The Top 50 Panther's Players

[Skydivingcows]

After seeing the top 10 Carolina player's post; I couldn't narrow it down to just 10.  50 Sounded better.  So here's a chart that reflects the value of each player as they played for this franchise.  I decided to give it a lookover and evaluate where we stand, in the past, present and future.  It's not necessarily my opinion as it is all based from the website  http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/car/career-av.htm    I'm hoping the formatting turns out ok on here, but if not I'm attaching the spreadsheet anyway.  The Attached Spreadsheet also has a few extra columns that count down to how many games a current player needs to start in order to crack the top 10 or top 25, along with their AV total if they perform their single season best or average next year as a Panther. 

 

Plain and simple… Smitty is far and away #1.  13 years of dedication to our team.  13 years of greatness.   He was on the team before we ever knew what it meant to be in a Superbowl.  He's a big portion of how we got there.  Do you remember the double OT thriller?  It was, after all, voted the best game in our franchise history.  This is the man that made us jump in excitement higher than we ever had before.  Do not so quickly cast him aside.  Those days brought many of us into pulling for the Cardiac Cats and many of us are still riding that bandwagon.  Peppers was a part of that glory as well and he should not be forgotten.  How about you ask Gruden some time about Julius over a cold Dr. Pepper while you chow down on some peppersteak.  I'm sure he'd be thrilled to tell you all about the "pepper" items that were banned in his household for nearly a decade.  Blocked FGs and XPs likely still haunt him every night to this day.  Remember playing Tecmo Bowl and blocking Xps? This guy did that in Real life!  Both of these athletes are possible Hall of Famers.  Keep that in mind before you run off to the hot new shiny thing.

#	Name	Pos	From	To	Years	AV	AV Average	Best AV Year	Games	Starts	AV per Game	AV per Start
1	Steve Smith	WR	2001	2013	13	120	9.23	18	182	161	0.66	0.75
2	Julius Peppers	DE	2002	2009	8	95	11.88	17	122	120	0.78	0.79
3	Jordan Gross	T	2003	2013	11	90	8.18	15	167	167	0.54	0.54
4	Muhsin Muhammad	WR	1996	2009	11	88	8.00	14	155	141	0.57	0.62

 

But of course, there is new excitement to be had.  Ask Gruden if he wants an extra dab of pepper while you watch the crew break down replays of the amazing dual threat QB.  Who couldn't resist smiling when seeing their hero bring fun back into the game?  Our hero of today, Cameron Newton is only one year away from being #2 on this franchise list.  He is playing so out of this world that he could actually be only 2 years away from catching Smitty as well.  Impressive to think that two more average years and he will basically be the best player our franchise has ever had.  Just average years for Cam is all it takes.  The guy may even be getting better if such a thing exist.  22 years of the franchise would be outdone in only 7 years of work for SuperCam.  There is only one person in our franchise who performs better per start.

 

Davis and Kalil are right behind Newton currently in franchise value and could easily be in the top 5 as well if they just play 3 more years.  Unfortunately that may be impossible to do as Luke will likely catch them both before then.  The Lukeness monster already has 3 All Pro first ballots; more than any other Panther in our team history.  The kids not even old enough to grow a playoff beard and he's already won best defensive player on the field, two years ago!

#	Name	Pos	From	To	Years	AV	AV Average	Best AV Year	Games	Starts	AV per Game	AV per Start
5	Cam Newton	QB	2011	2015	5	83	16.60	20	78	78	1.06	1.06
6	Ryan Kalil	C	2007	2015	9	77	8.56	15	118	115	0.65	0.67
7	Thomas Davis	LB	2005	2015	10	69	6.90	16	133	115	0.52	0.60

 

Reflecting in the past a bit the Mike and Mike combo shows the steady pace of durable efforts put in week in and week out.  You can't just scratch their names of the list because they didn't have an amazing year.  Nearly 20 years of service combined is appreciated.  Daylight come and you gotta Delhomme.  Worked all night and just squeaked out a top 10 value before the sun set on his career.  Remember, there was a time when he had one of the best playoff records and the 2nd best QBR in the playoffs.  Yep, he did.  Remember the good times.  Another good time was seeing one of our own catch and run for TWENTY touchdowns in one season!  Incredible, but just like when you hit 20, someone always one-ups you with Blackjack, and the same can be said about DeAngelo.  He was only 2 games away from rushing by Delhomme to round out the top 10 players in the franchise.   Although, after seeing what he did in Pitt this year I think it's safe to say he could have done it in only one.  I'm sure those two young kids that cried after hearing the news of his departure are still crying; crying because they wish he was a part of this team as his blood, sweat, and tears have also helped us to develop into what we are today.

