Predicting the Panthers: A season of regrets

In today’s edition of Predicting the Panthers, it is time to look at some potentially regrettable decisions.

Welcome back to another edition of Predicting the Panthers, a series were we go through a ton of different Carolina Panthers topics and give our best guesses to how they’ll play out. This week, we tackle what the Panthers decision makers may look back on with regret at the end of the 2024 season.

This weeks rules are straightforward, I’ll give a general category and then you choose an answer that you feel the best represents a regret the Panthers since the end of last season until the end of the coming season. Let’s jump right in!

Category #1: A player the Panthers will wish they used more

My pick: Raheem Blackshear, Running Back

There are plenty of players you could put here, but I wanted to go with someone whose name doesn’t get brought up a lot, or much at all, really. Blackshear is entering his third season since going undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft and while productive in limited reps as a running back, he’s quietly been a very strong kick returner. With the NFL’s changes to the kickoff rules, his return ability just became that much more valuable. Having him active on gameday just for kickoffs seems like a waste, so using him as a change of pace back in the offense makes too much sense. With Chuba Hubbard on the last year of his contract, Miles Sanders likely on his way out after the season, and rookie second round pick Jonathon Brooks still recovering from an ACL team, why not get Blackshear some reps and see what he has?

Category #2: A player the Panthers will wish they used less

My pick: Adam Thielen, Wide Receiver

Thielen has been a solid player for the Panthers thus far. Without him, the 2023 Panthers offense might have been the worst offense in NFL over the last quarter-century. Unfortunately, he will be 34 for the entire regular season with a bevy of young players behind him vying for playing time. If the Panthers are a middling to bottom tier team in the NFL during the latter portions of the year, it might become time for younger players to get some playing time at his expense. Relegating Thielen to more situational role would allow the ceiling of the Panthers offense to rise a little bit. Talented as Thielen may be, he is not a threat to take a slant 75 yards to the house like an Xavier Legette or even Ihmir Smith-Marsette could.

Category #3: A personnel move the Panthers may regret making

My pick: Signing Robert Hunt to a massive deal in free agency

The signing of Hunt makes perfect sense for the team that General Manager Dan Morgan and Head Coach Dave Canales have said they want to build. Assuming he stays healthy, he’ll be an anchor to the offensive line in pass protection and road grader for the rushing attack. It’s just, well, a lot of money to give to an offensive guard. Guards are not notoriously one of the higher paid positions in the NFL as most teams want to skate by with an average starter and elect to spend their limited capital elsewhere. With the Panthers still in desperate need of pass rushers, cover corners and dependable receiving talent, will they look at Hunt’s over $21 million cap hit in each of the next four years differently?

Category #4: A personnel move the Panthers will wish they had made

My pick: Signing Diontae Johnson to an extension

Right now, waiting to see what they can get out of Johnson’s first year in process blue seems like the prudent move. That said, the wide receiver market is booming with unprecedented amounts of cash being shoveled their way. Should Johnson have a standout season like many are predicting, then his price tag will inevitably skyrocket leaving the Panthers to fork over a stack of money big enough to make Walter White blush. With the future of the Panthers sitting squarely on a second year quarterbacks shoulders, ensuring he has a consistent and explosive separator on the outside should be near the top of the Panthers front office’s priorities.

Category #5: What position the Panthers may regret overlooking

My pick: Edge rushers

The Panthers pass rushing group is abysmal. Anytime I want to do research for an article and I pull-up the Panthers depth chart on Ourlads and see the list of outside linebackers, a cold feeling of dread washes over me. Am I being dramatic? Perhaps, but it cannot be understated just how low the floor is for the Panthers pass rushing corps. After trading away an uber talented, albeit inconsistent, pass rusher in Brian Burns, the Panthers have done very little to re-enforce the room.

Category #6: A draft day decision the Panthers will want back

My pick: prioritizing a running back in round two

I like Jonathon Brooks just as much as the next guy, in fact I probably like him more than the next guy. That does not change the fact that the potential value-add to a team by taking a running back early in the draft is not nearly as high as taking other more prominent positions. The Panthers were connected to several players at more premium positions like Chris Braswell, Marshawn Kneeland, Mike Sainristil and Zach Frazier who were all available with the 46th pick where Brooks was taken. If any of those players have a strong rookie season and Brooks doesn’t play like a top back in the NFL, the Panthers might not look back fondly on their choice.

That’s it for me Panthers fans, but I’d love to hear from you. As always, you’ll find a quick template you can use to give your own answers to the prompts below. Thanks for reading!

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(1) Should’ve used them more:

(2) Should’ve used them less:

(3) Personnel move to regret:

(4) Personnel move that wasn’t made:

(5) Overlooked position group:

(6) Draft decision that may need a do-over: