KEEP POUNDING: A Carolina Panthers season preview
With the start of the NFL season on the horizon I give my thoughts on the Carolina Panthers as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Are you ready for some football?
As of writing this article we are less than a week from the start of the 2021 NFL season and I could not be more excited to be frank. But my excitement does not stem from really any of the national storylines circling this season like Tom Brady and the Bucs running it back or Patrick Mahomes’ #REVENGETOUR. In a completely and totally biased way I am super excited for this rendition of the Carolina Panthers to take the field September 12th vs the New York Jets in the friendly confines of Bank of America stadium. After an offseason of intrigue and improvement there is an aura of hope after the franchise has been adrift in recent years with poor management. This hope was only confounded after an amazing draft class, Scott Fitterer’s first with Carolina, which was lauded as one of the best in the entire NFL.
The Offense
After the 2020 season ended and with new GM Scott Fitterer looking to right the ship Carolina was faced with the realization that they could not go any further with Teddy Bridgewater as QB1. After a couple months of mulling their options the Panthers pounced. On April 5th Carolina traded a 2021 6th round pick and 2022 2nd and 4th round picks for the former 3rd overall pick Sam Darnold. The move took the fanbase, and NFL as a whole, by surprise and led to wildly different reactions from many corners of the internet. Many thought Darnold’s days were numbered as the Jets were in a great position in the 2021 draft to walk away with a top QB prospect but that he would find himself in Charlotte was a big surprise. Darnold goes from an offense where his best weapon was Jamison Crowder and his coach Adam Gase to one of the best situations a QB could ask for. Darnold is drowning in targets in Carolina with the electric DJ Moore (66 Catches, 1,193 Yards, and 4 TDs) at WR1, his old Jets teammate and friend Robby Anderson (95 Catches 1,096 Yards, and 3 TDs) at WR2, and rounding our the starting WRs the 2nd round draft pick Terrace Marshall Jr out of LSU really turned a lot of heads in the preseason and earned the playing time he will receive. Lest teams worry too much about them Christian McCaffrey is healthy and ready to prove his case as the best running back in the NFL in 2021 after missing 13 games last season due to injury. Backing up CMC is 4th round selection Chubba Hubbard, who inexplicably fell that far after a brilliant career in Stillwater with the Cowboys, will make sure McCaffrey does not have to single handily carry the rushing load this year. Joe Brady’s offensive system is a joy to watch and looks to get practically everyone involved even Carolina’s weakest skill group which is the Tight End position. Ian Thomas, the lone holdover, got some much needed reinforcement in the offseason with the additions of Dan Arnold (31 Catches, 438 Yards, 4 TDs) who departed Arizona for free agency and Tommy Tremble a 3rd round selection out of Notre Dame who will bring some physicality to the position that should inspire Carolina’s other position of concern the Offensive Line.
The offensive line has been an issue for the Carolina Panthers for about as long as dinosaurs have been dead with many citing it as the cause behind the Panthers collapse in Super Bowl 50 and Cam Newton’s subsequent downfall (although I will argue that was due to the NFL’s embarrassing lack of punishment for dirty helmet to helmet hits on Newton throughout his career until the day I die.) and it was not much better last year. The rebuild is nowhere near to a close but the Panthers locked down their franchise Tackle Taylor Moton by locking him down for 4 years and 71.25 million dollars which was an excellent change of pace of previous front offices just kicking the tires on extensions and allowing players to walk after the franchise tag wore off. Matt Paradis returns to start at Center in Carolina but as of right now he and Moton are the only 2020 starters that will be there week 1 for Carolina as returning starting Guard John Miller was just recently placed on the COVID list which will be a blow to the OL. Recent FA signing Michael Jordan will likely slide in to start in his place until Miller returns. The rest of the starting 5 is rounded out by 2 offseason acquisitions in Pat Elflein and Cameron Erving at Left Guard and Left Tackle respectively. Though do not be surprised if 2021 2nd round pick Tackle Brady Christensen eventually finds his way in the starting 5 up front for Carolina. Overall this offense is, at least on paper, one that should be able to put up a lot of points but it will all come down to the OL giving Darnold enough time to find his excellent weapons and Darnold himself being able to shake off his New York ghosts.
The Defense
Of course while the Offense down in Charlotte should be flashy and fun where the real leap will be if Carolina is indeed a contender for a playoff spot will be on the Defense. Carolina runs a base 4-3 and looks to field one of the more formidable pass rushing attacks in the NFL. Starting with the 4 down linemen Brian Burns (58 Tackles, 9.0 Sacks, 8 TFL, 3 Forced Fumbles, and 21 QB Hits) at Defensive End is a matchup nightmare for practically any OL. His speed and raw strength has made the 2019 1st round pick into one of the most feared DEs in just 2 seasons in the NFL. Occupying the Defensive Tackle positions is a pair that you can ill afford to forget about while game planning for Carolina. 2020 1st round pick Derrick Brown (34 Tackles, 2.0 Sacks, 8 TFL, and 12 QB Hits) had a fantastic rookie campaign and the sky seems to be the limit for the Auburn product. Across from Brown is the veteran DaQuan Jones (49 Tackles, 2.0 Sacks, 4 TFL, 1 Forced Fumble, and 6 QB Hits) who left the Tennessee Titans after being in Nashville for 7 seasons and was signed by Carolina. Occupying the other Defensive End position is the former Los Angeles Ram Morgan Fox (27 Tackles, 6.0 Sacks, 8 TFL, 1 Forced Fumble, and 9 QB Hits) who played in all 16 games for LA last year but only started in 2 of them. Outside of the starting 4 Carolina has excellent depth at DL with the likes of Daviyon Nixon, Yetur Gross-Matos, and more chomping at the bit to get on the field.
