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John Ellis / @1PantherPlace

Down to the wire.

In the case of Panthers left tackle Taylor Moton, the general consensus among analysts and reporters, including your humble correspondent: time was ticking, and the likelihood of any long-term extension before Thursday’s deadline felt remote.

Life happens fast in the NFL.

By mid-afternoon on Thursday, just short of the league’s official deadline for extending franchise players to long-term deals, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the details: Carolina and their rising star on the right side had agreed to a four-year extension (essentially a 5-year deal) worth $72 million. It appears that a $43 million guaranteed bonus is due at signing, a report that was confirmed by multiple outlets throughout the afternoon.

Moton, a 2nd round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, has been widely considered by league insiders and scouts as one of the best players at his position. On tape, he is fluid and fundamentally sound, and demonstrates a high level of competitive fire through the whistle.

As a rookie, former Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula utilized Moton’s rare combination of power and balance in key situations, as the Western Michigan product became a bit of a go-to guy in Carolina’s 6 OL power sets.

As seen below, as the third tackle on the far right side of the line, #72 was the catalyst on this Jonathan Stewart touchdown.

Moton opened the 2018 season at left tackle in Carolina’s season opener against Dallas. The following week, the natural-fit of a right tackle made the permanent switch back to his comfort zone. 668 pass block reps later, Moton finished his second season allowing a pair of quarterback sacks.

Over the last two seasons, Moton has molded into one of the best right tackles in the league, allowing just five sacks in 1300+ pass blocking reps.

The Panthers still have questions across the line, namely, the latest variety of mystery candidates to protect yet another Carolina QB’s blind side.

Brady Christensen, the third-rounder drafted from BYU, spent some time working at right tackle during OTA. However, the expectation is he will spend most of his time competing for a starting job at left tackle during training camp.

Other contenders include Trent Scott, a journeyman who played limited snaps last year, and former first-round pick Cam Erving, the latest in a long line of Matt Rhule revival projects.

Free agents pickup Pat Elflein will compete for the left guard job, while veterans John Miller and Dennis Daley will likely battle for reps at right guard. Miller, who fared well at times in 2020, could be a formidable sidekick for Moton, as they have experience working together.

Panthers Training Camp opens on July 28, at which point, fans and those covering the event will begin to see these position battles take shape. For now, Panthers fans can breathe a sigh of relief that one of the best right tackles in the league is theirs until 2025.

He gave Panthers fans hope, if only for a minute. After a turbulent final month of 2020, Teddy Bridgewater no longer represents stability for a franchise suddenly in search of accelerated success.

By: John Ellis – @1pantherplace

Months into his first crack at any type of NFL job since 2012, the newly-minted coach of the Carolina Panthers held court, selling anyone within earshot on the value of first-round pick turned journeyman Teddy Bridgewater. All of this on the heels of Rhule’s decision, in collaboration with former GM Marty Hurney (and presumably owner David Tepper), to release 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton, who was given permission to seek a trade in March–a trade he reportedly never wanted, and a request he reportedly never made.

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"I believe in his arm strength...I believe in his decision-making." 

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule. May 29, 2020.

Newton, in the middle of rehabbing his Lisfranc injury from early 2019, was apoplectic–as was much of the Panthers fanbase. Many viewed it as a needlessly premature conclusion to a largely memorable decade of performances by the first overall pick from the 2011 NFL Draft.

Perhaps in an effort to both appease fans while offering his new quarterback some degree of reassurance, Rhule spoke glowingly of Bridgewater’s game, speaking in almost hyperbolic terms, at times.

“The best players in the world bring out the best in their teammates,” Rhule said in a May 2020 interview on “Around the NFL”. “(Bridgewater) brings out the best in the people.”

Rhule, to Panthers team reporter Kristen Balboni in early April: “Teddy’s a guy who has won at every level he’s been at. Goes to New Orleans…wins again.”

A coach citing “QB WINZ” as a positive trait for a player feels a bit disingenuous, particularly in the case of Bridgewater, whose 5-0 record with the 2019 Saints was somewhat aided by superb coaching, a great defense, a strong running game and good weapons.

Rhule also underscored Bridgewater’s familiarity with new OC Joe Brady–and all that it entailed.

“When you watch him on tape, you see him execute the plays we’re going to run,” said Rhule

Emphasis on “PLAYS WE’RE GOING TO RUN”.

Clearly, Rhule and the Panthers brass had a sky-high expectation that Bridgewater, who played in New Orleans as Brady served on Sean Payton’s staff in 2018, would master Brady’s schematics, verbiage and general style of play.

There were flashes of excellence from Rhule’s dream duo early on: Teddy racked up 636 passing yards in his first pair of starts. On opening day, Bridgewater rallied Carolina from an 11-point deficit, passing for 116 of his 269 yards after the 3:00 mark of the third quarter–including a 75-yard double move touchdown by free agency steal Robby Anderson.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1305296093148831744?s=20

Trailing 34-30, with his quarterback fresh off a pair of impressive touchdown drives, Brady took the ball out of Bridgewater’s hands. Carolina opened the drive with a 15-yard “drive starter” run by Christian McCaffrey. This is not an uncommon strategy on late-game comeback drives.

Curiously, from their own 45-yard-line, with 3:22 left in regulation, the Panthers didn’t throw a single pass.

Four runs–a trio of 3-yard McCaffrey grinds, capped off by a predictable FB dive.

To be clear, Carolina needed 10 yards for a new set of downs at the 3:22 mark. Hovering around mid-field, the Panthers, possibly aiming for a touchdown while leaving limited time for Las Vegas to mount a final drive, drained 1:59 from the game clock before failing to convert on a 4th and 1 to extend the game.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1362631152658505729?s=20

All the more perplexing is the fact that Las Vegas was in “single high” on each of these four runs. Brady had a golden opportinuty to exploit Cover 1 coverage with Anderson, DJ Moore, or any number of options. This would have been the ideal time to take a shot, or at the very least, mix in at least one intermediate pass.

Does that feel like trust?

A 119-second sequence of late-game diffidence served as a precursor to a series of situational gaffes from Brady’s otherwise prolific offensive attack. Carolina lost this game, and finished the season with a dreadful 2-8 record in one-possession games. With Bridgewater at the helm, the Panthers were 0-8 when faced with this combination of situational elements:

• Offense on the field.
• Less than 3:00 to play.
• Trailing by one possession.

Now, in the interest of fairness, Carolina’s young defense (as expected) was horrible for much of season on 3rd down. The Panthers offense rarely benefited from a key takeaway, or a positive flip in field position.

Game	Punts forced	final score
Week 7: @ Saints	0	L, 27-24
Week 8: v Falcons	1	L, 25-17
Week 9: @ Chiefs	1	L, 33-31
Week 10: v Bucs	0	L, 46-23

During this four-game losing skid, Phil Snow’s defense forced 2 punts in 16 quarters. The Panthers lost 3 of those 4 games by one possession. To Bridgewater’s credit, he played some solid football during this stretch.

In fact, his two best games of the year (at New Orleans, at Kansas City) featured just one (1) punt from the two opponents combined.

The red zone offense sucked. Plain and simple.

Carolina ranked 28th in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on barely half (50.9%) of their 57 trips inside the 20. Over their final seven games, Carolina was 11-of-27 in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on a miserable 40.7% rate. They finished 2-5 down the stretch, and three of those losses were one-possession games.

Bridgewater suffered a knee injury in the first of those seven games, a 46-23 home loss to Tampa. Since then, his production took a nose dive.

Situationally, Bridgewater made a mess of things in critical situations down the final stretch of the season. Prime example: the Minnesota game. Leading 24-21 with 1:56 to play, Brady opted for a passing play. The risk? Minnesota was out of time outs, and a run would have drained :35 extra seconds. The reward? If your QB makes a simple throw, your lead is then insurmountable.

Brady put the ball in Teddy’s hands, with the game on the line, and this is what happened:

The following week, Teddy led Carolina back from a deficit against Denver with three scoring drives in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater made several big throws down the stretch.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1338566363011538946?s=20

In crunch time, inside of 2:00, Bridgewater again failed to execute, with some degree of confusion as to why a play was rushed prior to the two minute warning–essentially a wasted play with Teddy throwing it out of bounds.

On 4th down, more of the same. Underneath the sticks, and behind Samuel on the shallow crosser. Teddy does a ton of good things between the 20’s. Crunch time just isn’t his deal.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1338597442728693762?s=20

The following week in Green Bay, more red zone issues. This time, Bridgewater tries to take it over the top, reportedly against the wishes of his coach.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1340479322134441984?s=20

Bridgewater’s final 3 games of 2020:

• 1 passing TD
• 1 rush TD
• 5 turnovers
• 61% completions

Teddy Bridgewater did some nice things in 2020. No question, his knee was an issue post-Tampa. One year ago, Matt Rhule “loved his decison making” and raved about how much of a “winner” Teddy was.

Today, that same player–always overhyped by his coach, to no fault of his own–is reportedly being shopped by the same man who, less than a year ago, proclaimed: “I believe” in Teddy.

Personally, I knew what Carolina was getting with Teddy. The tape never lies.

Coaches? Half-truths are a universal language.

In news first reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Carolina Panthers are expected to hire former Texans assistant Sean Ryan as their new quarterbacks coach.

Ryan, who spent the last two seasons in the same capacity with the Lions, will replace former Panthers QB coach Jake Peetz, who recently left Carolina to accept the offensive coordinator position at LSU.

A 13-year NFL coaching veteran, Ryan spent nine seasons with the New York Giants, fulfulling a number of roles (quality control, WR and QB coach) while collecting a pair of Super Bowl rings. Panthers coach Matt Rhule was an offensive line assistant on the same staff as Ryan in 2012, prompting speculation that Ryan would land the offensive coordinator role on Rhule’s inagural Panthers staff in 2020. (Joe Brady eventually got the gig.)

The headline mentions the Texans. I don’t think you need an explanation as to why.

Ryan was Deshaun Watson’s first NFL QB coach, and was instrumental in Watson’s early pro development from 2017-18.

“Ryan and Watson communicated clearly and got along well, collaborating adeptly as the former college national champion emerged as a Pro Bowl addition during an AFC South division championship season in 2018,” wrote Texans reporter Aaron Wilson in 2019.

In Watson’s two seasons with Ryan by his side, the production was remarkable:

Ryan’s hire becomes notable for a number of reasons, including the uncertain status of current OC Joe Brady. Should Brady land a head coaching gig in the next 12 months, Ryan would be a prudent option to fill from within.

It’s also worth examining the timing: Carolina has now been linked to Deshaun Watson, who will likely seek a trade after a fallout with Houston management, by both NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, among others. Ryan and Watson shared a notoriously solid working relationship in Houston.

While Ryan is worth consideration on his own merits, this hire could serve as a signal from owner David Tepper to Watson, a star QB who has felt alienated and marginalized of late in terms of staffing decisions.

As outlined by Aaron Reiss from The Athletic, the Watson/Ryan dynamic is hard to ignore–on a day-to-day level, Watson and Ryan worked in harmony as much as any two people in the facility:

In addition to being in every position meeting and at every practice together, Ryan and Watson were almost always talking when the Texans’ offense wasn’t on the field during a game. O’Brien would often join them, but his head coaching responsibilities prevented him from being Watson’s primary coach in those moments.

“All we do between series, whether it’s me and him, OB (O’Brien) and him, whoever is with him, it’s all about the football,” Ryan said of those in-game sideline meetings with Watson. “It’s all about what we see, how the game is going at that time, where our plan is taking us next and how we’re going to attack the opponent, what we feel like they’re doing to us and how we’re going to handle it. It’s all of that. It’s never time to panic; it’s always calm. Just talking about where we’re going from here.”

So why did he leave Watson and the Texans?

The buzz on that: Ryan reportedly didn’t see a viable path for play-calling duties under since-fired Bill O’Brien, via Reiss. Ryan subsequently interviewed with the Browns for their OC vacancy–Cleveland settled on Todd Monken.

With Joe Brady’s stay in Carolina expected to be brief, it’s a great opportunity for Ryan to get in the door with Rhule before the OC chair becomes officially vacant.

Deshaun Watson may never play a single snap in the Carolina black & blue. But with the hiring of his inaugural QB coach, as well as the owner’s endless resources + a publicly-stated desire to elevate their quarterback situation, the possibility simply can’t be ignored.

Ryan is one more context clue. Nothing more. Nothing less.

After the most expansive candidate search in franchise history, the Carolina Panthers are expected to hire Seahawks VP of player personnel Scott Fitterer to fill their GM vacancy, per NFL Media/NFL.com.

Fitterer, 47, has been with the Seahawks since 2001–Mike Holmgren was the head coach/general manager at the time, as Fitterer jumped into a front office structure rife with emerging stars, including Ted Thompson (VP of football ops) and John Schnieder (Director of player personnel).

A two-sport star in high school, Fitterer played baseball (pitcher) and football (quarterback) at UCLA, and later LSU. Shoulder problems eventually derailed his baseball career with the Toronto Blue Jays.

As an area scout, Fittrer worked under then college scouting director Scot Mccloughan, who, ironically enough, also played for the Blue Jays.

Per the Seahawks 2020 Media Guide, Fitterer, who was the team’s college scouting director from 2011-14, was still heavily involved in Seattle’s college scouting efforts:

In his current role, Fitterer works collaboratively with Trent Kirchner in directing both the college scouting and pro personnel departments to manage and strengthen all aspects of the Seahawks roster.

As the director of college scouting he coordinated the Seahawks’ entire scouting operation and compiled all of the college scouting information required to set the draft board.

He is responsible for the evaluation of all draft eligible players nationally, oversight of the Seahawks college scouting staff and works closely with GM John Schneider and the Seahawks coaching staff regarding the NFL Draft and college free agency.

Before joining Seattle, Fitterer was a scout for the New York Giants from 1998-2000, where he worked in the same building as former Panthers head coach John Fox.

The Panthers interviewed 15 candidates for their GM vacancy, with Fitterer jumping into the mix as a late addition. Fitterer will oversee a front office currently led by a pair of recent hires: director of player personnel Pat Stewart and director of player negotiations/cap manager Samir Suleiman.

According to NFL Research, the Carolina Panthers are the first team in league history to use all seven drafts picks on defenders.

New Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who spent time with head coach Matt Rhule at both Temple and Baylor, is the beneficiary of two new interior DL (Derrick Brown, Bravvion Roy), a pair of safeties (Jeremy Chinn, Kenny Robinson), two new corners (Stan Thomas-Oliver, Troy Pride) and an EDGE (Yetur Gross-Matos).

Here is a pick-by-pick look at your newest Carolina Panthers:

 

Derrick Brown. DT, Auburn

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1253507708424196097?s=21

Yetur Gross-Matos: EDGE, Penn State

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1253836704869429249?s=21

Jeremy Chinn: S, Southern Illinois

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1253866172136796167?s=21

Troy Pride, Jr.: CB, Notre Dame

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1254091767223377920?s=21

Kenny Robinson: S, West Virginia

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1254119588352098309?s=21

Bravvion Roy: NT, Baylor

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1254140406306045960?s=21

Stan Thomas-Oliver: CB, FIU

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1254169585068265472?s=21

Well, it’s over.

As T.S. Eliot once wrote: this is the way it ends, with “a whimper, not with a bang.”

Cameron Jerrell Newton, the first overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft, was released by the Panthers on a cold, bleak, uniquely uncertain Tuesday afternoon in the Carolinas.

We’ve all chronicled the story, but let’s review the bullet points.

• December 2016: Newton chased down an interception against the San Diego Chargers, and in the process, took a hard hit to his throwing shoulder. This was the first in a series of unfortunate injuries.
• November 2018: in the pocket, Newton was blindsided by Steelers linebacker TJ Watt, who used the crown of his helmet to spear an already aggravated shoulder. Cam would eventually end up on injured reserve.
• August 2019: five years after sustaining a substantial injury on the same patch of turf, Newton suffered a foot injury in New England. Again, within the pocket. This led to a Lisfranc diagnosis, and another trip to injured reserve.

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1202624445245988865?s=21

The third in this series of brutally unfair events proved to be the proverbial nail in the coffin for Newton’s glorious career in black and blue.

What followed was a disastrous 5-11 season, highlighted by the midseason termination of the only NFL coach Newton has ever known, Ron Rivera. Carolina stayed competitive for much of the year, behind MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey. Eventually, the lack of potency in the red zone cost Carolina several critical games, of which Newton’s unique ability to alter defensive schematics could have proved invaluable.

Several weeks later, Panthers owner David Tepper chose Baylor head coach Matt Rhule to lead Carolina forward. This process also included the retention of long-time general manager Marty Hurney, the man responsible for drafting Newton in 2010.

From that point forward, the battle lines were drawn. There was an abundance of speculation, including from yours truly, because that’s the business we are in. The organization would never truly commit to Newton, a clear signal that his future in Carolina was in jeopardy.

During Super Bowl week, Newton took to the press to make his case. He appeared on several national radio and television outlets for a rare glimpse into his core feelings. The nine-year veteran seized this opportunity to make a crafty case to the public, and presumably his own employer: “I want to be here.”

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1223392297737424897?s=21

Newton certainly reclaimed the “upper hand” from a PR perspective. The organization, at every step along the way, worked to provide some clarity. Tepper, who never runs away from a camera, held court with the media at a team function.

“I’m not a doctor,” proclaimed the former hedge-fund savant.

Later in February, at the NFL scouting combine, Rhule aimed to provide some clarity. In doing so, he always stopped short of declaring Newton the starter for 2020.

Last week, the Panthers announced that they were working in partnership with Newton’s representation to find a suitable trade partner. Shortly thereafter, Newton took to Instagram to comment on Carolina’s status update.

Clearly, he was irked by the messaging. It also irked countless fans, who also took their complaints to social media.

What followed? Carolina agreed to terms with Saints backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on a two-year contract.

This move was clearly a key piece to a larger puzzle which didn’t make much sense before, but does make sense now: the team tried to get ahead of the messaging by publicly announcing Newton’s departure, which cleared the way for the Bridgewater signing.

We can relitigate how the front office handled all of this. We can also put to bed the notion that the team’s social media gurus have anything to do with high-level football calculations. 

There was a miniseries. The team produced it. They also went out of their way to highlight some of the dramatics. That’s a judgment call, and I’m not standing in judgment of it. At the time, I know it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. In hindsight, even more so.

That’s the business. It’s a two-way street.

Cam battled injuries. Cam battled a lack of perimeter weapons. Cam battled a national narrative which, at times, was borderline slanderous.

In the end, Cam was left battling his own employer.

Moving forward, it’s an intriguing story to watch. Where will the journey commence for the 2015 NFL MVP?

We don’t know.

What do we know? It’s over in Carolina.

With a whimper. Not a bang.

