The Panthers hope that 31-year old Steve Smith will be ready to start the season after breaking his arm in a flag football game earlier this summer.  He has been to 4 Pro Bowls in his 9 years with the Panthers.  Smith played in 15 games (all starts) for the Panthers last season and he caught 65 passes for 982 yards (15.1 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He has now played in 121 games (100 starts) in his nine years in the NFL and he has caught 574 passes for 8,330 yards (14.5 avg) with 50 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 47 times for 295 yards (6.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his NFL career.  With the kiddie corps the Panthers will have at QB…..they need Steve Smith to be ready to go when the 2010 NFL season begins.

Rookies Armanti Edwards (3rd round), Brandon LaFell (3rd round) and David Gettis (6th round) will all be given opportunities to earn the starting job opposite Steve Smith in training camp.  My money is on the 6’2″, 211 pound LaFell who is the most polished of these guys.  Edwards was a QB in college (Appalachian State) and he’s small at 5’11″, 182 pounds but he’s fast.  At best, he projects out to being a #3 WR in the NFL.  David Gettis is another big guy at 6’3″, 216 pounds but with the inexperience the Panthers have at WR he could move up the depth chart with a nice training camp.

23-year old Dwayne Jarrett is just trying to keep his NFL career going in Carolina.  He played in 13 games (2 starts) for the Panthers last season and he caught 17 passes for 196 yards (11.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Jarrett has now played in 29 games (3 starts) in his three years with the Panthers and he has caught 33 passes for 388 yards (11.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  If Jarrett doesn’t come to play in training camp he could get cut as the Panthers have been very disappointed in him so far in his career.

25-year old Kenneth Moore played in 12 games (1 start) as a rookie for the Panthers last season and he caught 6 passes for 59 yards (9.8 avg).  He doesn’t appear to have a big upside but he has as good a chance as any receiver other than Smith to produce in 2010 for the Panthers.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PANTHERS WRs in 2010:  C-

The Panthers got surprising production out of their TEs last season as they combined to catch 63 passes for 755 (12.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  It used to be said that a young QBs best friend is the TE and you know the Panthers’ have a utter lack of experience at QB.  27-year old Jeff King is the best run blocker of this bunch.  He played in 16 games (15 starts) for the Panthers last season in which he caught 25 passes for 200 yards (8.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  King has now played in 60 games (46 starts) in his NFL career in which he has caught 93 passes for 802 yards (8.6 avg) with 7 TD grabs. 

25-year old Dante Rosario is the best combination of blocking and receiving that the Panthers have on the roster.  Rosario played in 14 games (8 starts) for the Panthers last season and he caught 26 passes for 313 yards (12.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He has now played in 46 games (16 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 50 passes for 630 yards (12.6 avg) with 5 TD grabs. 

24-year old Gary Barnridge played in 15 games before last season in which he didn’t catch any passes.  But in his second year (2009), he played in 16 games (3 starts) in which he caught 12 passes for 242 yards (20.2 avg).  Not many TEs can get down the field like Barnridge so look for the Panthers to look for him more in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PANTHERS TEs in 2010:  C+

With DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart at tailback the Panthers don’t need any offense from their fullbacks, they just need them to block.  23-year old Tony Fiammetta heads into training camp as the starting FB.  He is 6’0″, 246 pounds so he has the size the Panthers like.  He played in 10 games (2 starts) for the Panthers last season in his first year with Carolina.  Undrafted rookie Rashawn Jackson will be #2 on the depth chart heading to training camp but he likely won’t see a lot of action in 2010 unless Fiammetta gets hurt.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE PANTHERS FBs in 2010:  C-