4 Panthers players who showed out at the Saints in Week 7

Adarius Taylor – Carolina Panthers LB

The penny might have finally dropped for the Carolina Panthers regarding Tahir Whitehead. The free-agent signing struggled considerably once again and this left the coaching staff with no other alternative other than to take him out of the firing line.

This left Adarius Taylor as the man chosen to replace him. Judging by what we saw from the player in the second half there is plenty of reasons why he should take over the starting job at the middle linebacker spot if the Panthers opted not to bring in additional reinforcements before the 2020 trade deadline.

Taylor plugged running lanes far better than Whitehead. The player does have his limitations, but few would argue he isn’t an upgrade given how poorly the former Las Vegas Raider has performed since joining the franchise.

If things don’t work out with Taylor, so what? It doesn’t appear likely that Carolina is going to push for a shock playoff spot after losing their last two games and it will give Matt Rhule a chance to see what he can do before looking at possible alternatives next spring.

Carolina was always going to miss Luke Kuechly, and Whitehead clearly isn’t working out as expected. This job should now be Taylor’s until the Panthers have another viable option and he could provide some better production if his second-half showing at the Saints was any indication.