The Panthers trainer has a 1 overall, so we'll see how Dorsey and Gooden fare this year health-wise. And yeah, he has 82 speed, not sure what I was looking at.
Rookie Contracts
Glenn Dorsey: 5 yr/$36M, $8M bonus
Branden Albert: 5 yr/$10.5M, $2M bonus
Trevor Laws: 4 yr/$3M, $1M bonus
Tavares Gooden: 4 yr/$2.5M, no bonus
Tom Zbikowski: 3 yr/$1.8M, no bonus
Jacob Hester: 3 yr/$1M, no bonus
Mike Hart: 3 yr/$800k, no bonus
Jonathan Wilhite: 3 yr/$820k, no bonus
| Carolina Panthers Depth Chart - 2008 |
| Regular Offense |
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH |
| WR | Steve Smith - 84/84 | Dorien Bryant - 47/69 | | |
| TE | Dante Rosario - 69/79 | Courtney Anderson - 62/62 | Mike Peterson - 58/84 | |
| LT | Branden Albert - 81/92 | Frank Omiyale - 73/75 | | |
| LG | Travelle Wharton - 82/82 | J'Covan Beck - 74/78 | | |
| C | Ryan Kalil - 78/85 | Nick Mihlhauser - 72/78 | | |
| RG | Jeff Faine - 87/88 | Jeremy Bridges - 75/75 | | |
| RT | Jordan Gross - 92/93 | Rob Petitti - 76/77 | | |
| WR | Mushin Muhammad - 83/83 | Al McGwire - 68/84 | | |
| QB | Jake Delhomme - 84/84 | Matt Moore - 72/77 | Elliot Wright - 49/87 | |
| FB | Jacob Hester - 79/81 | Carl Stewart - 76/84 | | |
| HB | Michael Turner - 82/85 | Samkon Gado - 74/80 | Mike Hart - 64/83 | Richard Williams - 73/85 |
| Base 4-3 Defense |
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH |
| LDE | Julius Peppers - 90/91 | Charles Johnson - 75/80 | | |
| LDT | Glenn Dorsey - 90/95 | Chartric Darby - 74/74 | Damione Lewis - 69/69 | |
| RDT | Trevor Laws - 80/83 | Jovan Haye - 70/73 | | |
| RDE | Elvis Dumervil - 88/90 | Eric Baker - 75/86 | Stanley McClover - 74/77 | |
| WLB | Jon Beason - 88/91 | Na'il Diggs - 76/76 | | |
| MLB | Tavares Gooden - 81/87 | Bernard Gant - 66/73 | | |
| SLB | Thomas Davis - 83/87 | James Anderson - 72/73 | | |
| CB | Ken Lucas - 84/85 | Demario Minter - 72/77 | | |
| SS | Tom Zbikowski - 75/79 | Kelin Johnson - 79/84 | Chris Harris - 73/74 | |
| FS | Eugene Wilson - 89/89 | Chris Horton - 78/83 | | |
| CB | Richard Marshall - 81/86 | Jonathan Wilhite - 68/82 | | |
| Special Teams |
| STARTER | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH |
| K | Dave Yankowski - 80/84 | | | |
| P | Jason Baker - 87/87 | | | |
I traded DT Ma'ake Kemoeatu to the Saints for a 2nd and 5th round pick in the upcoming draft, and K John Kasay to the Patriots for a 3rd round this year and a 6th round next year. Kemoeatu did not fit my system, and I found a kicker that originally played soccer, signed to the Jags, and they cut him in training camp. He has just as powerful a leg, is almost as accurate, and has the potential to be more accurate.
I have a few developmental prospects on the offensive side of the ball. Excited to see if I can turn Wright into the QB of the future for the Panthers. He is driven, and has great potential. McGwire is a big, strong WR that I hope to slide into the #2 WR spot when Mushin retires. Peterson needs work, but could become the star TE of the Panthers.
We lost every game this preseason, but the team was learning a new playbook and held their own when the starters were in. It is the Sweetney draft path.
Coming up, a week 1 matchup against LT and the Chargers. Michael Turner broke his arm in the final preseason game and will miss the first few weeks, we'll see how well Gado and a pair of rookies can fill his shoes.