1: Christian McCaffrey is getting healthy.
McCaffrey coming back in 1-3 weeks would be very big for the offense and team as a whole. Christian McCaffrey’s ability to score 6 from anywhere on the field, rushing or receiving, has been really fun to watch and I can’t wait for him to return to the team as long as it’s not too early.

2: Teddy Bridgewater needs to have confidence in his Tight Ends when throwing the “jump ball”.
Teddy Bridgewater and Joe Brady need to start looking to involve the Tight Ends more inside the 20. Ian Thomas has shown that he can come down with that jump ball. Chris Manhertz is decent but I believe not bringing back Greg Olsen was a mistake.

3: DJ Moore needs to get better at releasing off the line inside the 10.
I’ve noticed that DJ Moore has struggled with releasing off press coverages inside and close to the 10-yard line. Moore is a solid route runner but is better with the ball in his hands after the catch. There have been multiple instances the last few weeks where inside the 10, Moore has been pressed by the cornerback and couldn’t run the in, out, or slant he is designed to on that play. The one time he used it to his advantage and fake/spun out Falcons Isaiah Oliver, he outran the cornerback for his first score of the season. If DJ Moore can start to score touchdowns inside the red zone consistently, he would easily be a top 10 wide receiver in the league.

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Speaking of that Tampa Bay offense, Carolina needs to do a much better job on the
defensive side of the ball, especially with the front-seven. In week one, the Raiders and running back Josh Jacobs ran all over us with 3 touchdowns and 93 rushing yards on 25 attempts. The Buccaneers run game wasn’t as successful in their week one loss to New Orleans but Ronald Jones II still had 17 carries for 66 yards, which is very respectable. The Panthers can not take this Tampa team lightly. One skill position player Carolina will be lucky to avoid is wide receiver Chris Godwin, who has been placed in the concussion protocol. In 2019, in their two matchups against Carolina, Godwin had recorded 18 receptions for 272 yards and a touchdown.

I believe this will be a decently high scoring game as both teams did not play well
defensively in week one but I think the turnover battle will decide it. The Panthers forced 0 turnovers and 0 sacks against Las Vegas and that can’t happen this week. They need to generate pass rush and force at least one or two mistakes by Tom Brady.
I can see both teams hitting 20 plus points with one or two defensive plays really deciding the outcome. My overall prediction is that the Panthers will lose 27-23.

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Head coach Matt Rhule said without OTAs and preseason games in 2020, it is essential to put players in a lot of different in-game situations. In that way, the 89 reps they ran through should be a valuable evaluation tool for the coaching staff.

— Before drills had started, the specialists got some work outside the Atrium Health Dome. Players returned kicks and Joey Syle showed off his leg strength by bombing some kicks through the uprights.

— During practice inside, players went through a fun ball security drill where defenders try to strip the ball from the offense, but running backs like Christian McCaffrey and Mike Davis got to try forcing a fumble as well.

— The first-team offense went against the first-team defense. However, Matt Rhule did instruct the groups to rotate different players in. “Sometimes, you never know what a guy can do until you give him a shot,” Rhule said.

— The first 11-on-11 situation on Tuesday was a traditional move-the-ball drill. Derrick Brown had a nice run stop on McCaffrey on the first play. Robby Anderson also caught a short pass on the right and took it for a big gain with yards after the catch to put the offense in the red zone, but they stalled and settled for a field goal.

— Quarterback Will Grier put together a string of solid reps. Connecting with new WR TommyLee Lewis for an intermediate gain, Grier also showed some wheels on a red-zone play, scrambling inside the 5-yard line and Jordan Scarlett capped off the drive with a touchdown run up the middle. Following the score, the Panthers worked through an extra point, and a kickoff, much like it would be during a real game. Carolina kept that up throughout the session with punts and kicks.

— Defense stole the show today for the Panthers. Cornerback Eli Apple was particularly solid in coverage, and shortly after safety Kenny Robinson caused wide receiver Seth Roberts to fumble, defensive end Brian Burns knocked the ball out of McCaffrey’s hands. McCaffrey has only lost 4 fumbles in his first 3 seasons, so he was able to jump back onto the ball.

— It wasn’t all defense, however, as after a play-action fake, Bridgewater connected with Robby Anderson for a touchdown, floating the ball over Anderson’s shoulder in the end zone.

— P.J. Walker and Seth Roberts also executed for a touchdown in the red zone.

— Walker also connected with newcomer tight end Andrew Vollert over the middle and in for another score.

— During a two-minute drill, safety Juston Burris broke up a pass over the middle. 

— Bridgewater hit wide receiver DJ Moore with a pair of intermediate routes on the left side, both of which stopped the clock and helped put the offense in scoring position. Slye hit a field goal to complete the drive.

— Mike Davis got a few carries in a four-minute offense segment, helping burn time off the clock. Bridgewater tried to scramble for a first down on the left side, his slide was ruled down before he reached the marker.

— The 11-on-11 work finished with a pair of 2-point plays, and the defense won both with strong coverage. Bridgewater had to hold the ball longer than he planned to, and his pass was broken up. Walker tried to make something happen by moving back in the pocket, he was eventually surrounded by defenders and would’ve been sacked by Yetur Gross-Matos.

