The Carolina Panthers are a radically different team now than the last time they took the field in 2019. Most of the defense has been turned over, along with three offensive linemen, the quarterback and several wide receivers. Getting to know this roster and how all the pieces fit together may take some time, especially given the lack of a traditional offseason program.
Pro Football Focus just released their projected starting lineups for all 32 NFL teams this year.
PFF’s matches our own projections pretty much exactly with a couple of small exceptions. First, they have Michael Schofield slated to play right guard and John Miller left guard instead of the other way around. Either way is a possibility, but both players have traditionally played the right side.
On defense, we project Jeremy Chinn will start at either slot cornerback or strong safety. PFF has Corn Elder in the slot and Juston Burris replacing Eric Reid for now, though. However, they pinpointed Chinn as a “name to watch” for the Panthers in 2020.
“Chinn is undeniably raw coming out of Southern Illinois. He has all the size and athleticism to be a dominant player in the box, but he doesn’t play to that physicality and lacks the processing speed to be an impactful player out of the gates. Those uncoachable physical traits could push him onto the field sooner rather than later, though, particularly with the state of the strong safety depth chart in front of him.”
Fair points.
We should get a better idea of just how much time Chinn needs to adjust to how fast the NFL game is played during the preseason. While his athletic testing is undeniably exciting, the level of competition he faced in college is a real question mark. It might take him longer than the average highly-touted DB prospect to get up to speed.
Either way, we expect him to be playing significant snaps by mid-season.
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