4 winners (and 3 losers) from Carolina Panthers' preseason win at the Bills
By Dean Jones
Final preseason games can often be mundane affairs. That wasn't the case where the Carolina Panthers were concerned during a highly encouraging outing at the Buffalo Bills.
Dave Canales picked up his first victory as head coach and the Panthers got some morale-boosting confidence before attention turns to their regular-season opener in Week 1 at the New Orleans Saints. This was also another important part of the team's assessment as they prepared themselves for some difficult conversations during final cuts.
Players cannot do any more now. They have to hope their efforts will be rewarded, but that won't be the case for everybody. Even those who make the initial 53-man roster might not survive for much longer with general manager Dan Morgan expected to be active on the waiver wire in the coming days.
That's for the not-too-distant future. For now, here are four winners and three losers from Carolina's preseason victory at the Bills.
Winners and losers from Carolina Panthers' preseason win at the Bills
Winner No. 1
Jack Plummer - Carolina Panthers QB
Jack Plummer's gone through a rollercoaster first offseason in the pros. He's made some outstanding throws with some terrible performances thrown in for good measure. It's hard to gauge what the Carolina Panthers have in the quarterback, but the undrafted free agent did his chances of sticking around on the practice squad a tremendous amount of good in Preseason Week 3.
Plummer got the majority of work once established starter Bryce Young's impressive first drive concluded. The signal-caller's performance was night and day to his NFL debut, displaying poise under center and making the right reads more often than not.
The former Purdue star completed 72.41 percent of his passes for 278 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a lofty passer rating of 125.4 as a result of his efforts. His confidence grew as the contest wore on and the player looked like he was enjoying his football for the first time.
This is a major positive from Plummer's perspective. Whether it's enough to change his fate with final cuts looming is another matter.