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SPARTANBURG I hear and read the predictions. The Carolina Panthers will go 6-10, 9-7 or 4-12, and they should have signed Terrell Owens but didn't because they don't care about this season, anyway.
I love predictions. If it weren't for predictions, I'd have to give up my beloved Lock of the Week, and yes, the L and the W are capitalized for a reason.
But how would anybody know what a team has before training camp? Even the octopus that successfully picked World Cup winners would be too astute to try.
The NFL is not like Major League Baseball where you know before the season, or decade, that the New York Yankees and Boston will be good and Pittsburgh and Kansas City will not.
Although the New England Patriots linger near the top of the standings, the NFL power structure changes annually.
We know that the Panthers jettisoned veterans. As is their custom, they didn't hire any famous free agents. They lost speed linebacker Thomas Davis to a fluke injury, and his absence hurts more than any of the veteran departures, defensive end Julius Peppers included.
The Panthers did not make a mistake when they let Peppers go after the 2009 season. They made a mistake when they kept him in '09. No defensive player is worth more than a million a game, and Peppers proved it.
A common prediction that I assure you is wrong is this one: The pending strife between players and owners renders this season meaningless for Carolina.
Jerry Richardson, who owns the team, is co-chairman of the committee that will try to convince players to accept a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Negotiations will be contentious, and Richardson has taken the assignment seriously.
Do you really believe he'll give up on 2010? Richardson, who is not a patient man, is 73 and coming off a heart transplant. What's his strategy? Wait until next year. Once you hit 65, the wait ends. You want what you want now.
To get it, the Panthers need to (A) get to the passer (B) find a receiver to complement Steve Smith and (C) pick the right quarterback.
Matt Moore won four of five starts last season after he replaced Jake Delhomme. But he worked in an environment free of pressure and full of love. What fans loved most about him is that he was not Jake.
The Panthers won't admit this, but they don't know if Moore is their quarterback. They haven't seen enough. He will start the season. If he wins, he'll stay there.
But I promise you this: rookie Jimmy Clausen will be the best passer the Panthers have ever had, and I say this even though I don't like the school from which he comes, Notre Dame.
We'll see. Training camp is like Spandex. It reveals. At the hotel gym, unfortunately, this is not always good.
On the field, it's beautiful. By the time the Panthers break camp, we'll know what the Panthers have, what they lack and how they fit and who they are.
Until then, we're guessing.
