Five Carolina Panthers players who must impress at training camp
Earlier this week the Panthers announced their 2022 training camp schedule.
The team will return to Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., on July 26 when players report. The first practice is set for July 27 at 11:15 a.m. This season, 12 practices will be open to the public before camp breaks on Aug. 10. Training camp will be a make-or-break opportunity for many Panthers as the team will start camp with 90 players and have to cut down to 53 by Week 1.
In camp, every rep matters. More importantly, how players start camp often dictates where they’ll land on the depth chart. Early success creates more opportunities. Increased reps signal earned trust from coaches, which snowballs into earning roster spots and climbing the depth chart.
Players need positive momentum as the days get hot and the weeks drag on.
Veterans like Brian Burns, Taylor Moton, Shaq Thompson, D.J. Moore, Jeremy Chinn, Donte Jackson and Christian McCaffrey just need to come out of training camp healthy. They are established leaders and playmakers, pillars of a team hoping to fulfill coach Matt Rhule’s Year 3 expectations.
But many other Panthers players must have an impressive camp next month. Let’s explore five players who must show up in great shape at Wofford and impress on the field.
Robbie Anderson
Robbie Anderson did not have a memorable minicamp earlier last month. Overshadowed by a cryptic tweet about possible retirement and commenting “nooo” on an Instagram post about Baker Mayfield quarterbacking for Carolina, Anderson did not participate much while battling a nagging hip injury.
In his absence, second-year receiver Terrace Marshall and veteran Rashard Higgins earned reps Anderson should’ve been taking. Carolina is installing a new offense under offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
Last season Anderson set career lows in yards (519), catch percentage (48.2%) and yards per game (30). He signed a two-year, $29.5 million contract extension, with more than $20 million of that guaranteed last offseason.
Anderson cannot afford to start training camp slowly like he did minicamp. He must show up in excellent shape, with his latest hip injury behind him. Showing up in phenomenal shape will help Anderson avoid any nagging lower-body injuries.
When he’s on the field it’s just as important he produces. Marshall, Higgins and Brandon Zylstra are all competing for more snaps.
For the Panthers’ offense to maximize its weapons, Anderson must be a part of the attack. If Anderson plays as he did in 2020 and Marshall takes a Year 2 leap, then D.J. Moore won’t face as many double teams.
Despite his underwhelming spring, the team still has high expectations for Anderson.
“I think in this offense, Robbie will have a ton of production,” Rhule said. “I think last year was a confluence of many different events. And I think in this offense, the way we’re doing things, he’ll have a ton of production.”
C.J. Henderson
Last season when the Panthers traded for former No. 9 overall pick C.J. Henderson, it cost them a reliable tight end in Dan Arnold and a 2021 third-round pick. In the short term, the trade hasn’t paid off.
Henderson appeared in 10 games, started five, and played 43% of the team’s defensive snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 197th of 200 eligible cornerbacks. Challenges adapting to a new area along with some nagging injuries stifled his second pro season.
But the team expects Henderson to bounce back this season and show why he was the first corner selected in 2020. During minicamp, linebacker Shaq Thompson said Henderson has improved a lot since last season by growing more comfortable with the defense and his surroundings.
“He’s out there talking, communicating, playing fast,” Thompson said. “He has a lot of confidence in himself, and that probably stems from him, offseason work, and getting him used to the team.”
In 2020, the Panthers had the 31st-ranked third-down defense. Offenses converted on 49% of their third-down tries. To combat that, Carolina invested at cornerback. Two years later, defensive coordinator Phil Snow can deploy veteran Donte Jackson, second-year starter Jaycee Horn and Henderson against three-wide receiver sets.
Strapped with talent, length, quickness and sound technique, Carolina should be comfortable playing man defense against any opponent.
Henderson plays a critical role in those hopes, which is why he must enter training camp picking up from where he left off in the spring.
Xavier Woods
Carolina signed safety Xavier Woods with hopes he’d be a veteran safety presence next to Jeremy Chinn. Those projections still exist, but Woods missed all of OTAs dealing with a family matter and was excused by the team.
Woods did not miss a snap in 17 starts for Minnesota. With the Vikings, he had a career-high 108 tackles, 10 pass breakups and three interceptions.
Woods is expected to start opposite Chinn. But he will be playing catchup between returning safeties Kenny Robinson and Juston Burris.
Carolina has one of the deepest secondaries in the NFC, mostly because of their cornerback room. At safety, there is still some unknowns. Which is why it is important for Woods to be available right when camp starts.
Daviyon Nixon
Carolina entered this offseason determined to improve in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Although more resources were allocated toward the offensive line, the team did sign former Washington defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis. The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder played six seasons in Washington and was one of the NFL’s best run defenders last season. Pro Football Focus graded Ioannidis at 65 overall or higher the past five seasons.
“Ioannidis is a very versatile guy for us upfront,” Snow said. “He can play nose or the three-tech for us. Two years ago, for defensive tackle’s pressure per rush, he had the most of anyone in the NFL. He’s also stout enough to play the run.”
The Panthers’ defensive line is at a critical junction. Derrick Brown, the No. 8 pick in the 2020 draft, must have a bounce-back season next to Ioannidis. But the X-factor could second-year three-technique Daviyon Nixon.
Last season the then-rookie appeared in seven games before suffering a leg injury that landed him on injured reserve. In those games, he played on 34% percent of snaps and proved effective.
The team hopes he can take a second-year leap and become a consistent contributor filling in for either Ioannidis or Brown.
All the quarterbacks
Regardless of who starts Week 1 for the Panthers, the job must be won at training camp via a fierce competition. In his four-year career, Sam Darnold hasn’t vied in an open quarterback competition.
That should change this season.
Which is all the more reason Carolina should bring in Baker Mayfield once camp starts. A quarterback competition between Darnold, rookie Matt Corral and Mayfield would bring the best out of all three and allow Carolina options.
Perhaps McAdoo’s quarterback-friendly system can fix Darnold. But it would help to have multiple possible starters on the roster executing the Panthers’ new offense.
The 21 other positions could all show up to camp and perform excellently, but if the quarterbacks don’t play to at least an average level at camp then this team’s season will be over before Week 1 begins.
