Panthers Ranked Worst Secondary in League By PFF and Daryl Worley Has a Problem With It
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Pro Football Focus, the statistical analysis giant that has found a way to quantify every step and misstep by every NFL player on every NFL play, recently ranked the Carolina Panthers secondary as the NFL's worst heading into 2016.
“Top CBs: Robert McClain, James Bradberry, Bené Benwikere
Key stat: 68.4 percent of the Panthers’ CB snaps in 2015 will be replaced this season.
Returning only Bené Benwikere, Robert McClain, and Teddy Williams among corners who played for the team last season, the Panthers face a tall order to produce a secondary that can match up to last year’s group. The Panthers invested multiple picks in corners in the draft, and unless McClain and Benwikere can produce on the outside in a way they haven’t done to this point in their careers, the pressure will be on the Panthers’ young corners to produce immediately.”
The concerns for Carolina's secondary are justified. There isn't much depth nor experience. If you add the Panthers safeties in, you get an effective veteran presence in Kurt Coleman, but more unknowns with Tre' Boston. The team is going to miss Josh Norman for sure, but General Dave Gettleman hasn't missed much over the past three years. I have to believe he's got an idea of how to make this secondary better than bad and even better than serviceable. With the signing today of former Patriot, Leonard Johnson, Gettleman clearly has this position group on his mind.
And more good news, and something hard to quantify in yards allowed and passes defended, is that the Panthers have a hungry bunch of young bucks who are chomping at the bit. These rookies are coming in motivated with a chip on their shoulder. Now that doesn't give them experience, but it does lend to a certain youthful confidence.
By the Professor, aka Tony Dunn