Pre-Free Agency (Mar 11) Roster depth chart

[MHS831]

I do this for myself, so I periodically share with my Huddle family. Maybe it helps you too.

 

OFFENSE

Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle
	Lewis	Fortner (FA)	Hunt	Moton
Forsythe	Zavala	Samac	Curhan
Ekwonu (IR)
Wide Receiver	Tight End	Running back	Quarterback
TMac		Hubbard	Young
Coker	Tremble	Brooks	Pickett (FA)
Legette	Evans	Etienne
Horn Jr.	Sanders
Tremaine
Moore

 

DEFENSE

Edge/OLB	Defensive Tackle	ILB	Corner
Scourton	D. Brown  (3; 0-5T)	Lloyd (M)  (FA)	Horn
Phillips (FA)	Wharton  (4i/5T)		M. Jackson
Umanmeilen	B. Brown  (NT)	Wallace (W)	Smith-Wade (N)
Jones II	Cam Jackson (NT)		Thornton
Incoom	LaBryan Ray
		Safety
		Moehrig
		Ransom
		Simmons

 

Potential Cap casualties (cap savings if cut)

 

Analysis

 

Offense: 

Center:  As unspectacular as it was, signing Fortson was a very solid move.  We will draft a C in round 3-4, and that player will develop for a season.  Fortson is an upgrade over Mays in run blocking.  We had no $$ to give a veteran C, so getting one for $4.5m is a win.

Guard:  Lewis and Hunt are solid, and they will probably be restructured and kept here for a few years.  I like Curhan.  Zavala?  Not there yet. I would not be surprised to see a day 3 G taken.

Tackle: We have to draft OT in the first round, especially if Stone Forsythe is the best we can do, aside from Moton.  I hope that was a cyber joke. I am guessing (at this time, no salary or verification) that he is camp competition. We could draft 2 OTs, in fact, one to play behind Moton and the other to start.

Wide Receiver:  Coker is becoming a star and XL has tremendous athleticism but he is still raw. I expect improvement from both: Coker becomes a solid #2 and XL will seal his fate, one way or another. Horn and Tremayne seem to serve roles and are valued. 

Tight End:  I am not happy with Sanders and would like to see him go.  Tremble does a lot of dirty work and is underestimated for that reason.  Evans had a decent rookie year and should be a solid #3. We need a #1. We are going to get one at some point.  I think Tremble could get cut, but I would extend him.

Running Back: As much as I liked Rico, Chuba, Brooks, and Etienne is pretty good and cost effective. Spend $$ on the OL and the backs get better.

Quarterback:   Well, we might start rooting for Bryce because they seem to love him.  Pickett might be better than Gingerbread at backup QB–at least he has some upside? Watch to see who we bring in as the emergency QB.  It could send Pickett to that role.

 

Offense Overview: Left Tackle is the only real hole right now (the Fortson signing was a great move), but expect a first-round OT, a third-round C, and I am guessing we sign a TE and another QB.  

 

Defense:

ILB:  Lloyd seems to have found a home at Mike / MLB. While Wallace is best at Will, he is not best at starting.  I’d like to see Rozeboom back for depth at the Mike, and I think we draft a starting Will LB in round 2. I am still predicting Golday.

Edge/OLB: I am sold on Phillips after watching some of his video. Such and smart pass rusher who can stop the run. He smells the football and finds it quickly.  Scourton seems to be the real deal. Princely (needs to develop) and Jones II are role players.  We could add another edge, but cutting Jones II saves under $5m.  I’d rather have him in the rotation.

Defensive Tackle:  Derrick Brown is going to get a sidekick in the draft.  Phillips should helf Wharton more than people realize–he will prosper. Cam Jackson and Bobby Brown are below average NTs, but at this point, I am not sure they will play a ton. 

