December 11, 2011; Jacksonville FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars punter Nick Harris (2) before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Jacksonville EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

The Panthers recently signed punter Nick Harris, who has spent time with the Bengals, Lions, and Jaguars. Harris was brought in to add competition to the punter position, where he will be competing with rookie Brad Nortman.
Harris has a career punt average of 42.5 yards, which is pretty solid, so he definitely will have a shot at being the starter. This obviously isn’t a huge move, just Ron Rivera continuing to add competition to every position any chance he can, and there certainly isn’t anything wrong with that.

January 1, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) against the New Orleans Saints during the first quarter of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Here’s how I would like to see our depth chart look at the beginning of the season:

Carolina Panthers 2012 Depth Chart

QB- Cam Newton, Derek Anderson, Jimmy Clausen
RB- DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Princeton McCarty
FB- Mike Tolbert, Gary Barnidge
WR- Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell, Keolah Pilares
WR- David Gettis, Joe Adams, Darvin Adams
TE- Greg Olsen, Gary Barnidge, Ben Hartsock
LT- Jordan Gross, Bruce Campbell,
LG- Amini Sliatolu, Mike Pollack
C- Ryan Kalil, Geoff Hangartner,
RG- Geoff Hangartner, Lee Zimba
RT- Jeff Otah, Garry Williams, Byron Bell
DE- Charles Johnson, Frank Alexander
DE- Greg Hardy, Thomas Keiser, Antwan Applewhite
DT- Ron Edwards, Sione Fua, Jason Shirley
DT- Terrel McClain, Frank Kearse
WLB- Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis,
MLB- Jon Beason, Luke Kuechly, Jordan Senn
SLB- James Anderson, Jason Williams
CB- Chris Gamble, Josh Norman, Darius Butler
CB- Brandon Hogan, Captain Munnerlyn
SS- Charles Godfrey, Jordan Pugh
FS- Reggie Smith, Haruki Nakamura
K- Olindo Mare
P- Brad Nortman,
KR- Joe Adams, Keolah Pilares
PR- Joe Adams, Keolah Pilares

* Princeton McCarty is an undrafted free agent we signed. Since Tolbert has officially been labeled by Hurney and Rivera as a fullback that means that there is going to be a pretty fierce competition for the 3rd running back spot. McCarty is a smaller back, but has blazing speed and could replace Goodson as the “scat-back”.

I think Gettis has loads of potential and will be able to put up big numbers if he’s given a full year as a starter. I think he’ll beat out LaFell for starting spot in camp. But even if he does LaFell is a solid player and will still see a bunch of playing time.

Outside of Chris Gamble the corner position is kind of up for grabs, however, i just dont think Munnerlyn has the talent to cover the better receivers in this league and its time we went in another direction. I like Hogan and if he’s healthy and given an opportunity I think he’ll shine. And I also believe Norman could compete for a starting spot as well.

Sherrod Martin should not be a starting safety in this league and its time we cut ties with him. Reggie Smith started games for San Francisco and played well so he should do until we can draft a more permanent guy, but he’s definitely an upgrade from Martin.

Feel free to comment and give your suggestions about what you agree with or disagree with.

Carolina got off to a good start yesterday with the selection of Luke Keuchly (LB, Boston College). He’s a guy, who regardless of how healthy Thomas Davis is, should come in and see immediate playing time in some capacity. The Panthers only had one pick on this second day of the NFL draft. They traded away their 3rd round pick last year to the Chicago Bears in exchange for Greg Olsen. The Panther’s lone pick came in the second round where they selected Amini Silatolu, who was a left guard out of Midwestern State. Now I know what you’re thinking; yes it’s not a very attractive pick, but Silatolu should be able to come in and compete for a starting job from day one. As of right now he’ll be competing with Bryant Browning and Mike Pollack for the starting left guard position and neither one of those guys is anything special. Cam Newton is the biggest piece of this team, so you have to provide him with the proper protection in order to be successful and that exactly what Marty Hurney and Ron Rivera are doing.

I was initially hoping to grab Janoris Jenkins with our 2nd round pick, but he was taken one pick before us by the St. Louis Rams. I also would have loved to see us draft Trumaine Johnson, the cornerback from Montana who is just an absolute physical specimen and looked great in his game tape as well. However, the Panthers filled a need by drafting Silatolu and although it may not be sexiest option it will definitely prove to be worthy in the long run.

September 10, 2011; State College, PA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Mark Barron (4) makes an interception during the third quarter action at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey G. Pittenger-US PRESSWIRE

One team that is having a great draft so far is a division rival of the Panthers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made 3 solid selections so far. They drafted Mark Baron (S, Alabama) in the 1st round along with Doug Martin (RB, Boise State), and then they took Lavonte David (LB, Nebraska) who was suppose to be a first round talent at the end of the 2nd round. Martin gives the Bucs a great one-two punch being paired with Legarrette Blount, who is a more physical type of runner. And they also added Vincent Jackson in the off-season who was regarded as the best receiver available in free agency. It looks like the Bucs are going to be solid at both the offensive and defensive sides of the football, and they also still have some late round picks remaining in this weekend’s draft.

Oct 13, 2011; San Francisco CA, USA; Southern California Trojans defensive end Nick Perry (8) after a play against the California Golden Bears during the first quarter at AT

The Green Bay Packers are one team that has disappointed me a little bit in this year’s draft so far. They entered the draft with 10 picks to play with and a lot of those picks were in the first 4 rounds of the draft. They took Nick Perry (DE, USC) in the 1st round, which I thought was a decent pick, but could have been better considering Courtney Upshaw (LB/DE, Alabama) was still on the board. Then they traded up in the 2nd round to get defensive tackle Jerel Worthy (Michigan State), which isn’t even a position of need for them (and Worthy wasn’t even the best DT still available). And then they made another move in order to obtain an additional 2nd round pick (62 overall) in which they selected Casey Hayward (CB, Vanderbilt). I think Hayward is decent, but doesn’t have as much upside as Trumaine Johnson or Josh Robinson (CB, UCF), who were both on the board at the time Green Bay was picking. However, you can never really tell about any of these guys until you see them on the field competing against other NFL players. But I definitely think the Packers are one team that could have gotten a lot more value considering the position they were in.
The third and final day of the 2012 NFL Draft starts tomorrow and the Panthers will be looking to fill some holes along their defensive line as well as in their secondary.