2020 Carolina Panthers Special Teams Preview

Special teams is one of the most underrated aspects of the game of football, yet it often determines a team's success in the long run. To stress on the importance on this part of the game, many consider special teams to be one of the main reasons why the Panthers lost Super Bowl XXXVIII to the Patriots after John Kasay's costly error late in the game with an illegal procedure penalty. As of late, the team has struggled to reach success, but special teams was one of the bright spots and should continue to be an area of progress in the future.

Special teams coach Chase Blackburn made it clear that Matt Rhule prioritized this area of the game.

"He has shown through his words and his time commitment and his process and even his team meetings talking about special teams, showing clips and how things correlate to special teams – offense and defense. That doesn't always happen. Just the meetings he's had with me – the interview process was a multiple-tiered interview. You could tell he knew what he was doing. You could tell he knew what the verbiage was and that he was into it. And bringing (assistant special teams coach) Ed Foley along as well – another coach who's been around and coached it and has had success. There's just so much knowledge in that group, and they're going to give the devoted attention, time in practice, preparation and he's going to demand that we be great. (Special teams) is not a transition, it's a big-time play that can change ballgames."

With this new emphasis on special teams, it's important to focus on the key positions that will determine the Panthers' success here.

Kicker

Despite the release of former Panthers kicker Graham Gano, the team has a solid replacement in Joey Slye. Slye took over in 2019 after Gano was sidelined for the rest of the season. He broke a franchise record last season by converting eight field goals with at least 50 yards. He also made 78.1% of his field goals and 88.6% of his extra points, which is especially solid for his first year as a starting NFL kicker. The future seems to be bright for him.

Punter

Michael Palardy will be out for the season as a result of a torn ACL. The veteran averaged a total of 45.3 yards in 2019. Undrafted rookie Joseph Charlton seems to be the replacement for him. Last year at the University of South Carolina, Charlton averaged an impressive 47.7 yards per punt. This will be Charlton's first season in the league. While there is a lot of pressure placed on the young punter's leg, there hasn't been anything that has shown us that he will be unable to perform on the next level. He should be able to punt consistently well as the starter this season.

Returner

Blackburn mentioned three names who could be featured in the return game this season: D.J. Moore, Christian McCaffrey, and Pharoh Cooper. Blackburn discussed the possibilities and what to expect from Cooper and the rest of the returners:

"I think he's proven. He's shown himself. Obviously, he's a talented returner and receiver. We have him back there; we have other guys that can do. DJ Moore can still return (and) Christian McCaffrey. We've got guys. We've got guys around. We've got young guys that can return. That's another exciting part is all these returners that have the capabilities and talent to do it."

Cooper could be the feature returner to save some breathing room for McCaffrey and Moore to make plays for the Panthers offense, but we will see how the unit operates once the starting lineups are officially released. There's enough firepower on this roster for many big plays to be made in the return game.

If the Panthers can remain consistent on the special teams end, then there is more room for the offense and defense to make plays in order to generate more wins. While there are some new faces, there is little proof that shows us that the team won't be able to produce solid numbers in this area.

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