With the news on Friday that the Panthers plan to hire former Giants’ Head Coach Ben McAdoo as their new offensive coordinator, attention can now turn to the continued rebuild of the Panthers’ offense more generally. With this in mind, what are the major questions that McAdoo needs to find answers to, and what are the strengths of the Panthers’ existing offensive personnel that he needs to find a way to maximize?
We’ve taken a look back at the 2021 season, and ahead to 2022, in order to identify the limitations that the Panthers must face, and the strengths that they must find anew.
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Work Within Quarterback Limitations
Though it is still far from clear who the Panthers’ Week One starting quarterback will be, but whether it’s Sam Darnold, yet another bridge free agent or a rookie, it is highly likely to be a player with limitations. However, this doesn’t have to be a kiss of death, as many of the teams that have made the play-offs this season (and even some that have been able to win postseason games) did so with a quarterback who falls outside the small group of elite players. A major factor in how well the Panthers do in 2022 is likely to how effective McAdoo is able to work to the quarterback he has, rather than the quarterback he would want.
Depending on who ends up being the Panthers’ starter, this could take a number of different forms. The Patriots, with a young quarterback in Mac Jones, focused on building a reliable running game and a passing game that played to his strengths by looking to work the quick and intermediate passing games without asking him to consistently push the ball down the field. The Eagles looked to maximize the impact of Jalen Hurts’s rushing ability while building a lot of their passing game off of RPOs, while teams like the 49ers and Rams have consistently elevated the play of whoever is under center with extensive and well-engineered rushing and play-action offenses.
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There is no one way to work around limitations at the quarterback position, but McAdoo would be well advised to incorporate more RPOs than we have seen so far under Matt Rhule in order to simplify decisions and further stress opposing defenses. Additionally, though it is certainly easier said than done, Matt Rhule’s insistence on a strong rushing attack would also go a long way to taking the pressure off the position, especially if this can be matched with a varied and well-engineered play-action game.
This isn’t the situation the Panthers hope to be in indefinitely, but for 2022 it seems highly likely that any success will have to come despite rather than because of who they have at quarterback.
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Get The Offensive Line Rebuild Right
After having largely ignored the offensive line in the draft for the best part of a decade, it does finally seem that the Panthers are finally committed to addressing the unit as a matter of priority this offseason. Though the Panthers aren’t exactly blessed with either a vast amount of cap space or draft capital, the Panthers need to find at least one new starter this offseason, and potentially as many as three.
While that is all well and good, finding the right players and developing the ones they already have is far from an easy task. The starting point for any discussing on the offensive line has to begin with the players currently under contract for next season, with Taylor Moton secure in his right tackle spot and Brady Christensen’s ability to play both guard and tackle giving them a degree of short-term flexibility in how they want to rebuild.
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Whether one or more of Deonte Brown, Pat Elflein, Cam Erving (as a guard) and Michael Jordan are anything more than stop-gaps is a question that will depend both on how McAdoo and the yet-to-be-hired offensive line coach view their play in 2021 and what style of run game they plan to install. Ultimately, even if the Panthers decide that none of the four are long-term starters, it will be hard for the Panthers to find three new starters in one offseason, and so the ability to work within the limitations of the players at their disposal, and to develop the likes of Brown and Christensen in particular, will play a crucial role this offseason.
More than that, however, the Panthers need to be able to identify players who can be long-term starters as, while no investment is certainly not the answer, if they miss with the players they do bring in this offseason then 2022 could feel even longer than 2021.
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Maximize The Impact Of Young Stars Without Running Them Into The Ground
Though Christian McCaffrey has struggled with injuries over the past two seasons, whenever he has been on the field he has been outstanding, averaging well over five yards per touch and finding the endzone on nearly 4% of all touches. Similarly, DJ Moore has emerged as one of the best young receivers in the NFL with 2,420 yards and eight touchdowns over the past two seasons. However, in addition to McCaffrey missing extended time, Moore has also struggled with injuries down the stretch in both seasons and finding out how to maximize their impact without overloading them will be key for McAdoo.