If opposing offenses can shut down this formidable front four they have to worry about a linebacking core that is wildly improved from just a season ago. The obvious improvement here is the addition of OLB Haason Reddick (63 Tackles, 12.5 Sacks, 15 TFL, 6 Forced Fumbles, and 16 QB Hits) who really broke onto the scene in Arizona last season before taking his talents to the Queen City in free agency. Reddick brings a dimension to the Carolina linebackers that was sorely missed after Luke Kuechly’s early retirement and he looks to be a giant force of chaos against every level of the opposing offense. Occupying the other Outside Linebacker slot is the Carolina mainstay Shaq Thompson (114 Tackles, 6 TFL, 2 Forced Fumbles, 2 QB Hits) who has taken great strides the last couple of seasons to become one of the leaders of the Panthers defense. In between those forces of havoc is the starting Mike Linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. (46 Tackles and 2 TFL) who has really come into his own this offseason drawing praise from the coaching staff and Carolina greats Steve Smith and Luke Kuechly. There is an obvious fluidity around the front 7 as guys like Reddick could be a DE if needed and the parts are certainly not finished moving. Most of that is due to the ultimate X-Factor of the Carolina Panthers Defense in 2020 2nd round pick Jeremy Chinn (117 Tackles, 1.0 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 Interception, 2 Defensive Touchdowns, and 5 QB Hits). Chinn had a positively phenomenal rookie season which had him finish only behind Washington’s Chase Young in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Chinn’s ability to play both Linebacker and Safety at such a high level makes him the most important tool for the Panthers coaching staff as he can do so much for a defense. As of right now the plan seems to be to have Chinn operate as the Strong Safety but that is most certainly subject to change. Starting opposite of Chinn at Free Safety is the returning Juston Burris (53 Tackles, 3 TFL, 1 Interception, 1 QB Hit) who started 12 games for Carolina last season.
The biggest area of concern for the Panthers defense is the Cornerback position and it is by far the most important for any kind of long term success this season by Carolina. A group that struggled mightily at times last year looks to rebound and is led by the freakishly athletic Donte Jackson (34 Tackles, 1 TFL, 3 Interceptions, 11 Pass Break Ups) who enters the final year of his rookie contract and is looking to take the next step of his career. Jackson has struggled in coverage at times but he makes up for it with his acrobatic interceptions and elite speed to catch up to WRs. Starting across the field from Donte is the 2021 8th overall selection Jaycee Horn from the University of South Carolina. Horn had a great career at UofSC and had had great start to his NFL career in training camp and the preseason. There are always risks attributed to drafting a Corner high and expecting immediate success, it is one of the hardest positions to go from college to the pros in for a reason, but many believe Horn was well worth the high selection and his performance so far has done nothing to dispel these believers. Carolina did not stop with Jaycee when revamping the CB room with 2021 6th round selection Keith Taylor making the 53 man roster after a quality showing in the preseason and 2020 7th round pick Stanley Thomas-Oliver has also stuck. The very young room took a hit in the preseason when 2020 4th round pick Troy Pride Jr tore his ACL in the first preseason game vs Indianapolis. Free Agent signing AJ Bouye will also miss the first 2 games as he continues to serve a suspension for violating the NFL PED policy. The former pro bowl corner was hampered by injuries in Denver and it will be interesting to see how he contributes to the Panthers defense in 2021.
The Special Teams
The Joey Slye (He Sucked) experience has mercifully ended after 2 painful seasons after being chosen as the Panthers starting kicker over Carolina legend Graham Gano (who is tearing it up in East Rutherford with the Giants to this day). The new Sheriff in town is the former University of Minnesota Gopher Ryan Santoso. Santoso most recently spent the 2021 preseason in New York and while he couldn’t beat out Gano for the starting job he was a highly sought after trade target for several teams with kicking issues. Eventually Carolina won the bidding war sending a future conditional 7th round pick to Big Blue for Santoso who immediately beat out Slye for the starting job. JJ Jansen returns for his billionth season in Carolina (192 games played good for 2nd in franchise history) at Long Snapper and Joseph Charlton rounds out the special teamers by winning the Punter position battle.
Overall and Predictions
So after all is said and done how will the Carolina Panthers fare in this season? I am going to be blunt with the fact that I am a total homer and optimist (if you can’t already tell) and this schedule is very manageable if Carolina gets the breaks to fall their way and experiences the improvement that they should! I think it will be a very fun year in Carolina and I cannot wait for Sunday at 1pm.
Panthers 2021 Schedule and predictions
Week 1 vs Jets W
Week 2 vs Saints W
Week 3 @ Texans (TNF) W
Week 4 @ Dallas L
Week 5 vs Eagles W
Week 6 vs Vikings L
Week 7 @ NYG W
Week 8 @ Falcons W
Week 9 vs Patriots W
Week 10 @ Cardinals L
Weke 11 vs Washington L
Week 12 @ Dolphins W
Week 14 vs Falcons W
Week 15 @ Bills L
Week 16 vs Buccaneers W
Week 17 @ Saints L
Week 18 @ Buccaneers L
Overall 10-7 Wild Card birth!
Keep Pounding folks