What It Means:

Darnold will be active for the first time this season after recovering from a high-ankle sprain he suffered in the Panthers' final preseason game. He could wind up quickly taking over as the starter if Mayfield struggles as much as he did in the first month of the season. P.J. Walker, who started the past five games, is out for at least a week with a high-ankle sprain of his own.

Among the 44 quarterbacks with at least 100 drop backs last season, Darnold ranked 38th (negative-0.10) in Passing Net Expected Points per attempt. For reference, Mayfield is sixth-worst in 2022 (negative-0.07) out of 35 qualified throwers.