Yesterday, Baker Mayfield officially notched himself the win over Sam Darnold in the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback competition. And according to a top NFL insider, the competition was never even that close.
MMQB senior NFL reporter Albert Breer noted on Tuesday that Mayfield made Carolina’s choice a rather easy one, taking the starting job by the reins early on and never losing ground. He also mentioned that despite the assumption that the challenger would knock off the incumbent, it was necessary for the newcomer to earn the respect of his teammates.
“And it’s not like that decision was a difficult one for the Panthers—Baker Mayfield built a sizable lead relatively quickly, and held it throughout,” Breer writes. “But I do think, in a subtle way, it was important that he earn the job the way he did in camp.
“The fact is, there are plenty of reps to go around over the summer, and Mayfield was just getting there when the team reconvened in July. Sam Darnold was with his teammates through the spring and had made nice progress in Ben McAdoo’s offense. So doing it this way allowed for Mayfield to win the locker room, put some skins on the wall and earn his place among the team’s leaders.”
Mayfield has certainly established himself amongst his new friends, a bond that revealed a bit of itself in the offense’s opening drive of the preseason two weeks back. That’s when the fifth-year veteran orchestrated a solid 13-play scoring drive against the Washington Commanders in his very first (and still only) touch as a Panther.
Heck, he’s even making a believer out of Robbie Anderson!
“He’s smart,” Anderson said last week. “He’s picked up the offense, like, rapidly. I like his energy a lot. I like that a lot about him. Like his leadership. And his confidence.”
And that confidence, apparently, has rubbed off on the rest of the organization, according to Breer.
“The Panthers’ logic in getting Mayfield was to get their heads back above water at the most important position on the field,” he adds. “But after a month of working with him, the Panthers have hope that, maybe, Mayfield could give them a little bit more than that.”
So, is Baker ready to help snap another playoff drought?
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