Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Who could be on the chopping block for the Panthers this offseason?
The Carolina Panthers aren’t exactly strapped for cash heading into free agency, but they aren’t exactly loaded with it either. So, how can they inch closer to the latter situation?
Here are four potential cap casualties for this offseason:
Panthers CB Jaycee Horn strapped on the seatbelt to close out the 2023 campaign.
Which Carolina Panthers did well on the final test of the 2023 season?
Here are the best and worst Pro Football Focus grades from the Week 18 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
Derrick Brown was a big stud in a season full of duds for the 2023 Carolina Panthers.
Who shined and who struggled in the final game of the season?
Here are the studs and duds from the Carolina Panthers’ 9-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
The Panthers have scratched six players ahead of their Week 16 matchup against the Packers, including CB CJ Henderson.
All of this afternoon’s scratches are healthy ones for the Carolina Panthers.
Headlining the list of inactives ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Green Bay Packers is cornerback CJ Henderson, who played zero defensive snaps in Week 14 and six in Week 15. Since returning from his concussion, the soon-to-be free agent has accounted for just 28 of a possible 166 defensive snaps.
Joining Henderson on the sideline will be wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., who has also been phased out of late. The former second-round pick has not played since Carolina’s Week 10 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Here’s the full list of inactives for the Panthers:
The Packers, however, are not as healthy as the home team. Their naughty list includes a handful of key names:
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The Panthers are heading into their Week 15 matchup against the Falcons with just four active wide receivers.
With the rainy and windy forecast now proven to be correct, the Carolina Panthers are preparing to be grounded.
Wideouts Terrace Marshall Jr. and Mike Strachan have been ruled out as healthy scratches for today’s potentially sloppy matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. That’ll leave the Panthers with just four receivers at their disposal—Adam Thielen, DJ Chark, Jonathan Mingo and Ihmir Smith-Marsette.
Marshall Jr. will be inactive for the fifth straight game. The former second-round pick has amassed 18 receptions for 134 yards in his third NFL season.
Carolina, also in anticipation of a run-heavy approach, called up guards Gabe Jackson and J.D. DiRenzo from their practice squad yesterday afternoon. Both are standard elevations.
Here’s the full list of inactives for the Panthers this afternoon:
And as for the visiting Falcons:
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Panthers WR Terrace Marshal Jr. is a healthy scratch for the Week 11 clash with the Cowboys.
Well, Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich won’t have to worry about forgetting Terrace Marshall Jr. this week.
The third-year wide receiver is a healthy scratch for Sunday’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. Marshall Jr., who was reportedly granted permission to seek a trade earlier this season, has recorded 18 catches for 134 yards in eight games.
Carolina’s offense will also be without tight end Hayden Hurst, who is currently in concussion protocol. Fellow tight end Ian Thomas should, however, provide some depth—as he was officially activated from injured reserve on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthersm additionally, won’t have cornerbacks Jaycee Horn (hamstring) and CJ Henderson (concussion) nor outside linebacker Marquis Haynes Sr. (back)—all of whom were ruled out on Friday.
Here is the full group of inactives for the team in Week 11:
And here’s who’s down for Dallas:
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This Bryce Young stat may make you happy and sad at the same time.
As he probably should have, Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich stuck by his players last week—more specifically, his pass catchers. He told reporters, contrary to popular belief, that the team’s receivers are “getting open enough.”
Well, someone has some numbers that beg to differ.
According to Football Insights, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is the NFL’s most accurate thrower to open/wide open receivers on passes of at least five air yards. But the bad news is that he has the lowest percentage of throws where his receivers have gained open separation.
How often QBs throw to open/wide open receivers and their charted accuracy (5+ air yard passes).
Think this may speak to the stale offense/weapons in CAR, but also Bryce Young’s ability to hammer tighter windows with his arm. pic.twitter.com/mHZLM3j17U
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) November 15, 2023
Of the Carolina pass catchers evaluated by NFL’s Next Gen Stats this season, none have averaged more than 3.2 yards of separation. That group includes Hayden Hurst (3.2), Terrace Marshall Jr. (3.1), Adam Thielen (2.9), DJ Chark (2.5) and Jonathan Mingo (2.1).
Young’s rookie campaign certainly hasn’t benefitted from those outcomes. The No. 1 overall pick is averaging just 195.0 passing yards per contest with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions over eight starts.
