Carolina Panthers wide receiver Robbiex Anderson doesn't seem to hold much back on the topic of quarterbacks.
The former Jets wideout turned heads earlier this offseason when he let it be known on no uncertain terms that he was not in favor of bringing Baker Mayfield into the fold in Carolina -- even though the Panthers later went ahead and traded for Mayfield anyway.
Now, Anderson is speaking out about another heralded quarterback from the 2018 draft class -- former Jets teammate and current Panthers teammate Sam Darnold.
"I will say this with Sam: I feel like his development was all messed up coming into the league," Anderson said of Darnold on a recent episode of the I Am Athlete podcast.
According to Anderson, Darnold's disappointing career to date can largely be attributed to the former USC star starting out in what was widely considered to be a dysfunctional situation with the Jets.
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According to Anderson, Darnold would have been better suited getting his feet wet as a backup rather than being pressed into starting duty right away.
He cited a pair of league MVPs in the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and the Ravens' Lamar Jackson as examples of players who were eased into things rather than being pushed into a starting role.
"I don't feel like Sam should've played right away," he said. "I feel like his career got jump-started the wrong way. I feel like, being in the building, the coaches ... it wasn't right. So, in his defense, he wasn't developed 100 percent correctly."
Darnold, now 25, was drafted by the Jets with the third overall pick in 2018. His rookie season was the final year of Todd Bowles' run as head coach in New York. Though Bowles has long been touted as an excellent assistant and is now taking over for Bruce Arians as Bucs head coach, his expertise is generally thought to be on the defensive side of the ball.
Darnold's next two seasons came under Adam Gase, widely considered to be one of the worst head coaches in Jets history and perhaps even in NFL history.
After three underwhelming seasons under center in New York, Darnold was traded to the Panthers, where he was reunited with Anderson, one of his favorite targets with the Jets who had left for Carolina in free agency the preceding offseason. The Jets meanwhile undertook yet another rebuild, drafting QB Zach Wilson and hiring Robert Saleh as head coach.
Whether Anderson's assessment is accurate or fair is debatable, but Darnold didn't exactly acquit himself in his first year in Carolina -- prompting the Panthers to strike for Mayfield.
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