The next team we have in our 32 Teams in 32 Days is Carolina’s own Panthers. The Carolina Panthers haven’t been as good as their potential indicates since their Superbowl loss to the Patriots. It’s been a couple years and lots of injuries and retirements have cause some problems but with Rookie Jonathan Stewart sharing the carries with DeAngelo Williams the offense should be able to rush fear into the hearts of the three other NFC South teams.
OFFENSE: It was hard to watch the play off the Carolina Panther’s offense last year. QB Jake Delhomme spent a bit of time on the DL and QB Matt Moore had to take over. Jake Delhomme is rated an 85 overall and Matt Moore is rated only a 79 overall. Jake Delhomme seams to be the better option not only due to his six points more than Mr. Moore but also Delhomme’s 88 accuracy against Moore’s 83. They both have 88 throw power so don’t expect to be capable of deep bombs to WR Steve Smith. In this writers opinion it would be wiser to use short high percentage passes to advance the ball down the field in the passing game. The Carolina Panthers have four running backs vying for at the most two, RB DeAngelo Williams, RB Jonathan Stewart, former running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars LaBrandon Toefield and RB Alex Haynes. The best one to punch would belong to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. DeAngelo Williams is rated an 85 overall with 93 speed, 95 acceleration, and 94 agility. He is going to be the kind of running back that if he gets in the secondary, he’ll be able to burn a lot of corner backs and safeties all the way to the endzone. Jonathan Stewart isn’t all that different than DeAngelo Williams because he comes in with an 83 overall with 93 speed, 92 acceleration and 93 agility. Spelling between the two backs will be no change of pace for the other defense. The opposing defense will have to play at the same speed with the same defenders while you can switch the two and be able to tire out the defense for possibly a great wide open passing game. The Carolina Panthers went above and beyond the call of duty to bring in a great receiving core to take a lot of pressure off WR Steve Smith. Steve Smith is the starting receiver and for good reason. He is rated a 98 overall with 97 speed and 99 acceleration. He is and almost always is the hardest receiver to cover in Madden. Not only can he burn most any corner back in the league but his 99 agility is going to make a lot of people miss after the catch. WR DJ Hackett who signed in the off season is the number two guy with an 86 overall rating. He only has 89 speed but with a lot people online trying to double cover Steve Smith he may be open more than not. WR Muhsin Muhammad returns to the Panthers in the slot. He is getting up there in age and it proves it with his 84 overall. He isn’t lighting quick either with his 85 speed but he is one of the most sure handed receivers in the league with a 90 catch. The object of the receiving core is to get the ball in Steve Smith’s hands and try to get as many yards as you can after the catch. The TE’s for the Carolina Panthers is definitely not the who’s who of NFL TE’s. TE Jeff King is the highest rated of the three at only a 78 overall. He lacks decent speed with only a 76 speed but has decent jumping (90). There isn’t really much else to say about the Panthers lackluster tight ends other than the fact that you’ll probably only be throwing to them in desperate situations.
The offensive line for The Carolina Panthers is pretty good on the left side, OK at center and ugly on the right side. At LT Jordan Gross is rated a 90 overall and LG Travelle Wharton is rated an 88 overall. The center, Ryan Khalil, is rated an 82 overall but he is young and through updates will probably get better. At RT is Rookie Jeff Otah who is a 78 overall but just as Khalil will only get better through updates. RG Jeremy Bridges is an 82 overall. The best bet in the running game is to take the ball up the middle or the left side. During the passing game expect a lot of pressure to come from the right side so watch out.
DEFENSE: Only one person on the Carolina Panther’s defensive line is rated over a 90. Obviously it’s Julius Peppers and you knew that or you really aren’t a fan of football. RE Julius Peppers is a 96 overall and his main strengths are his 85 speed and 97 finesse move. He should be able to get right by any tackle or guard that gets in his way. At LE we have Charles Johnson who is only a 78 overall. Don’t expect to get a whole lot of pressure out of him, just stick to Peppers. DT Ma’ake Kemoeatu, 83 overall and DT Darwin Walker, 78 overall, occupy the middle that should be ok at stopping the run but not at creating pressure in the middle.
