Carolina Panthers: James Bradberry injury a hitch in possible step forward
The Carolina Panthers were hoping that their young cornerbacks would take another step forward coming into 2017, but James Bradberry’s injury hurts that.
When looking at the narrative of the Carolina Panthers’ disappointing 2016 season, many point to the loss of Josh Norman. Without the star cornerback, the secondary undoubtedly took a step back. As a result, the cornerbacks in Charlotte have gotten a bad rap. For some, that’s deserved. For others such as James Bradberry, it’s off-base.
Bradberry was taken in the second round by the Panthers in the 2016 draft. Coming out of Samford, he was far from a highly touted prospect. However, he was wildly successful during his collegiate career. And though he experienced early growing pains, his rookie year was actually quite solid.
The 6-1, 210-pound cornerback was graded by Pro Football Focus as the 20th best cornerback in the NFL last season. Considering the aforementioned struggles early in the season, that’s quite impressive. From that you can infer that he was playing at an elite-like level at the end of his rookie season.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
Because of that promise, there was hope that Bradberry would indeed become a true No. 1 cornerback in his second season. Unfortunately, he suffered a setback in that regard. Per Max Henson of Panthers.com, Bradberry suffered a fractured wrist on Monday in OTAs. He’ll be in a cast for six weeks, but he’ll still be able to practice. With that said, the report left his availability for minicamp up in the air.
While the fact that Bradberry will be able to practice is a positive given the situation, it’s still an unfortunate turn of events. Practicing with a cast isn’t the same as doing so at 100 percent. There is a natural and instinctual tendency to compensate for the cast and injury, thus changing the way a player plays, even if only marginally.
For a player just 23 years old and with the potential of Bradberry, having that type of hindrance is nothing to dismiss. He’s a player that the Panthers are wholly expecting to be the young heart of the secondary. Yet, that seems at least somewhat less likely if he’s having to grow and learn further while dealing with such an injury.
Next: NFL 2017: Ranking the 30 best pass rushers
Again, this isn’t worst-case scenario for the Panthers and Bradberry by any stretch. He’ll be a full-go by the start of the preseason and surely by the regular season. But for a play hoping to make the leap to elite overall status, this is certainly a bump in the road. We’ll see how smoothly he and the team navigate over it. For the sake of Carolina returning to prominence, let’s hope it’s an easy ride through.