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Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008

Some Panthers jobs up for grabs

CHARLOTTE -- The Carolina Panthers are still a few days from making their first cuts.

But after watching three weeks of camp and a pair of preseason games, it's becoming clear that a number of regular- season jobs are going to need to be filled by guys who aren't even here yet, or guys who were planning on smaller roles.

Their search for offseason help was exhaustive, buying cheap free agents by the dozen and drafting often and fairly well.

The early returns on most of their picks and some of their free agents have been good, but the longer you watch them, the more glaring a few of the needs become.

Here's a look at the five under-the-radar jobs available, to those here or elsewhere:

1. Return man

Since Ryne Robinson (strained PCL, LCL in left knee) isn't expected back until after the start of the regular season, they're going to have to find somebody for this job immediately before the first game.

They can try running backs Jonathan Stewart or DeCori Birmingham, but the reality is, the guy they really need works somewhere else now.

There are folks in the organization who have already started eyeballing second-half returners at other preseason games, looking for a guy they can claim off waivers at final cuts. If the guy's young and cheap and could be stashed on the practice squad when/if Robinson is ready to come back, all the better.

They hoped to fill the job long-term when they drafted Robinson, but his absence is creating perhaps the most significant short-term void.

2. Third quarterback

There's a pretty good chance the third quarterback becomes the spot they need for a second kicker, and they go into the season with just Jake Delhomme and Matt Moore.

That's risky, and it has nothing to do with Delhomme's elbow.

As much as they like Moore, he's still in the developmental stages of becoming an NFL quarterback. When he stepped in last year, the playbook became a scribbled-on bar napkin. So if (obligatory wood-knocking, God forbid statement goes here) anything happened to Delhomme, they need someone to guide him.

They sniffed around Chad Pennington for a moment before he landed in Miami, and it's clear they're looking at every name that crosses the wire. It's hard to imagine they couldn't sneak either Brett Basanez or Lester Ricard onto the practice squad if need be, but it would be nice having someone else on hand who's done it before.

3. Third receiver

Of all the guys with a chance to prove themselves worthy of more work in the third preseason game, none stands to gain as much as wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett.

If he responds, he prevents a panic when the inevitable D.J. Hackett absence occurs. At least Hackett was cheap, making about half what Denver gave Keary Colbert (snicker, snicker).

When they signed Hackett, Jarrett looked like a guy who'd spend another year inactive. But with a more-good-than-bad camp, Jarrett's starting to appear a legitimate alternative. If he's not ready to be a starter for the first two games when Steve Smith's suspended, he's at least looking like a not-awful third when Smith comes back.

4. Fourth corner

It might be that Dante Wesley is the fourth guy behind Ken Lucas, Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall. Which is fine, since he's a top special teamer.

Just hope he doesn't have to play much defense.

There aren't that many quality cover players in the league, and having three good ones puts the Panthers ahead of most. But it would be keen if the fourth guy didn't make them cringe when he had to play defense, and it's not apparent that Ricardo Colclough, Wesley or Curtis Deloatch fit that description.

5. Ninth defensive lineman

Sounds like a luxury, right? It is, this year. Not so much a few years from now.

In years past, they've held onto guys like Tony Brown and Jovan Haye as long as they could, before injuries at other spots caused them to cut players who didn't really fit the scheme.

They were undersized interior rushers on a team which wanted wide-bodied run-stoppers.

These days, the Panthers just so happen to be looking for interior rushers, regardless of size.

It's hard to rip them for not keeping guys that didn't fit then, it just underscores how closely they'll be looking at the guys who'll be cast aside from other teams this year. They can get by for a year with the interior quartet of Maake Kemoeatu, Damione Lewis, Darwin Walker and Gary Gibson. But at some point, you'd like to have a younger version of Haye or Brown in the pipeline, and they'll be looking.

If that intriguing prospect from elsewhere's an end, that's OK too. Tyler Brayton's adequate at best, Charles Johnson doesn't look ready yet and the clock is ticking on Stanley McClover to reveal his potential. So if there's a kid squeezed out of a pass-rush rich squad, he might find a quick home here as well.