Amongst NFL circles, it's widely believed that Matt Rhule has one year to save his job, should he wish to remain within the league.
So let me propose a question to you, dear listener.
If you had to bet your paycheck on the Panthers to win next year, as Matt Rhule might very well.. are you trusting Sam Darnold to keep it in the bank?
It's looking more and more like Matt Rhule doesn't either.
Now, before you click that little "x" button, hear me out on this.
First and foremost: I don't like the decision. If I'm in control, the Panthers are drafting offensive linemen. All offensive linemen. And nothing but offensive linemen. Aaron Rodgers would've struggled behind the mesh net that was the 2021 Panthers OL.
But, again, Matt Rhule has one season to save his job. And even if he truly believed Darnold could still progress, he's made QB his priority since he showed up and got rid of Teddy Bridgewater faster than Aaron Donald could get through said offensive line.
Drafting a quarterback that doesn't work out would likely set the franchise back another three or four years, minimum. But, again, Matt Rhule is already on borrowed time. The direction this franchise takes if he's let go is inconsequential to him. No sense in worrying about what's ablaze on the other side of the bridge you just lit on fire.
Even if the Panthers drafted three incredible linemen, and put together a top ten OL next year, are you betting that Sam Darnold can carry this team to eight or nine wins? I doubt it. And I doubt Matt Rhule is either. Even if he wanted Darnold to hit, to prove that he was right about him from the time the Panthers made the trade, I doubt he's going to bet his NFL career on it.
But, a rookie QB is another story. He still might only win five games behind this line, but five wins and a promising start for a rookie QB will look much better than five wins with Sam Darnold once again accomplishing mediocrity. Five wins with a promising young QB might just buy Rhule one more year to build around the rookie, especially with the amount of money still attached to the head coach's contract.
And that's where Ben McAdoo comes in.
Rhule has made QB his priority, and it has not worked out. At all. He let Teddy Bridgewater, who had a decent season with Denver, walk in favor of Sam Darnold, who was replaced by Cam Newton before being brought in to finish up the tail end of a long losing streak. Rhule also declined to draft Justin Fields or Mac Jones, both of whom would've likely been upgrades over the current Panthers' QB room.
Ben McAdoo has taken heat for his questionable tenure as the head man for the New York Giants, but his eye for young talent at the QB position can't be dismissed.
In 2017, McAdoo made a push to draft a young man out of Texas Tech by the name of Patrick Mahomes. He begged the Giants to trade up and acquire Mahomes, but the Giants decided he was undersized, and passed on him. A dollar says they'd take that one back if they could. Instead, the Giants stayed put and took TE Evan Engram. Oops.
The next year, McAdoo was unemployed, but was interviewed extensively by the New York media. In an interview, McAdoo listed two quarterbacks that, had he been in charge, he would've made a push for: Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
McAdoo said he believed Allen, who just dueled the aforementioned Mahomes in one of the greatest NFL games we've ever seen, had the highest roof of all available prospects. He believed that Lamar Jackson had Super Bowl talent as well, and wasn't shy about it at all.
McAdoo can clearly spot talent. And if Rhule is truly looking for a splash to try and buy himself more time by coaching up a rookie and convincing David Tepper that he can continue to progress, McAdoo's opinion may go a long way in winning that particular lottery.
Kenny Pickett out of Pittsburgh is inventive with the ball. Malik Willis from Liberty has legs that rival Lamar's. Matt Corral can drop dimes. If any one of them can have a hot, early start to their career, and potentially prolong Rhule's, McAdoo might be the best chance the Panthers have of selecting which it is.
Put your tinfoil hats away, Panthers fans.
This isn't a conspiracy theory.
It's a plan.