#	Name	Pos	From	To	Years	AV	AV Average	Best AV Year	Games	Starts	AV per Game	AV per Start
8	Mike Minter	DB	1997	2006	10	67	6.70	9	148	141	0.45	0.48
9	Mike Rucker	DE	1999	2007	9	63	7.00	11	139	106	0.45	0.59
10	Jake Delhomme	QB	2003	2009	7	62	8.86	14	91	90	0.68	0.69
11	DeAngelo Williams	RB	2006	2014	9	61	6.78	13	117	92	0.52	0.66
12	Kris Jenkins	DT	2001	2007	7	58	8.29	17	85	79	0.68	0.73
13	Luke Kuechly	LB	2012	2015	4	57	14.25	18	61	61	0.93	0.93

 

The next active man on the list has lurked in the shadow all these years.  He wasn't getting all the glory but grinding away he was.  JStew finds himself only one season short of moving past DeAngelo for ranking as the top RB of our franchise.  Due to being relegated as the backup Stewart now has an astonishing 1.2 AV value per game which puts him at the top of the franchise heap per start.  If he keeps that rate up it will only take 10 days to win the top RB award and the following week would place him above Delhomme for 10th best.

 

#	Name	Pos	From	To	Years	AV	AV Average	Best AV Year	Games	Starts	AV per Game	AV per Start
14	Chris Gamble	DB	2004	2012	9	55	6.11	10	123	117	0.45	0.47
15	Travelle Wharton	T	2004	2013	10	54	5.40	9	115	111	0.47	0.49
16	Jon Beason	LB	2007	2013	7	52	7.43	15	72	71	0.72	0.73
17	John Kasay	K	1995	2010	15	52	3.47	5	221	221	0.24	0.24
18	Jonathan Stewart	RB	2008	2015	8	49	6.13	9	103	41	0.48	1.20

 

Reflecting back, Beuerlein had one heck of a year back in '99 didn't he?   It was the best season performance a Panther player had until Cam this year.  He led the league in completions (343 )and with 4,436 passing yards.  The previous year he led the league in completion % but in this amazing year it was still good enough for 6th at 60.1%.  Isn't it amusing  to think that if just two of Cam's dropped passes had been caught; he would have bested that 60.1% this year.  How accurate does a QB need to be?  I'm sure Pennington (66% career) would have traded a few completion percentages for wins any given Sunday if you asked him.

 

CJ and Olsen are the last active players that round out the top 25.  We find ourselves with another great tight end in Greg Olsen.  He and Wesley Walls are virtually tied in value here and their stats are nearly identical as well.  I bet Olsen would love to have a few of those TDs tallied in that got away this year.  Eight times he was tackled within five yards of paydirt. 

 

19	Steve Beuerlein	QB	1996	2000	5	47	9.40	19	59	51	0.80	0.92
20	Charles Johnson	DE	2007	2015	9	47	5.22	8	118	90	0.40	0.52
21	Eric Davis	DB	1996	2000	5	42	8.40	12	78	78	0.54	0.54
22	Frank Garcia	C	1995	2000	6	42	7.00	11	91	84	0.46	0.50
23	Greg Olsen	TE	2011	2015	5	40	8.00	12	80	77	0.50	0.52
24	Sam Mills	LB	1995	1997	3	39	13.00	18	48	48	0.81	0.81
25	Wesley Walls	TE	1996	2002	7	39	5.57	9	98	96	0.40	0.41

 

