The Panthers picked up one of their former wide receivers Muhsin Muhammad. Carolina lost him due to salary cap issues in 2004. Along with Muhammad Carolina also acquired D.J. Hackett from Seattle. Hackett has been in the NFL for four years, but is also known to be injury prone. If D.J. can stay healthy in 2008 he will be a huge asset to the Panthers offense. As it is clear to see, the Panthers depth chart is greatly equipped with wide recievers.

Another Plus to having Mushin Muhammad back on Carolina’s team, is the fact that he and Quarterback Jake Delhomme have had experience working together.With all of the threats that these new coming players pose, it should prove to work at taking the double team off of Steve Smith. Many people believe that the Panthers lack depth in the wide reciever position, but as the above statements show, the Panthers have very experienced players, and also some younger developing players in that position that should deliver this coming season. The players performance in training camp and the other summer training events will determine who exactly is placed where on the Carolina depth chart.

Probable starter: Jeff King

At the beginning of the offseason, Carolina started looking for that second receiver to help take some of the pressure off Steve Smith, and surprisingly Head Coach John Fox and General Manager Marty Hurney did initially turn to the TE position, specifically looking at picking up then free agent Alge Crumpler. In the end they decided that either Crumpler was asking for too much or was just too old (he’s 30) and decided to go with resigning Moose instead (and personally I feel this was defiantly the right decision). Really from then on the tight end position was barely mentioned until the Panthers picked up Gary Barnidge in the fifth round of April’s Draft.

So lets begin by first looking at the rookie that I mentioned above: TE Gary Barnidge out of Louisville. Obviously Barnidge has some problems since he was drafted in the fifth round, but there are some promising bright spots as well. The major issue with Barnidge is that he is not a great blocker. He is 6′ 5”, but only weighs 243, which means strong defenders can easily push him around. This however can be improved on; he just needs to bulk up a little with Jerry Simmons (Carolina’s strength and conditioning coach). His positives are that he is a very good receiver and does an excellent job of catching the ball in traffic. Meaning that Fox and Hurney are looking at him primarily as a receiving tight end. This also says a lot about Fox and Hurney’s view of the team. They clearly feel that the offensive line is pretty close to where they want it, so they are moving in the direction of simply obtaining more threats on offense, which is never a bad thing.

Now moving on to the probable starter, Jeff King. King, a then second year man out of Virginia Tech in the 2006 draft, blossomed last year, improving wonders on his 2006 season catching 46 passes for 406 yards (he only had one reception in 2006) though much of the difference was due to the new wrinkles put in for the TE position by Offensive Coordinator Jeff Davidson. For the first time since Wesley Walls retired Carolina has a real multi-faceted tight end that can both block and catch. You may say that his 406 receiving yards isn’t much compared to the league leader Tony Gonzalez’s 1,172 yards, but King still had 200 yards more that the average tight end in the league. King does have a lot of potential, and if he can improve on last season, he will be another valuable weapon on the offense next season, along with a reliable blocker.

The guy that I am most excited about out of all the TE ’s is last year’s rookie Dante Rosario. Although he did not do much in the beginning of the season, he really came around in the last five games of last season, and I want to highlight one specific catch he had in last year’s week 15 game against Seattle. Matt Moore hit Rosario for a 15 yard completion, then Rosario continued to fly down the field, pulling off a good looking stiff arm on one of Seattle’s defenders for a 54 yards gain (shown above). In the last five games of the season Rosario had six receptions for 108 yards, and showed that rare playmaking ability that Carolina has not had at the TE position since Walls. Look for Rosario to share some time with King next season, and hopefully he will have some more 54-yard receptions.

Overall Position Grade: C+

“He’s the guy who’ll start off with those duties when we get to (training) camp,” said Fox “Based on past history, he can do it”

Fox is right. Stewart was one of the NCAA’s top kick returners while he was at Oregon, returning 58 kickoffs at Oregon for a 28.7-yard average, with two touchdowns. Hopefully Stewart will be able to improve over the last two season in which Carolina 19.4 and 19.1average return yards respectively. These numbers are primarily due to the fact that Carolina has been without a legitimate kick returner since they lost “He Hate Me” (Rod Smart’s Jersey name while in the XFL) in 2005.

“Returning kicks is another offensive possession” said Stewart, who seems very willing to step into this role “It’s an opportunity to get the game rolling for the offense.”

Stewart will be one of the biggest returners in the league, and will look to work with Special Teams Coach Danny Crossman to get the Panthers back to the level they were at in 2005 ranking 9th in the NFL.

For the past two seasons, Williams has been waiting for his chance to shine. Playing back-up to Deshaun Foster was not easy. It was obvious that he wanted to go out on the field and make some plays as a starter. However, the early role of back-up has helped Williams. He has learned the virtue of patience, something that is essential to have when running. He has also learned to not take his playing time for granted.

In the off-season, the Panthers found that it would be best to part with the dependable Deshaun Foster. In the draft, the Panthers were able to acquire a great and consistent runner in Jonathan Stewart, who fit the mold of a young Stephen Davis.

Now, DeAngelo Williams is the starter. It is his chance to show the coaches why they selected him in the first round. He still has some work to do, but he feels prepared overall. “I know that I have some improvements to make this off-season,” Williams said. “I need to get better at blocking and reading the holes.” This role will feature him the Panthers offense, which likes to have a reliable running game.

Williams will also have to play teacher to the young Jonathan Stewart. It was not long ago that DeShaun Foster was teaching Williams the tricks of the trade, and now Williams will have to pour that knowledge onto the Stewart.

Asked about the possibility of having to share playing time with Stewart, Williams had this to say: “Whether or not Stewart or I will start the game, we will both get about the same number of touches, more or less. Having both of us will keep the defense on its heels.” Having a great attitude like this will definitely promote camaraderie in the locker room.

DeAngelo Williams was solid last season in the back-up role. He carried the ball 144 times for 717 yards. He also had some key receptions during the season. The two running back system the Panthers will run will have both running backs seeing these kinds of numbers.

Down the road, I could see Jonathan Stewart being featured as the team’s number one running back, with DeAngelo coming in on passing downs and after the defense is tired. Stewart would pound the defense down, then Williams would come in and provide a spark. It will be an exciting tandem to watch.

Stewart said during practice: “It was a little faster, a littler quicker pace than college. It was a little different.”

He will have to wait until the injury heals to play alongside former first round pick De’Angelo Williams. John Fox is hopeful that the two will replace the Deshaun Foster – Stephen Davis tandem that the Panthers rode on through to the Super Bowl.

“It is very frustrating just watching. When you’re a football player, you want to be out there and participating in the drills” said Stewart, “But it is what it is. “‘I’ve got to sit back and watch for awhile.”