Panthers camp: Getting used to all the new faces

Carolina Panthers

www.panthers.com
Location:
Spartanburg, S.C.
Camp Opens
July 28
Can improvement be made with so many roster changes?
Say what you want about the Panthers, but they are in a youth movement. On top of the three changes to offensive starters (WR, QB, FB) and the three on defense (DE, DT, S), the team lost WR Steve Smith and starting LB Thomas Davis to offseason injuries. Smith will be back at some point, and he's now the leader of the team with Jake Delhomme and Julius Peppers playing in Cleveland and Chicago, respectively. The Panthers drafted 10 players, and they could all make the team. A daunting training camp task lies ahead for John Fox and his coaching staff.
Is Fox in a no-win situation?
People love to refer to coaches who appear positioned to be fired as being on the "hot seat." Fox is in the last year of his contract and with no extension in sight it looks like the end of the road in Carolina is close. Fox will coach this team hard, and an 8-8 record might be the best coaching job of his career -- even though he's been to a Super Bowl. I'm not sure Fox would even sign a contract extension if it were offered to him after the organization put him through such a difficult offseason. His players love playing for him and play hard, but even a few of them have told me off the record they feel bad about the situation. It will be interesting to monitor, as I will first-hand, the morale of the team in camp and what Fox will be doing under these circumstances.
Will a quarterback controversy emerge?
Entering camp, Matt Moore is the starter, and with good reason. He can really throw the ball, the players believe in him, and he has natural leadership qualities. He finished the 2009 season with a 4-1 record as the starter, but he knows that high-profile rookie Jimmy Clausen is waiting in the wings. The media could call for Clausen as early as training camp and will likely challenge why it isn't an open competition. Moore won't have Smith in camp and Muhsin Muhammad is retired. Dwayne Jarrett and rookie Brandon LaFell will probably be the main targets in the preseason. Heck, we could see an outcry for Armanti Edwards, the 5-foot-11 rookie from Appalachian State who is very popular in the Carolinas for beating Michigan at the Big House in 2007.

--Pat Kirwan


Complete regular-season schedule
player 1
Team chemistry can be overrated in sports, but in football, you can't win if not everyone is pulling in the same direction. They don't have to like each other, but they do have to work together. This could be an issue for the Panthers, who will enter training camp with a younger and less experienced team than the one that finished last season 8-8. Therefore, I will be watching with great interest to see how well the team coalesces during camp. Will a quarterback with only a handful of starts (Matt Moore, pictured) develop timing with his rookie receivers (Armanti Edwards, Brandon LaFell)? Will DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart run as effectively behind a new fullback (Tony Fiammetta)? Will the defense be thrown off kilter as it shifts to compensate for losing outside linebacker Thomas Davis? Between the heavy roster turnover and coach John Fox working without a contract for next season, there are a lot of factors working against the Panthers. They have their work cut out for them in camp.

-- Andrew Simon, Blog Blitz

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WR battle
Fantasy owners looking for deep sleepers should monitor the wide receiver battle in Carolina. Veteran Dwayne Jarrett is in the mix, but Armanti Edwards and Brandon LaFell are the players to watch. Edwards was impressive in OTAs, and LaFell could push Jarrett for a starting role during training camp. Neither of them will have more value than Steve Smith, but there's some definite upside.

-- Michael Fabiano
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