The Panthers have been receiving plenty of attention lately given the struggles of their quarterback and the increasing calls for a head coaching change. For at least the short-term future, though, the status quo appears likely to continue on both fronts. 

[RELATED: Panthers Seeking Experienced Rhule Replacement?]

When speaking to the media yesterday, Matt Rhule continued to support summer trade acquisition Baker Mayfield as the team’s starter. “I think Baker’s our quarterback. We have to continue to find ways to help him,” he said (Twitter link via Joe Person of The Athletic).

In the franchise’s latest attempt to solidify the position, Carolina executed a long-anticipated trade for the former No. 1 pick in July. Mayfield took a pay cut to facilitate his move out of Cleveland, and quickly won the training camp competition between he and incumbent Sam Darnold. Things have not started as well as anyone had hoped, however.

Mayfield has completed less than 55% of his attempts, totaling 747 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. His 75.0 quarterback rating is a career-low mark, and the Panthers rank last in the NFL at an average of 283 yards per contest. Those figures fall well short of expectations entering the season, where a return to health for the Oklahoma product was thought to provide stability and an upgrade over Darnold.

The latter’s health represents the most immediate reason why Mayfield will remain the starter for the time being. Darnold has begun the season on IR due to an ankle sprain; despite the fact that he is now eligible to return, Rhule said that he is not ready to do so, with Week 6 being a more realistic target (Twitter link via ESPN’s David Newton). Darnold’s level of play last year led to the team’s urgency in trading for Mayfield, so it would come as a surprise if he were to return to the No. 1 role.

“I just feel like we have to expect more than that from all of us as an offense,” Rhule added via Person when asked about the unit’s struggles (subscription required). “Offensively, we have to score more points. And that starts with me, goes to [offensive coordinator] Ben [McAdoo], goes to the assistant coaches and players. We have to get it corrected.”

The Panthers have been holding an open competition for their starting quarterback spot throughout training camp, and the winner of that battle has been named. The team announced on Monday that Baker Mayfield will occupy the No. 1 spot on the depth chart. 

That news comes as little surprise, given the team’s acquisition of the former Heisman winner in July. Mayfield, especially if healthier than last season, should represent a significant upgrade over incumbent Sam Darnold. It became clear in the aftermath of the deal that Panthers’ preference was to bring in Mayfield much earlier in the offseason; the delay gave Darnold a temporary edge given his knowledge of the team’s offense, but things began to change quickly.

Two weeks ago, it became clear that Mayfield was distancing himself as the clear-cut top option under center. Today’s confirmation comes after he played just one series so far in the preseason, but showcased enough in doing so to point to the consistent level of play at the position Carolina has been looking for, as noted by SI’s Albert Breer. NFL Network’s James Palmer tweets that Mayfield will start the team’s final preseason game on Friday.

“When we started this process, we were looking at three things,” head coach Matt Rhule said (via Palmer, on Twitter). “Number one, mastery of the offense, number two, situational football excellence, and number three, moving the ball and getting guys involved. That’s been our focus all along.”

Today’s news also confirms that Mayfield’s Panthers debut will be against the Browns to open the regular season. Cleveland is paying $10.5MM of his fifth-year option salary, a move which was necessary to move on from the former No. 1 pick as the team transitions to Deshaun Watson. In spite of that, Mayfield is insisting that his focus is not on proving his former team wrong for replacing him.

“It’s not a redemption year,” he said, via ESPN’s David Newton. “I know what I’m capable of. I’m not trying to prove anything to anybody else. I’m just trying to lead this locker room the best I can and win a bunch of ball games.”

With the competition settled, Darnold will now be relegated to the backup role after his underwhelming Jets tenure. Carolina has made it clear on multiple occasions, though, that they are not looking to trade him. As unsurprising as today’s announcement is, it marks another disappointing chapter in his NFL career. Nonetheless, the Panthers are set at the most important position in advance of a season where a significant improvement is desperately needed.

The Panthers have one of the league’s only quarterback competitions this summer and plan to draw it out a bit longer. Carolina doesn’t plan on making what head coach Matt Rhule calls a “major decision” on any position battles until after the team’s second preseason game on August 19, according to David Newton of ESPN. This, of course, includes the starting quarterback battle between incumbent Sam Darnold and trade acquisition Baker Mayfield. 

Darnold’s debut season in Carolina was the worst of his career according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). PFF has consistently graded Darnold among the worst NFL quarterbacks, ranking him 29th, 31st, and 35th in his first three seasons in New York. He continued his downward trajectory ranking as the 36th out of 37 ranked quarterbacks last year, finishing only over Ben Roethlisberger.

Mayfield, on the other hand, graded out very poorly in 2021 (30th out of 37), but has seen success in his healthier seasons in Cleveland, even taking them to the playoffs and earning their first postseason win since the 1994 NFL season in 2020. His career has been a rollercoaster celebrating the ups of his 2018 and 2020 seasons while stomaching the downs of his 2019 and 2021 seasons. Still, that’s two more impressive seasons than his competitor has seen in the NFL and should give him an initial edge.

Mayfield is the expected leader in the race right now based on that past success. The two have split reps on first and second team down the middle this summer, giving both a chance to work with the ones. At some point, though, the Panthers staff is going to want to give somebody more first team reps in preparation to be the Panthers’ starting quarterback for the regular season. Rhule seems to imply that a decision could ultimately be pushed even closer to the start of the season.

“I’m not putting a timetable on the quarterback position until after we get back from Patriots week,” Rhule explained after today’s scrimmage. “The Patriots week is a true litmus test for us. That will really show us where guys are.”

In addition to the QB1 battle, there are a couple of other positions that have battles to be decided after the team’s time in Foxborough. Wide receiver Terrace Marshall is expected to take a big step in his second season and push Robby Anderson for the WR2 spot behind D.J. Moore. The return of cornerback Jaycee Horn presents a logjam atop the depth chart of the position. The Panthers will have to decide if they like Horn or last year’s trade acquisition C.J. Henderson on the outside. If they choose Horn, Henderson will have to compete with Keith Taylor in the slot. In they choose Henderson on the outside, Horn will likely man the slot.

It will be interesting to see how Carolina approaches the third preseason game. The last game of the preseason is traditionally a game full of backups and roster bubble guys as the starters tend to rest in order to prevent injury. If the Panthers are waiting until that game to make crucial depth chart decisions, they may be forced to give the finalized first string some reps together in their last game action before the regular season. Regardless, it sounds like Panthers fans will have to wait until late August to know exactly what the Panthers’ depth chart will look like.