The Carolina Panthers are in for a rough ride during the 2020 season. While Matt Rhule has built his career on turning bad teams into contenders, no NFL team has lost more talent or experience this year. There’s an argument to make that Carolina has the thinnest roster in the league right now.
According to a new ranking by Mark Schofield at Touchdown Wire, they’re not far off. He has listed the 11 thinnest rosters in the NFL going into 2020, and the Panthers came in next-to-last. Only Ron Rivera’s Washington Redskins were ranked lower.
Here’s what he said about Carolina’s situation.
“There is potential for the 2020 Carolina Panthers to vastly surpass expectations. . . Beyond the skill positions, however, there are issues. The offensive line has some holes, perhaps bigger than Russell Okung can plug. Pass rush is a question mark, although Derrick Brown on the inside and Yetur Gross-Matos on the outside can help. Luke Kuechly’s retirement leaves a big hole, and the secondary also faces questions after the departure of James Bradberry. Eli Apple showed promise while in New Orleans, so he could step into that cornerback spot, Jeremy Chinn was a very intriguing prospect prior to the draft and fits the mold of the modern NFL safety. So while there is talent on both sides of the football, the depth behind those players, as well as how those new faces gel, are big questions facing Rhule in 2020.”
A case could be made that teams like the Jets, Bengals and the Lions are in worse shape, but there’s no denying that this roster is relatively weak, especially compared to the rest of the NFC South.
At least there’s nowhere to go but up from here.
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