All in all, a great day for the Carolina Panthers at Training Camp. The team will be off (Wednesday) before returning on Thursday morning.

5: Jeremy Chinn Jr.

I’m very high on Chinn Jr, the 2nd round draft pick the team traded up to select will most likely line up as a Nickel Linebacker/Safety playing close to the line of scrimmage. I strongly believe he’ll be a great player for Carolina and I expect him to make a lot of plays in practice.

4: Ian Thomas

This 2020 season is make or break for Tight End Ian Thomas. With long-time Panthers great Tight End Greg Olsen now in Seattle, Thomas will need to step up. I believe he can but we have to really see it first, so I’d keep a steady eye on how many opportunities he gets in the offense.

3: Jordan Kunaszyk

The undrafted Linebacker from California had shown a lot of good things in last year preseason. He was a fan favorite of many and if the team is going to try and replace Luke Kuechly, a good young guy like Kunaszyk is a great start.

2: Teddy Bridgewater + P.J. Walker

The Panthers have to see during camp, not during the preseason, not during the regular season, if Teddy can really be the quarterback of the team for 2020 and possibly beyond. He has to show he can run and perform the offense that new OC Joe Brady will implement. I would also steadily pay attention to his most likely backup P.J. Walker and what he can do, we had seen alot of great play from Walker in the XFL and would love to him shine here as well.

1: Greg Little

Offensive Tackle Greg Little got riddled with injuries and poor play in his rookie season. I would be very excited to watch him really bounce back and become the future at Left Tackle. I have a lot of faith that his sophomore season will a good one.

Although Carolina might not end up with the best record in 2020, it all starts during camp. Barring any setbacks, I can not wait to watch these guys and everyone on the roster finally getting to play some Panthers football again.

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In 2020, I think D.J. Moore will break out even more as he grows comfortable with Teddy
Bridgewater at QB. DJ, if not for getting injured in week 15, would have had almost 1300 yards and possibly another TD or two. Also his yards/game was 78.3 so averaged out to a full 16 game schedule would’ve given Moore 1253 yards.

I believe Moore will have a great season in 2020 because of new offensive coordinator Joe
Brady as well. Brady is a coach that likes to throw the ball around the field and get his
playmakers the ball in space, while continuing to take a lot of shots down the field. Last week, Brady was asked about D.J. Moore and what he expects out of him this upcoming season. This is what he had to say: “D.J. is a dynamic wide receiver and he was one of the first men I met when I got this job. I’m excited to see this year for him and to establish himself. I have high expectations for D.J. and the type of football player he is. I’m excited to see him develop and I’m excited to see him take his game to the next level.”

The only thing that could hold D.J. Moore back is his ability to score touchdowns. First and
foremost, it starts with getting him more targets in the end zone by Teddy Bridgewater. As good as D.J. Moore has been from goal line to goal line, he has struggled to put six on the board consistently. Through his first two seasons in the league, only six of his 142 catches have gone for touchdowns. If that changes in 2020, D.J. Moore will be a dangerous receiver to opposing teams defensive backs.

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Coming off a historic 2019 season, I think McCaffrey’s numbers will decrease but only slightly; Christian will still be an All-Pro and be in the running for OPOTY once again.

Most Overrated: S Justin Burris.

The Panthers drafted DB Jeremy Chinn Jr. In the second round and during training camp/preseason i can see Chinn Jr. easily beating him out for the starting Strong Safety spot. I don’t trust Burris in run defence or pass defence right now, now he could change my mind but i would rather want the young development player to start.

Most Underrated: WR Curtis Samuel.

If Teddy can complete even half the missed deep ball throws Kyle Allen had missed in 2019, Samuel will still have a very sold underrated season, I’m predicting around 60 combined touches for 750+ yards and 11 total touchdowns.

Key New Addition: DT Derrick Brown.

The seventh overall pick Derrick Brown will make the most day one impact on the defensive line and in 2020 we should see the run defence improve greatly from almost dead last in 2019.

Key Loss in Free Agency: DE Mario Addison.

With long time Panther Mario Addison now on to the Buffalo Bills, I can see Carolina struggle to get a consistent Pass rush from anyone but Brian Burns, leading to a lot of double teams on him and Kawann Short.

Biggest Surprise: QB Teddy Bridgewater.

A lot of people have almost completely ruled Teddy Bridgewater playing well in 2020, saying because of him the team will finish 3-13 or worse. The Teddy Bridgewater that I seen with New Orleans in 2019, if he plays near that level, he could play the team to a 6-10/7-9 record.

Takes the Biggest Leap: DE Brian Burns.

Brian Burns will need to take this leap forward with Mario Addison’s production now gone, i believe that he will have atleast 9 sacks, 12 TFL, and be an absolute force against opposing Right Tackles in 2020.

Prove It Year: CB Donte Jackson.