The Panthers traveled a unique path to find their new head coach.

Up next: the arduous, meticulous task of constructing an entirely new coaching staff.

When former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera signed on with the Redskins last week, he took a healthy portion of his Panthers staff with him. The Panthers didn’t seem particularly resistant to that. 

So, it’s virtually a clean staffing slate for Carolina. With the fanfare of the new hire announcement in the rear view, the real work begins.

Rhule has a couple of different pools he can draw from. Obviously there’s his current Baylor staff. Some of his colleagues from the year he spent with the New York Giants are still active as well. However, Rhule also indicated in his presser that he was getting “calls from all over”, specifically from coaches that want to be part of his 2020 Panthers coaching staff.

Intriguing, to say the least.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the potential candidates. For most of the available spots, I’m going to provide three possibilities: The Baylor option, the former Giants option, and wild cards. In a few cases, there will also be an existing Panthers option. Again, most of the old staff is long gone on a plane to Washington DC (with ownership’s blessing) but we’ll discuss the few who are still hanging around.

EDITORIAL NOTE: We have a new contributor to the One Panther Place team. He simply goes by “Mister Scot”. Don’t ask me why. Better yet, don’t even ask him why.

With the help of Scot’s encyclopedic understanding of this particular topic, we bring your this list of Panthers staffing possibilities:

 

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

The Baylor Option: Glenn Thomas or Jeff Nixon

There’s an NFL saying that when you have two quarterbacks, you have none. The same could apply to the OC role. Rhule had co-offensive coordinators in position coaches Glenn Thomas (quarterbacks) and Jeff Nixon (runningbacks). That kind of arrangement in the NFL isn’t necessarily unheard of – i.e. run game coordinators and passing game coordinators – but another name has already emerged as a likely candidate for this spot, and it isn’t either of them.

The Giants Option: Sean Ryan

Kevin Gilbride Sr. was technically the Giants OC, but Sean Ryan, the Giants quarterback coach in 2012, is the guy who’s being identified as a Panthers OC candidate. Ryan has an NFL resumé that dates back to 2007. He’s worked with the Giants, Texans and Lions as both a quarterbacks coach and a receivers coach (a common combo for future OCs). This would, however, be his first shot at being a coordinator, so that’s something to keep in mind.

The Wild Card Option: Joe Brady

LSU receiver coach / passing game coordinator Joe Brady is the guy who’s on everybody’s wish list as an OC. Ravens DC Don “Wink” Martindale even identified him as the guy he’d want if he got a head coaching job (which it looks like he won’t). Brady has no connection to Rhule that I know of. He did spend time as a graduate assistant at Penn State, but long after Rhule had graduated. There has been some reporting around the league this morning that Carolina may have some interest in Brady’s services.

QUARTERBACK COACH

The Baylor Option: Glenn Thomas

One of the common themes you’re going to see in the Baylor coaches is “followed Rhule from Temple”, and Thomas is one of those. He does have NFL experience, seven years with the Falcons, three of which were spent being Matt Ryan’s quarterback coach. He was let go from there as part of the staff when Mike Smith was sacked. In 2015, the Browns interviewed him for their open QB Coach spot but ultimately went in another direction and Thomas went to Temple. He could be a viable choice.

The Giants Option: Ummm…

Would have been Sean Ryan, but he’s being looked at as an OC. You might throw Kevin Gilbride in here as both a guy with QB coaching experience and as a former NFL head coach (something Rhule wants on staff) but he’s got a job as a head coach of one of the new XFL’s teams and was retired for about six years prior to taking that job anyway.

The Wild Card Option: Jon Kitna

Kitna was most recently the Cowboys QB coach, and it’s uncertain as of this writing whether he’ll be retained. The past two years in Dallas are his only NFL coaching experience but he was a player for several years. Probably not enough of a connection or an NFL resumé here though.

RUNNING BACK COACH

The Baylor Option: Jeff Nixon

Baylor’s other co-coordinator didn’t directly follow Rhule directly from Temple like Thomas did, but he did work alongside Rhule on the Temple staff in 2006 when Rhule was coaching defensive line and was a college teammate of Rhule’s at Penn State. Nixon has more NFL experience than Thomas, including five seasons as the Dolphins RB coach where he coached Lamar Miller. Unfortunately for him, the Panthers appear to already have a preference.

The Giants Option: Jerald Ingram

If you’re looking for NFL experience, here’s the guy with the most of it. Ingram has been coaching runningbacks in the NFL since 1995 and he’s got two Super Bowl rings from his stint with the Giants. He’s right now on the XFL Guardians staff with Gilbride though, and like Gilbride he was retired for the past several years before taking that job.

The Wild Card Option: Randy Jordan, Gray Brown, Craig Johnson

There are a few guys available from recently dismissed staffs. Randy Jordan from the Redskins has a North Carolina connection from his time at UNC. Gary Brown from Dallas (if he’s not retained) has more experience and the distinction of working with Ezekiel Elliott. Giants RB coach Craig Johnson has even more pro experience. But again, likely all for naught, because…

The Panthers Option: Jake Peetz

The Panthers made little to no effort to retain any of the coordinators or position coaches from Ron Rivera’s staff, except one. Because they love the work he’s done with star runningback Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers blocked the Redskins from interviewing RB coach Peetz. It’s an odd thing because Rhule reportedly broke off talks with the Jets when asked (told) to take a coach of their choosing, specifically notorious defensive coordinator and part time bounty hunter Gregg Williams. Still, that was for a coordinator job. Maybe he’s okay with a position coach. The Panthers are reportedly more than okay with Peetz. This is one to keep your eye on.

WIDE RECEIVER COACH

The Baylor Option: Frisman Jackson

Yet another one who followed Rhule from Temple, though in this case he spent an in-between year coaching receivers for the Tennessee Titans. That’s Jackson’s only year of pro coaching experience and head coach Mike Mularkey was fired at the end of it. He does have several years experience coaching college receivers though and also spent five years playing receiver in the NFL.

The Giants Option: Kevin Gilbride Jr

The son of longtime NFL coach Kevin Sr. has been coaching in the NFL since 2010. Notable prior to that though is that he was on the Temple coaching staff for three years while Rhule was there. Gilbride has coached both receivers and tight ends, but was recently fired by the Bears from their TE coach spot. Given his history with Rhule, I’d say he’s a possible target to coach either receivers or tight ends.

The Wild Card Option: Steve Smith…Just kidding, Sanjay Lal, Todd Monken or Ike Hilliard

Lal was recently advised he wouldn’t be retained by the Cowboys. Again, if an NFL resumé is your big draw, this guy’s got it. He’s been coaching in the NFL since 2007, with all but two of those years as a receivers coach. He’ll likely be coaching again soon, though it may or may not be with us. He could be a possibility if Rhule were to prefer that Gilbride coach the tight ends. Todd Monken is the most recent OC of the Browns, is known for being a smart guy and has experience as a receivers coach. Former Redskins receiver coach Ike Hilliard could be an option too. He doesn’t have a connection with Rhule that I’ve found but did spend a year with Rhule’s old boss Tom Coughlin.

TIGHT ENDS COACH

The Baylor Option: Marcus Satterfield

Satterfield is another Temple to Baylor guy with a stop in-between (two years at Tennessee Tech and East Tennessee State) but he goes further back with Rhule. The two of them were together on the Western Carolina staff in 2005. As far as work history, he’s done both receivers and tight ends, but solely at the college level.

The Giants Option: Kevin Gilbride or Lunda Wells

Technically, there could be three candidates here. There’s the previously mentioned Gilbride Jr, Lunda Wells and actual 2012 TE coach Mike Pope. Pope being 77 years old and retired though, I’ve decided to leave him out. Wells was an offensive assistant with the Giants in 2012 who stayed on as an assistant OL coach and later as the TE coach. He’s not expected to be retained in New York, but given his experience he might be more likely to latch on here as an assistant OL coach than a TE coach.

The Wild Card Option: Doug Nussmeier

Another Cowboys casualty. Nussmeier has a lot of NFL coaching experience, not as much as a TE coach though, more as an offensive coordinator. He spent the past two years with the Cowboys in that spot. I know someone might suggest Greg Olsen but he’s indicated he still wants to play for now, and once he hangs it up he has a broadcast career waiting. I’d probably expect the job to go to either Satterfield or Gilbride.

OFFENSIVE LINE COACH

The Baylor Option: Shawn Bell

Arguably the least likely of the Baylor guys. Bell was a quarterback at Baylor who joined the coaching side of the program after spending several years as a high school coach (quarterback to offensive line coach is certainly an unusual transition). My expectation would be that he’ll stay on with the next Baylor coach, for more reasons than one.

The Giants Option: Pat Flaherty

Flaherty has already been rumored as likely to join Rhule’s staff. He has some experience coaching tight ends (TE and OL coaches cross over at times) but has been an OL coach for the past several years. There is a small-ish Carolina connection, as Flaherty coached several years at Wake Forest and one season at East Carolina. Mind you, he’s free because Dolphins coach Brian Flores parted ways with him during the 2019 offseason, reportedly because Flaherty was having trouble implementing the system Flores wanted. There’s word that his replacement, Dave DiGuglielmo – best known for trying to fill the shoes of Dante Scarnecchia in New England – might be moving on too. So who knows what’s going on there?

The Wild Card Option: Marc Colombo, Hal Hunter or Harry Hiestand

The Cowboys offensive line, when healthy, has been praised as instrumental to their scoring success. Former Cowboys OL Marc Colombo gets a lot of credit for that, but not enough for them to hang on to him. He is, to be fair, a little short on experience having only coached since 2018. A more experienced, and very well regarded, possibility would be Hal Hunter if he’s not retained in New York. There’s also recently dismissed Bears OL coach Harry Hiestand, though he’s not as well thought of as Hunter. Flaherty seems the most likely choice though.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

The Baylor Option: Phil Snow

Sometimes referred to as Rhule’s “right hand man”, Snow is the other name (along with Sean Ryan) already connected to Rhule by Giants beat writer Ralph Vacchiano. Snow’s been coaching defensive backs or serving as a DC at the college level since 1979. That period includes DC jobs at high level programs like UCLA, Washington, Arizona State and Boise State. It was in 2001 at UCLA where he connected with a young Matt Rhule, a DL coach at the time. Snow also has pro experience, having spent four years with the Detroit Lions (same team as Ryan, but different years) coaching linebackers. To top it off, he’s been with Rhule since 2013 at both Temple and Baylor and has a reputation for coaching solid defensive units. This one seems like a lock.

The Giants Option: A familiar name

The Giants DC in 2012 is a guy Panther fans know well. He’ll be discussed a little later.

The Wild Card Option: Wade Phillips, Kris Richard or Rod Marinelli

Phillips is certainly the hot name, though he’s known as a 3-4 guy. Rhule is said to prefer a 4-3 but didn’t sound absolutely tied to it. The other hot (and significantly younger) name out there is Kris Richard, late of the Cowboys, who received head coaching consideration this cycle but no job offers. Former Cowboys DL Coach and acknowledged defensive savant Rod Marinelli wants to continue coaching as well but is 70 (technically younger than Phillips). In this case though, all the forecasts are calling for Snow.

DEFENSIVE LINE COACH

The Baylor Option: Frank Okam or Joey McGuire

Baylor had separate coaches for defensive ends and defensive tackles. Defensive ends coach McGuire has been named the interim head coach after Rhule’s departure and is said to be the players’ favorite for the full time job. Okam is a former NFL player who has been coaching at the college level since 2014. He is a viable fit for a defensive line coach/assistant DL coach vacancy.

The Giants Option: Robert Nunn

Here’s a good option, but not necessarily one that’s available. Nunn coached the dominating Giants D-Line that helped them beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He’s since coached a year with the Browns and is currently the DL Coach for the Jets. The only way he’d be attainable is if his contract is up (no way to know that) but he’d be a solid choice if it were.

The Wild Card Option: Rod Marinelli or Gary Emmanuel

Mentioned above as a DC candidate, Marinelli has been one of the better DL coaches in the league during his career. Since the DC job apparently belongs to Snow and the other candidates are either unavailable or underwhelming, I wouldn’t mind seeing us reach out to him. Recent Giants DL Coach Gary Emmanuel is another guy with a history that goes way back. You could speculate on longtime Panthers Julius Peppers here too, but I’ve seen nothing to indicate he wants to be a coach. And no, Eric Washington is not in the running.

LINEBACKER COACH

The Baylor Option: Mike Siravo

Confirmed by Joe Person to be a candidate for the job. College systems frequently have coaches doing double duty; hence Siravo coached both linebackers and special teams. He’s got history with both Rhule and expected DC Snow (another Temple to Baylor guy). He worked alongside Rhule at Temple, and later under him when Rhule was named head coach. No pro experience, but definite connection. Siravo also has a “sort of” connection to Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly since he was on the Boston College staff as a secondary coach when Luke was there as a linebacker. He was also on the Temple coaching staff in 2006 and coached former Panthers DT Andre Neblett.

The Giants Option: Jim Herrmann

Herrmann has the pro experience that Siravo lacks, but lacks the history with Rhule that Siravo has. He was an NFL linebackers coach for the Jets, Giants and Colts from 2006 to 2017 but since spent a year in the college ranks and is now another former Giant coach on Gilbride’s XFL staff. Doesn’t sound too likely here but possible.

The Wild Card Option: Al Golden or Al Holcomb

Here’s a case where one of the wild cards could actually be realistic as favorites. Al Golden was the Temple head coach who gave Rhule an opportunity by adding him to the Owls coaching staff. Golden later took over the University of Miami program at a bad time in their history but has since moved on to NFL assistant jobs. His latest was coaching the Lions linebackers, but they let go of him at the end of the season. It’d be no shock to see Rhule give the guy who gave him a shot long ago his next one today, perhaps at linebacker coach or maybe elsewhere. Also worth mentioning: While at Miami, Panthers DB Corn Elder was on his roster.

Perhaps less likely, though possible, is former Panthers LB coach Al Holcomb, a casualty of the Browns latest meltdown. Like Golden, Holcomb has the distinction of being connected both to Rhule and to the Panthers roster.  He was part of the 2012 Giants staff with Rhule but also coached Panthers linebackers from 2013 to 2017, including both the aforementioned Luke Kuechly and the recently extended Shaq Thompson. During that time, Holcomb was said to be held in high regard by Kuechly.  Like Golden, he could conceivably be looked at for other spots.

SECONDARY COACH

The Baylor Option: Evan Cooper

Again, a case of split coaching. Cooper coached the corners and Phil Snow (also the DC) coached the safeties. Cooper’s connection to Rhule doesn’t go back as far as others and he’s as much an administrator as a coach. Doesn’t seem all that plausible unless Rhule or Snow really likes him.

The Giants Option: Peter Giunta or David Merritt (technically)

Giunta spent several years coaching the Giants secondary but is currently a defensive assistant with the Saints so a secondary job would be a promotion for him. Merritt seems less likely to want to change jobs since he’s currently working for Andy Reid in Kansas City. Still, both could be overshadowed by another Giants coach we’ll get to shortly.

The Wild Card Option: Steve Wilks, Kris Richard or Ray Horton

Former Panthers DC and DB coach Wilks wasn’t invited to Ron Rivera’s family reunion in DC (neither was Richard Rodgers but…just, no) so maybe Rhule will look at him. Richard might be willing to accept another DB job (technically the Cowboys called him a defensive passing game coordinator) if he doesn’t get a DC job. Former Redskins assistant Ray Horton is also available and has a very solid reputation.  Ah, but then there’s…

The Panthers Option: Perry Fewell

Fewell was the Giants defensive coordinator in 2012 and a guy whom Panthers brass seem to like, just not enough to actually give him that head coach interview they told him they would. Still, Fewell’s specialty is coaching defensive backs.  Only problem? Some of his charges don’t think too much of his leadership or coaching style. He seems to have a particularly hard time connecting with guys named Donte, as both Whitner and Jackson have criticized him publicly. It’d depend on what Rhule thinks of him. Personally, I’d look elsewhere (Ray Horton would be great) but we’ll see what Rhule rules.

SPECIAL TEAMS COACH

The Baylor Option: Mike Siravo

Already discussed as a linebacker coach candidate though technically he coached special teams too. Obviously, Siravo can’t do both jobs in the NFL but if Rhule were to prefer one of the other LB coach candidates, he might hand this task to Siravo.

The Giants Option: Tom Quinn, Larry Izzo

Quinn has a long, if not necessarily illustrious history as a special teams coach. He’s one of the few coaches from the 2012 staff that remained with the Giants right up to the present.  Izzo has been mostly an assistant, of late with theSeahawks. He’s best known for being told by Jimmy Johnson that he was the second player to make the Dolphins roster thanks to a great special teams play. Prior to that, Johnson had told the team that only quarterback Dan Marino was guaranteed to stick. Don’t know if they’ll get a look.

The Wild Card Option: Mike Priefer or Thomas McGaughey

If McGaughey’s name sounds familiar, it should. He used to work here as a special teams guy but moved on to the Giants, who’ve since moved on from…well, everyone. Recent Cleveland ST Coach Priefer is the guy with the better reputation. He does, however, have a bit of controversy attached to his name due to some comments made while with the Vikings that were perceived as homophobic. The controversy has not affected his prior job status. There’s another name, though…

The Panthers Option: Chase Blackburn

Back in 2012, Blackburn wasn’t a coach. He was a linebacker on the Giants roster, so he and Rhule are likely at least acquainted. Blackburn was getting rave reviews early in the 2019 season for the Panthers special teams performances but their quality of play experienced a steep decline as the season wore on. The question becomes whether that falls on Blackburn or slacking players. Overall, I feel like he’d have a chance to stick as at least the special teams assistant coach, but maybe he has a shot to be the main guy too.

OTHER POSITIONS/CANDIDATES

Panthers Strength and Conditioning Coach Joe Kenn: Said to be well liked by management and ownership; general feeling is they want to keep him, but nothing’s official yet; has won awards for his performance in the past; nicknamed “House”

2012 Giants Strength and Conditioning Coach Jerry Palmieri: Spent several years on the Giants staff and has been praised for his work; was a college teammate of the late Sam Mills at Montclair State; hasn’t worked in the NFL since 2016

2012 Giants Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Markus Paul: Spent most of his career as an assistant but got promoted to a full time S&C guy with the Cowboys in 2018; was on staff in New England when the Patriots beat the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII; also was a teammate of former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera with the Chicago Bears

Panthers Assistant Trainer Mark Shermansky:Ryan Vermillion’s assistant since 2002; speculated to be his successor unless the team goes outside for the hire; looks like famed talent show judge Simon Cowell (yeah, he’s that guy)

Former Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin: Last but not least, Coughlin was Rhule’s head coach for the year he spent in New York. Rhule mentioned wanting to have a former NFL head coach around to help him learn the job, and having one with two Super Bowl rings sounds like a pretty good deal. Coughlin would be an obvious choice, not necessarily as a staff member but perhaps in a consultant role. He’s available since the Jaguars recently parted ways with him as part of their staff shuffle.  There is the matter of his rather prickly personality of course, but Rhule could probably manage that and he’d potentially be very beneficial helping Rhule to learn the ins-and-outs of being an NFL head coach.

