This past season, the Carolina Panthers only had one established wide receiver. Who other than Steve Smith. Having only one receiver made the passing game very hard for Carolina because most teams would constantly double or even triple team Smith. The Panthers only had a few more options that included rookie, Dwayne Jarrett, Keary Colbert, Drew Carter, and Ryne Robinson, who emerged later in the season after mostly returning kicks during the first half of the season. None of those players have a strong background in the NFL like Smith. This year things appear to be much different.

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.

Tags: steve smith, wide receivers