Veteran Panther Surging in Heated Training Camp Position Battle

Training camp is underway for the Carolina Panthers, who are ushering in a new era of football as Dave Canales takes over as the head coach. 

There’s a lot of intrigue surrounding this squad as they had a horrible 2023 season (2-15), but have multiple players on both sides of the ball that are worth watching out for this summer at training camp.

Speaking of training camp, the Panthers have an interesting kicking competition between Eddy Pineiro and Harrison Mevis. Mevis was signed as an undrafted free agent, which immediately caught the attention of fans.

The former Mizzou kicker had a stellar collegiate career in the SEC and put Pineiro on notice during rookie and mandatory minicamp. The 28-year-old Pineiro didn’t have as many field goal opportunities in 2023 (29) as he had in 2022 (35).

However, the veteran kicker still made 86.2 percent of his field goals (25-of-29) and 85 percent of his extra points (17-of-20). Based on his performance last season and now in training camp, Mevis has a tall task ahead of him.

Joe Person of The Athletic reported Monday that Pineiro went 5-for-5 on field goals at practice and hasn’t missed a kick in camp. Last week, Person reported another 5-for-5 performance from the veteran kicker, including a field goal made from 52 yards out.

Pineiro is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, so he’s trying to not only hold Mevis off from the starting job but hopefully secure an extension with Carolina.

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