SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The “will-he-or-won’t-he” vaccination question has — thankfully and finally — been answered for new Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold. He got the shot.
That leads us to another “will-he-or-won’t-he” question about Darnold — the one Panthers’ fans have been most curious about all along. Will he or won’t he win?
As I’ve written before, I think Carolina’s trade for Darnold in April was just weird enough to work. But before we get more fully into that, let’s talk about and then put to rest his thorny vaccination issue once and for all.
Although Darnold still hasn’t said so in front of a camera, a source with direct knowledge of his decision told The Observer on Wednesday that Darnold will be considered fully vaccinated under NFL standards by Friday. That means Darnold will be 14 days removed from his second COVID shot, which the quarterback received July 16.
Darnold was a high-profile case of vaccine hesitancy — not at all uncommon among America’s 24-year-old men, but uncommon among NFL players, 85% of whom have received at least one of the two doses necessary to be vaccinated against COVID-19. NFL players aren’t required to get the shot. But they are so heavily incentivized to do so that to have a starting NFL quarterback who refuses to get the shot will be a marked competitive disadvantage in 2021.
That rightly worried the Panthers — fans, coaches and everyone else with a stake in a team that has gone 7-9, 5-11 and 5-11 over the past three seasons. Carolina is a team that doesn’t need any avoidable bad news.
I’m a big proponent of the vaccine anyway, but Darnold was one of those people who absolutely needed to get it for work reasons if nothing else. I criticized him in June for his hesitancy and how circumspect he was about the whole thing (the same goes for Christian McCaffrey), so it’s only right here in this space to praise Darnold for eventually coming to the right decision. Sam, I am — vaccinated, too, that is. And believe me, you just opened a door into a better version of the world.
Carolina has bet a lot of its immediate future on its new quarterback, whose stats with the New York Jets in 2020 were absolutely horrible but whose arm talent, youth and mobility are undeniable. If he doesn’t work out, we’re looking at Teddy Bridgewater 2.0 — a one-and-done experiment that will end in regret.
But if it does, Darnold is young enough to grow up along with Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore and the rest of an offense that could be dangerous for a decade. It was a worthy gamble, given the iffy QB alternatives that the Panthers had.
HOW DID DARNOLD DO IN FIRST CAMP PRACTICE?
As for the very early Darnold returns? Mixed.
Darnold can fling the ball all over the place, and he did so while completing all sorts of wide-open passes in 7-on-7 drills Wednesday. But he’s also going to make some bad decisions — as his nearly 1:1 career NFL ratio of 45 touchdowns compared to 39 interceptions over his three-year pro career with the Jets will attest. (Aaron Rodgers, by contrast, had 48 TDs and five interceptions in 2020).
For instance: Darnold threw an ill-advised sideline pass in one drill Wednesday during Carolina’s first training-camp practice. Cornerback Stantley Thomas-Oliver anticipated the throw, stepped in front of it and would have waltzed into the end zone if he didn’t drop it. Most starting NFL corners would have turned that one into a quick pick-6.
Still, Darnold had a cap-friendly contract, he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft and he’s working hard. He tried in the offseason to get away from throwing off his back foot so often. And he believes in himself.
“I’m super-confident,” he proclaimed Tuesday, shortly after reporting to Wofford College and training camp.
Is Darnold a vocal leader in the Cam Newton or Jake Delhomme mode? No. He’s quieter than that, trying to let his actions speak for him. But he does have a sense of humor, as evidenced by his response to a question about whether he believed the NFL thought about him when it designated the Panthers’ season opener to be a home game in Charlotte against Darnold’s former team, the Jets.
“I’m sure they did,” Darnold laughed. “Because at the end of the day, it’s reality TV.”
WILL DARNOLD BECOME A LEADER?
Although quarterbacks are generally thought to become leaders in all NFL locker rooms, head coach Matt Rhule is fine if Darnold lets others take the lead in that role for now.
“Sam’s 23 years old (actually 24 as of June),” Rhule said. “He just has to worry about playing quarterback right now. We’ve got great leaders.”
Rhule then went on to name a slew of veterans who could help direct this team, including McCaffrey, Matt Paradis, DJ Moore, Shaq Thompson and DaQuan Jones.
“What I’m really looking for from Sam right now is to be the first guy in the building and the last to leave,” Rhule said. “I want him to just absolutely grind and outwork the competition.”
In other words, the playbook is the priority. The other stuff can wait.
Said Robby Anderson, who played alongside Darnold with the Jets: “Sam’s going to lead with his actions. … He’s like a head-down, keep-grinding mentality.”
Darnold’s biggest stat this season will be his win-loss record. He was 13-25 in 38 starts with the Jets, but the Panthers have spun that as more of a circumstantial thing. The Jets were almost always bad, so Darnold had little protection, so the team would get behind early, so Darnold would throw an interception under pressure, so the team would get further behind, etc., etc.
After watching film of “everything bad that happened there and everything good that happened,” as Darnold put it, he’s decided that he has to make better decisions on the run. And, when running, he has to figure out when to get down.
“When I do run down the field, in my head, I feel like sometimes: ‘Okay, I can make a guy miss,’” Darnold said. “But for longevity reasons, I think sometimes a better decision would be to slide.”
Yes, it would.
You slide to keep yourself healthy. In some ways, it’s a lot like getting the vaccine.
Acting cagey about whether he was ever going to get the shot was far from Darnold’s finest hour as a Panther.
But now he’s got it. Let’s move on. It’s time to see if Darnold can actually play.
