Panthers could start Sam Darnold over Cam Newton vs. Buccaneers?

Carolina Panthers starting quarterback Sam Darnold has missed the past five games with what was reported to be an incomplete fracture of the shoulder scapula in his throwing arm. In response to that setback, Carolina brought 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton back to the organization, but he's lost all four of his starts and has looked more like an old version of himself than the player of old. 

As David Newton noted for ESPN, Darnold is working his way toward returning to the practice field, and head coach Matt Rhule wouldn't say Monday who his QB1 will be for this coming Sunday's game against the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers if Darnold is cleared to play by Christmas night. 

"We'll continue to coach Cam and keep building off all the good things he's doing," Rhule explained. "We'll find out about Sam today and his health. I'm not going to look into the future. No hypotheticals.

"If Sam is healthy, we'll practice him and see kind of where he's at. It's a good opportunity to shake some of the rust off him and see where he's at in the process. I can't speculate in terms of who will be the full-time guy this week until I have more information."

Darnold is just 24 years old and is set to spend the 2022 campaign with the Panthers via the fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract, so Rhule theoretically should want to see what the 2018 first-round draft pick can do over the final three games of what became a lost season. According to ESPN stats, Darnold is 29th among eligible quarterbacks with a 71.3 passer rating and 27th with a 35.7 total QBR. He's matched seven touchdown passes with 11 interceptions this season.