Carolina Panthers: Training Camp battles to watch in 2018

Cornerback

Kevon Seymour vs. Ross Cockrell vs. Donte Jackson

The battle for starting cornerback will be competitive with returning cornerback Kevon Seymour, free agent signing Ross Cockrell and second round draft pick Donte Jackson.

Entering camp, Seymour would seemingly be the favorite, considering he has a year of experience in this offense. Seymour joined the Panthers right before the start of the season in a trade with the Buffalo Bills so this will be his first training camp with them team. He played in sixteen games last year, starting two, and finished with 16 tackles and four passes defended.

Seymour will be competing with Ross Cockrell, who will be entering his first season with the Panthers but is very familiar with North Carolina. He played his high school football at Charlotte Latin School and then went to Duke University. This will be Cockrell’s fourth team in his five year career.

While Donte Jackson will also be in this competition, he seems to be a long shot at this point. The rookie is a little undersized but has great speed and athleticism.

According to Bill Voth of Panthers.com, this battle may not mean too much as the plan appears to use all three depending on the matchup.

"With that said, we have to remember what the Panthers plan to do with their corners this year. They purposefully brought in complementary parts to mix and match based on matchups. So I don’t think we’re going to see a traditional setup where two corners get 100 percent of the snaps. James Bradberry will, but the other outside slot should be a rotation featuring Jackson, Seymour and Ross Cockrell. Again, it will all depend on matchups."