The Carolina Panthers have had themselves a decent enough offseason, at least relative to what their personnel looked like in January. But the lack of a major splash, particularly at the two most important posts for any franchise, hasn’t exactly inspired much on the grand scheme of things.
You can count NBC Sports’ Peter King amongst the uninspired, as the longtime NFL scribe positioned the Panthers at the 31st spot of his power rankings on Monday.
“Hard to be optimistic if you’re a Panthers’ fan,” King starts in his latest “Football Morning in America” column. “You don’t know who your quarterback, head coach or coordinators will be on opening day 2023, and you’re not sure any of those men are in-house (even Matt Corral) today. The best sign of the spring for Carolina is that owner David Tepper came out and said the team has to be patient. If so, give Sam Darnold six or eight games to sink or swim, and if he fails, give the rest of the year to Corral. I wouldn’t import Baker Mayfield unless I was confident he had a good chance to be the QB of the future. How you’d figure what to pay him … I am clueless.”
King goes a step further later on in the piece—stating that of all the quarterback-needy squads heading into 2022, that the Panthers are the likeliest to secure the No. 1 overall pick next spring.
“Of all the teams on this list, the Panthers have the best chance at the highest pick,” he adds. “I’ll be surprised if they’re not picking in the top five. Maybe the top one. The Panthers have their own picks in each round. It’s likely they’ll want to see a lot of rookie Matt Corral if their season is going down the toilet.”
That list also included the Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins and New York Giants.
If King’s instincts prove to be true, then there will assuredly be some massive turnover in Carolina. A top-five pick would, of course, mean another abysmal campaign—all but spelling the end for head coach Matt Rhule.
The same could be said under center, where a much healthier crop of quarterback prospects awaits in 2023. That lowly of an output would definitely see Darnold out of the door after the final year of his deal and make Corral’s situation—depending on how much action he sees and how much he can prove in said action—a bit murky.
But until that all literally plays out, the 2022 season—no matter how cloudy it appears now—should give the Panthers plenty of clear answers as they continue their tumultuous rebuild.
