On Paper, Things Are Taking Shape

[SetfreexX]

Offense-

Kalil / ? / Kalil / Turner / Williams - Moton / Silatolu / Larsen / Van Roten

Newton - Gilbert /?

CMC / Cap - Fozzy / Armah / ?

Funchess / Smith / Wright / Samuel / Byrd - Shep / Bersin / Clay 

Olsen / Manhertz / ?

 

Defense-

Peppers / Short / Poe / Addison - Butler / Hall / Cox / Horton / Love 

Kuechly / Davis / Thompson - Mayo

Bradberry / Munnerlyn / Seymour - Elder / Luke 

Adams / Jones - Southward / Cox

 

Guys we are all aware that we have holes, depth concerns, etc. in some areas and in my opinion the only real loss has been Norwell in all honesty. Replacing the likes, of Coleman / Stewart / Johnson will continue to happen as the off-season continues as we are just getting into the 2nd week of free agency. 

However let's be real about this when looking at some position groups, there's only a couple areas that are going to be occupied by an incoming rookie (and that will depend on how the rest of free agency pans out). As see it those positions are :

WR / S / DB / OL 

That is not a horrible position to be in considering it's March 20th, a lot of guys are bashing the off-season to date as though it's been a failure, but considering being a little strapped by the cap, as well as one of our early free agent signees failing his physical, we are in good shape overall.  Of the four positions I listed I do believe all will be covered once, and maybe two times over when considering the time we still have left to improve the roster. 

When you look at it, having Smith & Wright in the receiver room does TWO things for us, both not only improve the speed quality, but they both provide valuable, and tangible NFL experience and success, something sorely lacking last season aside from depth, and speaking candidly is why we lost to New Orleans. This allows Byrd/Samuel who are 22/23 years of age if memory serves to continue to develop and provides us with quality depth, and potential moving forward. Simply put unless you just don't like them Byrd, and Samuel both flashed the qualities needed to be big time play makers at this level. Continuing to pace their development is something I'm a supporter of. Aside from that, from Funchess through Byrd they're all 4.3 - high 4.4 speed guys, that is something we have lacked FOR YEARS in the receiver department, and interestingly enough the last time we had that kind of speed was the 2015 season. I am excited about this group. 

Next up is the defensive line, we have an embarrassment of talent and depth on the defensive line and it does not leave to much to say, I still think we'll add a prospect, but so many of you dismiss Hall / Cox Jr. / Efe and their potential as young players. Allowing them and Butler chances to continue to grow and develop behind a veteran front is not a luxury many teams have. And considering the brutality of a season, having that deep of a rotation will most be appreciated when December arrives. 

On the offensive line I'm a bit more optimistic, between Moton, Larsen, and van Roten we will have experienced players vying for that position, and potentially a rookie in the mix. I know we all loved the ''White Bufflao'' but Norwell was not even a Panther fan house hold name prior to season before last, he was an UDFA out of OSU that made the most of his opportunity. Even during the 2015 run, he wasn't yet on the level that made him one of if not the highest paid guards in the NFL. Try to keep in mind that guard is a easier to replace over a tackle position. We have two 3rds (where Turner a pro-Bowler was selected), and in house competition. I expect this not to be as detrimental as some may try to encourage you to believe. 

Finally there is the secondary, which has a world of unanswered questions, but as many position groups has a litany of untapped talent and youth. Kevon Seymour and his measurables interest me, Elder, and Luke as the potential future at nickel also interest me. None the less a draft selection, and likely a free agent acquisition are on the horizon, and even though the hole is worrisome, I do feel much better knowing we have the BEST DEFENSIVE LINE ROTATION IN THE NFL. Try to keep in mind in one of our best defensive seasons (2012/2013) guys like Drayton Florence, Antoine Cason, a young Norman, and Munerlyn were the main stays outside with Mike Mitchell who at the time was considered a bust, and Quentin Mikell an aging veteran at safety, and the injury that ended the Panther tenor of Charles Godfrey. 

[Chardee MacDennis]

RB and TE 

[mc52beast]

Wish a couple of our d-linemen could play corner

[Daddy_Uncle]

Running back, TE, #2 qb, CB and safety are all in desperate circumstances right now and need to be seriously addressed 

[SetfreexX]

19 minutes ago, Chardee MacDennis said:

RB and TE 

I don't disagree but I think we'll see a TE come in as a free agent, and a running back in the draft. 

[RumHam]

hoping OP can play corner

[Jon Snow]

Wut?

[Lemory]

Amini is a Free Agent i believe. 

[General_Purr]

Wright over Byrd and Samuel? 

 

Funchess, Smith, Wright as a core WR sounds like death.

Just look at the division WR depth chart... lol

[OneBadCat]

I’m hoping we bring back Chris Scott. That dude usually plays pretty well for us as a fill in guard. 

Definitely need a #2 TE, some LB depth and safeties. Damn we needed Breeland.

[heel31ok]

bringing in Sirles would help a lot...give more options at other positions...

[panthers55]

If Breeland had worked out everyone would be stoked about the corner position and would be saying all we lacked was a free safety. Because it fell through hardly makes us awful. It is too early to panic.

[brandon_87]

58 minutes ago, mc52beast said:

Wish a couple of our d-linemen could play corner

I'd love to see you line Pep out there and see his press coverage lol well, maybe not now, but Pep from years ago, yea.