Time to sit back and see what happens next.

 

Cam Newton is fine. 

Do I have a source on it? No, I don’t.

But I do have an expectation about it. And that seems to be an acceptable bar of confirmation for certain highly-compensated national reporters.

I generally steer away from this type of article, via-Ian Rapaport— pure speculation tossed together under the guise of a news item regarding the future of Carolina’s franchise quarterback.

The headline struck me.

So, yes.

I clicked it.

What happened next: I was overcome by a tidal wave of contradictions, a sense of covering all of one’s bases, incorrect assumptions, and flawed analysis.

Two paragraphs in particular were rife with mind numbingly lazy takes.

“However, the expectation is that the Panthers will attempt to trade Newton this offseason provided they can get a large deal to make it worth their while. In what could be the most active QB market in years, Newton — if healthy — could be the centerpiece”

The expectation? Oh, OK. I guess we’ll just roll with that.

Could still be a centerpiece? Man, it would be nice to have a quarterback as the centerpiece, wouldn’t it, PANTHERS FANS?

Rapaport continues:

“They won’t give him away, but with Kyle Allen showing potential and Will Grier possessing traits that led the Panthers to grade him better than the third-rounder he was, they have options. And a top option is for the new coach and still general manager Marty Hurney to move on from the former MVP Newton, collect a bounty of picks, and start fresh.”

Kyle Allen flashed his potential, and has shown his ceiling, to a large extent. 

Will Grier? We’re actually factoring in Will Grier right now? I like the kid, and hope he dials in and makes a career for himself.

Banking on that? Not sure I’m willing to.

Look, we’re all speculating here. Anybody ever consider how Cam Newton feels about all this? Where is his mind at? Does he want to even stay in the city? Once you start snowballing down that road, you end up trapped in a horrific funhouse of hot takes and bad information.

All I know is this: I watch a lot of film, and Cam looked very good for a good part of last season. He looked very good in 2017. He fought through a lot of pain in 2016 and made some tremendous throws.

He is a tremendous football asset. He creates matchups, he gives you great flexibility, he’s an extra runner defenses have to account for.

He’s also the heartbeat of this franchise. It’s tangible, and it’s a deep void right now.

What new coach in his right mind would move on from Cam Newton, assuming the foot surgery and a full year+ of limited shoulder strain has paid off?

Then again, what comes first? New coach or a Cam decision?

And that’s just the thing: you can’t have it both ways. If you feel Carolina wants to move on because of the lingering health questions, what makes you believe any other team would fork up a bounty for what the media has painted as “damaged goods in a scarf.”

‪Oh, I know. Because it’s fun to talk about trades and picks and the cap. Those are your standard, Evergreen topics.

I studied journalism in college. I played high school football (not very well, usually) and have studied the game, and all of its nuances, like a hawk for over 20 years.

Weird flex, but OK.

Neither of those bona fides qualifies me as Grantland Rice or Bill Walsh.

But I do make an effort, as an analyst and reporter, to draw most of my conclusions from the tape. And I’m telling you right now, the tape shows me Newton is less than 14 months removed from an MVP caliber run of games.

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He can make the throws, even after the TJ Watt hit. The foot injury was a freak accident in New England. It had nothing to do with the shoulder, which by the way, was blessed with an extended rehab window for this next stretch run of his career. I watched Newton throw the ball in training camp back in August. I paid close attention to ball placement, velocity in tight windows, and touch on 30+ yard throws.

He looked supremely comfortable in each of these areas. Moreover, he had his swagger back.

Despite the recent surgery, there was no shortage of reps. Ron Rivera did rest him during the preseason games, up until the trip to New England.

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And then there’s this: reporters trying to tell me “Cam can’t keep running around like he’s been doing for years, because he keeps getting hurt.”

That statement represents a Holy Grail of sorts  for football ignorance. It’s the media—-shedding a ton of heat with no light.

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With no realization that Cam’s most damning injuries since the ill-fated 2016 pursuit of an interception have both occurred WITHIN the pocket.

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I have buried myself in Newton’s game tape. I’ve paid close attention to the first half of last season, and all of 2017. I have already made my evaluation on Newton. I feel he should come back. I’m not concerned under what circumstances at this point.

Final year of the deal? Whatever. A longer-term contract? Good. The team should have some sense of leverage right now with his recent injury issues.

None of which, by the way, are connected.

Or, at least that’s what the sports media at-large, all working off the same unscientific set of talking points, would have you believe.

Or, is it the other way around?

I can’t keep up.

All I know: I can think of one team in particular who needs a franchise quarterback.

Take a wild guess.

Throughout the week, we will continue to update this thread on Twitter with complete analysis from the entire game.

To get you started, here is our breakdown from some of the key events over the first 15 minutes between the Saints and Panthers on Sunday.

The main takeaways:

• On defense, there’s a real problem with utilization, or lack thereof, of certain personnel against certain packages.

 

• Offensively, Kyle Allen is making some strides, but still needs to work on his delivery.

 

• The offensive line continues to struggle.

 

• We also underscore one of the reasons Rashaan Gaulden was cut this week.

 

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Sometimes, you just have to win in the trenches.

The 2019 Carolina Panthers have done that in spurts. Unfortunately, there have been far too many inconsistencies along the way, leading to some disappointing performances in an otherwise competitive season.

Back in Week 10, the Falcons were significant underdogs on the road against the seemingly impervious Saints. Atlanta came in with a mean streak, established the run early, and bullied their way to a first half lead.

What ensued was a stunning 26-9 win.

We wanted to take a closer look at the offensive component of Atlanta’s success that day. Believe it or not, many of these concepts are not foreign to what Carolina does well.

The key: moving the chains with good balance, avoiding mental errors and getting the OL active and on a mean streak. Running the football is a lineman’s best friend. Here’s how the Falcons deployed a beautifully balanced attack against New Orleans. 

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Well, it’s no secret: the Atlanta Falcons have lost their way a bit here in 2019. 

Despite an early home win against the Philadelphia Eagles, the former NFC champions from 2016 stumbled into a chasm of darkness defensively after losing the anchor of their secondary, safety Keanu Neal. Since then, Atlanta has struggled  with multiple communication issues and a marked lack of effort on tape.

However, this is a “what have you done for me lately” league. And lately, the Falcons have been playing some of the best defense in the league.

Though they lost to Seattle several weeks ago, they held the potent Seahawks to three points in the second half and followed up that performance last week by holding Drew Brees and the Saints out of the end zone en route to a stunning 26-9 road win.

So what’s been the difference of late? Mainly, effort. Better communication. Nothing has really changed schematically: Dan Quinn likes to run Cover 3, and will man up at times in the red zone. They are aggressive with their fronts, and will move pieces around pre-snap. Though they have had a hard time finding a role for former first-round EDGE Vic Beasley, the Clemson product did manage 1.5 sacks against the Saints last week.

So the question is: what can Carolina to do to reverse this trend? Are there certain matchups the Panthers can exploit? We certainly believe there are, but it won’t come easy. Without further ado, let’s dive into the One Panther Place Film Room:

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Winning in the division. It’s everything in the NFL.

The Panthers have struggled within the NFC South. It’s no secret around these parts. In fact, Carolina has failed to post a winning record within the division since 2015.

When it comes to the Atlanta Falcons, the Panthers have not won a game against their I-85 rivals since November 2017–over two years ago.

Two weeks ago, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was on the hottest of hot seats, with his team spiraling out of control at 1-7. However, a dominant performance at New Orleans last week has opened up some eyes, and has given Atlanta some hope for the second half of the season.

It’s no secret what the Falcons like to do: pass the football. Atlanta has the most pass attempts in the league (2nd in passing yards/4th in touchdowns). However, it appears a pair of prominent weapons will be sidelined against Carolina.

Tight end Austin Hooper, Atlanta’s leading receiver, is unlikely to play as he recovers from a knee injury. Hooper was on pace for over 1,100 yards and has already grabbed six touchdowns this season, leading the team.

Meanwhile, veteran running back Devonta Freeman will likely miss Sunday’s game in Charlotte due to a foot injury. His 38 receptions ranks third among all Falcons this year, and his violent running style will be a significant void for Atlanta. 

Despite Freeman’s injury, Panthers fans shouldn’t sleep on his replacement. In fact, they should remember him fairly well. His name is Brian Hill, a third-year journeyman currently in his second stint with the Falcons.

The last time Atlanta traveled to Charlotte, Hill absolutely lit up the Panthers’ run defense. Week 16, 2018: a mere eight carries led to a 115-yard explosion on the ground.

That’s over 14 yards a pop.

Last week, Hill ran hard against the best run defense in the league: 20 carries for 61 yards. He also caught a touchdown pass from Matt Ryan in the Falcons’ 26-9 stunner over the Saints.

We wanted to take a closer look at what Atlanta does from a schematic standpoint offensively. You’ll see some similarities from what they’ve done in the past, but with the absence of Hooper and Freeman, I would expect to see some 10/00 personnel (4W/5W).

So how did Atlanta get back on track offensively? Let’s find out in today’s edition of Film Room:

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Follow the Formula

Carolina has won five games with Kyle Allen under center this year. The common thread with each of the wins? Sustaining a competitive balance for the first 30 minutes. The formula is very simple: lean heavily upon your strengths (zone blocking, 12 personnel, 5-7 runs for McCaffrey per quarter). Green Bay doesn’t have nearly the intensity in terms of coverages and talent as San Francisco does in the defensive backfield, but this is still a dangerous game for Allen. One key to Carolina’s win last week was scoring first. It means the world to this entire team for that to happen. It gives Allen a chance to relax and get into the flow of the game, while putting the opposition behind the eight ball, a place where Carolina’s defense can unleash their elite group of pass rushers. It’s a simple formula, and it all comes down to running the ball with consistency and purpose early against one of the worst run defenses in the league. To take it a step further, running off left guard and tackle has been a great rule of thumb for Green Bay’s opponents this year.

Rush Rodgers, With Caution

The idea with Aaron Rodgers in terms of a pass rush is to build a net around him. Think back to when Carolina struggled against Michael Vick. Now, that’s a bit of a different situation, granted. But the concept is still the same. You don’t want Aaron Rodgers moving laterally out of the pocket. Once he does break contain, often times aggressive comes through with some of his biggest, most backbreaking plays against the defense. Once again, in our m film review from Los Angeles last week, they did an exceptional job in pushing the pocket inside while maintaining leverage on the edge. The Chargers have their own version of the NASCAR package, and on several snaps, Melvin Ingram rushed from the inside, flanked by Joey Bosa to his left. That presented monumental challenges for assignments upfront. You’ll see Brian Burns on the edge quite a bit today, and I would assume a lot of Mario Addison inside of Burns.

The Screen Game

Carolina has not employed a very robust screen game since Newton’s absence. I would look for that to change a little bit today. Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine likes to bring pressure from both ends, and this would be a prime opportunity to utilize every type of screen you have: traditional HB screens, tunnel screens, TE screens. With DJ Moore and Christian McCaffrey, you have two of the best RAC players in the game. It’s time to start giving them more opportunities with lead blockers. Norv Turner called a few of these plays last week with Moore, and they worked effectively.

It’s officially Fall.

The temps are ideal. The clocks have fallen back. And, just like clockwork, another season for the Carolina Panthers has reached its halfway point.

The Tennessee Titans are in Charlotte today. They bring with them a punishing style of offense, a fervent dedication to running the football, a physical, run-suffocating defensive , and a healthy +7 turnover differential.

Here are a few pre-game notes to get you ready for kickoff:

• The Titans have made the decision that Ryan Tannehill is their future. The former Dolphins signal caller makes his third start and looks to stay undefeated with a win against Carolina today. He has moved the offense with a higher degree of success than his predecessor, former number one overall pick Marcus Mariota. Tannehill is highly athletic—he played some WR in college. I’m not telling you to look out for any throwback gadget plays. Houston tried that against this defense, it failed miserably. But I wouldn’t entirely rule it out. And the stat sheet won’t show it, but Tannehill is mobile and might present some challenges if he gets the defense in a man coverage situation. I don’t think they need to assign a spy, but I do think they need to keep a close eye on that, situationally.

 

• One player you need to keep a close eye on today: Titans TE Jonnu Smith. With starter Delanie Walker out of the lineup, Smith has excelled, especially with his ability to get down the field and his prowess in the RAC game. You’re looking at 239 yards on 15 catches. That’s superb production and value. He also appears to be a personal favorite of Tannehill: 9 catches for 142 yards in Tannehill’s first two starts.
  

 

• Tennessee has a strong run defense. The pass defense isn’t terrible, but their bread and butter is run containment. The Titans have allowed just three rushing touchdowns on the season, which ranks 3rd in the NFL. They allow 3.9 yards per attempt, which ranks in the top 10. They’ve also held opponents under 90 yards rushing three times this year.

 

• Here’s a revealing stat: we told you Tennessee is +7 in the turnover differential this season. According to @pfref: The Titans have turned the ball over on just 5.3% of their offensive drives, while forcing turnovers on 13.4% of their opponents’ drives.

After climbing out of an 0-2 hole last week in Arizona, The Carolina Panthers travel west once again to take on the formidable Houston Texans. This marks the first meeting between the two teams since early 2015, when Carolina put together a win behind the arm and legs of Cam Newton. 

Here are a few game notes to get you prepped and ready for Panthers at Texans:

The Quarterback Story

In Kyle Allen, Carolina may have found a diamond in the rough. The second year undrafted product—from, ironically enough, Houston—makes his third career start this afternoon. Last week, Allen threw for four touchdowns and no interceptions. Over his first two starts, he’s put up seven total touchdowns without throwing a pick. Allen’s pocket mobility and quick release have served Norv Turner’s offense well. So far, we have seen tremendous accuracy and ball placement on most of his throws.

Defensively, the Panthers face their toughest quarterback test in quite some time via-Deshaun Watson. The Clemson product has accumulated 778 passing yards, tossing six touchdowns and only one interception in 2019. Watson has also rushed for a pair of touchdowns this year.

Last week against San Diego, he overcame an early 10-0 road deficit to lead the Texans to a crucial conference win. In doing so, Watson averaged over 10 yards per pass attempt.

Watson can make all the throws. Rolling to his left, or to his right. Standing in a crowded pocket under duress. He can also throw from multiple angles, a rare trait among quarterbacks, and many of his throws are placed with pinpoint accuracy, particularly the deep ball. In fact, he may have the most accurate deep ball in the game right now.

Pound That Rock

For one of the few times in the Turner administration, the Panthers had more rushing attempts than passing attempts last week in their win against the Cardinals. Such a strategy may prove beneficial today against the Texans. Houston has a formidable group of pass rushers, including JJ Watt, Whitney Mercilus and D.J. Reader.

While that group is also strong in their own right against the run, Houston on the whole does struggle against the run. They fared better against the rush last week at San Diego, but that was without Chargers starting running back Melvin Gordon.

On the season, the Texans allow 5.4 rushing yards per attempt, 3rd worst in the NFL. They struggle particularly against 12 personnel—one back, two TE. Carolina loves to run from “12”, with Chris Manhertz as a second tight end. Many times, he’s essentially a sixth offensive lineman. He’s not as explosive in the passing game as Ian Thomas, but he is a tough, hard-nosed blocker in the run game.

With Christian McCaffrey coming off a record day in Arizona, staying the course with the run is essential on the road in Houston today.

The Kicking Game

Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn has seen limited action in 2019. He also struggled last week in Los Angeles, missing an extra point and failing on his only field goal attempt. He has only three field goal attempts for the entire season.

Meanwhile, out-of-nowhere sensation Joey Slye has been nothing short of rock-solid for Carolina. He’s connected on 7-of-8 attempts, with a long of 54. Slye is also perfect on extra points, connecting on eight consecutive PAT’s.

If this game comes down to the wire, which many believe it will, my money is on Joey Slye to bang one home.

Deshaun Watson is simply overwhelmingly impressive.

We could use a lot of superlatives and words here, but we’re just going to let the film do most of the talking.

I will say this: the Carolina Panthers face their toughest quarterback test in quite some time this Sunday when they take on the Houston Texans. Watson has accumulated 778 passing yards, tossing six touchdowns and only one interception in 2019. The Clemson product has also rushed for a pair of touchdowns this year.

Last week against San Diego, he overcame an early 10-0 road deficit to lead the Texans to a crucial conference win. In doing so, Watson averaged over 10 yards per pass attempt.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes him such a special player:

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We will take a closer look at the rest of Houston’s offense in Friday’s edition of film room.

 

Panthers rookie EDGE Christian Miller brought home a pair of sacks on Sunday against Arizona.

Panthers DT Dontari Poe once again made his under-appreciated impact felt.

Let’s check the film:

 

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Football is a funny game.

Once upon a time, Kyle Allen was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

He never got drafted.

Panthers head coach Ron Rivera has been on record regarding Allen’s mental toughness. He likes the fact that Allen doesn’t get freaked out by the moment. It’s the same thing we saw in our analysis from last season’s action against New Orleans, a game in which many of the Saints’ defensive starters played, and played hard.

Today was a coronation of sorts for the second-year grinder. Four touchdowns. No interceptions. Highly efficient.

Allen was the victim of one early lost fumble, but how he handled that adversity says more about him than the fumble itself: Allen orchestrated an 11-play, 75 yard scoring march, capped off by a beautiful touchdown strike to Curtis Samuel in the corner of the end zone. The pressure Allen felt off the backside, and how he handled it, perfectly summarizes how he’s handled such pressure throughout his career.

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The rest of the game, as you can see below, fell right in line. Our assessment of Allen has always been positive, and today’s win in the desert underscores the value of good film study and adequate preparation.

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All week, the narrative in Carolina has revolved around the quarterback situation. Specifically, the short-term health of Cam Newton, clouded by acres of speculation regarding his long-term status as the team’s franchise quarterback.

To quote the great Warner Wolf: “nobody knows nothing.” It’s all speculation. Long-term? Who knows?

From our end, it’s time to lay down the speculation and focus in on what we do know. There’s a football game today, and Kyle Allen is the quarterback. On the other side, there’s a very game opponent in the Arizona Cardinals, who went five quarters deep against Detroit in an eventual tie, followed by a narrow loss on the road against Baltimore’s supremely balanced operation.

Here are a few notes to get you ready for this afternoon’s contest:

Zona’s Air-Raid Offense

Arizona’s rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury has installed his version of the famed “Air Raid” offense from his Texas Tech days. It has opened up the field for his rookie quarterback, Kyler Murray, who has thrown for 300 yards in each of his first two starts.

