want to hear about those? Instead, let's try to figure out why he's still good and why he's still winning Super Bowls at nearly 44 years of age. Is it his "TB12 Method" of diet and exercise that's kept him so capable? Nah, can't be. Have you seen those petrified blocks of dog puke, I mean, TV dinners he calls meals? Maybe it has something to do with those open-mouth kisses the Internet freaks out about. A kiss a day keeps the doctor away? Take notes, Darnold. Kidding aside, Brady's career trajectory has defied any sort of logic and is something unlike we've ever seen in organized sport. Just when you think the guy is about to succumb to Father Time, he smacks that old fart in his face and rips for 40 more touchdowns and 4,633 more yards in yet another successful trek in capturing the Lombardi Trophy. Until somebody proves different, he's No. 1 in this division. [vertical-gallery id=637525]
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