4 Carolina Panthers who must play more after the bye week
By Dean Jones
Phil Hoskins – Carolina Panthers DT
After weeks of waiting, the Carolina Panthers finally threw Phil Hoskins out onto the field in Week 12 at the Miami Dolphins. The defensive tackle has been brought along gradually as a seventh-round pick, but he made up for lost time with an eye-catching performance that has fans wanting more.
There weren’t many bright spots last Sunday.
But make no mistake about it, Hoskins was undoubtedly one of them.
This might be the catalyst for bigger and better things in Hoskins’ immediate future. There is also a slight opening on the rotation after Daviyon Nixon was ruled out for the season recently.
Much like the situation with most young, inexperienced players on the Panthers, Hoskins needs to see more of the field in the coming weeks despite the presence of Derrick Brown, DaQuan Jones, and Bravvion Roy as their top-three defensive tackles.
It was an encouraging start to life in the NFL for Hoskins, who can take a great deal of heart from his performance. The Kentucky product showed an ability to generate pressure and held his own against the run to a certain extent, so it’s a solid foundation from which to build.
The only way Carolina will know for sure just what Hoskins can do is by throwing him in for a solid number of reps between now and the end of the campaign. If he shows out, then it’s one less problem to solve this offseason.