So what exactly is the “Air Raid”? Well, several notable coaches have employed it (and continue to use it) in the past: Mike Leach, Lavell Edwards, Kevin Sumlin, Art Briles. Detect a theme? Yes, it’s primarily a college offense with an emphasis on 10 personnel. You’re seeing more and more of this sprinkled into the NFL game, but nothing like what the Cardinals are doing.

Basically, you’ll see very little TE action, typically 4 WR, often in a 2 x 2 set. Occasionally, you’ll see a trips look on one side with an iso on the other.

This is precisely what Arizona has been doing all season. David Johnson, their all-world running back, has not been heavily involved to this point. Johnson has less than 100 yards rushing on the season, and has not been an active part of their passing game. I would expect that to change, possibly today. You’ll see Johnson lined up in the slot, and I would expect to see more rushing attempts out of that 4WR look. It will be interesting to see how Carolina plans to defend that.

Dime For Your Thoughts 

Speaking of which, look for Carolina to run a good bit of dime coverage today. The 3-4 front that was much discussed in the off-season? Forget about it. You won’t be seeing it. If you do, it’ll be sparse.

Now, you could still see a three-man front, with up to seven defensive backs in the game at a time. I would suspect plenty of 4-DL dime looks. Defensive back Ross Cockrell played a key part in Ron Rivera’s dime package against the Rams in week one. This is a real opportunity for Cockrell to shine today, as he will likely see plenty of reps with defensive back for Rashaan Gaulden still out.

Kyle and Kyler

There’s a history here.

Flashback to 2015: Allen and Murray engaged in a heated competition for the starting quarterback job at Texas A&M. Murray, who was a true freshman at the time, lost out to Allen.

It didn’t last, as Murray eventually replaced Allen in the lineup, and led the Aggies to an 8-5 record.

In the end, both Allen and Murray ended up transferring to Houston and Oklahoma, respectively. Several years later, Allen worked his way into the league as an undrafted free agent, while his counterpart landed the Heisman Trophy last season and became this year’s number one overall pick in the NFL.

It’s a fascinating battle between two familiar foes.

Opening day:

Never easy. Always unpredictable.

With a 30-27 loss in their home opener to the Los Angeles Rams, the Panthers squandered multiple opportunities through a series of unforced errors and a shade of bad luck. Carolina has now dropped 8 of their last 9 regular season games dating back to November 2018.

Here are a few things I observed, and some suggestions on a better way forward:

Carolina needs more explosive plays.

I continue to be discouraged by the lack of explosive plays in our offense. It plagued the Panthers in the preseason, and it has carried over into week one, as we anticipated. This is now a full blown RAC-dependent offense. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner has a wide array RPO and short passing plays at his disposal, and it’s a fine a way to run an offense in the modern-day NFL. However, if your playmakers are not making plays, it turns into a Christian McCaffrey check down convention. 

DJ Moore, who has been widely regarded as one of the most improved players of the offseason, had a marginal game on Sunday. Moore received 10 targets, generated no explosive plays, and had a hand in two turnovers.

Look, I believe in Moore and have been one of his more vocal advocates. But he simply can’t put the ball in the other team’s hands. 

Speaking of explosive plays, the game featured a select few (thanks to our cutting-edge graphics department here)

Limiting the explosive Rams to four explosive plays is good work. I wasn’t entirely discouraged by the defensive performance. Los Angeles averaged 33 points per game last year. The Panthers held them under that total, and it would have been less if not for the short field they inherited from the untimely swing pass turnover.

A new wrinkle in coverage.

I was very happy to see Rivera deploy a dime (6 DB) defense multiple times. If you’ve followed our work, it’s no secret that we have been harping on this for ages. Kudos to the staff for spicing things up. The Rams had no idea what to do with the dime look initially, which led Goff eating a sack from CB James Bradberry. 

Unfortunately, they also caught Carolina with 12 men on the field, but I still like that they’re getting away from forcing linebackers to cover wideouts on 3rd and 7.

3-2-6 DIME: The Panthers flashed this personnel grouping (3 dl, 2lb, 6db) eight times in the first half: Carolina stopped the Rams 5-of-8 times. 

 

The Bull Ratio

The Bull Ratio (a quasi-game plan I developed years ago that has generally proven effective with Newton at the helm—see graphic below) was unachieved, although I give Norv Turner credit for sticking with this attack despite a negative game flow. The target distribution seems justified, and while it’s insane to never have McCaffery come off the field until the sun expands and consumes the planet in 5 billion years, he’s still their best receiver

This is a non-scientific method, and it doesn’t guarantee results each time. “Touches” represents carries or catches (a pass is not a “touch” for the QB). It’s a general set utilization guidelines for the way in which this roster is constructed:

I do wish the staff made more of an effort to get TE Ian Thomas involved. He was afforded one target, this after we spent a whole week chronicling Thomas as a potential matchup advantage against a 3-4 man coverage scheme. The Rams will put OLBs on TEs down the field. Tampa runs a similar system, so maybe the Panthers will correct this bit of personnel injustice before Thursday Night.

Cam isn’t Cam, unless he can be Cam.

I don’t like seeing Cam Newton registering 3 carries for -2 yards. We all know that the Panthers are a better team when he’s running. I understand the fear of having him take unnecessary hits to his shoulder, but you’re now making him a less dangerous version of himself by keeping him in the pocket. If the helicopter parenting of Newton is their new reality, it’s probably unwise to give him another contract. The team will have a hard time winning if they’re this focused on preventing an injury. 

Communication breakdown.

Who exactly is accountable for the earpiece malfunction? I’m assuming it’s the equipment manager, right? Perhaps in concert with the NFL? Regardless, this shouldn’t be happening in the year 2019. That ended up aiding a six-point swing in a three point loss. Little things.

When is the last time you saw the Patriots have an earpiece malfunction? It’s incredulous, and whoever is responsible for that disaster of a malfunction should be held to account for it. 

This is the NFL. The margins are razor thin. 

 

Pre-Game Notes: Rams at Panthers

I’m intrigued by the matchup of Panthers nickel corner Javien Elliot and the rotation of slot receivers for the Rams. Presumably, WR Cooper Kupp will see the majority of slot reps out of 11 personnel. Kupp has remarkably quick feet and unusual size for a slot specialist (6-2, 208). Elliott must prove his worth early on in this game, as Rams QB Jared Goff will be eager to utilize his highly-skilled safety valve after missing him last season to injury.

The special-teams situation for both teams is intriguing. For the Panthers, newly signed return man Ray Ray McCloud appears to be in line for reps today at punt and kick returner. This is a bold move by general manager Marty Hurney. The team was high on seventh-round draft pick Terry Godwin for most of camp, but after a strong pre-season opener, the rookie’s performance tailed off considerably. McCloud saw very limited action in Buffalo, but was a dynamic return specialist for Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers.

Panthers punter Michael Palardy looks to return to form from a couple of years ago after a bit of a down year in 2018. His net punting average fell from the top five in the league all the way down to 12 last season. In fact , in2017, both Palardy and Rams punter Johnny Hekker were ranked as the top two punters in the NFC in terms of net average. Palardy’s “lefty” directional kicking should present a challenge for Rams return specialist JoJo Natson. Also, be very mindful of the fake punt opportunities for Los Angeles. Special-teams coordinator John Fassell runs more of these than anybody around the league, and he’s been doing it for years with Hekker—a fantastic athlete who can do some pretty dynamic things with the ball in his hands. As odd as that sounds, keep an eye on it.

And of course, we will monitor the Panthers regular season debut of Cinderella story Joey Slye. After a 7-of-8 performance in the preseason which included a 59-yard boot, Hurney have Slye the keys to the car as Carolina placed long time kicker Graham Gano on injured reserve. Crucial as anything will be Slye’s poise and concentration on PAT’s. Carolina  has missed 12 extra points since 2015, most in the league.

The four Panthers I am closely scouting today:

Matt Paradis: we want to see how the new center in Carolina holds up against the fierce pass rush of Rams DT Aaron Donald. Paradis has struggled at times in the preseason with lesser-caliber opponents. This is his first year making line calls for the Panthers, as Ryan Kalil was in total command of this for Cam Newton’s entire career. Again, this is a tough matchup physically and mentally for the newcomer.

Curtis Samuel: this is where I think Carolina has an outstanding opportunity to exploit the back end of the Rams defense. You’ll see Samuel play outside more than inside today, and we’d like to see 10 exploit the Rams gambling CB Marcus Peters. Peters is one of the league’s elite talents on the perimeter, but often finds himself in trouble from looking in the backfield too soon and biting on double moves. From what we observes at training camp, I have little doubt: at least once or twice today, Carolina will take a deep shot with a stop and go or a deep post with Samuel.

Brian Burns. The rookie gets the start on his first ever NFL Sunday. This is a golden opportunity to showcase his remarkable speed and power. The Rams have a quality left tackle in veteran Andrew Whitworth, but even he struggled considerably in the Super Bowl against New England’s exotic mixed-bag of defensive fronts. Burns should be used as many other teams use their “joker” position backer—moving him around like a chess piece, giving him an opportunity to win matchups. I saw Bears EDGE threat Khalil Mack lined up at DT in the three technique the other night. You could even see this once or twice from Burns today. Anything to get him in a position to wreck Goff’s timing is worth a look. He has looked nothing short of stellar in the preseason. Now, let’s see if that translates into the regular season.

Cam Newton: obviously, all eyes are on Newton for several reasons. America wants to see how his foot really feels and if that will affect his role in the running game today. Newton’s ability to gain unplanned chunks of yards on the ground throughout a game often times proves to be the difference between a win and a loss. If Cam is relegated to the pocket on every snap, I feel less certain about Carolina’s chances to win this game.

I want to see if he sails the ball on his short/intermediate RPO throws. For as awesome as the deep ball looked in camp with the new shoulder, he still struggled at times with these tight window throws, with the common denominator being “high and behind”. If Newton has the freedom to make a few runs when called upon, and if the intermediate throws are on point, it could be a long day for the Rams defense.

Prediction:

These picks are always tough, especially in week one. Games are generally sloppy, as there is very little preseason of consequence to develop timing, while training camps have been highly watered-down in terms of contact and reps. I do expect some sloppy stuff on both sides, but I also expect a wide array  misdirection looks offensively from Panthers offensive coordinator Norv Turner. He didn’t run one bit of that in the preseason, but I can attest to the fact that he ran a considerable amount of misdirection passing in Spartanburg this year. It’s time to pull out the bag of tricks, confuse this front seven, and get them moving sideways. From there, lineup in the eye formation, as well as the spread, and pound Christian McCaffrey. They are yards to be had on the ground against this defense.

Defensively, I feel Carolina is going to have a decent amount of success mirroring what New England did in the Super Bowl. They won’t be as adept in man coverage, but Rivera does have the requisite pieces up front to show multiple looks and confuse the offensive line. The Rams have RB Todd Gurley 100% healthy and ready to go, and that presents somewhat of a challenge. Look for a healthy dose of screens to Gurley today, as this was something they did habitually before his injury last season.

Final score: Carolina 23, Los Angeles 20

Earlier this week, the OPP Film Room examined the Rams’ third-down offense, highlighting some of their highs and lows from Super Bowl 53. It’s time to take a closer look at the other side of the ball.

What do the Rams like to do on defense, particularly on third down?

There has been some roster turnover on defense for Los Angeles since last year. ILB Mark Barron was a liability in the run game and is no longer with the Rams. He was undersized and had trouble getting off blocks, as you will see in the film. New England, much like Seattle, pushed Barron around in the Super Bowl.

Veteran DE/DT Ndomukong Suh is also gone, replaced by Sebastian Joseph-Day. Los Angeles is also high on their fourth round draft pick, NT Greg Gaines from Washington. At 6-1, 310, Gaines has the ideal frame to play the “nose” in  their 34 base.

The Rams also signed Clay Matthews, the former Packers all-pro who can still bring the heat from the edge at OLB. Former first-round pick Dante Fowler can be a force at the WILL position, a spot from which defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will look to turn the former Jaguar loose: EDGE pressure off the weak-side. Fowler came on strong in the playoffs, and looks like to be a mainstay at that position.

Veteran safety Eric Weddle replaces the athletic but often inconsistent Lamarcus Joyner at FS. The addition of Weddle should help to improve the play of cornerback Marcus Peters, a playmaking weapon on the perimeter who was plagued at times in 2018 by blown assignments and double moves.

We chose to take a look at this particular game, as we believe Seattle’s offense was closest thing the Rams faced to Carolina’s versatile approach  offensively in 2018. Here’s a closer look at how the Rams fared against such an offense:

 

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Much was made of Sean McVay’s offense as his Los Angeles Rams prepared to take on Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl 53. The main question: could the Patriots’ veteran secondary lock down—or even slow down—the Rams wideouts.

Mission accomplished.

Belichick’s defense, led by then-defensive coordinator Brian Flores, nearly pitched a shutout against the prolific Rams.

• 3 points allowed
• 260 total yards allowed
• 4 sacks
• 1 interception
•  3-of-13 allowed on 3rd down

One of LA’s three third-down conversions came courtesy of a defensive holding call.

With Carolina hosting the defending NFC champions in six days, we wanted to zone in specifically on the third down defensive game plan for New England, and hopefully give you an understanding of what the Rams like to do in these situations.

Please, step into our film room. Let’s take a look at what the Rams offense likes to do, and what it may take to slow it down.

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Well, it’s here. The fourth preseason game. Feeling a little preseason fatigue? You may be in luck soon.

According to multiple reports, the league is considering a change in scheduling, including a shortened preseason and an extended playoffs, which would include one extra team per conference. We tend to agree with this move in principle, as the preseason seems to have run its course a bit with most coaches and personnel staff around the league. Teams are playing starters less frequently with each passing year, as has been the case in Carolina this preseason. 

As for this evening’s Panthers/Steelers tilt, very few starters will see action. It will likely be a  rather vanilla affair. However, there are still a few stories to follow:

All Eyes On Slye

A number of reports out of Charlotte today have suggested that Panthers kicker Graham Gano will begin the 2019 season on injured reserve. That leaves him eligible to return to action at the halfway-point of the regular season, clearing the way for undrafted rookie Joey Slye from Virginia Tech. We liked Slye from the first time we saw him kick in Spartanburg, noting over two weeks ago that he seems to get a lot of height on his deep kicks. This is a great asset when looking to avoid blocks. He’s also been perfect in the preseason, nailing home 6-of-6 with a 55-yarder. A touchdown-fruitful game for Carolina would be a positive for Slye—and fans of course—as this would give the rookie kicker a chance to hone his skills on extra points. Carolina has scored limited touchdowns in the preseason, and the PAT has been a bit of an issue for the Panthers since 2015: Gano has missed a league-high 12 PAT attempts over that span. It’s a big night for Slye and special teams coach Chase Blackburn.

RB3 Battle

Jordan Scarlett. Elijah Holyfield. Reggie Bonnafon. These three guys are on the bubble with presumably one spot left to grab in the running back rotation. Our projection puts veteran back Cameron Artis-Payne second on the depth chart behind the all-world Christian McCaffrey. Unless the team feels like keeping four HB’s, which they won’t, one spot is up for grabs. We feel the edge goes to Scarlett at this point, coming off a pair of strong performances against New England and Buffalo. Holyfield has been relatively silent since his two-touchdown debut at Chicago in week one of the preseason. And while we do like Bonnafon for his versatility and ball skills out of the backfield, the lack of reps during camp and with the second-team in the preseason leads us to believe the team will probably move in a different direction.

The Nickel Spot

The nickel position has been hotly contested throughout the summer. The leader in the clubhouse still appears to be Javien Elliott, but it’s a close race. Second-year defensive back Corn Elder had a solid camp and has seen extensive playing time at nickel this preseason. In terms of their big nickel package, otherwise known as “buffalo” nickel, look for one-time starting free safety Rashaan Gaulden to continue in this role. We still like Elliott long-term for the starting nickel roll. He showed the most athleticism and coverage ability in Spartanburg, and has the pertinent experience from his time in Tampa last year to come in and manage the role.

 

Cam Newton. Andrew Luck.

It’s a shame they only met once.

Saturday night, multiple reports across the wire confirmed the Colts all-pro signal caller—the first overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft—intends to retire from football prior to the 2019 season.

It’s a stunning development, not just for your humble analyst here, but for NFL fans around the world.

Selfishly, we were looking forward to seeing Luck battle Newton again on December 22 as Carolina is scheduled to take on the Colts in Indianapolis. Unfortunately, or fortunately—depending on your perspective—that won’t be happening.

For some time, Luck was rumored to enter the NFL Draft a year early in 2011. The feeling was he would be Carolina’s first overall pick, part of a possible “package deal” with Stanford HC Jim Harbaugh. Luck decided to stay in college for another year, and Harbaugh was hired by the San Francisco 49ers.

It all worked out. The Panthers hired Ron Rivera and drafted Newton. The two men have accounted for three division titles and a Super Bowl appearance.

Four years later, Luck and Newton met on a rainy Monday night in uptown Charlotte. This was a memorable game for many reasons: The weather. The early turnovers. Some exquisite passing from Newton. An amazing rally by Luck. Three great overtime field goals.

In the end, Carolina won the game. But it also served as a reminder: Andrew Luck was one special dude. Mentally and physically tough, fighting his way back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game. It was a treat to watch.

Here’s a look back, courtesy of ESPN and the National Football League:

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Well, let’s do this.

It was an ugly night in Foxborough. Cam Newton’s foot was the primary casualty. According to multiple reports, it appears to be a foot sprain, and GM Marty Hurney says he is cautiously optimistic Newton will return week one.

We’ll see. In the meantime, no need to obsess over it. The man is hurt, he needs time to heal, so let it play out. We’ll let the Twitter doctors keep you up to speed.

As for the game itself. Buckle up, kids. This might hurt:

Cam Newton Must Account For His Limits

Cam Newton needs to start being more realistic about his scrambling abilities.

Mr. Newton: You are now on the flip side of 30. For an athlete, you’re an old man. It’s a fact of life, but it’s a fact you’re going to have to get used to. The days of your spectacular, Fran Tarkenton-esque escapes from 30 yards deep in the backfield are over.

It looks like you dodged a bullet this time, but you’re older, slower, and more brittle than you used to be. That’s an honest assessment. Next time, do yourself and your fans (and teammates) a favor: throw the ball away.

No Explosion. No Conversion. No Good.

Through three preseason games, Norv Turner’s vaunted offensive attack has managed a small handful of 20+ yard plays. To be blunt, the much-hyped corps of wideouts have done very little with their opportunities. Curtis Samuel, the “Shorts And Helmets MVP” of the offseason, caught 3 passes for 29 yards on six targets. D.J. Moore caught 2 passes for 11 yards on five targets.

