Carolina Panthers: Rationale for Return
The defense. The Panthers model has always been to control the score on defense and then have just enough offense with a power running game to get by. Last year the team sometimes did much better than that and instead had to play with big leads against the Seahawks and Giants that turned the formula on its head.
Is the defense back? Mostly yes. Jared Allen retired, but he was mainly a decoy on the line. Charles Johnson is back and needs a big year to justify a bigger contract. Kawann Short, the key in the middle, also needs to justify his value by following up his Pro Bowl season last year.
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Kony Ealy looks like he is ready to break out and have a big year. The question of defensive line depth behind those guys was answered when the Panthers drafted Vernon Butler in the first round. The linebacker quartet is still great with Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, and a more experienced Shaq Thompson. A.J. Klein can still plug in anywhere in that group.
The front seven is the team’s defining group. The secondary gets a little harder to define. The understanding is that if the front does its job, then the secondary doesn’t have to do too much. That will be tested because despite the presence of Kurt Coleman (contract year), there are a lot of question marks.
Next: Kelvin Benjamin