CHARLOTTE, NC – The Carolina Panthers open the 2021 NFL regular season against the New York Jets on Sept. 12 at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers finished 2020 with a 5-11 record, third in the NFC South, losing the playoffs for the third straight season.
This will be an opportunity for quarterback Sam Darnold, acquired in a season job with the Jets, to prove himself immediately or to show that New York was right to move from the third pick in the 2018 draft in favor of Zach Wilson.
The Panthers still have other questions, if the most important are if Cameron Erving is the answer on the left and if a defense with many good pieces, but fine on defense, can unite as a unit and if they have enough depth to remain competitive for more than 17 matches.
On Tuesday, at 4 p.m., the roster will be reduced to 53 players. Here is a projection:
QUARTERBACK (3): Sam Darnold, PJ Walker and Will Grier
The jury follows Darnold, who was good but not great during training camp. Neither Walker nor Grier have done anything to forge a gap like clear number 2, nor have they argued for the Panthers to keep them both. The third quarterback could still be in another squad.
RUNNING BACK (4): Christian McCaffrey, Chuba Hubbard, Spencer Brown, Trenton Cannon
Hubbard has won McCaffrey’s main backup role. The Oklahoma State rookie is dynamic as a receiver and runner. Cannon, a back who has worked primarily as a receiver at camp, gets his head around for his contributions to special teams. The concern here is that there is no side.
LARGE RECEIVER (6): DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, Terrace Marshall Jr., David Moore, Brandon Zylstra, Shi Smith
The top three finishers are a fact, and Marshall demonstrates why he was a second-round pick who could have been first. Leaving rookie CJ Saunders off that list was tough. He did nothing but do plays during camp. A concussion that Keith Kirkwood suffered at the start of the field removed him from that list.
FINAL CLOSED (4): Dan Arnold, Ian Thomas, Tommy Tremble and Colin Thompson
Arnold seems like the real deal in terms of recovering TE as a receiving threat in this crime. Thomas has yet to prove he can be a threat beyond the preseason, and the addition of Tremble makes this a clear upgrade from 2020. Tremble could also play that defensive role in terms of blocking.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Taylor Moton (T), Cameron Erving (T), Trent Scott (T), Brady Christensen (TG), Pat Elflein (G), John Miller (G), Dennis Daley (G), Deonte Brown (GC), Matt Paradis (C)
Erving on the left and Moton on the right are clearly the best combination to start with. The question is whether Erving can stay healthy. Greg Little was traded to Miami because Moton emerged as the second-best attack. If the Panthers choose to go with 10 liners, look for Sam Tecklenburg center to make the cut.
DEFENSIVE FINAL (5): Brian Burns, Morgan Fox, Yetur Gross-Matos, Marquis Haynes, Christian Miller
The beauty of this group is that most can play multiple positions and all can get after the quarterback. Burns (nine sacks in 2020) and Reddick (12.5 sacks for Arizona in 2020) are gearing up for a great season (and opted for a custom golf cart on who ended up with more sacks). The most important question here is whether Miller makes the cut.
DEFENSIVE ATTACK (4): Derrick Brown, DaQuan Jones, Bravvion Roy, Daviyon Nixon
Jones was introduced to add a much-needed veteran alongside the first round of 2020, Brown, but look for Roy to have plenty of time to play. And Morgan Fox can slide in and provide pressure.
LINEBACKER (5): Shaq Thompson, Haason Reddick, Jermaine Carter Jr., Frankie Luvu, Julian Stanford
Who you don’t see here is the 2020 rookie defensive candidate Jeremy Chinn, but he will hide and play off the striker more than we might think. Carter, the center forward, has emerged to the point that the Panthers changed Denzel Perryman to the Raiders. Former Carolina field receiver Steve Smith Sr., now a team network analyst, called Carter the leader of defense and the key. With Perryman gone, Stanford could break that list.
CANTONER (6): Jaycee Horn, Donte Jackson, Rashaan Melvin, AJ Bouye, Keith Taylor, Stantley Thomas-Oliver III
The loss of Troy Pride Jr. for injury of the year hurt depth, but this group is no longer a weak point, as the first-round chosen Horn is a legitimate closing corner and Jackson healthy. Bouye, again, gives defensive coordinator Phil Snow flexibility to do things he couldn’t do a year ago when it comes to playing more manly.
SECURITY (4): Jeremy Chinn, Juston Burris, Kenny Robinson, Sam Franklin
Chinn will be used in various positions, but his security presence is a big upgrade to the position. It would not be surprising for Sean Chandler to sink into this group.
SPECIALISTS (3): Ryan Santoso (PK), Joseph Charlton (P), JJ Jansen (LS)
The Panthers had so much confidence in Joey Slye before camp that they didn’t compete for him, but after Slye missed three kicks in two preseason games, they signed Dominik Eberle. However, on Thursday they changed a conditional seventh-round pick to the Giants for Ryan Santoso and released Eberle. Only one will make the list, but since Carolina switched to Santoso, she becomes the odds favorite. When Thomas Fletcher was drafted in the sixth round, it seemed certain that the Panthers would move on from Jansen after 12 seasons as a long-term partner. That could still happen, but Jansen is still of the Pro Bowl caliber and Fletcher could be left out of the training squad.