The hope here is Turner could be hiding something for the real games, because this level of “production” isn’t going to cut it.

One thing rarely discussed, but no less significant. The “RAC” Dependency of this offense is concerning. It leads predictable, easy-to-anticipate situational football for an opposing defense.

Case in point: Carolina’s opening drive, Quarter 1, 13:25.

Moore runs a shallow cross on 3rd down and seven. New England’s safety immediately drives on the route, allowing Moore a limited opportunity for additional yardage.

This was much the case on a critical third down late in the Seahawks game from 2018, prior to Gano’s missed field goal attempt. (See below)

The Patriots, more than most teams (wonder why) have an edge on diagnosing incoming plays, but I also knew this play was coming out of our bunch set. It’s a staple of Turner’s offense. At some point, Carolina must get back to a downfield attack. If they can’t, it’s going to be hard to win more than 7 or 8 games.

Dink and dunk teams are capped in the modern era of deep ball pyrotechnics.

That, and 3rd down futility doesn’t generally translate to success in the NFL. Wow, this team is bad on 3rd down–in particular–the first halves of the last two games.

3rd down offense, 1st half vs Buf and NE: 1/12
3rd down defense, 1st half vs Buf and NE: 11/17

I mean, you don’t win games with that. You just don’t. Forget the 4-12 talk, you don’t win any games if you’re that outmatched on 3rd down.

This is from the four quarters of the preseason where most of the starters are playing, so it’s bad, and it’s even worse than you think, because Carolina’s only conversion is…..wait for it….from a penalty.

My Concerns Continue, re: 3-4 Defense

Luke Kuechly played 19 snaps last night. On 6 of those 19 snaps, he was tasked with slamming into an offensive guard or a fullback. To this observer, that’s wasting Kuechly’s athleticism on roughly 30 percent of his defensive snaps.

The good news: we saw some true 4-3 sets, with Shaq Thompson, Kuechly, and Jermaine Carter at LB. I think we’ll see more of this as the regular season progresses.

This may be an unpopular view—good thing I don’t care about popularity: the 3-4 thing is a lark, and the team needs to transition away from it as soon as possible.  I voiced concerns over it in Spartanburg during one of our earlier camp reviews, and those concerns have played out on the field during the preseason. You are essentially taking some of the league’s most skilled defenders (Kuechly, Short, McCoy) and relegating them to space-eating roles.

The Team > One Man

Eric Reid can take to Twitter all he wants. I have no issue with that. He can kneel during the anthem all he wants. That’s his right.

However, when you start taking your personal grudges onto the field, targeting players with whom you have a public personal agenda at the expense of valuable field position, I have a big issue with that.

You know why? You know why I have a problem with it? Because the Super Bowl is all that matters. Winning. Execution. Football focus. That’s what matters to me. It should matter that much more to every single player on every single snap.

I apply this standard equally to everyone. I don’t like it when Newton is running around on the sidelines while the team is getting their asses handed to them by Buffalo. I don’t like the player interviews during the games.

I don’t like distractions.

You know what I like? I like wins, and anything that distracts from that goal makes me uneasy. Do you think Tom Brady and Bill Belichick would put up with this nonsense? No, they wouldn’t, because they’re winners.

Last night, you saw one team that’s all about winning, and you saw one team that would like to win, but also cares a little too deeply about making everyone feel “ok” and “comfortable” and “accepted”.

If a player is lucky, they get about 200 games in their career, including preseason and postseason. How about we take them all seriously? This opportunity doesn’t last forever, so put on your hard hat and go to work.

The minute you drag personal issues onto the field of play, you lose me.

Quick Hits

• Brutal muff by Terry Godwin. He’s been my guy all month, but ball security is the most important aspect of a punt returner. We learned this the hard way with Philly Brown. One muff is too many muffs.
• After a spectacular preseason opener in which the Panthers out-gained the Bears by over 120 return yards, Chase Blackburn’s units have disappeared. Multiple penalties on return team, while allowing multiple explosive returns. That needs to get corrected.
• Player of the game: LB Antwoine Williams. 8 total tackles, a sack, and a TFL. I’m sad that he won’t make the team. He deserves a fair shot, but as Carolina is prone to waste roster space on suspect special teamers, he’s destined the join the fraternity of “Camp Favorites Who Never Got A Shot” (Lou Young, TJ Graham, etc.)

 

In summary: It sure feels as though Carolina is flying blind into the regular season. The offensive line looks unprepared, the quarterback is hobbled, and the new defense marginalizes our best defenders 30% of the time. I’m not optimistic about September. It’s shaping up to be a hot, miserable month with an untimely Thursday Night game thrown in for good measure.

But, hey, you don’t win any trophies in September. Chin up, kids.

This is it.

Exhibition game number three: the “Super Bowl of the Preseason”, you could say.

Jokes aside, this game will be a great test for Ron Rivera and the 2019 Carolina Panthers. The Patriots, who will once again contend for a Lombardi Trophy (that’s 19 years running, now), have a few new wrinkles and pieces to prepare for–a rookie EDGE player from Michigan has caught our eye. More on him shortly.

On the Panthers side, tonight marks the live-game action return of the franchise’s cornerstone pieces: quarterback Cam Newton and linebacker Luke Kuechly. Both veterans have been inactive for Carolina’s two preseason games strictly as a precautionary measure.

The same goes for running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end Greg Olsen, both set to start tonight.

The expectation, as we offer this analysis at lunchtime on game day, is that all four men will play this evening. However, this is the NFL, and things can change by the hour. Stay tuned.

Now, on to the six-pack:

1. Cam Newton. Let’s See It.

We have chronicled the progress of Newton through close examination from our camp coverage in Spartanburg earlier this month. Thus far, the results have been encouraging. Newton looks to have a strong handle on the offense–year two of the Norv Turner regime–taking command of the huddle with better tempo. His arm? The arm is a treat to watch in action. Day after day, Newton was dropping dimes on 7’s (post-corner routes) , 8’s (post routes) and 9’s (fly routes), lobbing gorgeous spirals with precise timing, in-step with receivers Curtis Samuel, D.J. Moore and Olsen. What I took interest in, more than those throws, were the short/intermediate high-velocity rockets required from a staple of the offense: RPO outside zone play action pass. Rivera let Cam loose on these, more than we anticipated at camp. The velocity and placement looked crisp, a great sign following a much-publicized off season surgery on his throwing shoulder. We want to see a few of these throws from Cam tonight, in tight windows, to see if the muscle memory is there in live-game action.

2. Chase Winovich. Block This Guy.

In order for Newton–or any of the Panthers’ four quarterbacks—to have any chance of showcasing their array of talents tonight, Carolina must account for the man who, thus far, appears to be the steal of the 2019 NFL Draft: DE/EDGE rush terror Chase Winovich. A first-team all Big Ten star at the University of Michigan, Winovich has been relentless his first professional camp, and tore a hole through the Titans’ offensive game plan last week. Here’s a look, courtesy of the NFL:

He’s playing both right and left EDGE positions, so a wide array of Panthers tackles will get a good look at the rookie sensation. In typical Patriots fashion, Winovich is listed fourth on their depth chart. I have a sneaking suspicion that you may see New England head coach Bill Belichick employ Winovich earlier in the rotation, perhaps to neutralize the ground threat that Newton could present. Either way–this is a big-time player who offers a big-time test to Carolina’s edge blockers.

3. Allen. Grier. The other guy.

The media has largely ignored Panthers fourth-string quarterback Taylor Heinicke during camp and the preseason. But with the shoddy play last week from second-year backup Will Allen, and the seemingly perpetual struggles from third-round pick Will Grier, Heinicke has a chance to work his way closer to a roster spot with another good performance tonight. Now, will the Panthers ditch Grier–the draft pick–for the journeyman who has one career start? Highly unlikely. But let’s be clear: Grier has outplayed exactly zero quarterbacks this preseason. It’s not completely unexpected, but my expectations were certainly higher than this. He’s tossed a pair of very bad interceptions, one returned for a score. He seems to lack confidence in the pocket, often bailing for the scramble a shade too early in my view. Accuracy has been lacking, particularly on the boundary. This is a big night for the rookie. It’s also key for Allen, who may find himself more vulnerable to missing the 53-man roster with another poor performance tonight.

4. Nickel For Your Thoughts.

As the Patriots will employ a wide variety of personnel packages offensively, the battle for nickelback will begin to take shape. Off-season acquisition and camp standout Javien Elliott remains our personal favorite to land the starting role. He has picked off Newton in practice, and has come up with several impressive PBU’s. Elliott sticks in coverage, and runs in-step the quickest of the Panthers receivers in simulated action. We also want to see what Corn Elder can bring to the table against a New England offense which will rely heavily upon quick throws to slot receivers. And don’t forget about the “buffalo nickel” package, as FS Rashaan Gaulden will continue to see action against anticipated 11-personnel runs and anticipated 12-personnel pass plays.

5. Slye’s Chance to Shine

We don’t want to make too much of this, so let’s just start by saying: Graham Gano is the Panthers’ kicker. He’s earned as much, particularly on the very field from which the Panthers will play tonight: Gano authored a 48-yard walk-off game/winner against the Patriots in 2017. However, rookie replacement Joey Slye has made the best of his opportunity in place of Gano, who continues to nurse what’s being called “leg soreness”. Slye’s impressive leg boomed a 55-yard field goal against Chicago in Carolina’s preseason opener. He has a high-arc on his kicks, something we took note of early in camp. He might just be made of the stuff, mentally and physically, to be a go-to kicker in the NFL. As we continue to monitor Gano’s health, keep an eye on Slye. If he doesn’t stick here, I find it hard to believe a league plagued with poor place kicking wont find him a permanent home.

6. Hogan Returns Home.

Panthers receiver Chris Hogan spent the past three seasons as one of Tom Brady’s go-to weapons in New England, collecting a pair of Super Bowl rings in the process. It’s time to unwrap this off-season acquisition and see exactly where he fits into Turner’s offensive scheme. Hogan has seen limited targets thus far. It feels like the right time to move him around and see where he can make the biggest impact for the Panthers. Will he play the slot, a position he didn’t necessarily favor as a Patriot? Might we see Hogan on the boundary, where he led all NFL WR’s in 2018 in yards of separation at the point of catch/incompletion (4.1 yards per snap). Hogan was an active member of the punt return unit at Camp Wofford–perhaps he gets a few reps there tonight? Hogan is an important piece to what Carolina wants to do offensively in 2019. We’re eager to see him go against his former team in a key preseason audition.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET tonight. Follow along with us all game on TWITTER. 

The Carolina Panthers closed Training Camp 2019–perhaps the final session ever at Wofford College–with a wide spectrum of emotions. 

Though the atmosphere among fans and players was largely festive and celebratory, questions loom for the Panthers over several key positions. These concerns are aided by a stellar defensive showing from their guests, Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills.

Here’s a closer look at what we saw on Wednesday at the camp finale:

The best secondary in the NFL

One particular unit during this two-day scrimmage has shined: the physical, fast and heady Bills secondary. This unit is coached by John Butler and schemed up by defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier—both men employing a throwback style of corner play from the early 2000’s, it would appear. A good deal of contact, perhaps a little too much for the 2019 rule book. 

But facts are facts, and no secondary played better football over the last half of 2018 than this one. By all appearances, little has changed.

 

 

 

Corners Levi Wallace and TreDavious White played tough up at the line, challenging Carolina’s speedy perimeter duo of Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore. In doing so, the Bills created subtle but meaningful traffic/route integrity issues—few offenses rely on precise timing more than Norv Turner’s. 

The team also utilized a bit of the Bill Belichick strategy from Super Bowl 36: keeping Christian McCaffrey in containment with two defenders regularly in his wheelhouse, making contact, asserting their presence. Tight End Greg Olsen was left to deal a LB in coverage with a roaming safety up top to assist in coverage.

It’s a schematic approach worth considering when facing this offense. Not that Samuel and Moore are incapable of making big plays–quite the contrary. But McCaffrey and Olsen are the matchup cogs that make the passing game go. If you can take those two guys away and put them out of their comfort zone, you’ve got a fair chance on defense to win

Newton stands tall, pressure and all

Here’s a look at one of my favorite throws of the week: a quick slant to Samuel, beautifully covered by Hughes underneath and safety Micah Hyde over the top.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1162078619696607232?s=20

It’s the type of throw we discussed early in camp–the intermediate bullet between defenders in tight spaces. So far, we are as impressed with this as much as any other part of Cam’s game. 

Newton looked solid, though there were several plays where he was unable to get the ball to his receivers due to the intensive pass rush from Buffalo.

In particular, pass rushers Jerry Hughes and Eddie Yarbrough were tenacious off the edge, coming up with a pair of simulated sacks. Samuel did get Carolina going, using his straight-line speed once again to split the safeties in a hurry-up drill for a beautiful touchdown from Newton.

Remember this name, sports fans

Tremaine Edmunds. Make a note of that name. The second-year LB from Virginia Tech made a great play on Olsen on a deep corner route, timing his jump at the perfect opportunity to knock the ball away.

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1162080617707835393?s=21

Edmunds also spent much of his two-day visit shadowing McCaffrey, often times running step-for-step while eliminating the big play opportunities. 

He is a freakish athlete, and will be a key centerpiece of McDermott’s intermediate-yardage defense in 2019. 

Captain works his way into the mix

We did see a bit of former Panther Captain Munnerlyn split some time in the nickel position. He’s not getting all the reps yet, but don’t be surprised if he is by the end of the preseason. Much like Boston for Carolina, the 10-year vet has the familiarity with head coach Sean McDermott’s scheme and would likely be the best fit.

Elliott: the more you can do

We have chronicled the progression of camp sensation Javien Elliott, a sneaky good free-agent acquisition from Tampa Bay. Elliott has made multiple plays on defense throughout camp, coming up with a great PBU against Moore a couple of weeks ago, and then baiting Cam into a beautiful interception last week in practice. He is our front-runner at One Panther Place to land the starting nickel job when the season opens in a few weeks.

Elliott made his mark Wednesday on special teams, putting time in at the gunner position. This is an important role on this team, or any team for that matter. Elliott may have further enhanced his value through the eyes of head coach Ron Rivera with an exceptional piece of punt coverage, weaving his way past both Buffalo blockers on straight line to the punt returner.

Sometimes, you can pick up on special things in camp. I have seen enough special attributes in Elliott’s game to know that he can be a solid contributor this year, a special teams standout, at the least. Perhaps even the team’s go-to guy at slot corner.

Allen still has the edge over Grier

On the Will Grier front: not much to add on top of what we shared yesterday. As many of you know, we have been quite frank about the rookie’s lack of progression during camp. Regardless of the pushback, we report what we see, not how we feel.

In a limited round of snaps, Grier’s first two plays were scrambles, largely necessitated by poor blocking up front, and the third was a nice pass on a hook route, standing tall in a crowded pocket in doing so.

Kyle Allen moved the second unit efficiently during his first crack at the 11-on-11 scrimmage. We are seeing poise and confidence from Allen, and his arm has been on point, throwing a tight ball with consistency.

The real test comes Friday, as Grier should see plenty of snaps to improve upon his performance last week in Chicago. I would look for a healthy diet of check downs and short throws to keep his confidence up, as it just doesn’t appear that he is fully ready to read an NFL defense down the field. He has time to learn it, but you’d like to see more, soon. 

That Carolina secondary? Not too shabby. 

At the safety position, the Ross Cockrell experiment appears to be over. He’s working with the corners now primarily on the outside behind James Bradberry and Donte Jackson. 

Tre Boston has cemented his role as the starting free safety, and as he knocks off a little rust, he’s bringing a good deal of confidence and physicality to a secondary that failed to close out several key games in 2018.

Boston also appears to have a great relationship with fellow safety Eric Reid.  The two men are in constant communication prior to and during practice.

https://twitter.com/onepantherplace/status/1161888448942346241?s=21

It’s good to see a pair of veteran safeties back there bonding, both of whom possess great athleticism and experience. 

Boston has been a dynamic football player for the Chargers and Cardinals over the last couple years, and while he hasn’t been widely-revered by the media, he has made a good deal of impact plays, pulling in 8 interceptions since 2017.

While this may not yet be Thieves Avenue, it’s starting to take shape. If this secondary can avoid the catastrophic breakdowns they regularly endured on third-and-long last year, it could be the difference between 7-9 and 12-4. 

As for the joint-practice with the Bills, Carolina’s secondary performed well. Perry Fewell’s unit did what they had to do: eliminate the explosive plays. Ultimately, that’s what you’re looking to get done—keep the ball in front if you. You do that, and the takeaways usually come.

As my HS position coach once told me, “sure as hell can’t intercept a ball 20 yards behind you.” 

There was also quite a bit of small-ball from Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who completed over 75% of his passes in full scrimmage play. A good deal of those were less than 10 yards in the air, some of them perfectly horizontal. The shifty Cole Beasley was active in the slot, picked up from Dallas.

Heads up: you’ll hear and read some reporting from Buffalo that Allen “lit up the secondary.” That was hardly the case. It was all short intermediate stuff, largely due to the fact that the Panthers pass rush was consistently in the backfield. Bruce Irvin, Mario Addioson and KK Short in particular made an impact.

Speaking of pass rush specialist: rookie sensation Brian Burns was prudently held out of practice after initially planning to give it a go. According to media reports, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera believes Burns may have a shot play Friday. Your humble correspondent here feels that could be a poor decision. I would give Burns’ ankle a week off to heal, and turn him loose in the all-important third preseason game.

PSA: Beware of the generic Tweet. 

It’s a good idea to be completely honest about the context of what you’re reading on Twitter from most reporters. You see, here’s the deal: reporters can’t give a lot of live-tweet detail on plays.

It’s policy.

So, for instance: you may have come across a few updates and reactions on Torrey Smith having a “big day” on Wednesday. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Smith is a good player and he’s had a pretty solid camp. However, he was the benefactor a badly-blown coverage, even looking a tad guilty as he reluctantly trotted into the end zone.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1162337525056385030?s=20

Twitter: “oh boy, here comes Torrey Smith pushing the other guys on the depth chart!”

Not really. Touchdowns are always great to score and they always look good on tape, but he didn’t create the play. It fell in his lap. Again, context. 

Smoke Routes:

Versatile OL Dennis Daley, who has received considerable praise from coaches and some in the media, was seen taking several reps at left guard. He struggled mightily on this play, but was bailed-out by an Olsen one-handed snag. While I do like his potential as a 6th OL in jumbo, it’s clear Daley has some work to do before he can be trusted to play meaningful snaps at the guard position.

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Rookie LT Greg Little has been given mixed reviews from a variety of sources. Some have observed that Little did a nice job Wednesday holding his own on Hughes.

Well. You know, see. Here’s the thing: no, he didn’t. Not at all. 

