When a football team is last in the league in wins, passing yards, total yards and points, there is plenty of blame to go around. Still, there is some talent on the Carolina Panthers roster, except at one important position.
There is one player on the offense who is important to both the passing and running attacks. A guy who can open pathways for a runner or slip downfield for a pass. That is the tight end. In Charlotte, the “tight” refers to how the team refuses to get off the purse strings to get a good one.
A couple of weeks ago, there was a news story about the reimaging of the tight end. Rather than having a slow-footed blocker who occasionally catches passes, most teams now expect the TE to be one of their better athletes. It mentioned people like Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham who played basketball in college, but had skills that translated well to the NFL.
All I could think was, “Wow, the Panthers need to read this.” The Panthers once had one of those dual-purpose TEs that offensive coordinators feared. Wesley Walls and Steve Beuerlein hooked up on dozens of TD passes. When he retired, Walls held the team record for TD grabs. Since then, the Panthers haven’t tried very hard to replace him.
CARRY ON
http://www.mtairynews.com/view/full_story/10343027/article-What-the-Panthers-are-lacking-on-offense?instance=secondary_sports_left_column
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