The Carolina Panthers got a scare on Monday morning, when news broke that second year cornerback James Bradberry had fractured his wrist and will be in a cast for at least six weeks. Luckily, the Panthers are still in the first week of June and the start of the regular season is still months away, with Bradberry expected to return around the start of training camp in late July. We should see Bradberry starting on defense Week 1 in San Francisco should there be no setbacks.

But in the NFL, injuries are a huge part of the game that unfortunately are impossible to avoid. In 2015, the Panthers lost their top wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin after a stellar performance in his rookie season before tearing his ACL in a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins. Many Panthers fans felt the season was about to slip down the drain, and on paper – it made sense. Perhaps it should have. Instead, the team averaged over 31 points per game and only lost once in the regular season, all while flying easily into the Super Bowl. Sometimes an injury forces the coaches and players to make adjustments they wouldn’t have made, but sometimes an injury can cripple a team’s chances at the playoffs.

So what would happen if Bradberry were to get injured later on in the season, or had this injury been a more serious one? What would the Carolina cornerback group look like?

Carolina Panthers 2017 projected cornerback depth chart:

1. James Bradberry
2. Daryl Worley
3. Captain Munnerlyn (Nickel)
4. Corn Elder
5. Teddy Williams
6. Zack Sanchez

If Bradberry were to miss a game, or multiple games, the Panthers would then have Daryl Worley and Captain Munnerlyn as the starters, with Corn Elder moving to the nickel. Let’s examine these players.

Daryl Worley:

In the above play from Week 9, Worley gets mixed up in coverage in the tilt against the Arizona Cardinals, letting J.J. Nelson get wide open for an easy score. Just six weeks later, playing outside on a two point conversion against San Diego, Worley works well with safety Kurt Coleman on switching routes, reads Phillip Rivers the whole play and knocks out a pass from future hall of fame TE Antonio Gates. Worley really started feeling confident in his play towards the end of the season last year. His break out game was against the Chargers, and showed that he can be a starting cornerback in the NFL. Is he a #1 caliber cornerback? Not yet, but the way his game has improved in just one season, he surely has the potential to be one.

Captain Munnerlyn:

While many Panthers fans are familiar with Captain, we are more familiar with seeing him in the nickel, where he can comfortably sack quarterbacks on sneaky blitz package and make plays. We have seen him be a starter due to injuries at time, and the film is only good. Despite gaining age, Captain still was able to make plays with the Vikings, just as he did with the Panthers, although is truly “prime” in the nickel spot.

Corn Elder:

Elder has play comparable to Captain Munnerlyn, the shifty quickness in a cornerback that can be perfect for many things, whether it’s defending passes that look too good to be true, or making plays in the backfield. One of my favorite plays while reviewing film on Elder was this play against FSU. In it, you see Elder able to cover his zone, but quickly shift his way back towards the ball and make a heck of a play on a pass that would usually be caught 9 times out of 10. It will be interesting to see how he develops this kind of play against NFL quarterbacks. In a division where 3 out of the 4 quarterbacks have won MVP, he will definitely get to compete against the best of the best…not to mention a tough test in Week 4 in New England against a guy who many consider the G.O.A.T in Tom Brady.

Teddy Williams

While Williams is more of a special teams player, he has proven that he can come into any role in the secondary and provide some relief and more importantly, has experience all over the field. While the six year veteran doesn’t posses the talent of a James Bradberry or even a Daryl Worley, Williams can make an impact in his short time on the field, and if necessary, fill the shoes of Munnerlyn if needed in the nickel.

Zack Sanchez

Sanchez is an interesting story that we will soon learn more about this upcoming season. Last season, Sanchez seemed to be in Ron Rivera’s “Dog House”, that one former cornerback Josh Norman was once in, and because of it, we haven’t really been able to see his true potential. When we have seen him, it usually didn’t end up well. Last year when the Panthers just couldn’t seem to stop Drew Brees and the Saints, Sanchez was a huge contributor to that, getting burned on one of the easiest routes in the NFL. Only time will tell if Sanchez can keep up with the group of young corners in Carolina, but if his services are needed, there will have been at least two injuries in the cornerback class and the Panthers may be in trouble.

The Verdict

James Bradberry will heal in time for the preseason and be out on the field in Week 1 against the 49ers. However, if something were to happen to Bradberry, or any of the other players in the Panthers secondary, the other players on defense must lift up the rest of the squad.

Luckily for our young and inexperienced secondary, the Panthers have a defensive pass rush that includes Addison, Short, Lotuleilei, Johnson and now Peppers, followed with the best linebacker trio in the game in Kuechly, Davis and Thompson, which can make an average secondary look nearly elite. I believe the Panthers will see their two young starters in Bradberry and Worley take an even bigger step towards being quality corners this season, all while adding the comfort of Munnerlyn in at nickel to provide some cushion and developing Elder to someday fill Captain’s shoes

Connor Harrison

Born and raised in Washington State but bleed Carolina Black and Blue, so I made my way home to Charlotte. #KeepPounding