Here is a first look and review for the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers offense for the 2016 season.
The 2016 NFL season is bearing closer as each day passes. Training camp began this week and speculation has started as to who will complete the starting roster as the Panthers push towards finishing what they started in 2015.
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While there are many positions that are locked up by stalwart veterans such as Cam Newton at quarterback, there are some interesting changes to the Panthers’ roster coming into this season. However, these changes are set to potentially have both positive and negative impacts on the team.
Offensively there are two important aspects of the Panthers roster that will be storylines to watch this season: the offensive line and the wide receivers. The depth of effective receivers is a new situation for the Panthers organization. Unfortunately, that same level of depth does not transition over to the offensive line.
The Panthers’ offensive line is consistently a question mark heading into the season. Last year, many considered this to be the weakest group and would under perform for much of the season. Instead, the exact opposite happened.
The offensive line protected the Newton very well’ allowing only 33 sacks on the quarterback throughout the season. Rushing wise, Carolina was a dominant force with the top ranked ground game in the league. In fact, the shifting offensive line from 2014 started the streak of 100-yard games that is still intact this very moment.
However, the question of stability comes up this season. Other than Michael Oher and Ryan Kalil, there aren’t any other players that seem like staple members of this group. Andrew Norwell, Trai Turner and Mike Remmers shape out the rest of the line, but none of these men jump off of the page. If the Panthers are going to continue dominating defenses with their run attack, this unit needs to find some sort of constancy, which is usually difficult due to the violent nature of these positions.
There is one area in which Carolina can look to flex its strength; the passing attack. Pairing a healthy Kelvin Benjamin with an improving Devin Funchess is a scary task for any defense. The inclusion of Greg Olsen, Ted Ginn, Jr and Philly Brown gives Newton a viable number of weapons that he hasn’t always had in the past. Expectations are that this group will develop some formation sets that will create a lot of mismatches for defenders.
If Newton continues to improve the way he did in 2015, the Panthers should have one of the best passing attacks available in the National Football League.
The Panthers projected offensive lineup includes the following players: Newton (QB), Jonathan Stewart (RB), Mike Tolbert (FB), Benjamin (WR), Funchess (WR), Olsen (TE), Oher (LT), Norwell, Kalil Turner and Remmers. As with every other team in the NFL, there are both strengths and weaknesses to be found within this group.
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It will be interesting to watch how this team builds on the success that led to a 15-1 record while answering some of the changes that have impacted this roster on both sides of the ball.