No one has ever accused Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold of having too much confidence at the NFL level. But that may change.
Following the team’s second outing of voluntary OTAs on Tuesday, both Darnold and head coach Matt Rhule took the podium to address the media. First was Rhule, who says he’s seen a bit more urgency from his starting quarterback as he heads into the final year of his rookie contract.
“I think what Sam’s been through this offseason is hard,” he said. “Your back’s against the wall, everyone’s kind of questioning can you do this or not. You can have confidence in yourself and still say, ‘Hey, I need to work on these things.’ A lot of people get that confused. I think Sam has to have confidence in himself, his ability to work through and grind and develop, and at the same time, identify things he has to improve on. I think we’ve seen a guy that’s showed up, that’s got a little more edge to him, a little more, ‘Hey, I’m going to show people what I can do.'”
Unfortunately for Darnold, he hasn’t shown people much.
Since 2018, when the former third overall pick entered the league, 30 quarterbacks have attempted at least 1,000 passes. Darnold is one of them—and ranks 30th of that bunch in completion percentage (59.8 percent), touchdown rate (3.3 percent), yards per attempt (6.5) and QB rating (76.9)
Needless to say, the soon-to-be 25-year-old is now entering a 2022 campaign where he’ll have to try and prove that he’s the best quarterback on the Panthers roster—especially with third-round pick Matt Corral on the scene. He, however, has some much higher aspirations thanks to that newfound confidence.
“Well, I think for me, it really starts with really just understanding. Understanding the offense, understanding the defense and really goin’ out there with the confidence that I can go out—as long as I know what we’re doing, what the defense is doing. I’m confident that I can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league. So I’m just gonna continue to go out there and do that.”
Oh.
