Panthers Tracks: Everything you should know about the Panthers this week in one newsletter

Jonathan M. Alexander
·3 min read

In just two weeks, the Carolina Panthers will be on the clock ready to make their 2021 NFL draft picks.

New players will come in, hoping to take part in turning around this franchise.

Who the Panthers might pick remains a mystery, as it largely depends on what other teams do before them. But it won’t keep people from speculating.

With that in mind, let’s jump into Panthers Tracks:

Trivia!

1. Brian Burns, who will be 23 later this month, is currently the third youngest player on the Panthers roster. Which two players are younger?

2. Former Panthers wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad led the NFL in receptions once, receiving yards once and receiving touchdowns once. Which year did he lead the league in receptions?

Answers will be at the bottom.

Our latest mock draft

We released our third mock draft of the season this week.

Here is my mock draft this week: Carolina Panthers mock draft 3.0: A first-round trade that builds for the future.

Again, the Panthers’ first-round pick did not include a quarterback. We’ll continue to release a new mock draft each week until the draft.

A fresh start

Speaking of quarterbacks, new Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold and coach Matt Rhule were made available for the first time since the trade went down early last week.

Here was our analysis of what they said about this move: Panthers are giving Sam Darnold a chance to succeed, fair or not.

And columnist Scott Fowler explains why it’s time to trade Teddy Bridgewater: It’s time to trade Teddy Bridgewater, for his sake and the Carolina Panthers.

More draft stuff

Among the Panthers biggest needs heading into the draft is help on the defensive line. Alaina Getzenberg examines the Panthers’ defensive line, and looks at some realistic options in the draft and ways to address it: Panthers still need defensive line help. How they’ve addressed it, and who can fill holes.

The Panthers, who have the eighth overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, will have three options heading into the draft. They can try and trade up, stay at No. 8 or trade back. We examined three realistic trade-back scenarios and what it would look like: Panthers have 3 scenarios for trading their No. 8 NFL draft pick that are worth it.

Panthers Tracks Podcast

On this week’s episode of Panthers Tracks Podcast, we talked with The Draft Network senior draft analyst Jordan Reid.

You can also find this podcast by subscribing to The Observer’s Panthers podcast on all podcast platforms, including Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc.

Other news

The NFL released its offseason schedule earlier this week, and a few teams shared statements through the NFL Players Association that they will not be participating in voluntary organized team activities. Here’s a look at the schedule and impact opting out could have on some players: Panthers have their offseason schedule set as NFL releases OTA plan.

Meanwhile, Tepper Sports & Entertainment released new renderings and a video of future $50 million renovations at Bank of America Stadium Thursday morning.

Trivia answers

1. Kenny Robinson and Stantley Thomas-Oliver

2. 2000

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