Sam Mills did not play many years in Carolina, but he did make an impact when he was here.  Now, He will always make an impact with us when he is not, because he is truly here with us.  He paved the road that this franchise is travelling down and will always be remembered.  In pure ranking as a player alone he still cracks the top 25 to this day.  If this was a ranking based on importance to the franchise, the person voted #1 would be awarded the Sam Mill's trophy.  Mills is that important to the franchise.  These are the names of those that we enjoyed watching on a regular basis.  Even in the down years, they held our hopes and we cheered passionately for them.  Anyone remember how many times you heard Dan Morgan's name being called out after a tackle in the Super Bowl?  Remember Foster's first NFL carry?  True it didn't count; but it is all that was talked about around the water-cooler for awhile.  If only we could play in Madden-mode and turn off all the injuries.

 

#	Name	Pos	From	To	Years	AV	AV Average	Best AV Year	Games	Starts	AV per Game	AV per Start
26	Brentson Buckner	DT	2001	2005	5	34	6.80	9	71	65	0.48	0.52
27	Kevin Greene	LB	1996	1999	3	34	11.33	18	47	47	0.72	0.72
28	Jeff Mitchell	C	2001	2005	5	34	6.80	9	78	78	0.44	0.44
29	Lamar Lathon	LB	1995	1998	4	33	8.25	15	48	48	0.69	0.69
30	Dan Morgan	LB	2001	2007	7	33	4.71	8	59	59	0.56	0.56
31	Will Witherspoon	LB	2002	2005	4	32	8.00	10	62	55	0.52	0.58
32	DeShaun Foster	RB	2003	2007	5	31	6.20	12	63	40	0.49	0.78
33	Charles Godfrey	DB	2008	2014	7	31	4.43	7	82	75	0.38	0.41
34	Geoff Hangartner	C	2005	2013	7	31	4.43	9	90	57	0.34	0.54
35	Matt Campbell	G	1995	2000	6	30	5.00	7	69	58	0.43	0.52
36	Byron Bell	T	2011	2014	4	29	7.25	8	62	56	0.47	0.52
37	Ken Lucas	DB	2005	2008	4	29	7.25	9	60	59	0.48	0.49
38	James Anderson	LB	2006	2012	7	28	4.00	8	94	53	0.30	0.53
39	Greg Hardy	DE	2010	2014	5	28	5.60	14	63	40	0.44	0.70
40	Greg Kragen	NT	1995	1997	3	28	9.33	10	48	46	0.58	0.61
41	Sean Gilbert	DT	1998	2002	5	27	5.40	8	64	56	0.42	0.48
42	Chris Terry	T	1999	2002	4	27	6.75	11	57	57	0.47	0.47
43	Tim Biakabutuka	RB	1996	2001	6	26	4.33	8	50	35	0.52	0.74
44	Doug Evans	DB	1998	2001	4	26	6.50	8	57	55	0.46	0.47
45	Richard Marshall	DB	2006	2010	5	26	5.20	8	80	46	0.33	0.57
46	Blake Brockermeyer	T	1995	1998	4	25	6.25	7	58	55	0.43	0.45
47	Micheal Barrow	LB	1997	1999	3	24	8.00	9	48	48	0.50	0.50
48	Deon Grant	DB	2001	2003	3	24	8.00	9	48	48	0.50	0.50
49	Captain Munnerlyn	DB	2009	2013	5	24	4.80	8	77	50	0.31	0.48

 

So looking up and ahead into the sky we have the duo of KK and Star in front of us.  In a few years we may be talking about these guys as the best in the game.  We already are talking about having one of the best in the game in Josh Norman.  Norman exploded onto the scene, faster than you could say BAM POW SPLAT!  He rounds out our list of the top 50 Carolina franchise players.  Another year like this last one and he will see himself standing side by side with Mills and Walls.  It is an impressive feat to climb that far.  I'm sure he would be thrilled to be compared with some of our greats, but if he truly achieves his potential he could become our most prized defensive back.  Some people point at his age, 28, and say he doesn't have enough time to make much more of himself but that's exactly the fuel and desire he needs to seek out and rage that passion deep within.  If he can put up another two years like this last then he will truly set himself as our #1 franchise man in the secondary.  Will the dark knight rise up to the challenge?

