“He Is a Playmaker! He Is a Fire Starter!”: Baker Mayfield Backed by His Loudest Supporter as Panthers’ QB1 Role Still Up in the Air

Carolina Panthers suffered a crushing defeat against the Cincinnati Bengals with a final score of 42-21. Even more shocking was that Carolina was down 35-0 at halftime. However, in the second half, there was a switch in the quarterbacks and Baker Mayfield checked in for PJ Walker. Skip and Shannon talked about the significance of his playmaking as well as his effort on the field in the second half of a losing match.

Shannon Sharpe flat-out said, “Carolina got three bad quarterbacks on their team and unfortunately one of them has to play,” making his disbelief in Mayfield’s ability to play very clear. However, Skip Bayless had different thoughts. He genuinely believes that Mayfield can be, and will be a star quarterback.

Baker Mayfield with the Panthers

Baker Mayfield’s partnership with the Panthers is a very recent one. He had gotten traded to Carolina after 4 seasons with the Chicago Browns. Notably, he had also led the Browns to the playoffs in the year 2020.

Since his trade to the Panthers, Mayfield has thrown 6 touchdowns and has thrown over 1000 yards. He has been making great strides as a quarterback for the Panthers. However, there has been confusion among the team as to who the first quarterback will be. With three quarterbacks on the team, PJ Walker, Baker Mayfield, and Sam Darnold, the question of who the main quarterback of the Panthers will be.

The Panthers’ quarterback dilemma

After PJ Walker’s performance in the first half and Baker Mayfield’s in the second half, the coaching staff as well as the players seem to be confused about who the main quarterback of the team is. Even the interim coach, Steve Wilks, seems to be confused in terms of making a decision about the quarterback.

Read More: Lamar Jackson Laughs Off Skip Bayless Snubbing Him While Praising Tom Brady for Losing Cool.

After the match against the Bengals, Wilks said,“We’ll be able to sit here and look at a few things and talk to the staff, and I’ll have that answer here soon.” While the coaching staff talks it out, all the players have placed their fate as starters on the coaching staff and have gone on record about their intentions for the team. Mayfield said, “Whatever my role is and however I can help, that’s what I want to do,” expressing his willingness to play whatever role that can be assigned to him.

Skip Bayless firmly believes that Mayfield is a genuine playmaking quarterback and said, “He is a playmaker! He is a fire starter!” However, he is of the opinion that the quarterback deserves a better team than the Panthers. He even went on to say, “he got stuck with the clown show in Cleveland and then he went down to an even bigger clown showdown in Carolina.” 

The question now remains: who will Wilks pick to be the starting quarterback for the Panthers so their season can be turned around?

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