What the Panthers’ depth chart looks like after the draft: New starters, more weapons
The Carolina Panthers tied a franchise record for number of picks in a single draft by picking up 11 new players over the weekend. The team took care of areas of need, from both lines to cornerback to wide receiver, as Scott Fitterer made a statement with his first draft as general manager.
Throughout the free agency process leading up to the draft, the Panthers addressed almost every position in some way.
Sam Darnold is now a Panther and Teddy Bridgewater has been sent out west to Denver for an opportunity to compete for a starting job. Throughout the three days and record five trades that took place during the draft, Carolina put a priority on building around Darnold.
“You need to have great quarterback play, but a great team helps a great quarterback,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said. “We came in, established some needs. We felt like we needed a running back. We felt like we needed to have some big, powerful guys on the offensive line. And we felt like we needed some weapons at receiver.
“ ... We just want to get as many good players as possible at all positions. Then we just believe that you get a bunch of good players here, eventually, the team figures out how to win together.”
Despite the changes, the number of actual starters that are new on this depth chart may be low.
We broke down the Panthers’ projected depth chart following the draft. Keep in mind, this should be taken as a loose guide as we are shaping up for some major training camp battles, and the Panthers are still determining how some of these players best fit on the roster. Overall, almost every position improved in some capacity.
(Players in italics were just drafted or undrafted rookies signed this week.)
Offense
▪ Quarterback: Sam Darnold, P.J. Walker, Will Grier, Tommy Stevens
Just one massive change here. While the starter gets the attention, the backup competition should be interesting to watch.
For much of the 2020 season, the responsibilities were shared by Walker and Grier. That was until Bridgewater had to miss a game. Walker stepped up and played well (outside of two rough end zone interceptions), helping the Panthers shut out the Lions. The job was his after that. Walker is set up to have the inside track again this year. As for 2019 third-round pick Grier, he will finally get the opportunity to show this coaching staff what he can do in a preseason game, but thus far, he hasn’t shown enough to get that No. 2 spot.
The Panthers may keep four quarterbacks on the roster with the team viewing Stevens as occupying a Taysom Hill-type role, assisting at quarterback and tight end.
▪ Running back: Christian McCaffrey,Chuba Hubbard, Reggie Bonnafon, Rodney Smith, Trenton Cannon, Spencer Brown, Darius Clark
▪ Fullback: Mikey Daniel, Mason Stokke,
The Panthers needed a new backup to McCaffrey after the departure of Mike Davis in the offseason to Atlanta. Drafting Hubbard in the fourth round will give the offense a solid downhill runner to go to when the All-Pro comes off the field.
Running back coach Jeff Nixon told The Observer in January that he is looking for a back that can play all three downs to backup McCaffrey. They certainly got that with Hubbard, who once ran for 171 yards in a game against Rhule’s Baylor Bears.
Bonnafon and Smith will also compete for the role.
The team did not use fullback Alex Armah much last season, but they’ve added a couple of players to the position since his departure. One could end up on the 53-man roster or the team’s practice squad.
▪ Wide receiver
- WR: DJ Moore, Keith Kirkwood, Brandon Zylstra, Marken Michel, Ishmael Hyman
- WR: Robby Anderson, Terrace Marshall Jr., Omar Bayless, Ventell Bryant
- Slot: David Moore, Marshall, Shi Smith, Micah Simon
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady coached Marshall in 2019 at LSU. He’ll have a plan in place for exactly how to use the 6-foot-3, 200-pound receiver, who can play both outside and in the slot, if needed. He’ll play significant snaps alongside Moore. Anderson will also start.
David Moore, signed in free agency, is still the main slot receiver, however, may have gotten a steal in selecting Smith in the sixth round. Smith set records with the Gamecocks, and while on the smaller side — 5-foot-10, 190-pounds — he could make an impact in his first year. He also has kick-returning experience.
Wide receiver is one of the team’s clear top position groups heading into 2021.
▪ Tight end: Dan Arnold, Ian Thomas, Tommy Tremble, Colin Thompson, Stephen Sullivan, Giovanni Ricci
The Panthers added Tremble to this group in the third round of the draft. He was more a blocker during his career at Notre Dame — 10 starts in 2020 with 19 receptions for 218 yards — but he has the potential to be more of a receiving option. Either way, he’s bringing an energy to this offense that Rhule will love.
When asked after being drafted what an example of his intensity on the field is, he said, “You’ll see it when I knock a dude on the ground.” Yep.
Thomas will still have an opportunity to compete for a starting role, but the Panthers added to the position for a reason. This will be an interesting battle to watch with Arnold, Thomas and Tremble all having different skill sets. Stevens could also be added to this group with an asterisk.
