It has been an eventful week for the Carolina Panthers, one that resulted in serious staff changes and future personnel fixes to come.
Head coach Dave Canales made the move to fire defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, raising many questions about the future of the defense, including who the next defensive play-caller will be. While there are no easy answers, I did my best anyway.
Let's open up the mailbag to answer six questions on the current state of the Panther
Six questions Carolina Panthers fans are asking after a chaotic mini-bye
What was a positive from Thursday night? What’s something to be looking forward to in this next game against the Broncos? Around what week will we get the bulk of our starters back from injuries and IR? — @1pantha1
I'm an optimist; I can see a few positives from Thursday. Tight end Mitchell Evans was effective as a receiver and blocker, and rookie linebacker Jackson Kuwatch stood out on special teams. Marco Wilson flashed at cornerback, and Zakee Wheatley had his best performance of the season.
This weekend, I would expect some changes to the offensive line personnel in terms of who starts and who doesn't. There should also be some philosophical changes to the defensive front attacks and responsibilities (more on that shortly).
And for the third part of your question, it's hard to gauge when the key starters on injured reserve will return. Jaelan Phillips is day-to-day, and Brady Christensen could be back this week now that he has been designated to return from injured reserve. Everyone else is a guessing game depending on their recovery progress.
What is the path to rebuilding an O-line? Bryce has only had one year of good O-line play, but he had terrible weapons. Will we ever find balance? — @car0linaTakes
Truthfully, it is always hard to find a great balance, especially among the league's best teams. The NFL is always changing in terms of who is good and bad. It's important for general manager Dan Morgan to add offensive linemen and at least one skill player in each draft moving forward.
Short-term, you have to reshuffle the deck along the offensive line. I know the Panthers are paying Robert Hunt a lot of money, but if his play shows zero improvement in the next two weeks or less, Canales and offensive line coach Joe Gilbert must take the gut punch and bench him.
We could see Christensen starting, along with Stone Forsythe at right tackle. I'd keep an eye on a potential trade asset for guard and center depth, with Corey Bullock and Sam Hecht competing for the starting center job in the interim; you can't have Luke Fortner start another down for this team.
Are they more likely to hire a defensive coordinator from within or find someone from outside right now? – Baker
It depends on how Todd Wash does the rest of the season and who the Panthers interview during the hiring process this winter. This will be a thorough process for Canales and Morgan to find the right guy.
I wouldn't hold out hope for a return to the 4-3 fronts. Canales seems comfortable playing 3-4, and not every 3-4 defense is going to be the same from coach to coach. Plus, most teams are running multiple fronts; it really comes down to who they believe can turn their defense into an elite unit.
With Evero gone, how will the interim DC, Todd Wash, run the Panthers' defense? Does he plan to just install his own scheme? Or just make some modifications to Evero’s? – Jack L.
I discussed this a little bit in a recent article. The main thing to look forward to with Wash is a slow and simple implementation of a Jim Schwartz defense with more single-gap integrity and an attacking approach from the pass rushers rather than an edge-setting, two-gap system that puts more on the players' plates.
With the hiring of cornerbacks coach DeAngelo Hall, it seems to me Wash will have his defensive backs play more man coverage, but I wouldn't expect an overwhelming amount with the current injury situation. Expect plenty of shell coverages with an increased rate of man, especially on late downs.
Overall, there will be more modifications to Evero's defensive playbook to make the game plan simpler for what Wash wants to do.
Do you think Lathan Ransom finally gets more snaps now with the change? – T.B.
I could see it, especially if the plan asks for more of Wheatley at free safety over Nick Scott, with Tre'von Moehrig playing big nickel.
Schwartz's systems love to buzz their strong safeties and make them an extra linebacker of sorts, which is where Ransom seems to do his best work. Look for this possibility in the coming weeks.
How did the Panthers miss so terribly on Rasheed Walker?! I mean, he is so bad that he got our own player hurt, who just got back from blood clots. – KarmaByJen
I don't believe the Panthers necessarily missed the mark with Rasheed Walker. This is who he has always been, and it wasn't surprising for them to get the former Green Bay Packers offensive tackle on the cheap.
Walker was overhyped because of his Pro Football Focus grades, and teams figured out his weaknesses quickly. The Panthers needed help and competition at left tackle with Ekwonu out, but I don't think they expected it to become this bad.
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