Should Steelers have pursued QB Sam Darnold before the Panthers did?

Following an awesome performance by Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold, should the Steelers feel any regret for not pursuing him?

When analyzing the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout the unfolding of their preseason slate, they were looking to go unbeaten heading into the regular-season stretch. That is, however, until they met the Carolina Panthers.

The game was an absolute massacre, ending with a final tally of 34-9 in Carolina’s favor. Pittsburgh failed to even strike pay dirt once until they were well into the final quarter and the game was far out of reach.

The loss sucks, but it is only a preseason game; it’s not anything to live or die by. Rather, any concerned Steelers fanatic should look beyond the score, and instead observe the quarterback play–on both sides of the ball.

Pittsburgh went all-in on Dwayne Haskins starting for their offense in the affair, with him leading the vast majority of offensive drives. This appeared to be a wise decision, as Haskins had played strong whenever he was in the moment during previous weeks.

Meanwhile, the Panthers intended to give former Jets QB Sam Darnold most of the control on their side of things (which ended up being more than he had ever been given in their preseason games leading up to this one).

Should the Steelers have pursued QB Sam Darnold?

Now the name Sam Darnold may ring a particular bell with some Steelers fans; this is mainly because he was believed to be one of the better options at quarterback to pursue during the 2021 offseason.

The rumor mill in the Steelers community got especially hot with such a topic, but it all turned out to be nothing more than mere speculation. A predominant reason for this was likely because Haskins had recently been signed to the team in the latter half of January, while the bulk of the Darnold buzz spread more throughout February and March. But was passing up on Darnold nonetheless a mistake?

It is important to clarify that this question is in no way meant to bash Haskins. However, Darnold looked just as good (if not better) in his preseason play than Haskins did in his. This is despite getting noticeably less game time as well.

And while it may be another story for another day, the former also outperformed Pittsburgh backup Mason Rudolph with this one performance.

Once again, the NFL Preseason is in no way indicative of how a team will perform in the games that matter (i.e. the only two 0-16 teams ever both went unbeaten in their preseason matchups those same years). But, Darnold has officially reminded the football world that he isn’t some schmuck while making the Steelers begin to question their past actions in the process.