The 7 biggest surprises about the Panthers’ initial 2020 roster

Here are the seven biggest surprises about this group.

Sam Franklin > Jordan Kunaszyk

Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Another college free agent who made the initial 53 is linebacker Sam Franklin, who played for Matt Rhule during his freshman year – which was Rhule’s last season at Temple before he moved on to Baylor. Franklin’s college production was impressive (eight sacks, 24 tackles for a loss, two interceptions, eight pass breakups) but it’s a mild surprise that he made the team instead of Jordan Kunaszyk, who has a year of experience in the NFL and looked sharp during the preseason in 2019.