The Panthers had most of their roster locked down as they headed into the final preseason game, but there were certainly battles left to be won – while the Panthers will release 37 players over the next 48 hours, a good night in Pittsburgh on Thursday would go a long way towards securing a Panthers jersey with their names on the back. There wasn’t much of a chance that a player like Austin Duke or Bug Howard could break onto a roster with five or even six wide receivers that are likely to make the roster, but positions that will matter for the Panthers – like who is going to back up Cam Newton come September 9th against Dallas – were still very much up for grabs.
“We take everything into consideration,” Ron Rivera said after the game. “We take what went on at training camp practices, what went on during meetings, what went on during the games that you played. We’ll talk about all of those things, because there’s about five or six spots that are still up in the air and we want to make sure that we make good decisions.”
So who won those battles?
Taylor Heinicke vs. Garrett Gilbert
While Gilbert entered the preseason as the presumed backup, at some point over the past three weeks, the only other quarterback on the roster who had attempted an NFL pass leapfrogged him – that was hinted at when Cam Newton went down last week for four plays and Heinicke was first off the bench – and it was likely confirmed tonight as Heinicke started slowly, only completing one of his first five attempts, but finished strong with a 6-for-7 second drive that ended in a Mose Frazier touchdown. Gilbert, albeit with different wide receivers than Heinicke during his time on the field, finished with only 23 yards passing and a lost fumble in a quarter of work.
While Heinicke may be in the lead, the most impressive quarterback on the field in Pittsburgh wore black and yellow – Josh Dobbs, who has been the subject of trade rumors this week, put on a show, finishing with 151 yards passing as he deftly avoided rushers and created space for his receivers – he threw for one score and rushed for another in a likely audition for a team other than the Steelers – now the question is whether or not the Panthers will pull the trigger on a trade.
“It’s tough when you’re not playing with everybody, but we knew that going in [that] it was going to be tough – we’ll take a look at that and we will evaluate,” said Ron Rivera after the game. “It’s all a part of the evaluation process; it’s a tough situation but we’ve got to make our decision based on how we feel about things.”
Heinicke finished the preseason 24-of-36 for 323 yards, two touchdowns (and one rushing) and an interception for a quarterback rating of 101.97.
Cameron Artis-Payne vs. Kenjon Barner
While there is a real possibility that the team will keep four running backs, if they decide to keep three, Cameron Artis-Payne likely had the advantage after playing the past three years under Ron Rivera; however, Kenjon Barner had five rushes for 72 yards in the Week 2 win over the Dolphins. With CAP getting the start tonight, he made the most of his opportunity, gobbling up 35 yards on only five carries and looking the part of a quality running back playing against a second-string defense – his jump cut has always been impressive and tonight was no exception. However, Barner showed his value on special teams with a 34-yard return, a key part of his game.
“The biggest thing for Cameron is that he took advantages of the opportunities he’s got,” said Rivera about Artis-Payne. “He’s done some really good things and that’s all a part of the evaluation process for us.”
They’ll also be evaluating Barner, who felt like he has done enough this preseason to merit consideration, but doesn’t let himself get stressed about things that are out of his control – he’ll just be going about his daily activities over the next few days as the team begins to make it’s cuts.
“I feel like I showed my ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, stand in there and block and make some hard, tough runs,” Barner said. “I definitely feel like I put some tape out there, so at the end of the day, I’m going to let the chips fall where they may.”
“You can’t worry yourself over things you have no control over – the only thing I had control over was tonight.”
Corn Elder vs. Lorenzo Doss
While Doss got the start on the outside, with Captain Munnerlyn having the night off Elder was right next to Doss at inside corner for most of the night – after missing all of last season with an injury, Elder said after the game that he was happy to get the reps in and put more of himself on tape. While neither looked particularly sharp – Elder looked to be behind Tevin Jones on a second quarter touchdown and the secondary as a whole gave up 190 yards passing in the first half – Elder had good things to say about his compatriots in the secondary.
“It’s all a competition, at the end of the day, everybody knows that, you’ve got to just do your thing,” Elder said after the game about the competition. “The same thing I’ve been saying all camp and all of OTAs, [Doss] is a playmaker, he had some great tackles today and some great coverage.”
While neither improved their stock, Elder was already in the lead and Doss didn’t do enough to take that spot. But the question may actually be: Did Doss do enough to overtake Kevon Seymour after Seymour put out inconsistent tape the first two weeks and missed the last two games?
Zach Moore vs. Daeshon Hall vs. Bryan Cox, Jr.
Bryan Cox was convinced after the game that he left a lot on the table, and he’s absolutely correct – Cox had QB Josh Dobbs dead to rights for two sacks on the first drive but let Dobbs slip away – “I left too much out there, probably two and a half or three sacks,” Cox said. “You do all that work to get there and you can’t get him on the ground – it’s like you did all that for nothing.”
Daeshon Hall was able to cull a sack in the third quarter, but fell victim to Dobbs on the same play as Cox as Dobbs was able to escape – while Hall played well, it was actually Moore who may have elevated his stock the most throughout the preseason; after spending almost all of last season on the practice squad, Moore showed his ability to play both inside and out throughout the preseason – he’s also a “switch hitter” with the ability to play defensive end on both the right and the left – that ability drew a glowing comparison from Rivera after the game.
“That’s one of the things that Wes Horton does for us and does very well,” said the coach about Moore, who had another quarterback hit today in addition to the punishment he doled out to Brock Osweiler a couple of weeks ago. “Again, if you have position flexibility, as I’ve talked about before, it increases your value.”
Will wins tonight be enough to net them a roster spot come Saturday?