He was routinely beaten by Hughes on the left side with a blazing speed rush, something he will face quite often at left tackle in a speed rush-heavy NFC South. I’d need to see some vast strides made in the next couple weeks before trotting him out there to defend the blind side of a franchise quarterback coming off shoulder surgery.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1162344806758211584?s=20

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The Williams dilemma: Daryl Williams, who has played left and right tackle this year in camp, and in the past, is a much more natural fit on the right side. Williams has not looked particularly comfortable on the left side, even going back to last year’s season opener against Dallas before his season-ending injury. It’s better than what Little is giving them right now, but I not sold on Williams as a franchise left tackle. Particularly coming off an injury.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1162345797922504704?s=20

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If anybody can work wonders, it’s a veteran line coach John Matsko. He’s done it Mike Remmers, developed Andrew Norwell into an All-Pro. Hell, he made Byron Bell halfway serviceable in 2014. Don’t underestimate the loss of Ryan Kalil. Line calls are critical, and he made them for Carolina over the past decade or so. Matt Paradis is a good player, and a fine replacement. But this whole deal may take time to mesh. 

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With Olsen seeing limited snaps and Ian Thomas out with an injury, Chris Manhertz snagged a touchdown and made some key contributions in the blocking game Wednesday . We chronicled Manhertz in our recent “pass catchers” piece. He’s a viable weapon in the red zone, and in a 23 personnel situation, big #82 would be a fine option for a little play action, given all the attention would be on 88, 80, 22 and 1. 

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There were quite a few pre-snap penalties from both teams during 11-on-11. Several came courtesy of Cam Newton’s legendary cadence. One such play, here, shows Newton utilizing a hard count to draw Jerry Hughes offsides. Solid work by Williams to maintain position. This is not an insignificant part of what Carolina does. Think back to 2015, at home against Washington. There must have been a half-dozen offsides penalties from the Redskins defensive line. 

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1162346572526620679?s=20

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More on tonight’s game in Charlotte–later today: onepantherplace.com. Follow along with us on TWITTER all day leading up to the game, and live on Twitter for real-time analysis. 

 

 

SPARTANBURG–A familiar, borderline-familial pair of interconference foes met up Tuesday at Wofford College as the Bills and Panthers reunited for an entertaining morning session.

This was an opportunity for former Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, now the head coach in Buffalo, to spend some quality competitive time with his former boss Ron Rivera. Not to mention in the dark days of October 2012, McDermott’s current boss and former Panthers personnel executive Brandon Beane replaced then-fired (and now, re-hired) Carolina GM Marty Hurney.

Who’s on first, right? Man alive, makes your head spin right?

Well, the connections don’t end there, friends. Have a look:

Burns Goes Down

It’s worth noting that rookie EDGE sensation Brian Burns left practice with a lower leg injury. Ice was wrapped on it, and Burns was held out for the remainder of practice. He was limping noticeably, which means nothing as I am, apparently, one of the few football writers without extensive medical training.

Hey, scribes: stick to sports and promoting yourselves.

According to multiple sources, Rivera did not provide any new updates on Burns’ status.

Bills. Panthers. Round One.

To paint a bit of a picture for those who couldn’t make it out to camp today, the teams scrimmaged on two fields: Buffalo’s offense vs Carolina’s defense on the far field, and the inverse on the near field. The joint-session was broken down in five parts:

1. One on one drills.

2. Scrimmage, 11 on 11. 

3. Red zone 7 on 7.

4. Scrimmage, 11 on 11. 

5. Special teams work.

In terms of winning the at the line, Carolina handily took control of both scrimmage sessions, much to the chagrin of a fairly decent contingent of Bills fans camped out at the far field. After connecting on a pair of impressive passes in the 7-on-7 red zone session, a jubilant Bills quarterback Josh Allen found little joy during 11-on-11’s, as Carolina’s stingy secondary and relentless pass rush flummoxed the second-year signal caller. 

Mario Addison, used in a number of positions thus far in camp (EDGE R, EDGE L, 5 tech DE), had great penetration early on, getting “to the spot” and forcing Allen out of the pocket. Kawaan Short, primarily used as the 5-tech DE in the 34, also took reps at DT in the team’s 4-2 nickel package. Short looked solid, winning his battles with regularity.

On the perimeter, second-year speedster Donte Jackson impressed in tight coverage, coming away with multiple PBUs, while letting the Bills players and fans know it. James Bradberry played mistake-free football, while Javien Elliott–who MUST start week one at nickel (more on Elliott later) allowed limited real estate in coverage with superb technique and supreme confidence.

This kid has a gift–slot corner is a demanding position to master both mentally and technically. Elliott may prove to be the steal of the offseason.

The Bills With Skills

The matchup between Carolina’s offense and Buffalo’s defense? The Bills did nice work in holding Carolina’s dynamic corps of pass catchers in check. I’m giving credit to Buffalo’s secondary coach John Butler, heading up the league’s top-ranked pass defense from a year ago. 

 

Levi Wallace, as noted in the graphic, was dominant over the final half of his rookie year. Battling for the starting corner spot opposite TreDavious White, Wallace made a nice play on a tightly-threaded Cam Newton pass intended for Greg Olsen and came away with a memorable interception.

Butler’s secondary is a great test for Carolina’s young, explosive receivers, and it will be fun to watch these units battle on Friday night. 

Honorable mention for coverage: Second-year standout linebacker Tremaine Edmunds–one of the few linebackers I’ve seen cover Christian McCaffrey with relative ease. He ran stride for stride with 22 on a wheel route, one of the toughest routes to defend as an LB. 

Curtis Samuel. Again.

Well, this happened: Curtis Samuel caught another long touchdown–once again, taking the top off the defense with a remarkable second gear. Superb ball placement by Newton, as well, which is quite the contrast from 12 months ago here in Spartanburg. 

One Panther Place touched on this last week, and I will reiterate the point: Panthers offensive coordinator Norv Turner appears to be trending his calls and personnel in much the same way Carolina utilized the speed of Ted Ginn to challenge the deep middle in 2015. It’s a positive development, seeing Turner find another niche for Samuel while implementing more deep-shot plays.

D.J. Moore continues to impress, though he wasn’t as crisp as usual against Buffalo. Again, it’s a formidable coverage group. Don’t tell Samuel, as nothing seems to dull his shine with the long ball of late. It will be a remarkable passing game to watch, if all these parts remain in concert with good health.

 

Grier Continues to Struggle; Allen In Control

Kyle Allen is simply a better player right now, at this moment for Turner’s offense, than rookie Will Grier.

Frankly, it’s not even close.

As we have documented throughout camp, Allen’s positives continue to shine: he has a strong command of the huddle, breaking the huddle with good tempo and confidence. Processes and reads the field with patience, uses his legs at the proper times and always keeps his eyes downfield.

Poise in the pocket would be the biggest point of difference between Allen and Grier. He made a great downfield throw to Torrey Smith, who got between Buffalo’s corner/safety due in a Cover 2 look, and did so while standing tall in a messy pocket. 

Grier, on the other hand, continues to miss basic short completions, plagued with indecisiveness from within the pocket. He doesn’t seem have a grasp on how to read NFL coverages. To that point, an impatient Turner chastised Grier for holding the ball too long–a growing theme at camp, My money says you can expect to see the rookie looking for the checkdowns Friday night.

By this point, after a round of OTA’s and a full camp, you’d like to see more development from Grier by now. And no, this isn’t a loving assessment. But it’s professional football, and it’s a performance business no matter how you slice it. The clock is always ticking in the NFL.

Still Concerned About Williams

It may not be on the media’s radar, but Daryl Williams gave up a pair of would-be sacks in scrimmage play, and hasn’t looked great at left tackle this summer. Frankly, he’s an unnatural fit there. Taylor Moton, on the other hand, is force at right tackle. Moton plays the right side about as well as any pro I can recall. The line looks great, most of the time. I just don’t know if Williams at LT is going to be as good a fit as many assume.

Why? Just why?

Why would anybody want to be a Bills fan? What’s the appeal? What’s the point? I get the shipwreck survivors who were fans in the early-mid 90’s. Since then? What jumps out as remotely appealing? And, hey, I don’t hate Buffalo. But, damn, talk about a purgatory of irrelevance.

And, hey. Look..it’s weird seeing a bunch of former Panthers again, wearing Bills attire. It’s creepy.

Just the whole scene was bizarre, to be honest.

On The Slye

Rookie camp leg Joey Slye reminds me of former Carolina great John Kasay. I know he isn’t left footed, but he kicks a beautiful, arching ball. I’ve been impressed with the height on his longer attempts, a vital component in avoiding blocks. There’s no kicker competition, but don’t be shocked if Slye makes an impact in the league–either here, or elsewhere. 

I know, he’s a camp body–not John Kasay! Got it, thx.

Elliott Is The Nickel

Javien Elliott appears to have a big lead here. He’s dominating first team snaps. Eric Reid also made a nice end zone PBU. I’m quietly optimistic about this secondary, though Buffalo is hardly a stern test. Many sites had plugged Cole Luke into the slot corner spot–in April.

This, folks, is precisely why you don’t make assessments like that before, oh I dunno, seeing the players practice in pads. It’s maddening.

Journalism isn’t dead–we’re here, being responsible…and stuff. 

Why? Just Why? (Part 2)

Wide receiver Aldrick Robinson is still mixing in reps with the starters. I’m not sure why, or how. It’s been one of the mysteries of camp from my perspective this year. I get it: he has experience—it doesn’t negate his lack of playmaking at the current moment. It’s a strange deal, seeing him with a healthy dose of first-team reps.  

Welp. That’s it.

The Bills and Panthers meet one last time for practice tomorrow morning in advance of their preseason match up Friday at Bank of America Stadium.

John Ellis takes it from here tomorrow, as he will have a special edition of camp coverage on what we’re all expecting to be the final official training camp practice in Spartanburg—ever.

Wow. Damn.

That’s a tough pill for us to swallow here in the upstate, but it’s been one hell of a run.

 

 

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Grier in the headlights.

The Panthers website described Will Grier’s performance as “efficient”.

He tossed up a 63.8 passer rating against third and fourth stringers–rife with vanilla, preseason defensive coverages. That is not efficient. I liked the 20-yard scramble – it ended up being only one of two explosive plays the Panthers generated all night – but overall, he’s clearly a work in progress.

Allen, on the other hand, looked composed and efficient. I liked that he was able to sidestep multiple pressures allowed by a second-string offensive line. He was a little bit better than his 1-for-5 performance on 3rd downs would indicate, as Aldrick Robinson dropped one conversion, while another “failed” conversion set up a 4th and inches attempt (his bootleg).

The team would seem to have the quarterback depth chart correct, at least for now, but it’s obviously very early.

Little reason for concern.

Greg Little needs to pick it up.

The rookie LT gave up an ugly pair of pressures to Leonard Floyd’s backup, both of which would have been sacks if not for good awareness and nifty movement by Kyle Allen.

I’ve seen Little struggle much of camp against backup edge defenders, particularly Haynes. It’s quite troubling that he’s struggling so badly against speed rushers, specifically. Handling those types of rushers was touted as a point of strength.

Not many can say with a straight face they’re thrilled with the notion of Daryl Williams playing left tackle, as LG Greg Van Roten, in this analyst’s view, remains the weak link as a pedestrian interior lineman.

That left side of the line might be more problematic than we had imagined back in April. If Little can get it together and play to his potential–yea, we’d certainly appreciate that.

The explosive play: never unimportant. 

Chicago had four explosive plays, compared to a pair from Carolina.

As you’ll find out soon enough, I share the same emphasis on a healthy explosive play ratio as many fine head coaches past and present do.

It’s tough sledding when you aim to nickel and dime your way down the field for an NFL win. All the while, the opponent is biting off 30+ yard chunks of yardage on offense. Games you feel in total of control suddenly become 10-6 halftime deficits.

Granted, the Panthers “starting” receiving corps last night was far from elite. Robinson and Jaydon Mickens were each 1-for-4 in converting targets-to-receptions.

Brutal.

And, no–it won’t help Mickens’ case that rookie Chris Godwin is channeling his inner Jermaine Lewis on punt returns. Godwin’s moves and patience setting up blocks are laudable.

Eyeing the nuances and subtleties of Rivera’s defense.

Chicago ran 54 plays on offense. Defensively, the Panthers lined up in a 4-2 nickel presentation on 33 of those 54 plays. while offering up a 3-4 presentation for the other 21 plays.

It’s interesting to note: Carolina occasionally played their base defense against the Bears’ 3-wide sets–it’s something they have done in the past as 4-3.

I was wondering how Rivera would present this look in a 3-4. I got my answer: they would bring a safety down over the slot receiver, and effectively play a cover 3 defense.

This is markedly different that how they went about this type of situation when running a 4-3, as Carolina would often flex Shaq Thompson into the nickel position while employing cover 2 or cover 4.

It’s going to be a more predictable strategy in a 3-4, so I wouldn’t expect to see this wrinkle very much against, say, Drew Brees.

A numbers crunch to keep an eye on.

Jared Norris has not shown the chops to fill much of a meaningful role as a linebacker, especially in coverage, but he’s a solid special teamer. It will be interesting to see if he becomes 2019’s Karl Hankton.

Jermaine Carter and Andre Smith look much more natural in space than Norris, but neither match Norris’ impact on special teams.

I’m betting on a superior linebacker getting cut for the special teams guy, because that’s typically how it goes when the rubber meets the road on cut day. FWIW: Bryan Cox, Jr. appears to have a leg up on Efe Obada for the same reason.

Let’s hold off on the anointing oil, ok? 

Nice work on the sacks. It was good to see.

But, look. Let’s talk.

Haynes’ effort on a wham block that sprung Chicago’s opening touchdown was woeful.

There has been an ample supply of lavish praise heaped upon Haynes for torching one of the worst offensive tackles I have ever seen. I’d caution you to not do too much of that.

I do like Haynes and his speed rush. He can get low, rushing with power and agility with results. Keep in mind, it took Haynes over 40 snaps to rack up his pair of sack.

Brian Burns only needed 10 snaps to rack up two sacks on Thursday. He is special.

Haynes needs to work on his run defense if he’s going to carve out a meaningful role this year.

Hell of a special night.

Special Teams coach Chase Blackburn is earning every dime. What a great night for the “teams” unit.

Joey Slye: hey, look. Nice game. Nice leg. Our camp leg is better than any kicker competing for the Bears job, so there’s that.

Blackburn’s boys appear to be as well-coached this year as ever. The punt return teams did a good job of avoiding penalties. Terry Godwin broke off a 57-yard return with a great move and a hell of a convoy down the near sideline.

Here’s the stat: Carolina outgained Chicago in total return yardage, 131 to -3. Wins are often found in margins like these.

 

Ian Thomas. Just, Ian Thomas.

John’s covered this extensively this offseason and at camp. What an athlete this guy is, and it showed up again in Chicago.

I’m hard pressed to find a linebacker who can cover Ian Thomas on a crossing route. I’d like to see OC Norv Turner work to exploit this like a “CPU AI-glitch money play on Madden ’05”.

Keep doing this until teams put a DB on him–and then, run from this look against an extra DB.

---

Ross Ellis is the co-founder and lead analyst for OnePantherPlace.

Breathe easy fans, for your long national nightmare ends tonight at 8 p.m. Football is back.

The Carolina Panthers, coming off a fine fortnight of training camp execution, are in the Windy City this evening for a preseason premiere against the formidable Chicago Bears.

As expected, Cam Newton will sit tonight’s game out in Chicago as second-year backup Kyle Allen gets another start at quarterback. Many of you vividly recall Allen’s last live game action, an impressive performance against the Saints’ starting defense in Carolina’s season finale win at New Orleans.

Third-round draft pick Will Grier will see considerable work tonight as well.

Here’s a One Panther Place Six Pack to wet your pre-game whistle—six guys on our radar for the Panthers tonight:

1. Elijah Holyfield: fellow rookie RB Jordan Scarlett is out tonight. It’s a fortuitous development for the undrafted rookie from Georgia, a dependable pass catcher and  hard worker. I stood in awe on Tuesday watching Holyfield haul in passes from the Jugs machine 30 minutes after the media and players dispersed from the practice fields. Scarlett’s hands have been suspect, at best, in the passing game–coupled with his current seat in the training room, his counterpart Holyfield finds himself in a good spot. I want to see how he looks in pass protection and if his power running prowess during his SEC days translates to the next level.

2. Javien Elliott: it’s anybody’s guess as to which of the three contending defensive backs will see the most reps at nickel back against the Bears. Elliott is a tough-nosed scrapper inside, tough on the jam and sticky in coverage. He picked off Newton a few days ago and had a great PBU on DJ Moore. Corn Elder is making up ground of late. The second-year cornerback sat down in a zone and waited for slot WR Jarius Wright to make a break on his signature pivot route. Elder timed the play nicely, jumping the route for a somewhat generous interception on this questionable decision by Newton. Cole Luke will see reps at nickel as well.

3. Kyle Allen: he and Grier have each shown flashes at camp, but Allen still strikes me as the most capable of the two for this offense—at this moment. While Allen has game experience as a starter (putting up a stellar first half against the Saints’ formidable starting defense last year), Grier still looks like an incomplete product at times. It’s improving, but early on, Grier tended to rush through his reads, abandoning the play prematurely and opting for a scramble. This is commonplace, even among first-round rookie signal callers, so it’s no cause for panic. Allen looks to be just a shade more commanding of the offense, routes and reads thus far.

4. Ross Cockrell: he continues to get the first team reps at free safety, while newly signed Tre Boston continues to ramp back up into the system. It’s too early to tell if Boston will take over the role full-time, as likely intended, but Cockrell isn’t giving up on his chance at redemption after breaking his leg last summer here in Spartanburg. I will say this: Cockrell does look lost at times in coverage. He has the requisite size and quickness to excel, but I noticed Cockrell getting mixed-up on a post corner route to tight end Greg Olsen this week. A free safety can’t lose sight of those incoming routes. Boston hasn’t made any “splash” plays thus far, but he’s been solid, almost mistake-free in his run fits and coverages. My money is still on Boston to be your week one starter alongside strong safety Eric Reid, while Cockrell—who will likely make the team, regardless—may be moved back to corner, given his experience and the team’s lack of depth at LCB and RCB (nickel corner, again, appears to be: Elliott/Elder/Cole Luke).

5. Jermaine Carter: With the absence of Kuechly in Chicago, Jermaine Carter gets the nod at MLB. Carter, the second-year product from Maryland, has flashed with his increased workload. On Sunday, Carter came up big with a PBU on the team’s best pass catcher, D.J. Moore. Carter–who measures in at 6-0, 225—lacks the size you’d want from Kuechly inside against the run game, but he flashes with safety-like quickness and good instincts in coverage. The play against Moore was man coverage on one of the league’s toughest young receivers to blanket. Carter appeared in all of Carolina’s 16 games in 2018, registering 13 tackles, one for a loss.