The Linebacking core for The Panthers is great, not the best but just great. LOLB Thomas Davis is an 87 overall and has excellent speed for a LB with 87 speed. MLB Jon Beason was pretty much the steal of last year’s draft. He had an excellent rookie season and his overall this year (93) shows it. His 94 tackle shows that he won’t miss many if any at all and his 97 pursuit shows that he’ll track you down. Former Bengal ROLB Landon Johnson (84) isn’t a bad option on the right side and his 87 tackle should be good enough to keep people in check.
No cornerback on the Carolina Panthers is over an 88 overall but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The three starters average an 86 overall due to CB Chris Gamble and CB Ken Lucas with an 88 overall each. CB Richard Marshall isn’t far behind with an 83 overall. Chris Gamble is the number one cause of his 92 speed and the ability to stay with most wide outs in the league with a nice 94 jumping. Ken Lucas is actually faster with a 93 speed but he is a better return man than Gamble is. Richard Marshall is the three man with 92 speed and should be able to cover anyone in the slot. A Free Safety choice to make is whether or not to start FS Nate Salley or FS Charles Godfrey. Both are a 77 overall but Godfrey has 93 speed compared to Salley’s 86. I’d start Godfrey cause everyone knows, speed kills in Madden. At SS you have a good choice with SS Chris Harris as an 84 overall. He lacks good speed with only an 86 but his tackle 85 and jumping 87 are good enough to stop a player or out jump them for the ball.
The Carolina Panthers have good enough offense to compete with some of the best defensive teams in Madden. Their defense is also good enough to hang with some of the best offensive teams unless they have multiple running backs that are highly rated such as the Jacksonville Jaguars. The offense should be used with the dual threat running game in mind plus the ability of Steve Smith in the passing game.
MOST OVERRATED PLAYER: WR Muhsin Muhammad (84 OVR)
I don’t think it’s a big argument to say that Muhsin Muhammad is way past his prime. He departed from Carolina years ago to try and help the offense in Chicago. Not even this receiver could do it and came back to the cats. Moose is 35 this year and has been on a sharp decline that the developers must have forgot about. He isn’t a deep threat anymore. He is 6′2” and could dominate some smaller corners but with his lack of speed he won’t see the ball much.
BIGGEST OVERACHIEVER: WR DJ Hackett (86 OVR)
I personally think he should be a 90 overall but I don’t make the ratings. He was always able to do big things in Seattle even before Deion Branch arrived. He is 6′2” and has the speed to get past number two corners and can grab the ball before they even see it. I think he should be a little faster but his ratings will go up as he sees the ball a lot more with Steve Smith taking a lot of corners covering him.
As always, feel free to leave comments, concerns, agreements, disagreements, etc either in the comments section or in our forums. You can discuss what you think the upcoming Madden season will be like for the Carolina Panthers here.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
The most underrated player on the Panther’s roster has to be Delhomme. His arm strength has always been underrated. Who the hell do they think has been throwing the deep ball to Smith the last 6 years?
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
LOL
Yeah Delhomme’s arm strength is ridiculously underrated. Especially considering he is saying it is stronger than ever after surgery.
Matt Moore’s arm stregnth shouldn’t be 88, if you look at the game in Tampa Bay he under threw a wide open Drew Carter, and the pass was only 50 or so yards.
Just look at Delhomme’s throws in the Superbowl.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
DeAngelo Williams is underrated he should be a 87 OVR. Chris Harris should be a 88 OVR. Hackett should be faster.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
You also can’t forget Toniu Fonoti who is currently on FA in the game, he is predicted as the starting RG right now haha
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
i would agree that jake delhomme is underated. i think dj hackett should have a higher rating also. jeff otah has great run blocking in the game even though his ovr rating is 78. thought landon johnson should be a little higher. you have to remember mushin has NEVER had any injury in his carrer and i think he will prove he can still play this year.