Baker Mayfield Named Panthers' Starting QB over Sam Darnold for Week 1 vs. Browns

The starting quarterback for the first game of the season was named by the team.

Carolina Panthers @Panthers

Confirmed ✅

The head coach explained his decision.

We were looking at three things when we started this process. Number one, mastery of the offense, number two, situational football excellence, and number three, moving the ball and getting guys involved, are some of the things that "number one, mastery of the offense, number 2, situational football excellence, and number 3, moving the ball and getting We've focused on that all along.

Baker has made a lot of improvement, a lot of growth in all three areas.

The starting quarterback job was up for grabs in training camp. Before a decision was made, both quarterbacks were given plenty of time to compete.

The Athletic's Jeff Howe reported on August 17 that the team was going to name the starter.

In exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2020 and a second-round pick in 2024, the Carolinas got Baker Mayfield. Carolina's quarterback room is even deeper now that he's on it.

The starting quarterback for Week 1 was no surprise to the panthers.

The hope was that he would be able to revive his career in Carolina after he was acquired by the panthers. He did nothing else last season.

He didn't show any improvement in the 12 games he played because of his shoulder injury. He completed less than half of his passes for 2,528 yards, nine touchdown and 13 picks.

A torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder cost him 14 games for the Browns, but he played better than the other rookies. He completed 60.5 percent of his passes.

While inconsistent, Mayfield is more proven than Darnold, having led the Cleveland to the playoffs during the 2020 season. He has thrown for more than 3000 yards in each of his four NFL seasons, while the other has only done it once.

There is a chance that he could start this season. The former Jet will get the chance to show Matt Rhule what he has if he doesn't live up to expectations.