Gerald McCoy would be worth it for Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are set to have a meeting with the defensive tackle.

The Carolina Panthers may be hosting a big-time defensive player. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is set to visit with the Carolina Panthers this week per reports from Joe Person of The Athletic and Jordan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer.

It has been a whirlwind couple of days for McCoy, who was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Tuesday. Now, he may have an opportunity to go to their division rival.

Head coach Ron Rivera said on Tuesday that McCoy would help the Carolina Panthers transition over to their new 3-4 defense they are set to employ. I think he could be a great fit. Defensive tackle is already one of the Carolina Panthers stronger positions, assuming that Kawaan Short continues to play well. I personally do not see why he wouldn’t.

For his career, McCoy has put up some impressive numbers. Since coming into the league in the 2010 season, he has been to the Pro Bowl six times and been selected as a First-Team All-Pro once. His best season came in 2013. That year, he played in 16 games starting all of them. He recorded 9.5 sacks,  50 tackles, and 21 quarterback hits. He was an absolute nightmare for offensive lineman to keep track of and he was undoubtedly a force on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line.

Last year was not his best year, but he still put up a decent amount of production. Playing and starting in 14 games, he recorded six sacks 28 tackles and 21 quarterback hits. That is still very good, and he would come to the Carolina Panthers on a high note. I still think he has a ton left in the tank, and he would definitely be a nice piece to add defensively, especially with the youth now on that side of the football.

According to statistics from Pro Football Focus, he was most effective against the run last season. He had an 81.6 run defense rating which is very good to say the least. Carolina was in the middle of the pack in terms of rushing yards allowed on the season. They gave up 1,804 yards on the year. One of the more concerning statistics was the rushing yards per attempt they surrendered.  Allowing opponents 4.7 yards per carry, McCoy would be able to help bring that number down. That’s perhaps where he would be of the most value to the Carolina Panthers if he signed with them.

Admittedly last year, I might have shied away from wanting a player like this because the Carolina Panthers needed to get younger on defense. They addressed that via the NFL Draft last month, and for that reason, I think adding McCoy to the mix would not only provide the Panthers with production on the field, but the younger players would also have someone to learn from off of it. It would be a win-win situation for all parties involved. Not only that, McCoy would be thrust into a competitive environment as the Carolina Panthers look to overtake the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints for divisional bragging rights.

It will be interesting to see how high and which teams bid the most for McCoy. Hopefully, the Panthers will be in the mix until the very end. It would be great if he came to Carolina, and he would certainly add another explosive player to what should be a very strong defensive line in 2019.

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