For McCaffrey, this conversation is likely to come back, once again, to the balance between using him as a receiver and using him as a ball carrier. Though his most valuable usage will involve some of both, the fact that he averages 4.2 yards-per-carry with 22% of his carries resulting in a first down and 8.2 yards-per-target with 48% of his targets resulting in a first down is a fairly strong indication that a greater focus on his receiving value is likely in order. Though it is easy to fall for current trends, Deebo Samuel’s 121 targets and 59 carrier wouldn’t be the worst using rate to build his role upon, even if his targets are likely to look quite different on the field.
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For Moore, the key is likely about balancing his two greatest strengths: his ability after the catch and his ability to make plays against man coverage down the field. Due to the limitations of the Panthers’ offense in 2021, his role was much more focused on the former, posting a career high in targets but a career low in yards-per-reception. To maximize his value, the Panthers would do well to look back to his 2020 usage, where his yards-per-reception was nearly 50% larger than his 2021 value, more than making up for 45 fewer targets.
In the past, McAdoo’s offenses have leant heavily on one or two key players and, while the Panthers definitely have a pair of elite offensive weapons, they need to be more than just the Moore-and-McCaffrey show. This doesn’t mean that both players can’t put up monster numbers in 2022, but rather that they key has to be maximizing their efficiency to allow them to make that impact without either putting unnecessary tolls on their bodies or allowing defenses to focus in on the pair.
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Tailor Scheme To Maximize Secondary Weapons
One thing that Matt Rhule has stressed during the search for a new offensive coordinator is the need to be flexible around the players they have, rather than trying to fit their players into a pre-existing scheme. While a lot of focus is going to fall on the big names, it is possibly more import that they find ways to maximize their secondary offensive pieces.
Foremost among these is Robby Anderson, how had career lows in catch percentage, yards-per-reception and total yards from scrimmage in 2021, just a year after posting career highs in two of the three en route to a long-term contract extension. Anderson does have a fair degree of flexibility in his usage, as he can use his speed either to stretch the field or to add value after the catch. What he has struggled with is creating underneath separation as a possession receiver and finding somebody who can take this role to free-up both Anderson and Moore is an important task for the offseason.
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Two possible options for this regard are Terrace Marshall Jr. and Brandon Zylstra, though the latter is a free agent this offseason. Marshall Jr. certainly didn’t have the season that many had hoped for after a strong showing in the preseason, with just 17 catches for 138 yards despite playing more than 400 offensive snaps. Some of these struggles are likely the result of the Panthers’ struggles more generally, and some are the natural issues associated with many rookie receivers, but his development is going to be an important factor in the Panthers’ 2022 offensive success.
Though Zylstra could depart in free agency, given his ability to excel in a variety of roles he is likely to be one of the higher priority players for the Panthers. Though his 18 receptions for 250 yards and touchdown are hardly a massive step-up from Marshall, he did so on five fewer targets and nearly 100 fewer offensive snaps. Though he is unlikely to ever be a star and will turn 29 this offseason, Zylstra has done enough to show that he can be a useful piece of the Panthers’ passing game and McAdoo should look to find a way to create targets for him.
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The other area that McAdoo will need to develop a plan for is the tight end position. With the Giants, McAdoo nearly exclusively used one tight end formations, but the Panthers have consistently used multiple tight ends during Matt Rhule’s tenure, and how McAdoo is able to incorporate both Tommy Tremble (who totaled just under 200 yards of offense to go with two scores as a rookie) and either Ian Thomas or whoever they sign to replace him.
Though neither of the two are highly-explosive pass catchers, both have developed into solid receiving options who are capable blockers and, while the Panthers should simply roll out two tight ends for every offensive snap, McAdoo will need to show a greater degree of flexibility and variability than was the case during his tenure at the Giants.
Though McCaffrey and Moore are likely to once again being the Panthers’ primary offensive weapons, being able to find roles for those behind them that allow them to add value while preventing the defense from keying into one or two key players is essential for sustainable offensive success.
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Given the Panthers’ offensive struggles this past season, it would be unfair to expect McAdoo to walk in and suddenly lead them to a top-5 finish. However, if he can find a way to incorporate the various elements covered here then he has a chance to at least allow the Panthers to rise to the level of NFL respectability on the offensive side of the ball which, if combined with the level of defense the Panthers played in 2021, has a chance to allow the Panthers to at least be relevant come the latter part of the season.
(Top photo via Angela Denogean/Carolina Panthers)