[Seoul_Panther]

3 hours ago, SetfreexX said:

Offense-

Kalil / ? / Kalil / Turner / Williams - Moton / Silatolu / Larsen / Van Roten

Newton - Gilbert /?

CMC / Cap - Fozzy / Armah / ?

Funchess / Smith / Wright / Samuel / Byrd - Shep / Bersin / Clay 

Olsen / Manhertz / ?

 

Defense-

Peppers / Short / Poe / Addison - Butler / Hall / Cox / Horton / Love 

Kuechly / Davis / Thompson - Mayo

Bradberry / Munnerlyn / Seymour - Elder / Luke 

Adams / Jones - Southward / Cox

 

Guys we are all aware that we have holes, depth concerns, etc. in some areas and in my opinion the only real loss has been Norwell in all honesty. Replacing the likes, of Coleman / Stewart / Johnson will continue to happen as the off-season continues as we are just getting into the 2nd week of free agency. 

However let's be real about this when looking at some position groups, there's only a couple areas that are going to be occupied by an incoming rookie (and that will depend on how the rest of free agency pans out). As see it those positions are :

WR / S / DB / OL 

That is not a horrible position to be in considering it's March 20th, a lot of guys are bashing the off-season to date as though it's been a failure, but considering being a little strapped by the cap, as well as one of our early free agent signees failing his physical, we are in good shape overall.  Of the four positions I listed I do believe all will be covered once, and maybe two times over when considering the time we still have left to improve the roster. 

When you look at it, having Smith & Wright in the receiver room does TWO things for us, both not only improve the speed quality, but they both provide valuable, and tangible NFL experience and success, something sorely lacking last season aside from depth, and speaking candidly is why we lost to New Orleans. This allows Byrd/Samuel who are 22/23 years of age if memory serves to continue to develop and provides us with quality depth, and potential moving forward. Simply put unless you just don't like them Byrd, and Samuel both flashed the qualities needed to be big time play makers at this level. Continuing to pace their development is something I'm a supporter of. Aside from that, from Funchess through Byrd they're all 4.3 - high 4.4 speed guys, that is something we have lacked FOR YEARS in the receiver department, and interestingly enough the last time we had that kind of speed was the 2015 season. I am excited about this group. 

Next up is the defensive line, we have an embarrassment of talent and depth on the defensive line and it does not leave to much to say, I still think we'll add a prospect, but so many of you dismiss Hall / Cox Jr. / Efe and their potential as young players. Allowing them and Butler chances to continue to grow and develop behind a veteran front is not a luxury many teams have. And considering the brutality of a season, having that deep of a rotation will most be appreciated when December arrives. 

On the offensive line I'm a bit more optimistic, between Moton, Larsen, and van Roten we will have experienced players vying for that position, and potentially a rookie in the mix. I know we all loved the ''White Bufflao'' but Norwell was not even a Panther fan house hold name prior to season before last, he was an UDFA out of OSU that made the most of his opportunity. Even during the 2015 run, he wasn't yet on the level that made him one of if not the highest paid guards in the NFL. Try to keep in mind that guard is a easier to replace over a tackle position. We have two 3rds (where Turner a pro-Bowler was selected), and in house competition. I expect this not to be as detrimental as some may try to encourage you to believe. 

Finally there is the secondary, which has a world of unanswered questions, but as many position groups has a litany of untapped talent and youth. Kevon Seymour and his measurables interest me, Elder, and Luke as the potential future at nickel also interest me. None the less a draft selection, and likely a free agent acquisition are on the horizon, and even though the hole is worrisome, I do feel much better knowing we have the BEST DEFENSIVE LINE ROTATION IN THE NFL. Try to keep in mind in one of our best defensive seasons (2012/2013) guys like Drayton Florence, Antoine Cason, a young Norman, and Munerlyn were the main stays outside with Mike Mitchell who at the time was considered a bust, and Quentin Mikell an aging veteran at safety, and the injury that ended the Panther tenor of Charles Godfrey. 

Respectfully disagree. Positivity is always welcome but this is not a balanced roster. Naturally all rosters around the league have areas of strength and weakness but this is an old team and there are too many question marks for comfort. Several key players at key positions are retiring after this year and coaching/ownership changes add to the uncertainty.

 Secondary and WRs are a big concern and DTs apart I don't love the depth at ANY position.

 I do agree that its impossible to have superstars at every position, but I don't really understand the prioritising of the teams needs at all in FA. I like Poe but i wonder if i'm the only one surprised that we elected to address NT when we have depth and experience in this area. Meanwhile as much as i considered Worley to be average and that Hurney couldn't have known Breeland would fail his medical its something like a worse case scenario for that to happen creating even more flux in an underperforming secondary. WR is problematic because we have a bunch of guys who in theory can be good but many of whom let us down in the clutch last year. I like Wright and Smith but there is no continuity/dependability at the position. I think TE is a concern. I haven't seen any progress in plugging holes and setting up the draft and short of getting lucky with rough diamond signings find it hard to imagine a scenario where we enter the season looking greatly improved.

   Worst of all I look at our top picks from recent drafts McCaffrey, Moton, Samuel, Butler, Thompson and it just looks a lot like we aren't using any of them enough or coŕrectly or for the purpose that they were supposedly drafted. I feel like if the Panthers don't at least make some progress in getting starter quality younger players at positions of need, it could be a very long season.