Hello, fellow kids.
There’s always a lot to take away from preseason games, so we wanted to take you through some of the highs and some of the lows of last night’s 27-20 win over the Miami Dolphins – before the memories are out of your head and we’re on to debating the fourth defensive end spot or who should be returning punts as the team immediately begins to game plan and prepare for the New England Patriots next Friday night; so let’s take a look at what was 💯, what was 😔 and what was 💩 – well, we probably won’t use that last one, but it can’t be an emoji article without it. And yes, we know Christian McCaffrey was 🔥 last night, let’s try to delve at least a little bit deeper.
Let’s go.
🏃💨 – Ian Thomas
TE Ian Thomas with the 27 yard TD
Let’s be honest. We thought Ian Thomas had the skillset to be an NFL tight end – he’s been showing his soft hands and smooth route running throughout training camp – but when he turned the corner on his second quarter 27-yard catch-and-run, he had a second gear that surprised a lot of people as he separated from the defenders and cruised to the end zone . But while we may not have thought he had that speed, his teammates have all the confidence in the world in the 22-year old that only had 28 catches in his two years of college football at Indiana.
“Oh, yeah. He’s got a lot of speed and a lot of pass-catching ability,” said Christian McCaffrey. “He’s a great kid, too – he’s doing everything he can to learn and there’s not a better guy to learn from than Greg [Olsen], so I know Greg was excited to see that from his guy.”
Ron Rivera said afterwards that you can see the potential and growth in Thomas’ game already and it’s just a matter of time before he puts it all together; Rivera is confident in the tight end group once Chris Manhertz returns from injury – if that play was any indication, the team may have found a gem in the fourth round of the 2018 Draft.
“He doesn’t even know how good he’s capable of being,” Cam Newton said after the game. “When you see plays like this happen, his natural skill set takes over. When you run after catch, [you’re] not only as effective in the passing [game], but [in the] running game as well. He’s going to be a key asset for us.”
– Curtis Samuel
Curtis Samuel ended last year’s 45-21 win over the Dolphins on crutches – this time, he was celebrating in the locker room by screaming Adele songs at the top of his lungs. Quite a journey for the 2017 second-round pick, who said that he went out to the end zone before the game and stood in the spot where he had his ankle rolled on by a defender and suffered a broken bone and ligament damage that ended his season and led to him start training camp on the PUP list.
“I looked at the spot where I got hurt and was like, “Man this is crazy. Last year I got hurt in this exact spot,” Samuel said.
A few hours later, he was celebrating a Panthers first down after having the catch of the evening, a play that can only be described as a “Mossing” of Miami defensive back Cordrea Tankersley – Tankersley would say after the game that he played like “straight trash” – being embarrassed by Samuel likely led to that statement.
With two catches for 65 yards Friday, both plays having a flair for the dramatic – the first was a sideline catch that he caught and then darted ahead for a handful of yards after the catch to show his speed – Samuel leads the team thus far this preseason with six catches for 108 yards through two games. It’s going to be fun to watch him grow and develop; we’ll see what kind of role he can carve out in this crowded room full of weapons for Cam Newton.
😬 – The Tackle Situation
While the run blocking was excellent for the offensive line – the Panthers rushed for 226 yards on the evening, with McCaffrey almost hitting the century mark in less than one half of work – the pass protection left a little to be desired. OK, a lot to be desired.
The Dolphins totaled three sacks and eight hurries on the evening, but Matt Kalil had real trouble containing Robert Quinn on the outside, who almost got to Newton on the first play from scrimmage before the quarterback dumped it off the McCaffrey; Quinn was able to get home for two sacks against Kalil and Taylor Moton didn’t fare much better on the other side against Cameron Wake.
“I don’t think we passed proed as well as we’re capable of,” Ron Rivera said after the game, while being sure to compliment the line’s job opening holes for the running backs. “I told you guys it was going to be a good test… it’s a good pass rushing defense we faced and it was a really good test and continually your timing is not going to be [there]. We had some opportunities to make plays early on and we missed those opportunities and you’ve got to be better.”
With the injury to Daryl Williams and Taylor Moton being elevated to starting right tackle, the Panthers are scrambling a bit to find their backup swing tackle at this point in the preseason – last week it looked like Blaine Clausell had a leg up; this week they tried out Dorian Johnson on the outside.
“Dorian’s a guard,” Rivera said. “We’re trying some guys out at left tackle back up right now. With the injury to Daryl, it kind of put us in one of those situations where you’ve gotta find some more depth. So we’ve been working some of the younger guys a little bit out of position. Just trying to see it.
“He’s got some work to do as far as a pass pro guy. It’s one of those things where the more opportunities he gets, the better he can become. He’s very athletic. He’s got good feet. He’s a little bit out of position right now. Hopefully it’s one of those things where you continue reps, he might improve.”
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