Thursday, August 29, 2002 Updated: September 3, 3:30 PM ET
Carolina Panthers
By
LAST SEASON: 1-15, 5th in NFC West PROJECTION: 4th in NFC South
Kasay is automatic for the Panthers.
New coach and scheme, but the same shaky QB and secondary. Fox's new reality show, When Panthers Attack, is doomed to low ratings -- and a 214 record.
STRONG SIDE
ST: If the NFL were a Punt, Pass and Kick contest, the Panthers would be two-thirds of the way to the Super Bowl. Pro Bowl P Todd Sauerbrun is long (NFL-best 47.5 ypp) and accurate (second-best 35 punts inside the 20), and K John Kasay (23 of 28 FGs) doesn't miss often. Jerrod Cooper may be the game's best kickoff coverage guy, and KR Steve Smith (2 TDs on kickoffs, 1 on punts) made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. WR Isaac Byrd must pick up the slack for KR Michael Bates, a five-time Pro Bowler who could miss the season with a broken right ankle. Even so, if the rest of the Panthers can keep games close, their special teams will steal a couple of W's.
WEAK SIDE
DB: There's little relief for a secondary that got torched for 25 TD passes. The Panthers are ultra-green at CB, so John Fox signed veteran Giant Emmanuel McDaniel. Promising rook Dante Wesley will miss a month after hernia surgery. Then there's Reggie Howard, who has 1 career pick and 0 career starts, and Terry Cousin, who hasn't picked a pass in two years. Solid SS Mike Minter (2 INTs) is the lone returning starter.
QB: The Panthers brought in O-coordinator Dan Henning and veteran QB Rodney Peete to tutor Chris Weinke, whose rookie year was a disaster (NFL's second-worst rating at 62.0). Henning's plan: shorter routes over the middle and more deep balls. Weinke, already 30, had better have a short learning curve.
RB: Rookie coach John Fox hopes to run more than George Seifert did, so the Panthers dumped Tim Biakabutuka, drafted UCLA star DeShaun Foster and signed former Dolphin Lamar Smith. Foster's got the goods, but journeyman Smith starts until the rookie recovers fully from a preseason knee injury.
WR:Muhsin Muhammad's 2001 numbers (50 catches, 585 yards, 1 TD) were way down from his 2000 stats (102, 1,183, 6). Blame it on slippery fingers and no help. Who'll pitch in this year? Pro Bowl KR Steve Smith (career high: 10 catches) and injury-prone Isaac Byrd (career high: 37 catches) will try.
OL: T's Todd Steussie and Chris Terry, G's Kevin Donnalley and Jamar Nesbit and C Jeff Mitchell allowed 32 sacks, fifth-best in the NFC. The ground game is a different story: Carolina ranked 29th in rushing (85.8 ypg) and last in rushing first downs. Foster had better be able to break tackles.
DL: Fox compares DE Julius Peppers, the No. 2 overall pick, to a young Michael Strahan, and hopes he can revive overpriced Sean Gilbert (only 6 sacks the past two years). Mike Rucker, an undersized (258 pounds) speed rusher, led Carolina with 9 sacks. The Panthers had just 26 as a team.
LB:Hannibal Navies and Mark Fields are fast enough to cover, but can they stop the run? Fox has moved Dan Morgan from OLB to MLB in an attempt to improve the league's worst run D (143.8 ypg).
This article appears in the September 16 issue of ESPN The Magazine.
