Analysis: Panthers have tough roster cuts to make, but Joey Slye’s fate looks decided
Ryan Santoso learned he was becoming a Carolina Panther as he walked off the practice field in Massachusetts on his 26th birthday.
The New York Giants were holding joint practices with the New England Patriots, and Santoso had just over 24 hours to get to his new team before the third and final preseason game.
One of the first people to congratulate him was Giants teammate Graham Gano, someone quite familiar with kicking footballs at Bank of America Stadium.
Santoso then arrived in Charlotte at 8 p.m. Thursday to compete with Joey Slye for the Panthers kicking job, which Gano previously held but lost in favor of Slye prior to training camp in 2020. The newest Panther came in Friday night and did his best “Graham Gano impression” and outperformed Slye with more opportunities.
It could make for special teams reality TV.
Santoso finished the Panthers’ 31-9 win over the Steelers 2 of 2 on field goals and 3 of 3 on point-after tries. Slye missed his one field-goal attempt and made his only PAT.
“(For Santoso) to go out there and make a 52-yarder to start, that was obviously encouraging,” Coach Matt Rhule said. “That’s one of the reasons why we made the move to bring him in. See what he can do. We got a good starting picture from him. Obviously, Joey unfortunately missed the kick wide right. But did kick the ball off well.”
The night ended a less-than-ideal preseason for Slye, who finished making 5 of his 8 field goals and 1 of 2 PATs. Rhule said prior to the game that Slye needed to get “over the hump” and that sometimes people get in a valley and have to “scratch and claw” out of it.
Scratching and clawing? Not quite. Slye dug himself a deeper hole against a kicker who was still learning his teammates’ names as he took the field.
Multiple Panthers came up to Slye toward the end of the game and offered him comforting words, including veteran long snapper J.J. Jansen and linebacker Shaq Thompson.
“(Slye’s) a good friend and he’s a really good kicker and the last couple weeks have been not what we all had hoped,” Jansen said.
The Panthers traded a conditional seventh-round pick to the Giants for Santoso, which will be exchanged if he is on the roster for at least two regular-season games. Santoso’s 24 hours before the game kicked off included finding cleats with Panthers colors, settling into a Charlotte hotel with his wife of two months, Ellen, and learning as much as he could about the team as quickly as he could.
“(Gano) helped me so much. He just gave me a ton of information,” Santoso said. “... The biggest, happy smile on his face to see me go into a place like this that he knows is really, really good, and they care about the players.”
Rhule had the two players start off trading kicks, but the plan all along was to give Santoso more opportunities.
Santoso was put on the field first and started on a high note, making a 52-yard kick that bounced off the right upright and in. Slye came out for the first time on the ensuing kickoff and had a touchback.
On the next drive, Slye came out to attempt a field goal in the other direction, but his 49-yard kick went wide right.
After that, Rhule did not bring out Slye until the fourth quarter. He had a successful PAT after Will Grier’s 24-yard touchdown scramble. He also took the kickoff that followed.
If Friday’s is evidence, the Panthers are leaning in favor of moving on from Slye. Is Santoso a significantly better option after just one game? No, and kicker could remain a problem. The Panthers needed Slye to perform in games and make his kicks, but that didn’t happen. Continuing to give Santoso opportunities over Slye was the biggest possible nail in the coffin
Rhule declined to get into specifics on both the backup quarterback and kicking battle, saying that each of the quarterbacks did some good and bad things. P.J. Walker went in first and led a five-play, 76-yard touchdown run, while Will Grier’s fourth-quarter performance included a 24-yard touchdown scramble, and making a move past a Steelers defender to get into the end zone.
Rhule said that the team would begin holding personnel meetings Saturday morning, but that they brought in Santoso knowing the team had a couple of days to make the decision. Roster cuts down to 53 players have to be made by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
“(Slye) has done a lot of good things. He is just in one of those places right now where he is struggling,” Rhule said. “When you struggle at a lot of other positions, people don’t know it. When you struggle at that position, unfortunately it is magnified.”
The Panthers did not make Slye available for comment after the game. NFL locker rooms are not open this season due to COVID-19 protocols.
Panthers’ offensive line is a concern for a reason
Carolina’s line has been the biggest concern when it comes to the first-team offense, and frankly, no other position comes close.
There was evidence of the offensive line’s shortcomings Friday night when Darnold took the field for his longest showing yet as a Panther, playing the entire first half. The starting offensive line played almost all 30 minutes until right guard John Miller was removed with under two minutes remaining and replaced by Dennis Daley.
Darnold was only sacked once, but it easily could have been more. The right side collapsed against the Steelers’ second-team defensive line multiple times, and Darnold also looked uncomfortable at times when the pocket wasn’t failing him.
He ended on a high note, however, completing 7 of 8 passes on a five-minute drive at the end of the first half, which concluded with a great pass to Robby Anderson in the back of the end zone. Anderson said he felt Darnold was more “mature” and “comfortable” than when he was with the Jets.
“We just need to fix the details, for me personally,” Darnold said. “Just clean up some of the reads. I think that’s the biggest thing from tonight, is if something is not there, understanding where my outs are.”
Both guard positions are subjects of concern as the Steelers’ pass rush found their way up the middle
Darnold finished 19 of 25 for 162 yards and two touchdowns. He found a rhythm with DJ Moore, catching all six of the passes he was targeted on for 48 yards. But the offense also got the ball into the Pittsburgh 35-yard line three times and only came away with three points (Santoso’s 52-yard field goal).
Defensive positives
The Panthers’ defense played entirely against the Steelers backups, but again, the defensive is leaving plenty to like. Brian Burns exploded throughout the game, including intercepting Dwayne Haskins in the first quarter off a high pass that went off the hands of fullback Derek Watt. Defensive lineman Morgan Fox also created significant pressure. The team is excited about what he offers through the interior.
A problem? Depth at nickle corner is limited. A.J. Bouye, the team’s starter, has missed the last few weeks due to an injury and is suspended for the first two games of the year. Myles Hartsfield is the backup at the spot, and played well, including one pass deflection intended for former Panthers receiver Ray-Ray McCloud. But there’s not much behind him.
Game observations
▪ Rookie tackle Brady Christensen has been playing right tackle for almost the entirety of training camp. The third-round pick, however, came out with the second-team offensive line and played left tackle.
The coaching staff prefers Christensen on the right side due to his length, but the extended time on the left side of the line shows a willingness to potentially have him on the other side of the line. If Christensen could develop at left tackle, that would benefit the Panthers’ offense in the long run.
▪ Rookie wide receiver Shi Smith left the game in the fourth quarter after catching a pass from Grier. Smith injured his left shoulder. After receiving attention from the medical staff, he left the field on a cart. Rhule called the injury “significant” and said that he saw Smith’s father as he was entering the press conference room, but declined to get into specifics as the team was finding out more information.
▪ The long snapping competition between Jansen and rookie Thomas Fletcher is ongoing, but Jansen is the likely winner. Jansen, the longest-tenured player on the team, admitted Friday night that he was “numb” after the Panthers drafted Fletcher in the sixth round and that it was “shocking.” The move, however, did not change how he prepared for the season.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 11:07 PM.
