Carolina Panthers musings

By CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com As Greg Little watched the first night of the draft at home with family, he waited for his name to be called. And he waited. And then, he waited some more. Little, an Ole Miss product who many draft experts had projected as a first-round pick, waited as four tackles flew off the board in the first round-- Alabama's Jonah Williams, Andre Dillard from Washington State, Alabama State's Tytus Howard and Kaleb McGary from Washington. So, Little, a big man at about 6-6, 320 pounds, extended his small, family draft party into night two of the draft. Meanwhile, the Panthers, who have started the regular season with five different starting left tackles since Jordan Gross last suited up in 2013, were still searching for help on the line after taking a pass rusher in the first round. The Jaguars scooped up Florida tackle Jawaan Taylor at 35 overall but with Buffalo set to pick at No. 38, Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney didn't thin

By CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com The Panthers didn't select a safety in the 2019 draft, leading many to question what comes next for a position that has been one to watch after the team parted ways with veteran Mike Adams, who started all 32 of the team's regular season games over the past two seasons. With Adams gone, Carolina has little starting experience left at safety. Eric Reid, who inked a fresh three-year extension this offseason, is the highlight of the position. Beyond Reid, the Panthers also carry former Tar Heel Da'Norris Searcy, who was limited to just two games with the team last season after an early-season concussion derailed his trajectory. Rashan Gaulden, a second-year man out of Tennessee, also saw some time at safety for the team last season and is set to be back in the mix for a starting spot. Still, it's tough to project exactly what the Panthers have in Gaulden at this time. Cole Luke, Colin Jones, Kai Nacua and Damian Parms are the

BY CORY SPIERS It's still a bit early to start thinking about draft order, but the closer we get to the end of the regular season, the more it looks as if the Panthers will be picking in the top-10 in April's draft. It's quite a change from the thinking a month ago. Once upon a time, Carolina was 6-2 and had serious playoff aspirations. A five-game losing streak has all but derailed the Panthers playoff hopes, who cling to postseason life solely by virtue of a crowd of NFC Wild Card contenders who can't seem to quit stepping on their own feet on the dance floor. Even still, Carolina's final trio of games is a brutal gauntlet. The now 6-7 Panthers host New Orleans in a primetime game in Week 15. With the Saints eager to hold off Los Angeles for the NFC's top seed and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, they'll have plenty to play for against their rivals. Carolina stays home and welcomes Matt Ryan and the Falcons to Charlotte two days bef

By CORY SPIERS The Panthers (6-4) lost their second straight game this past Sunday, falling 20-19 at Detroit after a failed 2-point conversion in the game's final two minutes. The loss dropped Carolina to an abysmal 1-4 on the road and in the team's lone road win of the season, it needed a 21-point fourth quarter explosion to erase a 17-0 deficit at Philadelphia. What more do we know about the Panthers after their Motor City meltdown? Not much. We do know they're still very much in control of their own playoff destiny as it relates to wild card scenarios-- they, along with Minnesota (5-4-1) still hold serve as wild card leaders after Sunday's slate of games. However, a slew of five and six-loss teams are nipping right at Carolina's heels and more performances like yesterday's could mean a long, lonely offseason. There were a lot of different fingerprints on yesterday's stinker. With that said, some position groups will be required to obtain a paren

BY CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com The final score doesn't mean much in the preseason, but, for what it's worth, the Panthers opened their exhibition slate with a 28-23 road win over the Bills this past Thursday night. Cam Newton and a host of limited offensive starters lasted a couple of series in the first quarter before the reserve floodgates opened. The first team offense turned in a particularly underwhelming first series that ended in a Michael Palardy punt but capped off an efficient nine-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard Christian McCaffrey touchdown run later in the quarter. Carolina's first-team defense got a good chunk of work against the Bills starters in the opening quarter and allowed a 28-yard touchdown connection between Nathan Peterman and Kelvin Benjamin. As is the case with any preseason game, some players saw their stock rise while others saw it fall. Stock rising: DJ Moore : One game (let alone an exhibition game) is an extremely small sa

By CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com Surprise! The Charlotte Hornets will pick 11th overall in next month's NBA Draft. If that sounds familiar, it's because the team has picked between 9-12th overall eight times since 2008. The only higher pick outliers were when the team picked fourth overall in 2013 and second overall in 2012. Charlotte learned its 2018 draft fate at the draft lottery earlier this week. Their lack of luck with the ping-pong balls has them in draft no man's land once again. While it's possible to find perennial All Stars between 8-12, (see names like: George, Paul, Thompson, Clay and Nowitzki, Dirk) the Hornets certainly haven't done so with any degree of regularity. Charlotte's eight top 12 selections since 2008 have combined for two All Star appearances-- both by 2011 9th overall pick Kemba Walker. Five of the eight selections are still with the team. 2017: Malik Monk-- 11th overall--  It's still early to say exactly what kin