Here are five questions I hope are answered during the 2022 training camp.
1) Is the starting quarterback position competition real, or is this Baker Mayfield’s job?
Carolina’s GM Scott Fitterer claims there is an open competition for starting quarterback despite recently trading for Baker Mayfield. He contends that Mayfield was brought in to add strength to the quarterback room and sharpen competition, not just to be handed the starting job. It’s hard to believe this is more than him being diplomatic. Carolina has been open about their desire to upgrade the quarterback position, and they haven’t been all that concerned about Sam Darnold’s feelings as they have been saying it. They aggressively pursued Deshaun Watson, traded up to draft Matt Corral when they failed to land Watson, and then sought to acquire Mayfield when it became clear his time in Cleveland was at an end. Carolina has been blatant and adamant that they don’t believe in Darnold. Given all these signals, it’s hard to believe this is a real competition. I’ll be anxious to see how close the race is between the two. Can anyone imagine Darnold doing enough to win the job? It would be wild for Matt Rhule to bet again on Darnold, and this time the collateral may be his job as head coach.
2) Will the Panthers treat CMC with kid gloves, or is it time to throw him into the fire and hope for the best?
Christian McCaffrey has been Carolina’s best player over the past four years, but he hasn’t been available the last two. McCaffrey’s injury problems may be a bit overblown. His sustained absence may have been from the Panthers being overly cautious, knowing there wasn’t much upside to bringing him back unnecessarily. If Carolina had been competitive for a playoff spot in either of those years, they might not have ended his season by placing him on IR. Either way, CMC’s last two seasons have been marred by injury, which has caused much debate on how to use/protect CMC properly. Some have suggested that Carolina should transition CMC to a slot receiver, others have called for a reduced workload, and Matt Rhule has said he isn’t interested in playing him in the preseason. Carolina has teeter-tottered from overuse to handling CMC with kid gloves. I’ll be curious to see how they see the best way to manage CMC throughout this training camp. My personal opinion is that the fragile and injury-prone narrative is overblown and more a result of recency bias. None of his injuries have been major, and they really haven’t come from him being battered while running between the tackles. These injuries have been soft-tissue injuries and have often been non-contact. So take the kid gloves off, and let CMC run!
3) Who will start at guard?
Carolina fans are no stranger to a bad offensive line, but last year was one of the worst in recent memory. Sadly, it wasn’t just one flat tire, like in some years past (Matt Kalih and Byron Bell); it was four flat tires without a spare. Even the best player on the line, Taylor Moton, wasn’t that impressive, but we largely give that a pass because of the desperate circumstances he found himself in.
Carolina moved to upgrade the line in both free agency and the draft. The acquisition of Bradley Bozeman and Austin Corbit hopefully will shore up the interior while Ikem Ekwonu adds a prospective star left tackle. There are a lot of new faces, but it’s unclear exactly where they will play. Bozeman could play center, but if Carolina believes Pat Elflein is one of their best five, Bozeman may kick over to guard. Elflein played his best snaps as center the past season.
Additionally, last year’s third-round pick, Brady Christianson, remains an enigma. Head Coach Matt Rhule described him as a guard, but his most natural position historically has been left tackle. Some believe that Christianson at left tackle and Ekwonu at left guard would be a formidable duo, perhaps one that performs better than if Christianson was at left guard. Look for training camp to provide information on what the coaching staff envisions this line looking like this season.
4) Will the camp darling be Terrace Marshall, Jr. or someone else?
TMJ came in with a lot of fanfare last season as a second-round pick. Marshall hauled in a whopping ten touchdowns in only seven games at LSU in 2020. TMJ dealt with injuries in college, which was largely why he fell to the Panthers in the draft. Unfortunately, Marshall dealt with more injuries in his rookie year. He had a good OTAs, or at least he was the most celebrated name by the Panthers and the media. Who will be this year’s camp darling? Will it be TMJ or someone on the defense, like Bravion Roy or rookie linebacker Brandon Smith?
5) Who will take the lead opposite Brian Burns?
I wanted to ask, “Will Yetur Gross-Matos step into the starting role?” but I thought that maybe we should just look to see how this defensive end position starts to shake out before we put these expectations on the second-year player. All signs have pointed towards Carolina wanting this to be defensive end by committee (Marquis Haynes and YGM with a sprinkle of Frankie Luuvu). The Panthers have even flirted with bringing in veteran Carlos Dunlap. Look to training camp to reveal more about YGM’s progress, and if we are lucky he may be the camp darling we are looking for.
By Tony Dunn
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