6. Damion Jeanpiere: 83 is worth watching. The undrafted rookie has blazing speed on the outside, and as we have chronicled at camp, he has run consistent routes and caught almost everything thrown his way. He’s a sleeper, but don’t sleep on this guy. The Nicholls State product clocked a 4.25 40 at his pro day and has wowed observers with his burst. I like the effort, the speed, and his attitude. Keeping him on our radar.

We will be live on Twitter all night with all the latest from Panthers v Bears: http://twitter.com/onepantherplace.

Full recap tonight here at onepantherplace.com and on tomorrow’s OnePantherPodcast.

Time for a quick look back at some of our best shots from Carolina Panthers Training Camp–Tuesday August 6. (Photos by John Ellis)

Here is a collection of our best shots from Tuesday morning’s Carolina Panthers practice. (Photos by John Ellis)

 

SPARTANBURG – Another week of training camp at Wofford College is in the books as the Carolina Panthers turn their attention to Thursday’s preseason opener at Chicago.

Notable from head coach Ron Rivera’s press conference on Tuesday: quarterback Cam Newton and linebacker Luke Kuechly will not play against the Bears. Rivera, citing carefulness as the main reason for the decision, has made it known he is eager to get a look at a group of second-tier players.

You can add starting right tackle Taylor Moton to the list of players expected to miss this week’s game. Moton suffered what Rivera described as a contusion to his thigh and will be given the night off. This presents several possibilities along the line for the game at Chicago. Greg Little, who currently sits at #2 on the left tackle depth chart, could start there, while starting left tackle Daryl Williams may slide back to the right tackle spot, a role he has played before with success.

It’s also worth nothing, for any fans who may fall victim to a media-driven panic: Kuechly is not in the concussion protocol, and Newton has thrown plenty of passes with velocity the past three practices. It’s all precautionary, and wise, limiting risk for two proven veterans who have a firm grasp on their respective roles and systems.

As for the last couple of days in steamy Spartanburg—here’s our view:

Elliott Energized

Defensive back Javien Elliott, the former Buccaneer who notoriously picked off a wounded Newton last season in a game at Tampa, has shined this week at camp.

Elliott received a health dose of first-team reps at nickel on Monday, coming up big with several good plays in tight coverage. An impressive break on slot receiver Jarius Wright led to an athletic PBU on an out route, a hard one for a slot corner to defend.

His best play yet? No question: Elliott’s crafty read and react interception of Newton on Monday was a show-stealer.

The former division rival just might prove to be one general manager Marty Hurney’s more valuable finds in the second wave of free agency.

Corn Harvests a Big Play

Not to be outdone, defensive back Corn Elder—the early leader in the clubhouse for the starting nickel role—regained some much-needed momentum on Tuesday.

The second-year cornerback sat down in a zone and waited for Wright to make a break on his signature pivot route. Elder timed the play nicely, jumping the route for a somewhat generous interception on this questionable decision by Newton.

https://twitter.com/OnePantherPlace/status/1158787226685399040?s=20

It wasn’t Newton’s best read, but there could have been some QB/WR communication issues at play. In any event, it was a positive development for Elder and new secondary coach Perry Fewell, whose DB’s are playing with tremendous physicality and effort. There have been multiple interceptions by the secondary over the past few practices.

Carter’s Chance to Shine

With the absence of Kuechly on Thursday, Jermaine Carter gets the nod at MLB. Carter, the second-year product from Maryland, has flashed with his increased workload.

On Sunday, Carter came up big with a PBU on the team’s best pass catcher, D.J. Moore.

Carter–who measures in at 6-0, 225—lacks the size you’d want from Kuechly inside against the run game, but he flashes with safety-like quickness and good instincts in coverage. The play against Moore was man coverage on one of the league’s toughest young receivers to blanket.

Carter appeared in all of Carolina’s 16 games in 2018, registering 13 tackles, one for a loss.

Allen Gets the Start

Kyle Allen gets the start at quarterback for Carolina this week. We like Allen as the #2 option.

Both he and rookie Will Grier have shown flashes at camp, but Allen still strikes me as the most capable of the two for this offense—at this moment.

While Allen has game experience as a starter (putting up a stellar first half against the Saints’ formidable starting defense last year), Grier still looks like an incomplete product at times. It’s improving, but early on, Grier tended to rush through his reads, abandoning the play prematurely and opting for a scramble.

This is commonplace, even among first-round rookie signal callers, so it’s no cause for panic. Allen looks to be just a shade more commanding of the offense, routes and reads thus far. Here’s a more detailed look at what we saw from  Allen in 2018. 

Your Daily Free Safety Digest

Ross Cockrell continues to get the first-team reps at free safety, while newly signed Tre Boston continues to ramp back up into the system. It’s too early to tell if Boston will take over the role full-time, as likely intended, but Cockrell isn’t giving up on his chance at redemption after breaking his leg last summer here in Spartanburg.

I will say this: Cockrell does look lost at times in coverage. He has the requisite size and quickness to excel, but I noticed Cockrell getting mixed-up on a post corner route to tight end Greg Olsen this week. A free safety can’t lose sight of those incoming routes. Boston hasn’t made any “splash” plays thus far, but he’s been solid, almost mistake-free in his run fits and coverages.

My money is still on Boston to be your week one starter along side strong safety Eric Reid, while Cockrell—who will likely make the team, regardless—may be moved back to corner, given his experience and the team’s lack of depth at LCB and RCB (nickel corner, again, appears to be: Elliott/Elder/Cole Luke).

Ian Thomas: A Quiet Weapon

Ian Thomas is lightning quick for a tight end. In year two now, Thomas put up solid production over the last half of 2018, and appears poised to be a more permanent fixture in offensive coordinator Norv Turner’s TE-friendly pass attack.

Turner has used 12 personnel extensively in his career (two tight ends, one back), and he began to roll it out again last year.

Olsen’s injury set this plan back a bit, but it’s a new year and I’m keeping a close eye on TE utilization.

88 and 80 together presents a multitude of matchup headaches for opposing safeties and linebackers who will, in large part, be keying in on HB/WR Christian McCaffrey pre-snap. Thomas has shined in the passing game this week.

Holyfield Ready to Rumble

Rookie running back Elijah Holyfield is emerging as the early camp favorite to land Carolina’s third (and likely final) seat in the HB room.

The former University of Georgia star and son of legendary boxer Evander Holyfield, hasn’t flinched in the NFL’s proverbial ring. Holyfield has good hands and runs solid crisp routes from the backfield, whereas fellow rookie Jordan Scarlett has struggled with several drops and is now sidelined with a soreness in his back.

Scarlett will not play this week, and this will give Holyfield a chance to shine in prime time. For a guy who stays late almost every day working on fundamentals and technique, the door is wide open.

 

 

Kickoff for Thursday’s preseason game against the Chicago Bears: 8 p.m. OnePantherPlace.com will provide a full recap, as well as live in-game observations: twitter.com/OnePantherPlace.

Here are our best shots from Monday’s practice session for the Carolina Panthers at Wofford College. (Photos by John Ellis)

A look back at some moments from Sunday’s practice session for the Carolina Panthers. (Photos by John Ellis)

In their first practice since returning from Charlotte, a rare late afternoon affair at Wofford College welcomed the intriguing 2019 Carolina Panthers back to the upstate for another week of training camp.

There were some interesting moments, good and bad, from a steamy Sunday session in Spartanburg. We have a trio of observations–and a few quick hits–to share with you from today’s practice.

Moore. Yes, Moore please. I’ll take Moore.

DJ Moore is sensational. Spoiler Alert, right?

Moore is demonstrating tremendous growth in his second season in Carolina, mastering more of the route tree while learning how to use some veteran savvy to create a little more separation downfield.

Last year, the Maryland product led all NFL wideouts with a stout 7.9 yards after catch average. This, in large part, was born out of his explosiveness as a runner on short routes (shallow cross, swing passes, tunnel screens). What we’re seeing this camp is a more traditional rotation of route assignments from #12.

His signature route here at Wofford has been the intermediate out (7-12 yards) usually against man coverage, as seen in the highlight below:

Moore is creating more separation on these routes with nuanced, subtle hand placement on opposing corners, not extending his arms, but keeping them closer to his body while using his rock of a frame to nudge his man off a tad. It’s something Michael Irvin did with notorious success: the art of creating space without drawing the foul.

As for his hands, Moore is becoming somewhat of a vacuum cleaner on these incoming passes. I have yet to see him drop one catchable pass. I’ve also seen him lay out to snag several high balls from Newton.

He’s the centerpiece of the intermediate passing game now, and his mechanics are in step with this role.

Palardy. The hefty left leg.

One of former Panthers GM Dave Gettleman’s gems was finding punter Michael Palardy after 2016 offseason acquisition Andy Lee ran into a bad patch of misfires and injuries.

It’s a joy to watch Palardy at work. Bill Belichick will attest to this: a left-footed punter is a rare find. It’s one reason why the game’s most successful head coach of all time employs lefty punters–almost exclusively. Such a punter presents challenges to returners, as the spin and angles of the ball vary a bit from the more standard, familiar flight of the right-footed boot.

It doesn’t hurt that Palardy can bang out 65-yard rockets upon request. His directional game is solid as always, and the hang time has been strong in camp. This is not only relevant in games, but in practice, as the added challenge of facing that hefty left leg helps the return specialists to learn the art of fielding a wide variety of kicks from one of the league’s best punters.

Burns left. Burns right. Burns rushes. Burns covers.

Rookie first-round selection Brian Burns is all over the field in camp.

Left side EDGE. Right side EDGE. Stack position at LB. Dropping into intermediate coverage and into the flat against flare routes.

Let’s not forget his role as a special teams contributor. He has the same type of opportunity to shine in a coverage teams role as former Panthers LB Thomas Davis did in 2005 as a rookie. Davis made a tremendous impact on punt teams, including a key fumble recovery from a Jason Baker punt before halftime of the 2005 Wildcard Round rout against the Giants.

Make no mistake—Brian Burns will make an impact in 2019. He’s not getting lost in traffic against the run. His first step is legendary at this point, as he has turned heads by turning rookie LT Greg Little into a turnstile at times.

Smoke Screens:

• Chris Hogan is still working with the punt returners, but had limited reps today. Godwin is still my favorite to land the job, but we will see how he fares in live action.
• Jaydon Mickens is listed as the first team PR on the team’s newly released “unofficial” depth chart. Do yourself a favor: ignore that depth chart. It’s fun to have new info, I know. It means next to nothing at this point.
• On Mickens: he has ability, and experience—returning a pair of long scores in 2017 while in Jacksonville. He has also muffed two punts and dropped a handful of catchable balls, including a wide-open gaffe on a beautiful Will Allen 9 route last week.
• Efe Obada had the day off, so we saw more of Brian Cox, Jr. in the 5-technique defensive end spot on the team’s 3-4 base package. Cox didn’t stand out, and doesn’t strike me as a good fit in that role. He struggled off the blocks, rarely facing a double team. Ends in a 34 need to hold ground and command their turf. So far, I’m not seeing it. Plenty of games to show it this preseason, however.
• Donte Jackson had a precautionary day off, so Corn Elder manned his spot at RCB. He played well, locking up with Moore on several routes and getting in on a great PBU with free safety Ross Cockrell. This allowed newcomer Javien Elliott to shine at nickel today. Elliott was money on the jam and made a spectacular play on an interception.

Sometimes, you can go home.

This week, Panthers general manager Marty Hurney looked back to a Dave Gettleman draft pick to help solidify a perpetually tenuous free safety situation.

Sixth-year veteran Tre Boston has agreed to a one-year deal with Carolina, with the full intent of stealing a starting deep safety spot away from Rashaan Gaulden and/or Ross Cockrell.

Fitting. After all, he did play quite the criminal role in a late 2014/all of 2015 string of theft on the notorious Thieves Avenue.

Boston isn’t shy. He loves to talk. He also loves to take chances. Sometimes that can lead to bad angles and an occasional missed tackle or assignment.

But it’s exactly that mindset that works in harmony with his sneaky-elite skill set.

Timing. Vision. Acceleration.

Let’s take a look back at a couple examples from Boston’s first stint in Carolina.

OnePanther Rewind – 2015 NFC Title Game: there are a lot of questions today about Boston’s production in his first stint with the Panthers. In today’s OPRW, here’s Boston in action against Arizona in the 2015 NFCCG. This INT officially put the Cards out of their misery.

Observation: tremendous pressure from the LDE. Palmer is already shaken up, eyeballing receivers, staring them down. Boston does a great job anticipating the in cut, positioning himself nicely on the route and showing his signature burst on the break.

Boston has a knack for making big plays in huge moments in the passing game. In the de facto 2014 NFC South Title Game (week 17), 33 fielded this Matt Ryan pick and ran it back for a lengthy score. The play illustrates superb timing, speed and acceleration—-great assets for any deep safety.

Another wider look at the play reveals savvy work by RCB Josh Norman, big nickel Colin Jones, and Boston. Norman actually hands off his assignment to Boston mid-route, baiting Ryan into a risky pass with less arc: a scenario and spot Boston clearly anticipated. It takes a great deal of acceleration and timing to pull this off. Boston is one of the quicker safeties in the league.

At the time, this play was the longest Carolina interception return in more than a decade (2004, Julius Peppers near the goal line at Denver—-one hell of a play). It also ranks as the fifth longest return in team history.

Tre Boston is a gambler. He’s the type of free safety you want on a team that presumably will build big leads. In such situations, you can have a lot of fun as a defensive coordinator with this piece patrolling the deep end of the DB pool.

Against the run, sure: he can use some work. His technique hasn’t always been sound. There have been some well-chronicled bad downfield angles and sloppy run fits. But if he can improve that part of his game marginally, and maintain his prowess as a borderline-elite pass patrolman, I would expect good things for Boston—and the Panthers—in 2019.

Thieves Avenue might just be one step closer to reopening for business.

In grand style, another year’s in the books for Carolina Panthers Fan Fest.

Despite an unpromising forecast early on with light showers, the weather cooperated for fans and (and the media) tonight at Bank of America Stadium. Here are a few quick bites for you before we truck it back down 85 to Spartanburg:

1. Cam Newton’s intermediate zip is back.

Cam had a full run of reps tonight with the first team and looks comfortable and in top form on the most important throws: the tight window bullets between 7-12 yards downfield. Newton was effective on this front, and that’s a welcome sight following the surgery.

2. Tre Boston is ready to thump.

Boston was in full pads and ran well. Coach Ron Rivera sung the veteran’s praises following practice: “He had a couple really good reads,” Rivera remarked. “It’s great to see Tre getting into the mix.” Boston will be an intriguing piece to watch. Ross Cockrell got most of the reps at first team FS, and may still be poised to run with the starting role. It’s worth keeping tabs on, while Rashaan Gaulden continues to find himself working in more of a “buffalo” nickel role. Cole Luke also got a good bit of reps with the ones at nickel.

3. Speaking of Samuel: Hell on Wheels.

The third-year veteran kicked off practice with an early score, a beautiful deep ball between the hashes from Newton in stride, 30+ yards. The crowd lit up every time Samuel and Newton connected, including a makeshift dance party near the end of practice. Samuel is slowly emerging as the man to fill that invaluable “Ted Ginn take the top off the defense” role that helped the 2015 Panthers win 14 consecutive games.

4. David Tepper.

It’s been remarkable to watch the transformation here in Charlotte with the new man in charge. Tepper was accessible–walked up and chatted with me and a few reporters about getting that roof up. He was interacting with Luke Kuechly, sidelined tonight, during live action. He’s hands-on, but not in a Jerry Jones “back off dude” type of way. I like him. Impressive stuff.

More from Fan Fest later, including a torrent of great video and photos from Friday night’s affair. Follow us at twitter.com/onepantherplace for the latest all weekend.

It’s Part 2 of our chat with former #Panthers and #Eagles tight end Luther Broughton. He shares some pretty amazing stories from his time in Carolina, including some funny and insightful tidbits on George Seifert–a man who loves a nice hot pancake. We also get Luther’s thoughts on the state of football today, concussions, and how his body and mind feel today after absorbing the rigors of pro football. It’s a bite-size edition of OnePantherPodcast. Share. Subscribe. Enjoy!

 

 

• Third year WR Curtis Samuel looks the part. There has always been tremendous potential in the Ohio State product’s game, potential that seems to be transitioning into a reality for 2019. Samuel has been near perfect this weekend. Much sharper route running is my first observation. Cleaner off the line, not finding himself off track from any DB press/jams on the line. If he’s dropped a pass, I haven’t seen it. What I have seen is a pair dominant routes with elite separation, both of which went for touchdowns. His RAC game is borderline-elite and he remains a threat as a quasi-back on jet sweeps and reverse/end around plays. This newfound downfield utilization (as displayed in Week 17 at New Orleans last season) is great to see.

• Rookie EDGE rusher Brian Burns has wowed campers (and even a few verbal teammates) with his quickness around the corner on the pass rush. Now, look, I get it. It’s day three of a rookie’s first camp. There’s always a tendency to overreact and/or overhype. Many, in a corresponding move, are in a panic over rookie LT Greg Little having some early issues controlling Burns. Let’s say this: Burns is beating Little fairly regularly. He should. I’d be concerned if my first round speed rusher was getting his ass handed to him by an inexperienced player at a tricky position to learn. Burns is fast. He has a bend to his rush–reminds me (relax) a bit of former Colts DE Dwight Freeney. The ability to get low, skinny and turnstile a tackle is aesthetically impressive. My rule for both men: give it a week. Let’s see how Burns looks on day 6, 7, 8 of practice. Likewise for Little, as he has a ton to learn in one of the leading “misdirection/moving parts” offensive schemes in the league.

• Cam Newton, and “that arm”. Well, he got a good day off on Saturday, tossing light throws alone for half the session on an empty field. Opening night, my observation of the arm was, like many, generally positive. On a post corner to TE Chris Manherz, and on a deep post to Samuel, the ball traveled with premium spin and accuracy, and this observer believes there’s more height on these throws than in the past. It’s early, so who knows. It’s just an observation. What I want to see is how the right wing looks in tight windows. Scenario: 3rd and goal, 7YL. Newton typically whistles a fastball into that tight window, just past the ear of a zone LB. Quick slants, typically. I want to see velocity + accuracy in this situation, or similar ones. The deep ball is vital, and it’s an attention grabber considering the struggles he had in camp last year delivering anything over 30 yards with accuracy. The intermediate zip needs to be there. Haven’t seen him display it much yet, likely by design.

