Carolina Panthers Post Draft Commentary

The Panthers had a solid season in 2008, but lost their opening playoff game to the Arizona Cardinals. The panthers came into the off season with several questions that needed to be answered. The team worked very hard to regain the identity the franchise had when John Fox led them to the Super Bowl. The Panthers are a run first team that looks to capitalize on a big plays in the passing game.

The Panthers do very much need to address their wide receiver issue as outside of Mushin Muhammad and Steve Smith the next receiver had 13 receptions. That is just not good enough to ensure that Panthers make it deep into the playoffs on a consistent basis. I was very surprised to see the team neglecting to spend a draft choice on a wide receiver given their depth and overall talent at the position outside of Smith and Muhammad. The Panthers do not have a dominant tight end either, rather the third leading receiver was DeAngelo Williams with 22 receptions. Jeff King was right behind Williams with 21 receptions, but neither he nor Dante Rosario requires anything more than mild interest from opposing defenses. Simply, the Panthers offense is in need of some talent on the perimeter and the Panthers may pay the price should there be an injury to either Smith or Muhammad during the season. None of the other receivers have amounted to much during their careers thus far and Dwayne Jarrett has a total of 16 receptions for 192 yards in two years. After Jarrett, there are no their receivers on the roster that can boast a single NFL reception.

The Panthers have Julius Peppers requesting a trade and if he leaves, the team had very little talent behind or opposite him. Everette Brown was the team’s first choice in the 2009 Draft and they will need Brown to come in and play right away. Tyler Brayton is penciled in as the starter opposite of Peppers, but in 2008, Brayton could only manage 4.5 sacks for the season; albeit his career high. The team is in a bit of a bind as it must fix this lack of depth in a hurry, or the defense could find itself unable to get off the field in 2009. The fact that Peppers is not expected to attend minicamp and other off season activities, Brown’s development will be critical.

Defensive tackle is also an issue as the team lacked anyone who could create penetration on a consistent basis. Corvey Irvin was drafted to fill such a role, but he will need to become much stronger through his chest and shoulders if he is to make the impact the team is looking for. Both Damione Lewis and Maake Kemoeatu are both over 30 and again there is little behind them in terms of quality talent other than Nick Hayden who is a bit undersized. Irvin will hopefully help the defensive line, but he is a bit of a hot and cold player who also lacks great upper body strength.

The secondary was also a bit of an issue as the same tenet seems to appear; lack of depth behind the starters. The Panthers brought in Sherrod Martin and Captain Munnerlyn as a way to provide some versatility and depth to the secondary as a whole. Martin can play either safety or corner depending on his assignment which could provide some great value to the team as a whole. The unit will live and die by the pressure the front four will provide. If the lack of a consistent pass rush shows up this year, the Panthers could be a surprise underachieving team in the NFC South. There is not a lot of depth within the defense or at the skill positions outside of running back and the team could see a serious fall if there are a few injuries at certain positions in 2009. The Panthers could be a very active team as training camp and the season approach as they look to add talent to the bottom of their roster.

Pre Draft Needs: WR, OL, DL, CB, QB