Sam Darnold Leads Carolina Panthers to 3-0 Start to Season

After consecutive 5-11 seasons, the Carolina Panthers went into an aggressive rebuilding mode the past off season, starting with a change at quarterback. No, they didn’t use their first round draft pick on a QB; instead, the Panthers traded a 2021 sixth round pick and a second and fourth round pick in 2022 to the New York Jets for Sam Darnold. They also went all in on Darnold by trading last year’s starting quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, to Denver.

Darnold was the Jets’ #1 draft pick, and the third pick overall in the 2018 NFL draft. In 38 games, all starts, with the Jets, Darnold completed 729 passes for 8097 yards and 45 touchdowns, with 39 interceptions. He was 13-25 in his three years in New York. Darnold had his moments in New York, but the Jets have been generally bad to awful for 10 years, having just one winning season since their last playoff appearance in 2010. That was in 2015, when they finished 2nd in the AFC East with a 10-6 record, but failed to make the playoffs. They were 2-14 last season, and drafted BYU quarterback Zach Wilson with the #2 overall pick. Wilson has thrown five interceptions in his first two games, including four against the New England Patriots, so he’s off to a typical Jets start.

The Panthers were counting on Darnold being a better player if he was on a better team, and so far, that’s been the case. The Panthers are off to a 3-0 start. They beat Darnold’s old team, the Jets 19-14, and then hammered the New Orleans Saints 26-7. They followed that with a 24-9 win over the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football on September 23rd. Darnold completed 23 of 34 passes for 304 yards, with no interceptions. Although he did not complete a touchdown pass, he scored two TDs himself.

Darnold has passed for 888 yards in three games, with three touchdowns and one interception. There’s a long way to go of course, but the Panthers certainly are improved this season and could return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Unfortunately, dual threat running back Christian McCaffrey injured a hamstring in the Houston game, and will miss an undetermined number of games.