Panthers Trying to Evaluate Young Talent While the Focus Remains on Winning
At 5-9, the Carolina Panthers are now just looking to finish the season strong and are no longer worried about their chances of making the playoffs. For the second straight year under head coach Matt Rhule, the Panthers will finish with a losing record and potentially, a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft.
Carolina made some strides this year, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Haason Reddick was a tremendous free agent signing and appears to be well on his way to the Pro Bowl. The additions of Stephon Gilmore, A.J. Bouye, Rashaan Melvin, Jaycee Horn, and C.J. Henderson completely transformed the secondary and have helped lead the Panthers to having the league's top ranked pass defense.
Unfortunately, the issues on the offensive side of the ball, particularly the offensive line, have held this team back from being a legit contender. Quarterback is a big issue for Carolina as well but until they fix the line, it won't matter who is behind center.
This is now the time of year where teams who have been eliminated from the playoffs start to turn their attention to next year by playing some of the younger guys on the roster. It gives them an idea of what they can do and whether or not they can be serious contributors the following season. Although teams want to get a look at their young talent, these teams still want to win games. In Matt Rhule's case, he wants to be assured that he is still the head coach of the Carolina Panthers heading into 2022, so he may not be as willing to start throwing a bunch of rookies into big roles.
"I think anytime you have a chance to play a young player, you'd like to see what they can do. It gives you clarity for the team moving forward," Rhule told the media on Monday. "Like, we were able to get [CB] Stanley Thomas-Oliver III back up this week and got him playing. We're never going to do it at the expense of the team, we're going to try to win. These guys work too hard not to try to win. But yeah, when you have opportunities to see guys plays you always take those as best you can. A guy like Phil Hoskins who has had to get up because of injuries. Seeing Yetur [Gross-Matos] really starting to come into his own is a big thing so when we can, we will."
One player that everyone assumed would become a starter at some point this season is rookie offensive lineman Brady Christensen. During his time at BYU, he played left tackle. In fact, he's been a left tackle for much of his football playing career. However, this coaching staff believes he is better suited to be a right guard at this level. John Miller and Trent Scott have made most of the team's starts at right guard while Christensen has bounced from right tackle to left tackle to right guard throughout the course of the season. As Panthers fans know, the left tackle spot hasn't treated the organization too well in recent years. There have been eight different starting left tackles over the past eight seasons and that's not a position that you want to have a revolving door at.
Rhule was asked if Christensen would see some more playing time in the final three games of the season and although he didn't commit to the idea, he did offer up some serious praise for the young lineman.
"It's a possibility. We'll have to sit down over the next two days and really think about who gives us the best chance to win. Brady is another one of those guys, kind of like Terrace [Marshall] that came off a crazy year leading up to this year. I think Brady is going to be a starter for us for a long time. He just, he needs an offseason to get a little bit of strength training. Normally when you get to the NFL, you're not going to get much stronger but really when you look at it guys between the ages of 25-28 make the biggest gains. I'd love to see Brady play a little bit more. I like who he is and I think he's going to be a good player for us."
The Panthers will play their final home game this Sunday against Tampa Bay and will finish up the season on the road at New Orleans and Tampa.
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