Cat Scratch Reader
While it was another tough loss for the Panthers, the rookie class showed much needed signs of life.
While the Carolina Panthers scratched and clawed to stay in the game versus the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, the game eventually slipped away from them after squandering another late game opportunity. Considering the beatdown they were given by the Chicago Bears a game prior, coming out and playing a competitive game for nearly 50 minutes is a positive, at least for now.
While there was some optimism in the offseason the team could out-perform some admittedly low expectations, the rash of injuries suffered by the Panthers early in the season made the script for this season clear once again: the Panthers aren’t going to compete for anything this year. This season has always been about building towards the future, with little to no focus on short term success in the win column. Wins are nice, but the Panthers proving they have a good coach in place and an ability to develop young talent are paramount.
It is only 5 games into the season, so while there is still the mathematical chance to make the playoffs, you won’t see the Panthers fully lean into the “play the young guys” strategy of player development quite yet. That said, if more games trend the same direction as last few have, it will be time to start giving the majority of the snaps to those on rookie contracts instead of veterans who likely won’t be suiting up in process blue next season.
With that, we have approached the topic of this week’s game review. Let’s take look at some of the encouraging performances from the rookies on the roster projected to have increasing roles going forward.
For all intents and purposes, Legette looked exactly like the type of player you would hope he would be at this time in his career. He looked big, fast, physical and productive with his opportunities. In his 51 snaps, he put up a 67.8 PFF grade including a 65.3 receiving grade and 77.4 run blocking grade. Legette’s touchdown in the waning seconds of the first half was one of the best plays of the game by any Panthers player. The first round pick has been a bright spot so far, looking forward to seeing how he looks rest of season.
With Josey Jewell still sidelined with an injury, Wallace was in charge of relaying the defensive calls. A tough ask for a 3rd round rookie, but to his credit he does not look overwhelmed by the opportunity. Wallace played every single defensive snap (70 of them) and performed okay. Wallace looked spotty in run defense, granted so did the entire team around him. On an encouraging note, Wallace had the highest tackling grade for the entire team from PFF with a 82.1, and even had the 3rd highest pass coverage grade on the team with a respectable 67.5. Oh, and Wallace probably had the...
