FanSided recently updated their NFL power rankings and not surprisingly, the Carolina Panthers landed at No. 31.
As the Carolina Panthers already began their lengthy rebuild now towards a better future later, they’ll obviously be some growing pains. The kinds of growing pains that paint the realistic picture that it’ll probably take the Panthers at least another two to three years for them to be competitive again.
It won’t be easy but general manager Marty Hurney has started to make some good moves so far this offseason. Unfortunately, this upcoming season will likely be another frustrating year that sees the Panthers not doing so well.
Considering that the Panthers last year ended at 5-11 in the bottom of the NFC South, they still have a lot of areas to address. It’s highly unlikely they do a magical turnaround this upcoming season as they’ll need time to develop some of the newer and younger players they’ll add to the roster.
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FanSided recently updated their NFL power rankings as the majority of free agency is in the books and not surprisingly, the Panthers were at the bottom of the list. They landed at No. 31 and rightfully so since their biggest area of need at defense still needs a lot of work.
To win football games is to win the battle in the trenches and at the moment, the Panthers lack a true edge rusher, a speedy defensive secondary, and just an overall new identity. Last season and even the season before that, they were one of the worst teams when it came to defending against the run.
Even though the NFL is dominantly a passing league, opposing teams knew of this weakness and exploited it towards much success against the Panthers’ defense. Even if the Panthers add another veteran defensive lineman in free agency and double down to grab a premier one in this year’s draft, the Panthers will still need time to have it all come together.
Ideally, the Panthers will continue rebuilding this year and unfortunately, will likely have another losing season. That’s okay in the grand scheme of things as any good rebuild takes at least two years to see things come to fruition. Perhaps in 2021 and 2022, they’ll get a bit higher in future FanSided NFL power rankings but until then, they’ll be on the outside looking in.