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Panthers quarterback Robbie Anderson made the impression in April that he didn’t want Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield to be on the team. Since then, Anderson has tried to put toothpaste back in the tube indicating he was simply trying to defend quarterback Sam Darnold.
Anderson, who has played with Darnold with both the Panthers and the Jets, recently told I Am Athlete that he believes Darnold’s career derailed for his early years in New York.
“I think its development got messy when it came to the league,” Anderson said, via Jason Owens of Yahoo Sports. “Look at Pat [Mahomes] and look at Lamar [Jackson]. They didn’t play right away. I don’t think Sam should have played right away.
“I feel like his career started in the wrong way. I have a feeling that – being in the building, the coaches – he was there. In his defense, I don’t think he has developed 100% correctly.
This is entirely possible. But Darnold started again at Carolina and eventually didn’t work well enough to keep the Panthers, whose owner is obsessed with getting a franchise quarterback, from swapping for Mayfield.
Darnold still has a chance to win the starting job. While a draw or anything like that will likely go to the newcomer, Darnold has a chance to show enough coaching staff not to play with Mayfield.
Again, if Darnold had shown them enough last season or during the 2022 low season show, they wouldn’t have switched to Mayfield.