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Panthers quarterback Bryce Young keeps making the same mistakes in his rookie season, and the clock is ticking for that to change.
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Through the first half of the 2023 NFL season, the Carolina Panthers have trailed the Houston Texans quite decidedly in the first-round quarterback sweepstakes. While C.J. Stroud of the Texans has made the Offensive Rookie of the Year contest redundant and is starting to get legitimate NFL MVP talk, Bryce Young of the Panthers is still trying to find his feet.
Stroud has completed 173 of 279 passes (62.0%) for 2,270 yards (8.1 YPA), 14 touchdowns, one interceptions, and a passer rating of 102.9. He ranks second in DVOA and third in DYAR among all NFL quarterbacks this season — not just rookies.
Coming into Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Bears, Young has completed 161 of 252 passes (63.9%) for 1,375 yards (5.5 YPA), eight touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a passer rating of 77.1. He ranks second-to-last in the NFL behind Daniel Jones of the New York Giants in DYAR, and third-to-last in DVOA behind Jones and P.J. Walker of the Cleveland Browns.
Stroud is the Texans’ franchise quarterback without any doubt, while Panthers head coach Frank Reich is fielding questions about whether he should bench Young in favor of Andy Dalton.
“I suppose that’s a fair question,” Reich said after Carolina’s 27-13 Week 9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. “But I can honestly tell you that thought’s never even came close to my mind.”
Whether or not the Panthers might eventually sit their first overall pick if things keep going the ways in which they’re going, things are bad with this team and this quarterback.
“I think it’s just understanding that, good or bad, you have to be able to turn the page,” Young said after the Colts loss. “Whatever it is you’ve done, positive or negative, doesn’t entitle you to anything next week and doesn’t entitle you to the next opponent. So just the importance of context.
“We’re all competitors. We all feel this. We’re going to feel this loss. I certainly do.”
“It is what it is. But at the same time, that doesn’t entitle me to anything, good or bad, moving forward. And in the NFL, no one feels sorry for anyone. And we have the opportunity where we have to turn the page, and we have to do it quickly. It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to bounce back.”
Nobody feels sorry for Young, and until he stops repeating some mistakes that have led to a lot of those seven interceptions, he’s going to have issues… because the recurrent themes are problematic for any quarterback.
So, let’s get into what those themes are.
The “lack of an appetite” from the NFL’s contenders may have contributed to the Panthers’ inactivity at the trade deadline.
There may have been no demand for the Carolina Panthers’ supply.
This year’s trade deadline came and went without a peep from general manager Scott Fitterer and company, as the Panthers stood pat and did not make a deal. And that, according to Sports Illustrated senior NFL reporter Albert Breer, that may have been a result of a cold market.
He wrote on Tuesday evening:
Silence from New England, Carolina and Denver reflects, to me, a very short supply of buyers this year. I’ll dig this week into why it played out that way, because there were opportunities out there for teams that wanted to take a swing or two. In the end, there simply wasn’t a great appetite on the part of contenders to pick up the bat.
Breer also reported, nearly three weeks back, that the Panthers were listening to offers on a handful of players. That group included wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., cornerback Donte Jackson, safety Jeremy Chinn and, to a much more complicated degree, outside linebacker Brian Burns.
But, unlike last year, the buyers weren’t buying what Carolina may have been selling.
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NFL Network insider Mike Garofolo: Unless something changes, sounds like it’s gonna be a quiet deadline day in Carolina.
Well, maybe something hasn’t come up for general manager Scott Fitterer, head coach Frank Reich and the Carolina Panthers over the last 24 hours.
According to NFL Network insider Mike Garofolo, the Panthers are not likely to make a move before today’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline.
“It is quiet right now in Carolina,” Garofolo stated on Tuesday’s episode of The Insiders. “So something would really have to heat up for the Panthers to make a move. They did have that offer for Brian Burns last year—with regards to two first-round picks from the Rams as well as a little bit more on top of that, which would’ve been quite the haul. Still surprised that they turned that one down.
“So no indication that he is in any position to be moved right now. Unless something changes, sounds like it’s gonna be a quiet deadline day in Carolina.”
After a disappointing start to their 2023 campaign, the Panthers were viewed as possible sellers throughout the month of October. In addition to Burns, some rumored trade candidates included cornerback Donte Jackson, safety Jeremy Chinn and wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr.—who had been granted permission to seek a swap.
But, with the clock ticking away, it seems like there’s no deal for Fitterer to be in on at the moment.
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