By:Noah Trombley
To call the Carolina Panthers season a mess would be putting that lightly. The Panthers finished with a 5-12 record for last place in the NFC south. The biggest reason for this record was the inability of the QB position throughout the entire year. Carolina went through 3 QB’s during the season and none of them played up to the standards for what this team was expecting. Sam Darnold played 12 games and finished with a 59.9 comp %, 2527 yards, 9 TD’s/13 Int’s, P.J Walker played 5 games and finished with a 54.5 comp %, 362 yards, 1 TD/3 Int’s, and returning former superstar Cam Newton played 8 games and finished with a 54.8 comp %, 684 yards, 4 TD/5 Int’s. With the news that Tom Brady will be unretiring and returning to the Buccaneers for another season and likely rule the NFC south for another year the Panthers need to the future. If head coach Matt Rhule wants to keep his job in the Queen City then he’s gonna have to find either a steady veteran or a hot prospect QB in order to keep the fans at least somewhat optimistic about the future.
The Panthers offense finished with an average of 298.9 yards per game which put them at 30th in the league only ahead of the Texans and Giants. Their leading rusher, rookie Chuba Hubbard, only rushed for 612 yards on 172 attempts and superstar Christian McCaffrey could only add 442 yards as injuries yet again continue to plague his career. 4th year receiver D.J Moore was really the only bright spot on this Panthers offense as he pulled in 93 receptions for 1157 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Panthers next leading receiver was Robby Anderson who only managed to pull in 53 receptions for 519 yards and 5 touchdowns. This Carolina offense needs a spark if they want to start competing for a playoff spot in the coming years.
The defense for Carolina in 2021 was actually somewhat decent throughout the year. They finished 2nd best in yards given per game (305.9) and gave up an average of 23.8 points per game which ranked them at 21st. The reason for the discrepancy between the points and the yards was that the offense occasionally put them in short fields and they were unable to keep offenses out of the end zone. With that being said there were some players who really stood out for the Panthers including safety Jeremy Chin who finished with 107 tackles, 6 of them for losses, 5 passes defended and one interception, linebacker Hassan Reddick who finished with 68 tackles, 12 of them for losses and added 11 sacks, and linebacker Shaq Thompson who finished with 104 tackles, 9 of them for losses, 2 sacks, and 2 interceptions.
The Panthers currently have 28 million dollars in cap space.
Free Agent checklist:
- Need to re-sign Hassan Reddick, as mentioned he was one of the major bright spots of this team in 2021 and he’s only 27 years old so he can be a long time anchor for this defense.
- Trade Christian McCaffrey, he has become to much of a liability with his health and the Panthers need to trade him now and recoup draft picks while he still has some value on the market
- Sign Christian Kirk, Kirk is a solid number two option alongside D.J Moore and they can form a very good WR duo in the Queen City
Draft Day:
RD 1(6): Sam Howell QB from North Carolina, yes i know this might be a little high but fans in Carolina need someone who gives them hope for the future and these fans have been watching Sam for the last three years grow as a player, keep the kid in the state where he became famous and let him receive the love and encouragement from the Carolina faithfull.
The Sports Insanity Network 