Sean Gannon

April 11th, 2021

This offseason has been one of the best in recent years; from quarterback trades to franchise players heading to new teams, it’s been nonstop excitement. Wentz was traded to the Colts, Mathew Stafford to the Rams in exchange for Goff and picks, Sam Darnold to the Panthers. While all of these trades are entertaining and sometimes even surprising, it doesn’t mean that the new player will thrive or even find success on their new team. This article covers which quarterbacks will find success on their new team, and as of right now, there are only two I believe will be or can be successful on their new rosters.

Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold, yes, you read that right, Sam Darnold. The former #3 overall pick never found his footing in New York with the Jets, so New York offloaded him. That’s good for Darnold because not only does he get a fresh start, but he has players around him to help bring out the best in him. During his tenure in New York, the Jets never really surrounded him with playmakers or the right coaching staff to find success. Between terrible offensive line play, limited wide receivers (they let his favorite target Robby Anderson walk in free agency in 2020), the mediocre run game, it’s hard to ask a lot of a quarterback who isn’t even 24 yet to go and win 6+ games.

Now Darnold is heading to Carolina, where he will not only reunite with Robby Anderson (who had over 1,000 yards in 2020) he will also have DJ Moore and Christian Mccaffery to pass to. For the first time in his young career, Darnold will have tons of weapons and an improved offensive line. He has all you want in a quarterback, big-bodied, solid arm strength, move about the pocket, excellent accuracy, and can throw on the run. With two wide receivers, DJ Moore and Robby Anderson, both having 1,000-yard seasons and arguably a top-three running back in CMC, this Carolina offense becomes intimidating. Sitting at the 8^th overall pick in the 2021 draft, they have an opportunity to get an offensive lineman to help protect Darnold or help solidify their defense.

It’s all up to Sam Darnold to live up to the #3 overall pedigree; now he has the playmakers to do so. Another lousy season, whether lack of losses or lack of playing in games due to injuries (averages about 12 a season according to Pro Football Reference), he will slowly slip into that bust category. 2021 is going to be all eyes on Darnold to see if he’s the real deal or not.

Mathew Stafford

As a Vikings fan, I need to say I have so much respect for Matthew Stafford. He frequently lost to my team, but there were times where he still would light us up for four touchdowns and 350+ yards. He’s played through leg injuries, back injuries, ankle injuries, hand injuries; you name it, he’s played through it. In eight of his twelve seasons, Stafford has thrown 4,000+ yards, and in nine of those twelve, Stafford has thrown 20+ touchdowns. He is a bonified starter and a proven veteran. Like Darnold, Stafford has never had consistency for his roster; Detroit has done the bare minimum to allow him to win more games than he has (74-90-1 in his career). He had arguably the best roster the last two years with Kenny Golladay (now on the Giants), Marvin Jones Jr (31 and now on the Jaguars), and Kerryon Johnson (first player since Reggie Bush in 2013 to run for over 100 yards in a game) and Deandre Swift (rookie in 2020). But even then, the Lions still couldn’t win games.

Now Stafford gets to go to sunny Los Angeles and play with Sean McVay and the Rams, and boy, are they loaded. Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods will be his top two targets, and Stafford will hand off the ball to and coming do not sleep on running back Cam Akers. You pair all of this with McVay’s ability to develop creative plays and motions to get opposing defenses off their feet; this begins to look like the Rams offense that carried them to the Superbowl just three years ago. Stafford will have tons of fun throwing the deep balls to his receivers, hitting his running backs for screen passes, and just getting to flat-out win. With this offense and solid defense led by Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald, the Rams are poised for a deeper playoff run than last year.

Stafford has had a long career and, for the first time, is on a winning team with a winning culture. At only 33 years old and the way some quarterbacks have been able to play into their late 30’s this gives the Rams an option at quarterback for potentially the next five years. But like Darnold, Stafford will need to put it all together and win games with all eyes on him in 2021, or this trade will look bad for the Rams, who gave up two first-rounders to acquire him.