Carolina Panthers
Offense
No offense took a harder hit than Carolina’s, which lost its left tackle and right guard, as well as its top three wide receivers. DeAngelo Williams is 31 years old and Jonathan Stewart hasn’t played a full 16-game season in three years. Meanwhile, the franchise, Cam Newton, underwent ankle surgery in the offseason and is now dealing with a injury to his ribs in the preseason.
It feels like Newton is going have to single-handedly move this offense up and down the field. His go-to target, tight end Greg Olsen, will likely be relied on heavily in the early going, and eventually first-round pick Kelvin Benjamin should develop into a downfield threat. But the talent around Newton is minimal, and with a patchwork offensive line and poor stable of running backs, don’t expect this offense to make much noise.
Defense
The offense wasn’t the only side of the ball to suffer some key losses. Carolina lost three of its starting members of its secondary from 2013 in a division with the Falcons’ and Saints’ aerial attacks. Marquee pass-rusher Greg Hardy could be suspended to start the season, too.
Last year Ron Rivera had finally pieced together a defense of his liking, but the NFL’s No. 2-ranked unit is bound for regression after losing its top corners and both safeties. The front seven remains stout, but the back end of the D is very, very suspect.
Outlook
A different team has won he NFC South every year since 2002, and with the Panthers without so many of their main contributors from a year ago that trend seems very likely to continue in 2014.
Newton cannot be happy with the lack of talent the front office has surrounded him with, and after a remarkable 2013 campaign the Panthers again will be irrelevant in the playoff race. That can’t be good for Newton, nor his future in Carolina.
