Carolina Panthers: 3 Questions Before Training Camp

These questions persist for the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers heading into training camp.

Training camp is upon us, the first step in the ever-growing excitement leading to the 2016 season. Every team is looking to pare down their rosters and find the right solutions for every question probing their organization. The Carolina Panthers are coming off of an amazing 2015 campaign with a wealth of momentum, expectations and naysayers all at once. Looking forward to their training camp sessions, here are three big questions the Panthers need to answer.

Will the starting cornerbacks please stand up?

The main storyline for Carolina this off-season has involved the Josh Norman departure and the void of experience in the defensive backfield. General Manager, Dave Gettleman, decided it is best to allow Norman to leave the organization, rather than lock him in to a long term, and potentially detrimental deal. His answer to the issue was to look to the draft to find a youthful replacement.

The question is whether or not James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, or Zack Sanchez is ready to step into that position. The team still has valuable veterans in Kurt Coleman, Tre Boston and Robert McClain, but lost the leadership that a player such as Charles Tillman brings to the table. Bene Benwikere is coming off of a serious leg injury and is also making a slight shift in position to outside cornerback.

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Opponents are going to look to take advantage of this makeshift unit early and often. What’s interesting is this is akin to the situation that the Panthers were in when the team started to become a defensive powerhouse. Even though the unit got off to a shaky start in 2014, the defensive backfield turned a corner that led to the impressive performance in 2015. The franchise will need a similar situation to occur with this unit in 2016 if they are to experience their continued success.

How powerful is this passing attack?

Quarterbacks can be hampered by a lack of weapons on their side of the ball. Cam Newton was once in this position. Many expected that to be the case at the start of the 2016 season; especially with Kelvin Benjamin going down to knee injury. What occurred was an explosion of players steeping up: Ted Ginn Jr., had a career year; Greg Olsen outdid himself once again; Devin Funchess grew into his role and other players exceeded expectation.

Now, Carolina has to find a way to keep the best players on roster. Philly Brown was once considered a potential breakout player, but his inconsistency creating some concerns over his long-term viability. Brenton Bersin even had his moments during 2016. That still leaves Stephen Hill, Kevin Norwood, Damiere Byrd and Keyarris Garrett on the current roster. Someone isn’t going to make this team but looking at that list of options for Newton the Panthers should have a very powerful passing game.

Is the offensive line still an issue?

Heading into the 2015 season, some thought that the Panthers’ offensive line would be a concern. While that seemed feasible, as the unit continued to have injury issues, Carolina was still a force with running the ball and protecting Newton. This year, that issue has come back up in a variety of ways.

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Michael Oher and Ryan Kalil are back as the two most important parts of this offensive line. Behind them, there’s not much to get excited over. Andrew Norwell and Trai Turner are the other two starters, but no one else seems to be ready to make a major impact. The offensive line is an important part to the way Carolina has played football for years and an injury to any of these men will hamper the performance of not only this group, but Newton and the running core at the same time.

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