12. Special teams
Starters: Graham Gano, Michael Palardy, J.J. Jansen, Pharoh Cooper
Backups: Joey Slye
Analysis: Specialists don’t get much attention unless something goes wrong, and we noticed them far too often last year. Carolina’s punt coverage unit was worse than atrocious in 2019 and their own return game has been mediocre at best for a long time. Cooper’s vision and agility should help turn that element around, at least. However, the rest of this equation might be a total mess. Gano is coming off a serious leg injury and Slye’s confidence might not recover from a brutal second half of the season. Football Outsiders is projecting this will be the worst special teams unit in the NFL this year and it’s tough to argue the point.
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