 

50	Josh Norman	DB	2012	2015	4	24	6.00	15	53	38	0.45	0.63
51	Mark Carrier	WR	1995	1998	4	23	5.75	9	57	36	0.40	0.64
57	Star Lotulelei	DT	2013	2015	3	21	7.00	9	44	43	0.48	0.49
58	Kawann Short	DT	2013	2015	3	21	7.00	14	48	25	0.44	0.84
81	Brad Hoover	FB	2000	2009	10	16	1.60	3	152	93	0.11	0.17
85	Ted Ginn	WR	2013	2015	2	15	7.50	9	31	15	0.48	1.00
91	Amini Silatolu	G	2012	2015	4	14	3.50	8	33	28	0.42	0.50
100	Roman Harper	DB	2014	2015	2	13	6.50	7	32	32	0.41	0.41
101	Mike Tolbert	RB	2012	2015	4	13	3.25	5	56	27	0.23	0.48
102	Trai Turner	G	2014	2015	2	13	6.50	8	29	25	0.45	0.52
111	Dwan Edwards	DT	2012	2015	4	12	3.00	6	53	17	0.23	0.71
118	Jerricho Cotchery	WR	2014	2015	2	11	5.50	6	29	16	0.38	0.69
119	Graham Gano	K	2012	2015	4	11	2.75	4	54	54	0.20	0.20
120	Mike Remmers	T	2014	2015	2	11	5.50	9	21	21	0.52	0.52
123	A.J. Klein	LB	2013	2015	3	10	3.33	4	45	16	0.22	0.63
124	Andrew Norwell	G	2014	2015	2	10	5.00	6	23	22	0.43	0.45
133	Corey Brown	WR	2014	2015	2	9	4.50	5	27	14	0.33	0.64
135	Michael Oher	T	2015	2015	1	9	9.00	9	16	16	0.56	0.56
137	J.J. Jansen	C	2009	2015	7	9	1.29	3	112	112	0.08	0.08
143	Brad Nortman	P	2012	2015	4	8	2.00	3	64	64	0.13	0.13

 

The hardest part in the future may be about which line to talk about more.  Will our offensive line be as strong as our defensive line?  The Captain, Trai, Norwell, Remmers, and Oher sure have surprised everyone this year.  There's a ton of potential building on this team and it's scaring the rest of the field.  Our focus is on the Superbowl.  That's where we stand today.  

 

Things are only looking better as in the next home game we play let's make sure to cheer loudly and welcome KB back onto the field when he makes his way out.  This future is so bright...

#	Name	Pos	From	To	Years	AV	AV Average	Best AV Year	Games	Starts	AV per Game	AV per Start
144	Kelvin Benjamin	WR	2014	2014	1	8	8.00	8	16	15	0.50	0.53
155	Kurt Coleman	DB	2015	2015	1	7	7.00	7	15	15	0.47	0.47
176	Kony Ealy	DE	2014	2015	2	6	3.00	5	31	9	0.19	0.67
192	Bene Benwikere	DB	2014	2015	2	5	2.50	3	23	10	0.22	0.50
192	Michael Bates	RB	1996	2000	5	5	1.00	2	76	76	0.07	0.07
193	Devin Funchess	WR	2015	2015	1	5	5.00	5	16	5	0.31	1.00
194	Shaq Thompson	LB	2015	2015	1	5	5.00	5	14	10	0.36	0.50
210	Tre Boston	DB	2014	2015	2	4	2.00	3	27	6	0.15	0.67

 

What do you guys think?  Did they get it right?

Top 50 Panthers.xlsx

[philw5289]

Kevin Greene is top 20 IMO. Also Byron bell at 36 meh 

[JJman Returns]

If Byron Bell was truly the 36th greatest player in the history of our franchise, we'd be fuged

[MHS831]

Right now, I can give you the top 53 that matter most.

[WUnderhill]

Whatever system ranks Mike Tolbert below Amini Silatolu and Byron Bell as the 36th greatest player of all time inspires little confidence. Thanks for the list though, interesting at least to think about.