Cat Scratch Reader
We’re counting down the days until the Panthers kick off the 2024 season.
We’ve got 78 days until the first Sunday of the NFL season, when the Carolina Panthers take on the New Orleans Saints. With that, we’ll look at the player currently wearing number 78 for the Panthers, defensive tackle Popo Aumavae.
The Panthers signed Aumavae as an undrafted free agent after the 2024 NFL Draft. The 25 year old spent six years at Oregon, missing one as a redshirt and another due to injury. In He made first team All Pac 12 in his senior season, the year prior to his injury. He missed what would have been his fifth season due to a foot injury but returned last season to play his fifth season of eligibility due to the COVID pandemic. He totaled 18 tackles and three sacks.
The Panthers don’t have a lot of depth behind their veteran starters along the front three, so there is theoretically room for an unheralded player to play their way onto the roster. Aumavae seems like an outside shot to be one of those guys, but a strong camp and preseason will surely give him a chance to latch onto the practice squad and provide depth on the defensive front.
