Training Camp is almost here, and having broken down what to watch for at every position and how the Panthers’ roster is looking as the team heads to Spartanburg for the final time, it is now worth focusing on what the most significant battles are for Carolina – in case you need a refresher, though:
- Offensive Line
- Running Backs
- Quarterbacks
- Pass Catchers
- Defensive Line/Edge Rushers
- Linebackers
- Secondary
Of course, it only takes a surprisingly strong performance from a player not expected to be near the final roster for the team to have a battle on their hands, but there are some areas where it would be a surprise not to see something of an evolving tale over the coming weeks.
Here are my top five tales left to tell.
The Rookies vs NFL Reality
The Panthers’ 2019 draft class has the potential to be a really, really good one.
Players like Brian Burns and Greg Little both have sky-high potential and play at key positions, and while I’m not as big a fan of the Will Grier or Jordan Scarlett picks, both players at least have some upside – Christian Miller and Dennis Daley could both be good players with time and Miller, in particular, could also have some short-term value as a rotation piece while Terry Godwin may push for a roster spot as a depth piece with special teams potential.
However, all of what we have seen from these rookies has been snippets of tape without pads in mostly non-contact practices – the game looks very different when everybody is going in full pads and at full speed and the man opposite you is fighting for his job. As with every year, almost all of the rookies will have some good days and some bad days, and it’s important to have some perspective if you seen Greg Little getting beaten on a drill by Mario Addison or Brian Burns failing to generate pressure again Taylor Moton.
The more macroscopic trend is what matters most. The rookies don’t have to look like the best player at their position from day one in order to justify their selection and their place on the roster, but they need to look like they belong.
Of course, this is especially important for the likes of Burns and Little who are going to be expected to play significant roles from Week 1; but, even for the others, it is important that the promise they showed as prospects in order to merit draft selection is transferred, at least in part, to performance on an actual NFL field.
The reality is probably that some of the rookies will look like they belong from day one, some will grow into it as training camp – and by extension the season – goes along and they adjust to the new style of play….and some won’t, and maybe never will.
The key for the Panthers is how many of the rookies fall into each of those categories.
Depth Defensive Linemen vs The New Defensive Scheme
Kawann Short, Dontari Poe, Gerald McCoy, Mario Addison, Brian Burns, Christian Miller and Bruce Irvin are all but certain to make the Panthers roster.
Given the need for more interior defensive linemen in a 3-4 defense, both Vernon Butler and Kyle Love are also fairly likely to make the 53 as well, but what about those depth edge pieces from a season ago – how are they impacted by a move to a 3-4 defense and could that open the door for a sleeper interior defensive lineman to make the roster?
The players most likely to be affected by the move to a 3-4 defense are Efe Obada and Bryan Cox, Jr., both of whom are more natural fits as 4-3 defensive ends, especially Cox, who at 6-3 and 270 pounds, is really going to either need to slim down a lot to play the OLB in a 3-4 or add some more weight to play inside. Obada is probably less of a misfit in a 3-4, as at 6-6 and 265 pounds, he is far more naturally suited to playing in space than Cox – it is worth noting that he originally started as a tight end – and, crucially, given the immense amount of growth he showed as a player over the course of last season, it is also more reasonable to expect him to adapt to the new scheme than for Cox who hasn’t quite lived up to his potential since entering the NFL.
Marty Hurney said Wednesday that the team will still have a need for 4-3 edge rushers, but whether they’ll need two pegs for that particular hole remains to be seen.
The final two pieces to this puzzle are Marquis Haynes and Destiny Vaeao.
Haynes is certainly a more natural fit than either Cox or Obada as a 3-4 OLB, but really didn’t show anything as a rookie to put him in the same conversation from a playing-level point of view. Additionally, while Haynes might have the frame more commonly associated with an outside linebacker, he was almost exclusively used as a conventional 4-3 defensive end at Ole Miss and his ability to drop into coverage is more hypothetical than something that has actually been shown on tape.
On the other side of the coin, Vaeao is a far more conventional 3-4 defensive end than either Cox or Obada, having played the three-technique extensively as part of the Eagles defensive line rotation in recent years. He isn’t ever going to be more than a rotation piece, but if the Panthers want a sixth legitimate interior defensive lineman, then Vaeao is the most obvious choice.
This battle will likely come down to two things: one being exactly what the Panthers want to do from a defensive schematic viewpoint and the second being the way the various players perform during training camp. Ultimately, whoever plays the best will be the hardest to cut – unless they simply can’t find a way to play them in their new defense, good coaches work their scheme around the talent as much as the talent around the scheme.
Up Next: Questions In The Secondary
