With Panthers TE Greg Olsen set to return, what becomes of Ed Dickson? Well ...

So, you’re a Panthers fan who loves tight end Greg Olsen.

You love the fact that he is Carolina’s most consistent option at receiver, that he can block when he needs to, and that coaches and players alike have described Olsen as a second quarterback on the field. You’ve hated the time Olsen has been on injured reserve after breaking his foot against Buffalo in Week 2, and when daydreaming of his return, you have perhaps echoed quarterback Cam Newton: “Just wait ‘til I get my dog back!”

But you may also be a Panthers fan who has grown rather fond of tight end Ed Dickson.

Olsen himself is one of these people.

Often under the radar in largely a blocking role, you’ve grown to love Dickson’s combination of hard-nose play and smarts, and his savvy for helping plays develop. You have admired the way he shouldered more responsibility when Olsen got hurt, and appeared to do so with ease. You probably cheered as loudly as anybody when he caught his first touchdown of the year in a walloping of Miami on Monday night.

Olsen’s workload will increase on Monday, with the expectation that he’ll play against the New York Jets on Nov. 26.

But what will happen to Dickson?

Don’t worry, Panthers fans. When it comes to Carolina’s tight ends, you may have your dog and Dickson, too.

What Olsen brings back

The key to Olsen’s contributions on the field is situational dependability.

In 2016, Olsen had 80 catches on 129 targets for 1,079 yards and three touchdowns.

Forty-five of those targets (and 30 catches) were on first-and-10 (with 51 total targets on first down), where Olsen averaged 15.9 yards per catch and 8.32 yards per target. This means that Olsen is often the option when trying to avoid the long second and third downs.

He is especially important as the team tries to move past midfield. In fact, Olsen’s 41 first downs when the Panthers moved the ball from their 21 to the opposing red zone in 2016 accounted for 26.9 percent of passing first-down conversions in that situation.

“I can’t wait (to have him back), man,” said Dickson. “He’s a leader on the team. He’s been doing it well since before I got here. Just his leadership on offense is going to bring something different to the table.”

Opening coaches’ eyes

Carolina loves putting two tight ends on the field at once. When Olsen was hurt, Dickson still played between 30-60 percent of offensive snaps, on average. A lot of times with Olsen on the field, Dickson is in a blocking role. In fact, the side on which he lines up as a blocker often dictates which direction the play will move.

But with Olsen back, Carolina can offer a little more misdirection to a defense – and give it more to think about when evaluating blockers and pass-catchers. Now that Dickson has a few more catches on tape, defenses must factor him in as a target for Newton alongside Olsen. Even if Dickson originally disguised as a blocker in a three-point stance, he could still run a route.

“I think the biggest thing that people don’t get is first of all, what we ask of our tight ends,” said head coach Ron Rivera on Tuesday afternoon. “Not just to be a blocker, not just to be a route runner or a pass catcher, but to be able to do both based on what the quarterback sees.

“Cam (Newton) will check things or audible things and you’ve got to be able to pick those audibles up. You’ve got to understand that what you’re doing is a little bit of a hybrid position. One minute, you’re a blocker on the line of scrimmage. Next minute, you’re a wing blocker. Next minute you’re a lead blocker. And then as far as routes are being run, you’re running them from a three-point stance. You’re running routes from a two-point. You’re checking on your releases. You’re lining up outside as the widest receiver, or as the slot receiver, or the third receiver. So there’s a lot that is asked from that position.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Shula indicated this week that Dickson has given the staff a lot to consider in terms of continuing his expanded role.

Dickson said he’s happy to do whatever is asked of him – he’ll embrace the role, regardless.

“Since he’s been here, he’s been a very good player,” said Olsen. “He can do pretty much anything you ask a tight end in the league to do, in both run and pass. I think it’ll be nice. (Me coming back), obviously I don’t think that means that all of a sudden Ed doesn’t have a big part of the offense. I think those things can exist together, and I think that’s on all of us to kind of figure out how that works.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 1:16 PM with the headline "With Panthers TE Greg Olsen set to return, what becomes of Ed Dickson? Well ...."