With roughly a month before NFL camps officially open up, there is lots of optimism around the Carolinas Panthers and their upcoming 2023 season. From the additions of New Head coach Frank Reich, highly profiled quarterback and #1 draft pick Bryce Young, new wide receivers Adam Thielen, DJ Chark and Jonathan Mingo, along with tight end Hayden Hurst there is lots of excitement around this new look offense. Yet there is one important element they left out and that is a number one receiver. Yes that’s right they don’t have a number one receiver or threat on this team.
Thielen was a good solid number two receiver for Minnesota who was able to take advantage of playing alongside one of the best receivers in the NFL, Justin Jefferson. Jefferson recorded 1400 yards in 2020, 1616 yards in 2021, and 1809 yards in 2022. This allowed Thielen to have lots of single coverage because he was being double teamed. Thielen responded with 14 touchdowns in 2020 and 10 in 2021. In the six previous years without Jefferson he only had two 1000+ yard seasons and never had double digit touchdowns.
Meanwhile Chark or Terrance Marshall Jr are nothing better than a number three receiver on any team in my opinion. Chark only had 30 receptions for 502 yards last year, while Marshall only had 28 receptions for 490 yards and 1 touchdown.
Am I the only one who realizes that this offense is not going anywhere unless they acquire a number one receiver? Right now you are hoping that your number three receivers can contribute in a big way because your number two receiver is going to be bogged down all year long with double teams because other teams know you have no one else to turn to.
Enter DeAndre Hopkins. Imagine the difference this one individual makes to the entire offense. First, it makes the Panthers a more well balanced offense because the passing game will open up the running game with a proven number one receiver. Not only does it balance the entire offense, but the entire receiving corp as well. Even if Hopkins is only 75% it still serves a purpose. Now they have to worry about him and can’t double team Thielen who will become a huge weapon like he was in Minnesota. It also gives Mingo and Marshall the opportunity to be guarded by a less experienced or less qualified defender. Upside all around.
Let’s stop making excuses about the money that he is seeking. The Panthers have plenty of cap room and can finagle a contract that is suitable for him. Hopkins is seeking a 13 million dollar contract with incentives that would push him to $18 million a year. This not only can be done but it’s the difference between the Panthers being a 9-8 team or being a 12-5 team. Not only will they have a top ten defensive team but this will put them right up there with possibly having a top ten offense.
But what about an edge rusher? Relax, there is still plenty of money to go out there and get free agent, Yannick Ngakoue who is seeking in the area of $13 million. The question is how bad do they want him or how many excuses are they going to give us for not being able to get him. The salary cap is a fictitious number that can be manipulated in many ways , including giving players signing bonuses that do not hit the cap as much. A great example of that was Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht who signed all those players to play around Tom Brady. Scott Fitterer could learn a little form him.
At the end of the day, it comes down to how badly Fitterer and the Carolina Panthers want to win this year. We will find out in the next couple of weeks. If they don’t make at least an offer by then it just proves we don’t want to win badly enough.
Larry Frank is the host of Frankly Speaking Sports on Tobacco Road Sports Radio. Catch Frankly Speaking Baseball all Summer long every Friday on WTOB 980am/96.7fm (Winston Salem) at 6pm and Saturdays at 10am on WWBG 1470am
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