Cornerback:  Morgan has done a tremendous job finding talent in the bargain bins at CB.  Smith-Wade has been very solid.  Thornton seems to be a find (rated the 2nd best rookie CB in 2025).  Mike Jackson is a solid pro.  Horn is elite. Do not be surprised to see a CB in the draft, but for now, this is a solid core.

Safety:  Ransom is an interesting player who is probably best playing situationally behind Moehrig and special teams.  If they play Simmons at SS behind Moehrig, maybe that will force Ransom to work at FS.  Maybe Simmons is simply the big nickel and special teams ace.  I feel we are a true back S away from completion. 

 

Defensive Overview:  The Panthers addressed the pass rush and Inside LB (mike). There are weaknesses, in my view, at FS, Will LB, and DT. This defense will be better in 2026, but with the schedule, we may not notice the difference as much.

 

OVERALL:  Until Free Agency is behind us, it is still a foggy picture.  I anticipate a TE being added in free agency and little more. Assuming that is true, the Needs Chart (in my view) looks like this:

1. LT

2. WLB

3. C

4. S  

5. DT

6. OT

7. QB

 

 

In case you are interested:  2025 Rookie PFF scores 

Corey Thornton, in limited action before being injured, was the third-ranked CB by PFF rankings. According to PFF scores, he was the second-rated rookie panther behind TMAC.

 

[TheSpecialJuan]

great stuff, man

[ProcessBlue2]

I’m glad I’m not the only one that does this. 
 

Walker/Decker solves a lot of our problems. Walker means Ickey moves to the inside or RT. Decker gives us time to evaluate him when healthy.

Signing either of those gives us an opportunity to add more peripheral players and truly go BPA in the draft. If I’m Morgan I am signing one of them tonight.

Edited 1 hour ago by ProcessBlue2

[Steves89]

thank you OP. You are doing the Lord's Work right here. Outstanding write up.

Edited 1 hour ago by Steves89

[Jon Snow]

This is impossible for me to read on a mobile device and I refuse to use a computer ever again unless I'm forced to. Nice work I'm sure. 

[jb2288]

I love the BPA approach but at some point you need to be realistic. As things stand right now, I think you really have to go OT at 19 as long as it isn't a full half round reach and then the roster is setup you can go BPA elsewhere 

[Troy17289TD]

15 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

This is impossible for me to read on a mobile device and I refuse to use a computer ever again unless I'm forced to. Nice work I'm sure. 

Turn your phone to landscape, not portrait oriented.  Easy to read that way.

[Jon Snow]

1 minute ago, Troy17289TD said:

Turn your phone to landscape, not portrait oriented.  Easy to read that way.

That would require effort on my part. I would rather bitch about it. 

[MHS831]

26 minutes ago, ProcessBlue2 said:

I’m glad I’m not the only one that does this. 
 

Walker/Decker solves a lot of our problems. Walker means Ickey moves to the inside or RT. Decker gives us time to evaluate him when healthy.

Signing either of those gives us an opportunity to add more peripheral players and truly go BPA in the draft. If I’m Morgan I am signing one of them tonight.

Well, if I am the other person, that does not make you normal.    I am just a visual person.  

[jfra78]

6 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

That would require effort on my part. I would rather bitch about it. 

You can read it if you use the default scheme instead of dark

[MHS831]

24 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

This is impossible for me to read on a mobile device and I refuse to use a computer ever again unless I'm forced to. Nice work I'm sure. 

If I knew how to covert, I would.  See if this helps

Panther 2026 roster.pdf

[Jon Snow]

Just now, jfra78 said:

You can read it if you use the default scheme instead of dark

But I like the dark theme dammit. 

[jfra78]

Just now, Jon Snow said:

But I like the dark theme dammit. 

Me too, my retinas thank me

Edited 1 hour ago by jfra78

[Jon Snow]

7 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

If I knew how to covert, I would.  See if this helps

Panther 2026 roster.pdf 152.86 kB · 0 downloads

I can zoom in and out on this. Thank you for your tolerance of an old asshole.