Jump to content

  • Welcome!

    Register and log in easily with Twitter or Google accounts!

    Or simply create a new Huddle account. 

    Members receive fewer ads , access our dark theme, and the ability to join the discussion!

     

Panthers fall in new ESPN Power Rankings

CarolinaLivin

By CarolinaLivin,
in Carolina Panthers

 Share

Recommended Posts

CarolinaLivin Grand Master

CarolinaLivin

Posted
Posted

Many believe the Carolina Panthers were one of the biggest winners from the 2021 NFL Draft, myself included. New GM Scott Fitterer did a tremendous job of letting the board fall to him, not reaching for players, and trading back multiple times. 

Carolina filled a huge need at corner by selecting South Carolina's Jaycee Horn 8th overall, drafted LSU WR Terrace Marshall Jr. to replace Curtis Samuel, took BYU left tackle Brady Christensen to give Sam Darnold more protection, and drafted Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard in the 4th round - a prospect that was considered a day two pick just a year ago.

Despite having a solid draft class, ESPN dropped the Panthers from No. 23 to No. 25 in their most recent power rankings with the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons both jumping ahead of them.

I understand having the youngest team in the NFL will keep the Panthers toward the bottom of these lists but I'm not sold on the idea that they somehow got worse following the draft. They made some key additions at areas of need and established depth in the back end of the draft which is something they did not have a year ago. 

With all the talent this team has on both sides of the ball, I would slate them somewhere between 20-23 and not a spot lower.

https://www.si.com/nfl/panthers/gm-report/espn-releases-post-draft-power-rankings

  • Pie 5
  • Beer 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LinvilleGorge Grand Master

LinvilleGorge

Posted
Posted

We gotta prove it. Honestly, more to the point, Sam Darnold has to prove it. We have a lot of young defensive talent that overachieved last year and should be even better this year. We have a ton of talent on offense and get the best RB in football back. This ranking is all about the very well founded doubt about Darnold being the answer at QB.

  • Pie 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CarolinaLivin Grand Master

CarolinaLivin

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well nobody will put us and higher than say 20th. Mainly due to Sam Darnold. Everyone will agree that we have an upgraded defense that has a high chance of being top 10 this year. We have a top 10 receiving room and a top 3 (arguably #1) RB in the league. OL has been slightly upgraded and was 18th last season. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
joemac Grand Master

joemac

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

It's all speculation at this time of the season, but honestly, considering last year's performance and our free agency efforts, were we expecting better?

Our free agency efforts?  What does that mean?  They did great in free agency.  They also knocked the draft out of the park.  How can anybody objectively look at the roster today and somehow say it is worse than the end of the season last year?

  • Pie 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CarolinaLivin Grand Master

CarolinaLivin

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 minute ago, joemac said:

Our free agency efforts?  What does that mean?  They did great in free agency.  They also knocked the draft out of the park.  How can anybody objectively look at the roster today and somehow say it is worse than the end of the season last year?

A lot of people around the NFL aren't even sure if we truly upgraded at QB. I believe this is the main reason. Most of our pickups are overshadowed by the trade for Sam and the trade to rid ourselves of Teddy. Stats wise we traded an average QB that probably won't get any better for a QB that just hasn't seemed to make the transition to the NFL still making the same mistakes he made in college. 

  • Pie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
rayzor Grand Master

rayzor

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, joemac said:

Our free agency efforts?  What does that mean?  They did great in free agency.  They also knocked the draft out of the park.  How can anybody objectively look at the roster today and somehow say it is worse than the end of the season last year?

From what I could gather, it has more to do with their faith in ATL and CHI being better than us and bumping them up ahead which dropped us. 

Screw 'em.

 

  • Pie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
joemac Grand Master

joemac

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, rayzor said:

From what I could gather, it has more to do with their faith in ATL and CHI being better than us and bumping them up ahead which dropped us. 

Screw 'em.

 

Yeah, meanwhile Atlanta is on the verge of trading Julio Jones....so who even knows with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CarolinaLivin Grand Master

CarolinaLivin

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Honestly, ATL is crazy to trade Julio while trying to make one last run with Ryan. 

What happens when you don't have a legitimate plan with your cap space and contracts for the long term. Teams end up having to part ways with players and it's just business at that point. Luckily they already have their future WR1 on the roster in Ridley.  

  • Pie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • PMH4OWPW7JD2TDGWZKTOYL2T3E.jpg

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • mrcompletely11
      Someone's not gonna be happy

      By mrcompletely11 · Posted

      7-3 in 1 score games is not sustainable.  Like at all.  Canales needs to figure this poo out stat
    • kungfoodude
      Someone's not gonna be happy

      By kungfoodude · Posted

      It's not optimistic at all. He has an unquestionably higher ceiling than Bryce. He played better than Bryce in his EXTREMELY limited action. That doesn't mean he is will be signficantly better than Bryce nor does that mean he should be a guy you put all your eggs in his basket. But if you want a valid option to replace Bryce when he fails in 2026, he is a very, very valid option. The one thing you cam say for Willis in the limited action is that from his time in Tennessee until now, you see consistent improvement. That isn't something you see with Bryce. I made a QB Success Metric and one thing that stood out from the data was how many 6th and 7th round "shots in the dark" that teams took. That was very eye opening. I don't think we do that enough. Frankly, unless we are happy with our #2 and/or #3 QB, that should be something we do at LEAST once every other season. And all the depth that we lack almost across the entire roster. Now you see why I say the roster is so bad?  So you think we should extend him? That's fine in theory but while we played whack a mole at QB, the entire roster kept getting worse and so did the QB. Just because the roster is bad doesn't mean you just give up with a bad QB. I would hope no one here is advocating for throwing a giant bag of money at Malik Willis or really a chunk of these options. That has no value at all.
    • mav1234
      Someone's not gonna be happy

      By mav1234 · Posted

      Has TMac not been healthy? And in Cokers ten games we have like a below .500 record.  The reality is if Young doesn't grow, this team will be at best where it is again. It's extremely hard to win with a QB that is producing so little.
×
×
  • Create New...