Sam Darnold left greener pastures in New York in hopes of finding a revival of his career in Carolina blue playing for the Panthers. What once was a hot start is beginning to fade as the Panthers find their record at 3-4 at the bottom of the NFC South. Darnold played so badly against the New York Giants, who also have some troubles of their own, that Darnold ended up benched before the end of the game. Resident Jets fan Jason Smith wasn't surprised and felt justified in his assessment that the young quarterback out of USC was 'just a guy' and believes Darnold is bound to be benched indefinitely before the season's end. He also thinks the quarterback will be sentenced to playing out his remaining years in the NFL as a backup quarterback.
Jason Smith: I hate to say I told you so. I hate to say it because I said it when they were 1-0, and the response was, 'Oh, he got away from the Jets; he's great.' Then they were 2-0, and the response was, 'Oh look, that's all he needed was to get away from the Jets.' At 3-0, it was, 'Oh look how bad the Jets are!' All the stuff about the Jets is true; they are really bad. But I told you so about Sam Darnold who was benched in the Panthers' latest loss. He's still the starting quarterback; He's hanging by a thread. And now the Panthers have renewed interest in getting Deshaun Watson. I told you Sam Darnold was just a guy and everybody wanted to laugh. The desire to have Sam Darnold play well just so everybody can laugh at the Jets was so huge, everybody went overboard with it the first couple of weeks and I told you, he was just a guy. He missed so many throws in the opening win against the Jets, and he's still doing it now. He still makes mistakes, he still makes bad throws into coverages, he doesn't see open receivers, He's not good. He's just a guy...Sam Darnold is in his last year as a starting quarterback in the NFL, and he's not gonna make it to the end of the season."