Way-Too-Early Depth Charts: Projecting the Panthers' 2021 Kicker & Punter Order

Taking a look at how the kicker and punter spot may shake out for the Carolina Panthers this season.

Author:
Schuyler Callihan
Jul 5, 2021 12:07 PM EDT

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be taking a look at each position group and giving our way-too-early depth chart projections. Today, we move on to the kickers and punters.

Kicker

Starter - Joey Slye

The Panthers currently have only one kicker on the roster and that's Joey Slye. The coaching staff feels comfortable with how he has progressed this offseason and feels like he is hitting the ball really well. Slye has one of the strongest legs in the league but struggled to make meaningful kicks late in the game. He finished the season 29/36 (80%) and went 33/36 on extra-point attempts. If he gets the job done, it will remain his to lose.

Backup - TBD

Carolina brought in several kickers last year for either tryouts or to sign on the practice squad but Slye remained their guy throughout the course of the season. I would expect GM Scott Fitterer and head coach Matt Rhule will at least bring one guy in for competition purposes but it still seems like they want to give Slye another go-around.

Punter

Starter - Joseph Charlton

Charlton had a very solid rookie season a year ago pinning 21 of his 45 punts inside the 20-yard line. He averaged 46.3 yards per punt which ranked him 13th in the league. He had a couple of poorly hit balls but for the most part, Charlton filled in nicely for the injured Michael Palardy, who ended up being released.

Backup - Oscar Draguicevich III

With Michael Palardy officially off the roster, Carolina would like to add some competition and they did so by signing Draguicevich as an undrafted free agent. He averaged 45.7 yards per punt during his three years at Washington State but he has a bit of an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster.

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