How Baker Mayfield Won Carolina’s Starting Quarterback Job

Mayfield: David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports; Campbell: Kirthmon F. Dozier/USA TODAY Network; Thibodeaux: Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY Network

Training camp is, for the most part, over—the veterans are out of the hotel, teams are moving to more regular season-like practice schedules and their openers are three weeks away. So that’s why we’ll start with a big decision being finalized …

And it’s not like that decision was a difficult one for the Panthers—Baker Mayfield built a sizable lead relatively quickly, and held it throughout. But I do think, in a subtle way, it was important that he earn the job the way he did in camp.

The fact is, there are plenty of reps to go around over the summer,…