Carolina Panthers mailbag: Adjusting Kyle Allen’s game plan? Strongest position group?
After his four-touchdown breakout against the Arizona Cardinals, naturally you all have questions about Kyle Allen.
Allen is a second-year undrafted quarterback who played at both Texas A&M and Houston. But with Cam Newton out nursing a Lisfranc injury in his left foot, Allen stepped into the Panthers’ starting quarterback job last Sunday against Arizona — and promptly led the team to a 38-20 win.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera has made it abundantly clear the team has “no timetable” for when Newton might return, meaning this may be Allen’s job for more than just a week or two. Newton confirmed in a vlog released Friday night that it could take anywhere from one to six weeks for him to come back. With that, let’s get to your questions, starting with how the Panthers might adjust with someone new under center:
1. How could the Panthers adjust their game plan or play-calling to counter a good defense that has tape on Kyle Allen?
This is a great question, and to answer it, you need the context of why Allen was able to be so successful against the Cardinals.
Offensive coordinator Norv Turner does a terrific job of putting his players in positions to succeed, and that’s exactly how he built Sunday’s game plan for Allen. Instead of asking a second-year passer with limited experience to go through multiple progressions and read the entire defense, Turner used a heavy dose of play action to both neutralize Arizona’s defense and give Allen easier reads. That isn’t to say Allen didn’t go through his progressions — on his second touchdown to Greg Olsen, the tight end wasn’t his first read on the play — but Turner certainly tried making life easy on the young quarterback. It also helped that the Cardinals defense stacked the box at first and was forcing Allen to beat them in the air ... which he did.
But after throwing for four scores in his second career start, don’t expect the Houston Texans to let Allen have his way again. Their pass-rushing tandem of Whitney Mercilus and J.J. Watt will put pressure on him early and often, and with guard Trai Turner out, this offensive line will be tested. Houston also would be wise to throw defenders in Allen’s primary passing lanes, if it can identify them. I’d expect Turner and the offense to counter with lots of quick passes, misdirection and the occasional deep shot to keep the Texans defense as honest as possible.
2. Will Cam Newton be back in time for the London game?
To this point, Rivera and general manager Marty Hurney have maintained that Newton’s status is week-to-week. Newton said in his vlog Friday night that he was finally taking the time he needed to heal his foot fully.
That means any guess about when he’ll return is just that: guessing.
But given that the team ruled Newton out for Sunday’s game against Houston a full week in advance, that doesn’t indicate the quarterback is close to returning. In fact, it would suggest the opposite.
Newton has continued his rehab the past two weeks despite not practicing, and he’s still heavily involved in position meetings to help Allen as best he can. The London game against Tampa Bay comes in Week 6, and the Panthers conveniently have a bye week when they return from overseas. It makes good sense to me to hold Newton out at least through the London game, and then use the bye week and the week thereafter (before San Francisco in Week 8) to get him back up to speed.
3. What position group seems the strongest to you so far?
There have been a few impressive ones, but I interpret “strongest” to mean a mixture of productivity and depth. So to me, the defensive line/outside linebackers best satisfy that definition.
It’s easy to point to Carolina’s eight-sack game against Arizona as clouding that judgment, but I look at that performance as an example of what this rotation is capable of when it truly gets going. Between Mario Addison, Brian Burns, Christian Miller and Marquis Haynes, the Panthers can rotate speedy, explosive rushers like few teams in the league. The cherry on top is when they get veteran Bruce Irvin back, which likely will be this Sunday.
Aside from the edge rushers, defensive tackle Dontari Poe has picked up his play dramatically this season, and Gerald McCoy is still figuring out how best to make an impact. When Kawann Short returns to full health and this group has all its pieces available, it has the potential to be among the league’s best.
4. Is Ross Cockrell the answer to round out the defensive secondary?
Cockrell played 100 percent of the team’s defensive snaps against Arizona. With starting cornerback Donte Jackson questionable for Sunday’s game — Rivera said Friday he was “optimistic” Jackson would be available — Cockrell should again see a high percentage of snaps.
And given his positional versatility, that isn’t a surprise. Cockrell can realistically play outside cornerback, safety, nickel cornerback and the team’s “Buffalo” position, making him a true mismatch to plan against. His ability to play anywhere makes it difficult for opposing offenses to know his role on a particular play, which helps with disguising coverages and blitzes.
With Jackson and James Bradberry manning the two outside corner spots, and Eric Reid and Tre Boston at safety, Cockrell is free to roam and fill in where he’s needed most depending on the opponent’s offense. That sort of do-everything piece can’t be understated.
So to answer the question, absolutely.
5. Why aren’t we seeing more of Ian Thomas? What about Reggie Bonnafon and Jordan Scarlett?
Thomas, Carolina’s promising second-year tight end, is still recovering from a rib injury that nagged him throughout July and August. His snap counts are slowly increasing week to week, but with Greg Olsen playing as well as he is, there’s no need to rush him back into action. He did develop a nice rapport with Allen in Week 17 last year against the Saints, so his return could lend itself well to more two-tight end sets.
As for Bonnafon and Scarlett, there’s an easy answer why they haven’t played more: Christian McCaffrey has been too darn good to take off the field.
McCaffrey has the second-most rushing yards in the league through three games, trailing only Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook. He also has the second-most all-purpose yards, again behind Cook. The raw numbers come out to McCaffrey averaging 150 total yards and a touchdown per game — so yeah, some hesitation to take him out at all is understandable.
Bonnafon saw a few snaps against Arizona and, as the season wears on, I would expect he and Scarlett to continue getting opportunities in small doses. With McCaffrey in the hunt for the third 1,000-1,000 season in NFL history, barring injury, they won’t play more than that.
