CAROLINA PANTHERS 2021 WIN PREDICTION

BY ADAM GREENE

Instead of sitting still in the NFL Draft and selecting the guy I thought was the second best QB prospect coming out of college (Justin Fields from Ohio State), the Carolina Panthers outsmarted themselves once again, trading the New York Jets for Sam Darnold and going back into battle with one of the weakest rosters in a loaded NFC.

On the bright side, hopefully Christian McCaffrey will be healthy this season as he suffered the usual post big contract injury and let down season that’s become commonplace in the modern NFL. Carolina was worse than its record last season, so there’s a chance head coach Matt Rhule might be OK. He’s built up the defense some, but there’s little chance enough has improved to become a serious contender in 2021.

CAROLINA PANTHERS

Last season: 5-11, third place NFC South

2021 odds: under 7.5 wins -130, over 7.5 wins +100

2021 NFL Draft: Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina – Round 1, Terrace Marshall Jr., WR, LSU – Round 2, Brady Christensen, OT, BYU – Round 3, Chuba Hubbard, RB, Oklahoma State – Round 4, Daviyon Nixon, DT, Iowa – Ruound 5, Keith Taylor, CB, Washington – Round 5, Deonte Brown, OG, Alabama – Round 6, Shi Smith, WR, South Carolina – Round 6, Thomas Fletcher, LS, Alabama – Round 6, Phil Hoskins, DT, Kentuck – Round 7

UDFAs: Paddy Fisher, LB – Northwestern, Oscar Draguicevich, P – Washington State, Spencer Brown, RB – UAB, David Moore, OL – Grambling, Mason Stokke, FB – Wisconsin

Acquisitions: A.J. Bouye, CB – Free Agent, Sam Darnold, QB – Trade, DaQuan Jones, DL Free Agent, Denzel Perryman, LB – Free Agent, Haason Reddick, Edge – Free Agent, Cameron Erving, LG – Free Agent, Rashaan Melvin, CB – Free Agent, Pat Elflein, LG – Free Agent, Caraun Reid, DL – Free Agent, David Moore, WR – Free Agent, Morgan Fox, DL – Free Agent, Delano Hill, DL – Free Agent, Frankie Luvu, LB – Free Agent, Dan Arnold, TE – Free Agent, Stephen Sullivan, TE – Free Agent

Key Losses: Teddy Bridgwater – QB, Kawaan Short – DL, Russell Okung – LT, Tre Boston – Safety, Mike Davis – RB, Tahir Whitehead – LB, Tyler Larsen – C, Michael Parlady – P, Curis Samuel – WR, Michael Schofield – RG, Zach Kerr – DT, Chris Manhertz – TE, Rasul Douglas – CB, Alex Armah – FB

PRESUMED STARTERS

QB: Sam Darnold

RB: Christian McCaffrey

WR: Robby Anderson

WR: D.J. Moore

WR: David Moore

TE: Dan Arnold

FB: Mike Daniel

LT: Cameron Erving

LG: Pat Elflein

C: Matt Paradis

RG: John Miller

RT: Taylor Moton

LDE: Haason Reddick

LDT: Bravvion Roy

RDT: Derrick Brown

RDE: Brian Burns

OLB: Shaq Thompson

MLB: Denzel Perryman

OLB: Jermain Carter

CB: Donte Jackson

CB: Jaycee Horn

SS: Jeremy Chinn

FS: Justin Burris

K: Joey Slye

P: Joseph Charlton

FORECAST

The Panthers’ fanbase is going to get pretty excited thanks to an opening month’s schedule facing the New York Jets, Drew Brees-less New Orleans Saints and the hapless (I’ll keep using that word) Houston Texans. A 3-0 start is not out of the question. It’s all the games after that which could spell trouble.

While Mike McCarthy is a garbage head coach, the Dallas Cowboys should be at full strength, roster-wise, in Week 4 and that could spell a solid losing streak with games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, a New York Giants team that’s at least a year ahead of Carolina and an Atlanta Falcons squad that could end up in the Wild Card round. And that’s all before they play the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice, the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals.

Final Record Prediction: 6-11

The NFL season begins on Thursday, Sep. 9 and the Week 1 Schedule is already up and taking bets at BetOnline.AG.

Follow our BetOnline Twitter account for the latest sports news and betting odds, and stay tuned on the Instagram feed for more good information too.