Situations Impacting Success (or Failure) and Sam Darnold’s Development

When you consider the success of any player, coach or team in the NFL, that success is often dictated by the entire situation, which includes the combination of the ownership of the team, the players being acquired and released and already on the on the team. In any given case, that combination of factors can have a profound impact on dictating whether any person or team is going to be have success in a particular situation.  

A good example of this is the 2020 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season. In 2019, they were a pretty average team and finished the season with a 7-9 record with Jameis Winston at quarterback. Tom Brady then joins the team before the 2020 season and his presence helped to completely change the attitude and culture of the team. Some teams are simply missing that key piece that can help unlock their true potential and that can really impact a player or team’s level of success.  

Sam Darnold’s Ascension in Carolina

The recent great play and continued development of Sam Darnold is a combination of his talent and ability, the coaching he’s receiving from Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady, and, most importantly, Darnold has a situation in Carolina where he is being put in a better position to have success than he was the previous three years with the Jets. 

Sam Darnold is a really talented football player and has been for a number of years going back to his high school and college playing days. There is a reason why he was taken with the number 3 overall pick in the NFL draft.  So not only does he already possess the talent to be a successful player in the NFL, but now he's with a coach in an organization that has really good players around him. You also can get the sense with Carolina’s early season success and watching them play that Coach Matt Rhule is starting to build a winning culture on the Carolina Panthers.  

I never felt any confidence in the team or situation Darnold was in the last three years with his previous team, the New York Jets. The Jets losing ways in the recent past points to a combination of the people that have been there awhile in the front office, the unsuccessful tenure of fired head coach Adam Gase, and Gase’s inability to, let's just say, unlock Sam Darnold’s potential during his time in New York. 

Seeking QBs: Must Have Athleticism

In addition to his talent, Darnold has always been really athletic. Not Lamar Jackson athleticism and speed, that is one of a kind. But you see this as a common trait especially here in the last ten years of quarterbacks that have had success in the NFL (Russel Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, etc.). They are all athletic. Gone are the days of the drop back quarterback. You just don't see it anymore. 

The NFL is coming out of the most prolific era of quarterbacks in league history (see: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, etc.). These are the best passers and the best quarterbacks ever to play the game and they're all drop back quarterbacks. Nobody is going to say that Peyton Manning or Eli Manning or Tom Brady are very athletic. They're excellent quarterbacks and they're some of the greatest players that I've ever played the game, but they're not athletic.

But the quarterbacks now that are coming into the league and having success, they all have the ability to to utilize their athletic ability, in addition to throwing the football, and this is true for Sam Darnold.  He has the talent. He's very athletic. He is one of the league leaders in red zone rushing touchdowns in this young 2021 season. But Darnold also has a really high ceiling to continue to improve, especially now that he's surrounded by talented players. He's in his fourth year and still really young with a ton of talent to harness in Carolina, in addition to being coached by Joe Brady. 

Joe Brady Developing Another Talented QB

Joe Brady, who came to national prominence developing Joe Burrow while winning a National Championship at LSU, has the history of developing quarterbacks and this is what we're starting to see in Carolina with Sam Darnold. He also does a great job in terms of play calling and allowing Sam Darnold the green light not only to kind of make plays with his athleticism, but also Joe Brady's putting Darnold in good situations to take advantage of the talented skill players that he can throw the ball to on the Panthers. 

They're definitely building something special in Carolina and it's a combination of both the play calling and coaching of Joe Brady and, for the first time maybe in his NFL career, Sam Darnold being in a situation where he has the ability and opportunity to succeed.

Coach Evan Burk joins NFL. Unfiltered to talk about why Sam Darnold is playing the best football of his career with the Carolina Panthers.