Sam Darnold's status with the Carolina Panthers has been up in the air even before the off-season officially started. After a lackluster first season with his new team, there are fans that want the team to upgrade their quarterback. Whiffing on Deshaun Watson only made the clamor for it louder.

According to a former NFL quarterback, though, the Panthers should stick it out with Darnold, at least for this year. Dan Orlovsky, who now works as an NFL analyst, insists that Sam Darnold is way better than any of the quarterback prospects in the 2022 draft. This includes guys like Malik Willis and Kenny Pickett. (via The 4 Man Rush)

Darnold started off well for the Panthers last season, going 3-0 in his first three games there. Afterwards, though, the usual Darnold troubles reared their ugly head again. Turnovers, inaccuracy, and injuries derailed the former Jets quarterback's debut season with his new team. It got so bad that the franchise decided to bring back Cam Newton for a few games… only to bench him for Darnold.

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Trying to project Darnold's career trajectory is near-impossible at this point. On one hand, he hasn't played in a decent team for his entire career. He spent the first seasons of his career under Adam Gase, where he was infamous for “seeing ghosts”. It didn't get much better with the Panthers, as he didn't have many reliable options and the coaching didn't help him out.

However, Darnold himself hasn't played that well. Certain quarterbacks show that they can be successful if they are brought out of a bad situation. Think Joe Burrow, who showed consistent flashes in his rookie year (prior to his injury, at least) despite a bad offensive line and sub-par weapons. Or even Matthew Stafford, who was consistently seen as a good quarterback in Detroit despite his underwhelming team. Darnold just hasn't shown that it-factor, both in Carolina and in New York.

Does that warrant drafting a quarterback with the sixth pick in a class that is well-known for it's… underwhelming options at QB? Perhaps not. Maybe the Panthers hiring Ben McAdoo will change some things for Darnold. At this point, who knows. The Panthers have been stuck in purgatory for the last few years, and it's unclear where they can go to get themselves back into playoff contention.