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Instead of doing all the NFC West teams together in a bunch, I thought I might break them up a bit - especially since we all know the NFC West teams pretty darn well. As such, for the next four installments of this series, I will be looking at the NFC South. Today, because I want to get all the Cam Newton hoopla, I will examine the Carolina Panthers.
Don't get me wrong - just because I am indicting the Cam Newton hoopla doesn't mean I am indicting him as a player. The dude is a solid QB. If his sophomore slump was, well, what we saw in his sophomore year, then I think Carolina should be happy. He has a lot of room to grow.
That said, this potential requires the proper environment, and I think that he is in it. The big move this offseason was changing GM-horses midstream. Going forward, Dave Gettleman will be both the new GM and winner of most awesome name of the week award. He has over $11 million in cap space to work with and a draft pick in every round (including the nice, and potentially tradable 14th pick in the first round). In addition to this change up top came a host of changes in the coaching staff. Most pertinent to Mr. Newton was the promotion of Mike Shula to offensive coordinator from the QB coach, which led to Ken Dorsey's (lololololololol, remember that guy?) promotion from scout to QB coach.
In terms of the guys on the field, the Panthers do have a few areas of need. DT Dwan Edwards is leaving in Free Agency, and even though the Panthers recently signed Colin Cole, they could still use some help. On the defensive side of the ball, they could probably look for players at the CB position as well as the Safety position. On offense, the o-line could get shored up - especially with how much damage Newton has a penchant for taking.
Some major free agents on the team: DT Dwan Edwards, TE Ben Hartsock, and CB Captain Munnerlyn (oh crap, so that name is way better. New winner of the award, folks).