Carolina creates QB chaos

SO, TO REVIEW: In the same week Zach Wilson, the Jets’ No. 2-overall pick in the 2021 draft, was benched, Sam Darnold, the No. 3-overall pick by the Jets in 2018 and the quarterback they gave up on to draft Wilson, has been named the Panthers’ starter Sunday against the Broncos, taking the job held by Baker Mayfield, the 2018 No. 1-overall pick by the Browns.

Got all that?

“It’s a crazy business,’’ Darnold told reporters this past week.

All due respect to Darnold, but if Carolina fans believe he’s some sort of savior, they’ll find themselves more disappointment.

Darnold will be the third quarterback to start for the Panthers in three weeks.

Mayfield had beaten out Darnold for the starting job in an open competition during training camp. Then, after going 1-4 and with Darnold out with an ankle injury, Mayfield suffered a high ankle sprain that led to P.J. Walker starting. Walker is now out after suffering a high ankle sprain, and Mayfield is out again after two fourthquarter interceptions Sunday in a 13-3 loss to the Ravens. Got all that? All the while, Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks, who has gone 2-4 since Rhule was fired, continues to search for answers at quarterback,

“It is a crazy year,’’ Mayfield told reporters this past week. “There’s a lot of strange things happening [at quarterback around the league]. The quarterback room has pretty much handled it in the best way possible, rolling with the punches. We’re just doing what we’re told.’’

The Panthers currently hold the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft and will almost certainly use it on a quarterback, a position that has been a black hole since Cam Newton suffered a shoulder injury in 2018. They’ve had eight different starters since, and it’s difficult to imagine Mayfield or Darnold will still be with the team in 2023.

“There’s a lot of things up in the air for the future here, so I don’t really know,’’ Mayfield said. “I’m doing what I can, what I can control. I know how my teammates feel about me and how I’ve handled things here. So, I can leave here with my head high and understand that I did everything I could.’’