▪ Offensive line:
- LT: Cam Erving, Trent Scott, Brady Christensen, Greg Little, Aaron Monteiro
- LG: Pat Elflein, Dennis Daley, David Moore, Christensen
- C: Matt Paradis, Eiflein, Sam Tecklenburg, David Moore
- RG: John Miller, Deonte Brown, Mike Horton
- RT: Taylor Moton, Christensen, Matt Kaskey, Martez Ivey
This depth chart changed after the draft, but perhaps not as much as we would have liked to see. The biggest question mark on the offensive line going into the draft is who exactly will be starting at left tackle for the future. The question remains.
Christensen has the potential to develop into a solid starter at tackle. The 6-foot-5, 302-pound offensive lineman had an impressive performance during BYU’s pro day, including a 4.92-second 40-yard dash. Where exactly he could line up is still to be seen.
“He’s a versatile player, a guy who can play outside and inside. We’ll wait to see when he gets here where exactly he fits,” Rhule said. “He comes from that pro-style offense at BYU. So he’s done the things that we’re asking guys to do. He’s been doing it there. He’s a tackle candidate that can also go inside and play guard.”
The Panthers also added solid depth at the guard spots with Moore and Brown. Both have the potential to be strong contributors down the road.
Defense
▪ Defensive line
- Defensive end: Brian Burns, Morgan Fox, Austin Larkin, Frank Herron
- Defensive tackle: Derrick Brown, DaQuan Jones, Daviyon Nixon, Bravvion Roy, Phil Hoskins, P.J. Johnson, Mike Panasiuk
- EDGE: Yetur Gross-Matos, Marquis Haynes, Christian Miller
The need going into the draft was another three-technique defensive tackle, even after the signing of free agent DaQuan Jones to a one-year deal.
The Panthers addressed that by drafting Nixon in the fifth-round out of Iowa. The 6-3, 305-pound tackle, played two full seasons at Iowa and declared for the draft after his junior year. In eight games last season, he led the Hawkeyes with 13.5 tackles for loss and had 45 total stops. He was also named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Coordinator Phil Snow likes to use a rotation on the line, so this group is probably the most flexible of any on the roster.
▪ Linebacker
- WLB: Shaq Thompson, Chris Orr, Paddy Fisher
- MLB: Denzel Perryman, Jermaine Carter, Clay Johnston, Daniel Bituli
- SLB: Hasson Reddick, Carter, Frankie Luvu
This is the position that changed the least before and after the draft. The only addition was signing former Northwestern linebacker Paddy Fisher as an undrafted free agent.
Depth is arguably the biggest concern here with Thompson, Perryman and Reddick a strong starting group. The search for a long-term answer at middle linebacker has been kicked down the road.
▪ Defensive backs
- CB: Donte Jackson, Jaycee Horn, A.J. Bouye, Rashaan Melvin, Troy Pride Jr., Keith Taylor, Stantley Thomas-Oliver, Jalen Julius
- Nickel: Myles Hartsfield, Jeremy Chinn
- FS: Chinn, Kenny Robinson, Sean Chandler, J.T. Ibe
- SS: Juston Burris, Sam Franklin
Cornerback got a bit of an upgrade. After being selected with the eighth overall pick, Horn immediately becomes the starter. Bouye has also been suspended for the first two games of the season, but Horn would likely be the starter either way. The team invested highly in him for a reason. Fifth-round pick Keith Taylor from Washington should be a backup.
The team did not address safety over the weekend, which is a further indication that Chinn will be moving more into the role than last year, as expected. Because of that, there is not really a backup to Hartsfield at nickel on the roster. Chinn is there on this depth chart because he can help if needed, but someone new may have to assist there.
Special Teams
- PK: Joey Slye, Matt Ammendola
- P: Joe Charlton, Oscar Draguicevich III
- LS: J.J. Jansen, Thomas Fletcher
- KR: Cannon, Smith
- PR: David Moore, DJ Moore
Every position on special teams will have competition this offseason. After a rough end of the season last year, Slye got some competition with the addition of Ammedola. Joe Charlton, an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina last year who had a solid rookie season, will compete with Draguicevich, an undrafted punter from Washington. He averaged 46.7 yards per punt in 2020.
DJ Moore is as almost as likely as McCaffrey to be returning punts for the Panthers in 2021 (not going to happen) but some competition will take place. The number of players who have recently fielded punts on the Panthers roster is limited. Pharoh Cooper filled the role last year.
An interesting battle to watch will be at long snapper after Fletcher was drafted in the sixth round. He worked with the coaching staff at the Senior Bowl and made an impression. Jansen, 35, has been the Panthers punter since 2009, but the team can save $987,500 by releasing him.
This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 10:17 AM.