• Gerald McCoy: Man of the People. I always work hard to pay close attention to chemistry and behavioral elements with first-year players in a system. Are they involved? Communicative? Are they detached? Aloof? Sometimes, there’s nothing to observe. In the case of McCoy, I spent some quality time just a few feet from the perennial All-Pro DT following his first practice on Thursday night. Here’s what he did: carried a few helmets a good 50+ yards in my direction. I’m thinking, “the hell is this…veteran pro-bowler hazing?” Nope, voluntary. He wanted to do it. Why? Who cares? It’s a tremendous show of class. McCoy then proceeds to move some of the training equipment 20 yards onto the field of play, and goes to on do about 20 minutes of individual pass rush drills–alone–deep into the night. Newton is circling the field with his entourage rifling off his John Hancock, and there’s McCoy, grinding away like an undrafted rookie. How has he looked on the field? Too hard to tell, as he’s spending most of his reps in a new role: 5-technique DE in a 34 defense. But he’s oozing with intangibles, leading by example while working closely with his young mates on the line. It feels right. Probably because it is right.

Much like the mental pictures forged from those playful summer days on an old childhood street, memories of the once bustling Thieves Avenue grow more distant with each passing season.

The 2015 Carolina Panthers secondary was a uniquely adroit unit—a premium blend of supervisory savvy and youthful vitality.

The perimeter was patrolled by one such tandem: 34-year old craftsman Charles Tillman locking down the left side, with the exuberant Josh Norman shining in his first full season at right cornerback. The dynamic duo contributed a combined 6 interceptions, 5 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.

Free safety Kurt Coleman was the NFC’s most productive player at his position, despite being omitted from both Pro Bowl and All-Pro consideration. (Production metrics below, ranked among all NFL safeties)

FS – Kurt Coleman (2015)
Interceptions	7	2nd
Interception yards	89	6th
Tackles	88	t-10th
Tackles for loss	5	t-7th
Passes Defended	9	t-8th
INT returns for TD	1	t-2nd

 

The secondary as a whole:

• 15 interceptions
• 8 forced fumbles
• 7 fumble recoveries
• 2% touchdown rate (1^st in NFL)
• 4 yards allowed/attempt (2^nd in NFL)

The lack of secondary playmaking since 2015’s historic run has been staggering. Certainly, allowing Norman to seek employment elsewhere prior to the 2016 NFL Draft played a part. Former general manager Dave Gettleman was notorious for these unexpected little surprises, this time pulling the franchise tag on Norman at nearly the last minute, setting off a sense of justifiable panic among Panthers fans.

Gettleman has the occasional knack for ham-fisted dramatics, still exhibiting such practices today as the general manager of the New York Giants.

The 2016 solution? Draft a pair of corners, work them like dogs in OTA’s and camp, toss them into the lineup and hope for the best.

James Bradberry, the second-round selection from Samford, started week one, and played up to an acceptable level in his 13 starts. He led the team with 10 passes defended and snagged a pair of interceptions.

Daryl Worley, the third-round pick from West Virginia, started 11 games with an interception, but had trouble in coverage seemingly every game.

After Carolina allowed Atlanta to play pitch and catch for an idiotic 576 yards in week four, second-year cornerback Bene Benwikere was promptly fired for his role in “the Julio Jones 300 yards worth of catches” fiasco.

The season was lost, in large part due to a lost secondary. Tillman’s famous “Peanut Punch” worked wonders for his entire band of defensive back brothers in 2015. The secondary forced 8 fumbles on their road to Super Bowl 50.

A season later, with Tillman departed, Carolina’s DB’s managed one single strip, and zero recoveries.

Staggering.

Though 2017 ended with an 11-5 wildcard berth, generally considered a solid run, the secondary made a scant amount of impact plays. While maintaining a relatively healthy TD/ATT rate (4.5%), the defensive backfield combined for the same number of interceptions Coleman single-handedly collected in 2015: seven—that’s less that one every two weeks.

Last season was an enigmatic experience as an observer. The early emergence of rookie Donte Jackson—4 interceptions, 7 passes defended, a forced fumble and a sack sparked Carolina to a 6-2 start and put Jackson in the discussion for DROY honors.

Fittingly, Jackson wouldn’t intercept another regulation pass over Carolina’s 1-7 finish, though he did run back a “pick-two” of an ill-conceived Drew Brees two-point attempt, streaking an impressive full hundred yards on the play in week 15.

That game—against the Saints on Monday Night Football—revealed just how much potential this DB group possesses when properly coached/coordinated.

It was a dominant defensive performance against one of the league’s most explosive teams. For just the 22^nd time in Drew Brees’ 279 career games, he threw an interception and was held without a touchdown.

Bradberry did fine work on the NFC’s leading receiver Michael Thomas, limiting him to 47 yards for the game, with the longest play 12 yards.

In fact, with head coach Ron Rivera calling the defense in both Saints matchups in 2018, Thomas had his two worst performances of the season relative to his season averages: 6.5 ypc (-3.06), 4.8 yd/target (-4.76), 75% catch rate (-10%) and no touchdowns.

 

Hard times on Thieves Ave.
	Int	FF	FR	TD%	YPA
2015	15	8	7	3.2%	5.4
2016	11	1	0	4.4%	6.5
2017	7	3	3	4.5%	6.1
2018	11	2	2	6.1%	6.8

 

So, the question looms: Can the 2019 Panthers secondary get return to their 2015-like criminal form? Perry Fewell certainly hopes to help.

A veteran defensive back specialist with 21 years of NFL coaching experience, Fewell joins Carolina as their new secondary coach. Former secondary coach Richard Rodgers will continue to assist with the new title of safeties coach.

It appears the Panthers will ride with Rashaan Gaulden at free safety. Gaulden, a third-round pick in 2018, saw limited action last season behind now-departed starter Mike Adams. Eric Reid will enter his first full season with Carolina with full command of the strong safety position.

Jackson and Bradberry are the logical fits on the outside at corner. That leaves the door open at nickelback with the departure of veteran Captain Munnerlyn.

Ross Cockrell, who suffered a brutal season-ending leg injury at camp last year, feels like the best fit in the slot. Cockrell, who last played with the Giants in 2017, had extensive slot corner experience from his days in Pittsburgh—in a 3-4 defense, no less.

Corn Elder and Kevon Seymour are in the mix for nickel, with safety Colin Jones as an occasional contributor in what’s been coined the team’s “Buffalo” package—a big nickel concept in which a safety with speed moves down into the slot.

In any event, there’s little question that the 2019 Carolina Panthers secondary must improve in their ability to take the football away, creating valuable field position advantages for the offense. Limiting big plays, particularly on 3^rd and 7+, is just as critical—this was a devastatingly bad area for Carolina’s secondary in 2018.

Our First Rodeo.

John Fox would always tell the media, when asked about an experienced opponent: “Hey, this isn’t his first rodeo.”

Well, this is ours. Hi, I’m John. I’m your host for One Panther Podcast.

Each Monday evening, we will post roughly 60 minutes of Carolina Panthers related content. Nobody wants to hear me ramble for an hour alone, so we will always invite an interesting guest with some form of ties to the team.

This week is a good one. Former Panthers and Eagles tight end Luther Broughton (1997-2001) joins us and shares the remarkable details of how he worked his way into the league as solid, reliable pass catching threat. Luther also shares some eye-opening stories about some of his assistant coaches in Philadelphia and Carolina.

I’ll give you a few thoughts on the offense for the upcoming season, though it’s safe to assume that nobody in the media knows what’s going to happen with the offense. I’m not doing power rankings, or projections, or picks. I’ll watch film and try to be objective. That’s what you’ll get, with very few frills.

We hope you enjoy our first edition of One Panther Podcast!

Four years ago, the Carolina Panthers entered their 21st season in a spot of bother. The abrupt loss of second-year wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to a torn left ACL in training camp left a void many pundits saw as too wide, too deep to overcome.

It was a troubling August afternoon on the steamy fields of Wofford College–the team’s best receiver, and his 1,008 yards from 2014, were gone. Hopes were low.

Yet, a funny thing happened on the way to the team’s media-sponsored funeral.

Ron Rivera’s men didn’t lose a single football game for the next 130 days. They rolled through the NFC to a 17-2 season, ending on a sour note in Super Bowl 50, but still carving out a special place in football lore.

This is a cautionary tale, one in which great off-seasons can lead to disappointing real-seasons, and vice versa. It’s why they play the game, as has been said.

The present is where we are, and we must focus in on that. The 2019 Carolina Panthers. What do we have, exactly?

Armed with what feels like the most dynamic group of skill players assembled in the Ron Rivera era, the Carolina Panthers enter their 25^th training camp next week in Spartanburg with, for a change, almost as many answers as questions. At least as far as the pass catchers are concerned.

While the media-at-large has spent the better part of seven months examining the state of Cam Newton’s surgically repaired right shoulder, Panthers general manager Marty Hurney has quietly done a good job of supplementing his quarterback with a formidable offensive line while adding some robust pieces to the defensive front.

We turn our attention to the skill position players. Yes, there is reason for excitement in Carolina over the litany of weapons surrounding a presumably healthy Newton. In today’s edition of “Pick Six”, we evaluate what’s currently on the roster while narrowing it down to the six players most likely to produce on a weekly basis in offensive coordinator Norv Turner’s second season with the Panthers. We base this list not solely on talent or stats, but also frequency of personnel packages.

He’s a football player.

Starting with the obvious choice, Panthers running back (WR/QB/Swiss Army Knife) Christian McCaffrey will continue to see 300+ touches in Carolina’s offense. Following an impressive 2017 rookie campaign, McCaffrey exploded in 2018 as the key cog in Turner’s quick-read, high tempo offense: 1,965 all-purpose yards on 326 touches (both ranked 3rd league-wide), 1,098 rushing yards (6th in league), with 107 receptions (8th in league).

McCaffrey is well-suited to become the 3rd player in NFL history to reach both 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in a single season. 49ers dual-threat Roger Craig was the first to pull it off in 1985, and was finally matched in 1999 by Rams running back Marshall Faulk.

Is McCaffrey really on that level? Look no further than the home game last November against Seattle. In what ended in a crushing defeat with Pete Carroll dancing on the field like a confused  grandfather, McCaffrey demonstrated his full potential in one of the most dominant individual performances this humble football writer has ever witnessed:

• 17 carries, 125 yards, 1 TD
• 11 catches, 112 yards, 1TD
• 7.4 yards per carry
• 10.1 yards per catch
• 100% catch rate on 11 targets

It was a crime watching the Panthers lose that game. We’ll cover that in our next feature story, in which a full autopsy will be conducted on 2018 Carolina secondary–we’ll learn together what can now be done to preserve games like the one against the Seahawks.

Still—what a game by the Stanford product.

He’s just amazing. There’s my analysis.

Moore of that good stuff.

Twelve months ago, many didn’t know what to make of first-round pick D.J. Moore. Steve Smith? He knew.

The Maryland product drew instant praise on draft night from the Panthers all-time leader in catching balls and delivering punishment.

“They have never been able to replace me… until today,” Smith proclaimed live on NFL Network.

The future hall-of-famer got it right. And not just in terms of stats or general physical measurables. Moore plays with a mean streak. It’s quite possibly his greatest attribute. Countless times in 2018, observers–this one included–were forced to do a double-take at Moore’s violent open-field running style.

It’s almost as if some hypothetical personnel guy took Ted Ginn, Jr and/or Todd Pinkston to a football factory, and said “here, make us the opposite of this.”

Moore runs with a purpose, and it shows on tape and the stat sheet. His 7.9 YAC (yards after catch) led all NFL WR, and his 14.3 yards per catch led the team and was in-step with two of the league’s elite downfield threats: Julio Jones and Rob Gronkowski.

The plot—and depth chart—thickens.

With the addition of former New England wide receiver Chris Hogan, the Panthers are in a winning position with third-year speedster Curtis Samuel’s ability to play multiple positions.

Hogan, who has experience as both a perimeter and slot receiver, could end up winning a starting role on the outside opposite Moore.

From 2016-17, the man once dubbed “7-Eleven” (always open; football joke) lined up in the slot on a limited basis–less than 20% of the time. The results were strong: a 17.9 YPC average led the league in 2016, along with his 11.4 yards per target metric—arguably a truer barometer of positional value.

A year later, Hogan was hitting his stride, well on pace for his first career 1000-yard season before injuries sidelined him for seven of the Patriots’ final eight games.

Mr. 7/11 faced some uphill battles while transitioning to the slot in 2018 and ended up in the “y” position on more than 40% of his total snaps.  This was somewhat necessitated by the abrupt four-game suspension of Tom Brady’s go-to guy Julian Edelman.

No question: the big-play ability was still there, as Hogan posted a 14+ yards per catch average in eight different games and led all wide outs with a 4.1 yards of separation average, according to NFL NextGen Stats.

It’s a league of matchups. There’s no singular way to go about assigning these roles. Samuel and Hogan both bring unique skills to the table, and Turner would do well to share their time on the inside/perimeter for the common 11-personnel package. (1TE, 1RB, 3WR).

Interestingly, Samuel ranked 6^th league-wide in average yards of cushion given: 6.7 yards of cozy green grass per snap—that’s not insignificant. Now, several factors can play into how far off a defensive back plays pre-snap, but it’s generally a good indicator of respect for a receiver’s ability to take the top off the defense.

Samuel has surely proven his worth in that area. In many respects, he’s built like a back, and Turner isn’t afraid to utilize him as such with a variety of motions, jet sweeps and the occasional triple option.

Incumbent slot-specialist Jarius Wright is another current Panther worth keeping in mind. Coming off a career-high 43 receptions, Wright is one of “Norv’s guys”, as they both migrated from Minnesota to Carolina in the 2018 offseason.

In comments made to The Charlotte Observer last offseason, Wright beamed with confidence regarding his acumen the offensive schematics. “I know every aspect of it,” Wright said, per The Observer. “I know how he wants everything run. If Norv forgets something, he can just come ask me.”

Wright, much like Moore and Samuel, is a tough player to get on the ground after the catch. Interestingly, he did his best work in the final quarter of games last season, averaging 14.4 yards per catch (10.0 yards per target), primarily from the slot. Both situational metrics outperformed Edelman’s 2018 averages in New England. Also, Edelman played in luxury with an almost too-healthy Tom Brady—Wright was fielding passes from a wounded Newton and a trio of backups.

Meanwhile, veteran Torrey Smith is well-respected in the locker room and took a $2 million pay cut this offseason to stay in Carolina. However, given the logjam at the position and the general lack of production in 2018 (6.1 yards per target), Smith is considered a bit of a reach to have role in the rotation come September. Things do happen, and perhaps Smith will have a revival in camp.

Olsen returns, but will Thomas emerge?

At tight end, the story–much like that of the quarterback–is health. Namely, just how available will reliable–at times dominant–veteran Greg Olsen be down the stretch. After becoming the first tight end in NFL history to achieve three consecutive 1000-yard seasons (a feat always worth noting), Olsen has missed exactly half of the last two seasons, sustaining a string of related injuries to his right foot four times in a 15-month span.

With (reportedly) a looming Monday Night Football broadcast opportunity in play, Olsen opted to extend his playing career with Carolina, looking to finish with another run at a championship—and perhaps more.

It was clear to most that Olsen wasn’t ready to walk away, despite random rumblings from random people, claiming to have sources who were, well, claiming otherwise. Twitter in April–good times. Another reason to be grateful for this time of year: less speculation, more observation.

Hey, look. If we’re on the topic, it’s worth noting that only nine tight ends have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It’s also worth noting that Olsen has more career receiving yards than five of them. Assuming he stays healthy in 2019, he will breeze past Ozzie Newsome and Jackie Smith in this category, further cementing his legacy as one of the most valuable and productive players of his generation.

In the wings, second-year intrigue Ian Thomas finds himself in a tremendous position: playing with an elite play-extender at quarterback, coached by a coordinator who places great value on the tight end position, all while studying the nuances of route running, run blocking and film study from one of the game’s workaholics in Olsen.

Thomas caught our eye in 2018 with his burst off the line and his assertive nature after the catch. He plays the game much like Moore, in that they both seek contact with the ball in their hands. Turner did a nice job of bringing the rookie along in the preseason, and as (bad) luck would have it, Thomas was forced into the starting role when Olsen fractured his problematic right foot in the first quarter of the season opener against Dallas.

It took some learning, and there were some rookie mistakes. Missed blocking assignments. Poor routes. A few drops. But as the season progressed, so did Thomas. After seeing just one target over a seven-game stretch, Thomas put on a clinic over the season’s final five games: 25 receptions, 246 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Extrapolated, this stretch of metrics would result in a full season with 80 receptions and 787 yards.

Third-string tight end Chris Manhertz will continue to play an important role in 22/23 personnel looks, from which his value as an extension of the offensive line will help guide the running game. The occasional play action look from these packages should give Manhertz a good look at scoring opportunities near the end zone.

Pick Six: Who will shine?

 

Our “Pick Six” for skill players isn’t overly scientific. It’s our best forecast as to the six skill players who will post the best set of production metrics in 2019:

• HB Christian McCaffrey
• WR DJ Moore
• WR Curtis Samuel
• WR Chris Hogan
• WR Jarius Wright
• TE Greg Olsen

Honorable mention/7^th Man Award: Ian Thomas.

I’m forecasting a departure for Torrey Smith. I’m also anticipating a great season from Chris Hogan on the perimeter.

Let’s not forget to pay homage to the departure of Devin Funchess. I’ll say this: I liked the guy for a bit. He did show some toughness at times, particularly on the final drive of Carolina’s dramatic win at New England in 2017. He had his moments.

But in the end, this is just a better way forward. More speed–and just a higher overall ceiling for explosive plays.

In any event, this will be a fascinating group of pass catchers to watch in camp.

Oh, and yes: do keep an eye on that Newton kid. A healthy wing for #1 makes or breaks this season for a lot of people.

Check out OnePantherPlace.com this weekend for our next preview installment: the defensive backfield.

Episode One: Camp Preview/Our Story/Obscure Panthers History. We’ll chat with former #Panthers and #Eagles TE Luther Broughton, re: Cam/Norv/TE’s and more.

If you’re a Panthers fan, try our product. Premieres 7/22. #KeepPounding #Panthers #NFL #podcasts

More details to follow later this week.

It had been a long wait. Excruciatingly long.

The Carolina Panthers were back in the NFL Playoffs after a seven-year drought which included a 15-game losing streak, no winning seasons, and pair of coaching changes.

Ironically, the Cowboys were in town for another playoff duel with the Panthers. Led by the legendary Bill Parcells, Dallas had already knocked off Carolina in November and rode a wave of confidence into Charlotte.

This would, however, prove to be Carolina’s night. In a most perfect way.

Here’s a look back at how it happened.

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Today’s edition of One Panther Rewind takes us back to the 2003 NFC Divisional Round—a surreal 15 minutes (and change) of football.

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