Carolina Panthers musings

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...

BY CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com The Panthers found their veteran running back to replace Jonathon Stewart, inking former Bronco CJ Anderson to a one-year deal earlier this week. The Anderson signing addresses a need fans and media were clamoring for someone to fill after the team chose not to take a running back in the draft. Carolina added former Louisville running back/quarterback/wide receiver Reggie Bonnafon as an undrafted free agent, but even with that addition, the team was still left with only Cameron Artis-Payne and Fozzy Whittaker behind swiss army knife Christian McCaffrey. Adding Anderson gives the Panthers the true between the tackles runner they were searching for. Other needs still exist, though. Carolina also chose not to take an offensive lineman in the draft, instead opting to add three guards-- Clemson's Taylor Hearn, Penn State's Brendon Mahon and West Virginia product Kyle Bosch-- as undrafted free agents. Proven offensive line depth remain...

BY CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com It's almost that time. The 2018 NFL Draft is finally nearly upon us. It seems like an eternity since the Panthers fell 31-26 in early January at New Orleans in the Wild Card round. Since the season came to an abrupt halt and it was made official Carolina would pick 24th in the first round, pundits have swarmed to offer their thoughts on who would go where. The Panthers used their top-10 pick in the previous draft to add the shifty, explosive Christian McCaffrey and addressed wide receiver (Curtis Samuel), tackle (Taylor Moton) and defensive end (Daeshon Hall) in the following rounds. Carolina drafted a cornerback (Corn Elder), a fullback (Alex Armah) and a kicker (Harrison Butker) in the later rounds. Elder was sidelined with an injury and never saw regular season action while Armah made the practice squad and Butker was poached by Kansas City. In this simulated mock draft I ran on Fanspeak.com, I picked some intriguing wea...

By CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com If the Panthers are to take the next step in 2018-19, they'll need more playmakers to do it. After former first round pick Kelvin Benjamin was shipped to Buffalo at the trade deadline this past October, third-year wideout Devin Funchess took off and put together his best career season with 63 catches for 840 yards and eight touchdowns-- all of which were career highs. It was a good season for Funchess. But it's no secret he's not the vertical threat the Panthers need to make Cam Newton flourish under new offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Funchess is a decent route runner, he's big and he's reasonably physical. But he can't take the top off an opposing defense consistently, which is where outside help comes in. Brenton Bersin and Kaelin Clay are both set to hit free agency this spring. With a lot of outside help available through the draft and free agency, I wouldn't expect either one is high on Carolina's p...

By Cory Spiers coryspiers@gmail.com Football can be a mighty cruel mistress. There will be no storybook ending for the only owner the Carolina Panthers have known. The Jerry Richardson era ended quietly and somberly, as right outside of the walls of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Saints fans reveled in noise and exuberance Sunday night. And why wouldn't they? The Saints outclassed the Panthers for a third time this season, leading wire to wire in a 31-26 win over their division rivals. The Panthers needed to be perfect to drop the Saints on the road. Instead, they weren't. And will close the season 11-6, with three of those losses coming to New Orleans. In three meetings with the Saints, Carolina was outscored 96-60 and allowed 31 or more points in all three of those contests. In Sunday's playoff finale between the two, the Panthers at least made things interesting late. Still somehow in a game they had no business being in, Carolina got the ball back down five...

BY CORY SPIERS coryspiers@gmail.com On this day 24 years ago, the Carolina Panthers were born. On Oct. 26, 1993, NFL owners unanimously selected Carolina as the 29th NFL franchise, fulfilling Jerry Richardson's dream of bringing football to the Carolinas. The Panthers became the first expansion team since 1976 and joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as the newest teams in the league starting play during the 1995 season. Since joining the league, the Panthers have played in two Super Bowls (losing one to New England and another to Denver), have won the NFC South five times and have made seven playoff appearances. The team has also employed some talented players over the years. It's not easy to pick the best of the best, even for a team that has only existed for a shade over 20 years, but let's try our best and pick an all-Panthers team in celebration of the team's birthday. In the interest of not having a super-long post, I won't include backups, just my opi...

The Panthers have gone to Detroit and won a game just once in franchise history. And it took a gutsy effort from an unlikely hero to do it. Carolina leads the all-time series against Detroit 5-2. The team's most recent trip to Detroit in 2011 ended in a 49-35 loss. The first and only time the Panthers won at Detroit was on Oct. 16, 2005. At the end of a defense-heavy opening quarter at Ford Field, it was the visiting Panthers who drew first blood in 2005. Quarterback Jake Delhomme found receiver Rod Gardner for a 4-yard score in the final minute of the first to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead. Less than a minute into the second quarter, however, the Lions scored the equalizer after Boss Bailey intercepted a Delhomme pass and returned it 34 yards for a score. Delhomme continued an up-and-down second quarter by tossing an 80-yard touchdown to Steve Smith before throwing another pick-6, this time to Kenoy Kennedy (more on him later). The Panthers and Lions were tied at 14 a...