Carolina Panthers’ Young Receiving Core to See More Playing Time

With the broken arm suffered by Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith, an unlikely opportunity has arisen for Carolina’s young receiver core.

For all of training camp and the preseason, the majority of eyes will be on two players: Dwayne Jarrett and Brandon LaFell.

For the time being, it’s a battle for who will be the temporary No. 1 receiver, stepping in for the fallen Smith.

By default, the position is currently Dwayne Jarrett’s. But that can definitely change when training camp rolls around.

Jarrett’s got the experience of being on an NFL team for three years, and playing in a system he should be quite familiar with; so all-in-all, realistically, he should have a foot up on everyone else.

As we know however, the history behind Jarrett’s work ethic and personal habits have been poor. From that angle, the playing field is more even between him and LaFell.

This definitely has the makings of a good — perhaps great — competition during training camp and the preseason.

Whichever receiver wins the temporary starting position in training camp and for the preseason, and retains the job throughout, will obviously be the clear-cut No. 2 receiver when Smith returns from injury.

So, see? Smith’s absence is not necessarily a bad thing. The timing was even spot-on! Smith inadvertently did the team a favor, by giving the young guys a chance to duke it out while he recovers.

Smith already knows what he needs to do. There shouldn’t be any doubts about that. Quarterback Matt Moore is quite familiar working with Smitty. The worry over that was nothing more than sensationalized BS.

The battle will be intense. Sit back and enjoy the show! I’ll be rooting for pseudo-Rocky in this one.

Follow Cat Crave on Twitter @THECatCrave. Check us out on Facebook, too!

This posting is property of CatCrave.com and Fansided.