There isn’t anyone else that needs to prove that he can be an outside cornerback more than Donte, he hasn’t shown he can yet, flashing his talent but the limitations in his technique have held him back. With new defensive coordinators and other coaching changes, now in his third season, I’m hoping they can help Jackson really tap into that potential we all had seen in 2018.

Written by: Colin Massey

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Quarterback Cam Newton gave anything and everything to get back onto the field and prove his worth to the Panthers, all he wanted was a little bit of commitment from the team. The team never had his back through his injuries in 2019, it shows now that we wanted him out before the reports even got serious. In a Instagram post Newton has said “they gave up on me”, that five word sentence has stuck with me, i just can’t get the idea of a franchise giving up on a player that had never once to a chance to give up on them, it burns me knowing that we’ll never be back to the superbowl with the man that said we would be. I was definitely tired of hearing all the reports of Cam, regardless of what they said about him. In a way I’m glad it’s over but the how it ended, was the worse way it could’ve. Not only did the Panthers not get anything for the QB, they ruined the relationship with Cam and tainted the relationship with his fans forever.

Where does Carolina go from here at QB? A new quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, who has been officially signed to a 3-year deal, worth 63 million. Carolina also has 2019 third-round pick Will Grier, Grier can hopefully develop a lot and i want to see a lot of that improvement in the preseason. The 3rd string QB at the moment would be XFL MVP P.J. Walker who in 5 games (all wins) had 15 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. I’m really excited to watch Walker in our offence and i think even though i have claimed he’s the 3rd stringer, i don’t see any reason why we won’t see P.J. compete for the starting job in 2020.

Anthony Harris in 2019 was one of the better Safeties in the league with 60 tackles, 11 pass deflections, 6 interceptions and was a top tier cover safety. As a result of his incredible season, the 28 year old Harris is about to be properly compensated in free agency. He’s projected to go from making a grand total of $5.3m over his first five years to receiving $13-14m annually on a new multi-year deal, placing him among the likes of Tyrann Mathieu and Earl Thomas. The Vikings can’t pay Harris $13-14m because they have around/under $2m in cap space. Could Carolina offer that deal and make Harris one of the highest paid safeties in the league?

I think so, with James Bradberry and Tre Boston both most likely leaving to new teams for 2020, Harris is very versatile and he can play CB or FS but he would probably be better at FS with the Panthers. I think this would be a great move for Carolina, we need to rebuild the defence and I strongly believe Anthony Harris should be a part of it.

With the recent release of veteran wide receiver Jarius Wright (29), Panthers should be very active in free agency lookingfor another No. 3. Wright, who was a reliable 3rd down target, but Carolina will be going in a different direction.

The free agency period will be interesting to see who will want to come to Carolina, one name that has swirled around is Jet Wide Receiver Robby Anderson (26). If the team is serious about getting Anderson, they’ll need to offer more than the Cowboys but we definitely cant overpay. Anderson did play with Matt Rhule at Temple so we could see a reunion but I’m not sure how likely it is because of the possible high asking price.

Carolina could potentially resign Chris Hogan (31) as a No. 4 receiver with signing some other cheap veterans and younger depth players with potential.

The way the Panthers should most likely address the position will be through the draft, i expect them to pass on draft WR rounds 1 & 2. The 3rd-5th round range is where i predict they find the majority of their new receiver group. These are some options they could be in that range and i would like on the team: Chase Claypool, Notre Dame | K.J. Hill, Ohio State | Collin Johnson, Texas | Michael Pittman Jr., USC | and Jauan Jennings, Tennessee.

In the 2016 NFL Draft the Panthers selected Cornerback James Bradberry out of Stamford with the 62nd pick in the 2nd round. Bradberry went on to have the best season out of all rookie cornerbacks according to pro football focus, 0.1 higher rating than Jaylen Ramsey.

In 2017 Bradberry had a good season with 85 tackles but was criticized for not getting interceptions and pass deflections, in 2018 James had the 3rd most pass deflections by a CB in the league totaling 15. The past season (2019) was definitely Bradberry’s best season in the league totaling 65 tackles, 1 sack, 3 interceptions and 12 pass deflections.

“I feel like I’m a top corner in this league,” Bradberry has said, “and I want to be compensated as such.” Bradberry has shadowed three of the toughest receivers in the NFL six times a year in his own division the past 4 seasons, matching up with Michael Thomas, Julio Jones, and Mike Evans on a regular basis. James has handled his own in those spots if the Panthers don’t want these guys running through them i suggest signing Bradberry.

Big and long at 6’1/212, Bradberry turns 27 in August, and his asking price is likely to start at $14 million per year. The Panthers can pay this contract if they want to but with other needs I’m not sure how likely or unlikely it is. What I do know is that without Bradberry this defence, that has already lost so much, won’t be able to handle losing their number one cornerback for the second time in the past 5 years (Josh Norman in 2015).

Carolina has not had a legit number one cornerback for longer than their rookie deals since Chris Gamble (2004-2012). Moving forward i don’t want to see James Bradberry in another jersey like Washington or the Jets like it’s been rumored but if he isn’t on this team in 2020, it’ll be a long season watching the defense. I hope the Panthers make the most logical decision and that we have a plan regardless of the outcome.

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