My personal favourite team in the NFL, but trust me, there is no bias here. My team has been bad and will continue to be bad.
Strength
The Panthers were not a very good football team last season, but they did excel on the defensive side of the ball. They ranked second overall in the NFL for yards conceded and showed flashes of greatness.
Considering their first-round pick in the 2021 draft, Jaycee Horn, tore his Achilles in the third game of the season, adding him back into the mix could make this defence a reason for Panthers fans to be excited.
Weakness
While the offensive line was bad last season, management did a fantastic job upgrading throughout the off-season, so the glaring weakness is quarterback. Sam Darnold has been bad and despite being hyped, rookie Matt Corral isn’t ready to be an NFL starter.
Darnold had nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season and struggled immensely passing the ball. Reports are that Darnold looks good, but I want to see it before buying in.
Player to watch
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I mentioned earlier that the Panthers defence was the shining light and a big reason for this has been Brian Burns. He has been a big-time edge rusher but in his three NFL seasons so far hasn’t had double digit sacks in a season.
In year 4, I feel like this is the year that Burns can have 10 or more sacks and announce himself as one of the best edge rushers in the NFL.
Who’s under pressure?
There are two men under pressure, and considering I have already spoken about Sam Darnold, Matt Rhule is under my microscope.
His speciality as a college coach at Baylor and Temple was the third-year jump and his job relies on doing that this year. With an overall record of 10-23 in the NFL, I can’t see anything less than a winning season saving his job.
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Projection
While I think this Panthers team isn’t actually as bad as some people in the mainstream NFL media are saying, I am not sure it’s enough to save Matt Rhule his job.
I am excited to watch this young defence and the excitement around Matt Corral is real for the future, but with Darnold as the current starter, it is hard to have any sort of confidence in this team.