ESPN is running stories about the best players of the 2010s. That got me thinking, who should be named to the Panthers’ own all-decade team?
Offense
QB Cam Newton. No one else started as many as 16 games.
RB Jonathan Stewart. He led the team with 5,349 yards rushing in the decade as well as 31 TDs on the ground and 7 in the air, plus another 1,000 yards receiving.
RB Christian McCaffrey. In eight seasons, Stewart had 1,109 yards receiving; McCaffrey had 1,005 this past season alone. He has 5,443 yards from scrimmage and 39 TDs in just three seasons.
FB Mike Tolbert. Fullbacks never have snazzy stats, but in five seasons he had 992 yards rushing, 771 yards receiving, 19 TDs and two Pro Bowl nods.
WR Steve Smith. While he is the team star of the 2000s, Smith played four seasons in the 2010s with two 1,000-yard seasons and a Pro Bowl. In those four years, he had 3,867 yards, 17 TDs, and five more TDs off just 10 rushing attempts.
WR D.J. Moore. I know it sounds like recency bias, but hear me out. He has only played 31 games and just 25 starts. But he tallied 142 catches for 1,963 yards and 6 TDs in the air, with another 212 yards rushing at 11.2 yards a carry. In 25 starts he isn’t far off the totals of guys who played three and four years like Ted Ginn Jr., Devin Funchess and Brandon LaFell.
Reserve WR Kelvin Benjamin. In two and a half seasons (not including his injured 2015), he had 168 catches for 2,424 yards and 18 TDs.
Reserve WR Devin Funchess. In four seasons, he had 161 catches for 2,233 yards and 21 TDs.
These two guys just missed the cut:
WR Brandon LaFell. In four seasons in Charlotte, he had 167 catches for 2,385 yards and 13 TDs.
WR Ted Ginn Jr. In three seasons he amassed 134 catches, 2,047 yards, 19 TDs and 15.3 yards per catch (his highest career average). He also had 82 punt returns for 795 yards (9.7 average) and 44 kickoffs at 22.6 yards each. But none of his seven career return TDs happened in Carolina.
TE Greg Olsen. Way back at the end of the 2010 season I said the Panthers needed a Wesley Walls-type TE and should go after someone who already has shown promise like Olsen (I said this because I traded for him on my Madden team and it paid off). Sure enough, the Panthers traded for Olsen, and he should one day be in the team’s Hall of Honor — but not before safety Mike Minter.
TE Ed Dickson. In four seasons he had only 807 yards receiving (and 175 yards of that was in one game against the Lions), but he didn’t get much playing time before Olsen was hurt. Still, nobody else is close.
LT Jordan Gross. Gross only played four seasons in the decade, but he made the Pro Bowl twice after his first trip in 2008. And there’s the fact that no one has held down the spot for more than a year or so since.
LG Andrew Norwell. He broke into the starting lineup midway through his rookie year and stayed for three and a half seasons with 54 starts and one Pro Bowl.
C Ryan Kalil. He had four of his five Pro Bowls in the 2010s and 114 of his 145 Panther starts.
RG Trai Turner. He didn’t join the team until 2014, but made the Pro Bowl five straight seasons before being questionably traded away by the new coaching regime.
RT Taylor Moton. He’s only been on the team three seasons and a starter for only two. However, he has solidified the position that was never a strong point with Byron Bell, Nate Chandler, Mike Remmers and Daryl Williams.
OL Reserve Geoff Hangartner 30 starts in three seasons filling in for injured players at guard and center.
OL Reserve Amini Silatolu had 31 starts in six seasons with the team, but a knee injury in 2013 opened the door for Andrew Norwell to step in.
Defense
DE Charles Johnson. Drafted in 2007, it took until 2010 for his career to take off — just in time for a new decade. He had all but 10 of his 67.5 sacks in the 2010s, along with 271 tackles, 103 QB hits, and 14 forced fumbles.
DE Mario Addison. In seven seasons and 51 starts, he racked up 55 sacks, 207 tackles, 97 QB hits and 11 forced fumbles.
Reserve DE Greg Hardy. If we base this just on production and not character (or lack thereof), then the Kracken makes the list. In just three seasons as a starter he racked up 30 sacks, 13 passes batted down, 169 tackles, 59 QB hits and a safety.
Dave Gettleman took over as general manager in 2013 and drafted two defensive tackles who would make an impact.
DT Star Lotuleilei. He didn’t put up flashy stats, but he was a roadblock in the middle of the field. Losing him in 2018 was one of the reasons the run defense fell apart the past season and a half.
DT Kawann Short. Losing Short at the start of 2019 was the biggest reason the run defense fell apart. And when teams figured that out, the pass rush was useless because teams didn’t have to pass. He has 32.5 sacks, 274 tackles, a whopping 59 tackles for a loss, 9 forced fumbles, 12 passes batted down and 87 QB hits.
The linebacking corps was a strength of the Panthers in this decade and easy pickings here.
MLB Luke Kuechly. ‘Nuff said.
OLB Thomas Davis. Despite his knee injuries, he managed 1,098 tackles, 13 INTs, 28 sacks, 18 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, 87 tackles for loss and 59 QB hits.
OLB Shaq Thompson. Becoming a starting a third of the way into his rookie year, he has put up 356 tackles, 29 for loss, 20 QB hits, 9.5 sacks, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries in five years.
Reserve LB James Anderson. After playing mostly special teams for four years, he finally made the starting lineup and averaged 9 tackles a game for three and a half years before the team cut him March 2013.
They thought they had it made with Kuechly, Davis and Jon Beason, but then Beason was hurt and started only two games. Playing guys like Chase Blackburn and A.J. Klein instead was a big hit to the defense.
CB Josh Norman. A starter for three of his four years on the team and one Pro Bowl.
CB James Bradberry. A starter for every game he played in four seasons. According to Pro Football Reference, in 2018 QBs only completed 44.2% of throws his way. In 2019 QBs had a rating of 70.1 going against him.
Reserve CB Chris Gamble. A solid starter for nine years, three of those were 2010-12.
Nickel CB Captain Munnerlyn. He started 46 games in the 2010s before going to Minnesota. Then he came back and played two seasons as a reserve CB. He had 357 tackles, eight INTs and five TDs scored. And in 2010 he returned 30 punts for a 10.9-yard average.
SS Charles Godfrey. He started five seasons at safety before an injury in 2013. Then the coaches tried to switch him to nickel corner, and that failed, so they got rid of him, which never made sense to an outsider like me.
FS Tre Boston. He has four seasons with Carolina and 32 starts. No one else comes close with that revolving door at safety.
• For special teams, K Graham Gano, P Michael Palardy and long snaper J.J. Jansen are easy. We’ll let Ginn return punts and kicks since he missed the WR cut.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com