Carolina Panthers: Jermaine Carter will do whatever it takes to win

The Carolina Panthers second-year player is ready for a big 2019 season.

If you have heard the name Jermaine Carter Jr., you are a dedicated fan. If not, don’t worry. It is no reflection on you if you have not heard of the second-year linebacker from Maryland. For those who haven’t heard of him, you may want to learn his name quickly. Carter figures to be a key part of the Carolina Panthers defense and he is shooting for a bigger role.

Carter appeared in one game last season and that was the season-finale against the New Orleans Saints. He tallied 13 tackles, including one for a loss. Although it was a game where many of the backups played, Carter’s performance should not be ignored. Especially with some depth issues at the linebacker position, he could figure to play a more prominent role in 2019.

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We know he has the explosiveness and capability to play well. While at Maryland, Carter tallied 320 tackles in his collegiate career. His best season came in his sophomore campaign of 2015. That year he tied 103 tackles and three pass deflections. He also proved to be a master of stripping the football. His four forced fumbles in the 2017 was tops in the Big Ten conference.

Now, he will look to translate that aggressiveness over to the National Football League. It will be interesting to see how he develops over the course of training camp and how he leaves his mark on the linebacker group. He certainly has the explosiveness and talent to be a solid linebacker in the NFL. He just needs to refine his skills a little bit and work on continuing to get better. His statistics from college lead me to believe that he could definitely find a home on the defense.

Replacing some of the departures at linebacker, most notably Thomas Davis, will be no easy task. I’m not asking him to take the place of Davis and I would not expect him to. Those would be unfair expectations. Rather, I would like to see him have a solid season that could give him something to build on for his third year. Especially for where he was drafted, a good 2019 campaign would be appreciated. That would just be another steal in the 2018 draft for general manager Marty Hurney. Taking Carter in the fifth round with pick No. 161, he could truly be a bargain for the team if he has a great year. Perhaps even more impressively, he doesn’t want to have the opportunity be given to him. He wants to work for it as he told to Josh Parcell of WFNZ.

"“Everything that I’ve done throughout my football career … I just earned everything that I got,” said Carter, on Wilson and Parcell on WFAN “That’s kind of my plan right now. I’m going into it, I want to earn it. If I do get a starting role, then I’ll be happy with that.”"

Whatever his role will be, he is ready for it. I love the optimism he is showing. Now, he has to show what he is capable of on the field.

"“I’m just preparing for anything,” said Carter. “I will say that I can adapt to pretty much any situation.”"

It will be exciting to see what he can do in 2019. I am not sure if I made a call him a Pro Bowl player just yet. However, I feel like he can make an impact. He is aggressive and seems like he is willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. I certainly have to give him credit for that. With so little playing time last season it was easy for him to carry the mindset of “Oh, I didn’t get a lot of playing time last year, why would I this year?” In fact it seems like it is just the opposite for Carter. He is ready to go.

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