The 10 most important players on the Carolina Panthers

1. LB Luke Kuechly (48 points)2. DT Kawann Short (36)3. T Matt Kalil (32)4. RB Christian McCaffrey (27)5. LB Thomas Davis (23)T-6. CB James Bradberry (20)

1. LB Luke Kuechly (48 points)
2. DT Kawann Short (36)
3. T Matt Kalil (32)
4. RB Christian McCaffrey (27)
5. LB Thomas Davis (23)
T-6. CB James Bradberry (20)
T-6. TE Greg Olsen (20)
8. WR Kelvin Benjamin (13)
9. LB Shaq Thompson (11)
T-10. DE Julius Peppers (10)
T-10. C Ryan Kalil (10)

For as close as Julio Jones was to a clean sweep of the voting, Luke Kuechly inched past him. The lone ballot with him at No. 2, rather than No. 1 was Feldman’s, which handed the top spot to new left tackle Matt Kalil.

Kalil was one of four different second-place finishers on the ballots with Kuechly up top. The rest: Kawann Short (Kaplan), Christian McCaffrey (Single) and Ryan Kalil (Vrentas). McCaffrey placed in every voter’s top 10—his lowest marks were a pair of ninth-place votes (Vrentas and Jones).

There was very little support shown for McCaffrey’s expected backfield running mate, Jonathan Stewart. The longtime Panther was Jones’s third most-important player, yet failed to claim residence in any other ballot.

Other Panthers receiving votes: WR Jonathan Stewart (eight points), DE Charles Johnson (four), T Daryl Williams (three), CB Captain Munnerlyn (three), T Michael Oher (three), S Mike Adams (two), DT Star Lotulelei (one)