Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are the four most interesting position battles inside Friday night’s preseason battle between the Panthers and Giants:
On Friday night, the preseason battles will continue—not only between the Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants, but between some Carolina Panthers and some other Carolina Panthers.
Let’s take a look at the four most intriguing position battles of the second exhibition of the summer:
Here’s how Hayden Hurst and the rest of the Panthers tight ends are looking in the “Madden NFL 24” ratings:
With a new top target in tow, let’s take a look at the freshly-released “Madden NFL 24” ratings for the Carolina Panthers tight ends.
There’s not an elite player in the bunch, but the Panthers’ pass catchers may be the key to get their offense going in 2023.
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Who will be key in deciding the fate of the Carolina Panthers offense this season? Well, since they don’t have a clear No. 1 target in the passing game, it could be a whole committee.
CBS Sports writer Jared Dubin recently named each NFL team’s offensive x-factor for the upcoming 2023 campaign. For the Panthers, their success will likely hinge on what their rookie quarterback has to throw to:
In trading up to acquire the No. 1 overall pick that was used to select Bryce Young, the Panthers surrendered their No. 1 wide receiver, D.J. Moore. This offseason, they brought in Adam Thielen and D.J. Chark to complement incumbent wideouts Terrace Marshall and Laviska Shenault, and then they drafted Jonathan Mingo in the second round. At tight end, they signed Hayden Hurst to work with Ian Thomas and Tommy Tremble at tight end. With Frank Reich calling plays and a strong offensive line, the potential is there for Young to hit the ground running. That is, if the aforementioned group of players can be a league-average (or better) pass-catching group. But if the talent does not measure up and Young is left throwing into tight windows all the time, he’s likely to struggle.
Dubin offers a much more delightful outlook on Carolina’s weapons, who haven’t been the most heralded bunch amongst his contemporaries. Heck, wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson even said back in May that they’re a group that’s “under construction.”
But—as a wise man may have said sometime earlier this offseason—it takes a village to get where Reich, Young and the Panthers want to be . . . and the members of that village are already hard at work.
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TE Ian Thomas has agreed to a pay cut, helping the Panthers free up almost $3 million in cap space.
The Carolina Panthers have been quite busy in free agency, and it doesn’t look like they’re done just yet.
As first reported by NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero on Thursday morning, tight end Ian Thomas has agreed to a pay cut—one that’ll free up $2.875 million in salary cap space for the Panthers. The reductions, which span over the next two seasons, will move his base pay down to $3 million for 2023 and $3.65 million for 2024.
Thomas was re-signed to his three-year, $16.5 million deal ahead of free agency last offseason. He received $8 million in guarantees from the pact.
The 2018 fourth-round has made that money off his blocking prowess, as he’s not been particularly productive through the air. Thomas, over 82 career games, has amassed 111 receptions for 999 yards and four touchdowns.
This past season, the 6-foot-4, 260-pounder recorded 197 receiving yards and zero touchdowns—marking his fourth consecutive campaign under 200 yards and second consecutive without a score.
On Wednesday, Carolina came to terms on a three-year, $21.75 million deal with fellow tight end Hayden Hurst—who will, presumably, give the offense some pass-catching production it’s otherwise been missing from the position.
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Panthers TE Ian Thomas, who was arrested in July of 2021 after trying to evade police on an unregistered dirt bike, pleaded to a charge of unsafe movement last month.
As reported by Joe Person of The Athletic on Tuesday afternoon, Carolina Panthers tight end Ian Thomas pleaded to a charge of unsafe movement last month in his case stemming from a July 2021 arrest. Thomas initially faced five misdemeanor charges from the incident, one in which he attempted to evade police on an unregistered and uninsured dirt bike.
Person also reported on the arrest back in February of 2022, just days after the Panthers signed the former fourth-round pick to a three-year, $16.5 million extension. He wrote:
The officer said Thomas and the other driver appeared to slow down, then accelerated and entered the oncoming lane of traffic around 9:30 p.m. on July 12. The incident occurred in an area near a Walmart and other businesses.
While the operator of the ATV drove off, Thomas stopped about a mile and a half from his home, according to court records. He was arrested and jailed on five counts, including reckless driving and felony fleeing to elude.
Thomas, per records, was ordered to pay $391 in fines and court costs and completed a driving course, according to his lawyer.
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With the 2023 Senior Bowl kicking off tomorrow, let’s take a look back at four Panthers who helped their draft stock down in Mobile.
One of draft season’s biggest games will kick off tomorrow down in Mobile, Ala. And although this year’s event is a tad low on star power, teams will always find a way to sift for gems—something the following four Carolina Panthers players know a little bit about.
Here are four players from the current roster who made their mark at the Senior Bowl.
It’s safe to say, even without Week 11’s PFF grades, that many of the Panthers’ pass catchers didn’t have the greatest of days in Baltimore on Sunday. But here they are anyway.
The Carolina Panthers (at least on one side of the ball) gave a pretty good account of themselves in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. But how do the analysts at Pro Football Focus feel about the showing?
Here are the best and worst grades from Week 11.
Entering Monday night, Panthers CB CJ Henderson earned PFF’s highest grade for any player at his position in Week 8.
There were a lot of crazy moments and a lot of crazy numbers in the Carolina Panthers’ Week 8 defeat to the Atlanta Falcons. And now, with the help of Pro Football Focus, we’ll give you some more.
Here are the best and worst grades for the team from Sunday.
In an otherwise gloomy offensive outing for the Panthers, rookie LT Ikem Ekwonu had his best game yet.
Pro Football Focus has a few surprises in store for the Carolina Panthers’ performance from Week 4. So, let’s check these grades out.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey didn’t see his usual workload on Sunday. But when he was on the field, he made a noticeable difference.
Sunday’s game was a harsh fallback to reality for what has been a poor last few seasons for the Carolina Panthers and head coach Matt Rhule. Thoughts of revenge and enthusiasm were dusted and downed as quickly as they came up, with the team imploding far too early on in the afternoon.
There were a lot of lessons to be learned from this loss. And while there were certainly a lot of failures to be had, there were also some bright points on both sides of the ball.
Here is some of the good, as well as the bad, from Week 1 defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns.
