Three Panthers Primed for Bounce Back Seasons
Everyone has a down year at some point in their NFL career. Whether it be solely production-based, being misused, or injuries, players all across the league go through their fair share of bumps in the road.
So, who on the Panthers' roster didn't quite perform to expectations in 2022, but is in prime position to bounce back in 2023?
WR DJ Chark
Chark has battled injuries throughout his carer, but when he's healthy, he can be a dynamic weapon who can get vertical. Last season with the Lions, Chark caught just 30 passes for 502 yards and three touchdowns in eleven games. More importantly, he only hauled in 57% of passes thrown in his direction. Will he post a 1,000-yard season like he did in 2019 with the Jaguars? Probably not due to the depth of the receiver room, but I believe, at minimum, he replicates what he did in 2020 where he pulled down 53 receptions for 706 yards.
LG Brady Christensen
There will be a lot of eyes on Brady Christensen in training camp, preseason, and the first month or so of the regular season. He's the only member of the starting five up front who doesn't really have his spot locked up for the foreseeable future. The addition of fourth-round draft pick Chandler Zavala will challenge him to play at a higher level and because of it, I think we see a much better and more focused Christensen in 2023.
LB/S Jeremy Chinn
After posting 100+ tackles in his first two years in the league, Chinn finished 2022 with 71. But don't be completely fooled by that number as he played in just 11 games last season. That said, he still wasn't quite as productive as the Panthers expected him to be and maybe the injury had something to do with it. Chinn's tackles per game have dropped each season he's been in the league going from 7.8 to 6.6 to 6.3. There's no reason to panic, though. The previous coaching regime had him bouncing back and forth between positions and didn't really allow him to settle in. He'll still play multiple spots in Ejiro Evero's defense, but they'll have him closer to the ball more often than not, putting him in position to be a playmaker.
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