This past week, the Carolina Panthers had to take care of a little housekeeping—some work that resulted in what is now their 53-man roster. And heck, they had even more tidying up to do after that—with their moves to accommodate a high-profile injury, a new kicker and the start of a practice squad.
So, now that that’s all done, how will their first official depth chart of the 2022 regular season pan out? Here are our projections.
Under center
| Position | 1st | Depth |
| QB | Baker Mayfield | PJ Walker |
Mayfield, of course, will steer this ship into Week 1 against his old Cleveland Browns buddies. And as Sam Darnold and Matt Corral sit on the injured reserve, with the former out for about a month and the latter for the whole season, Walker is the de facto backup.
Backfield
| Position | 1st string | 2nd string | 3rd string |
| RB | Christian McCaffrey | D’Onta Foreman | Chuba Hubbard |
| FB | Giovanni Ricci |
As long as McCaffrey is present, Foreman seems to be the likelier No. 2 option. His power style is a more complementary change of pace for the offense.
Pass catchers
| Position | 1st string | 2nd string | 3rd string | 4th string |
| WR | DJ Moore | Rashard Higgins | Laviska Shenault Jr. | Andre Roberts |
| WR | Robbie Anderson | Terrace Marshall Jr. | Shi Smith | |
| TE | Tommy Tremble | Stephen Sullian | ||
| TE | Ian Thomas |
Shenault could be the wildcard of the offense, let alone this group. The 2020 second-round pick, who was acquired this past Monday, may even take snaps out of the backfield—perhaps in a poor man’s version of how the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers deploy Cordarrelle Patterson and Deebo Samuel.
Offensive line
| Position | 1st string | 2nd string |
| LT | Ikem Ekwonu | |
| LG | Brady Christensen | Michael Jordan |
| C | Bradley Bozeman | Pat Elflein |
| RG | Austin Corbett | Cade Mays |
| RT | Taylor Moton | Cameron Erving |
If Bozeman is indeed a go in Week 1, he should get the nod over Elflein.
As for their depth, the Panthers have made a pointed effort to fill their bench with versatile hog mollies. They have that in Elflein, Erving, Mays and—if need be—Christensen, who can swing over to the blindside.
Front seven
| Position | 1st string | 2nd string | 3rd string |
| DE | Brian Burns | Marquis Haynes Sr. | |
| DT | Derrick Brown | Daviyon Nixon | Phil Hoskins |
| DT | Matt Ioannidis | Bravvion Roy | Marquan McCall |
| DE | Yetur Gross-Matos | Amaré Barno | |
| WLB | Shaq Thompson | Brandon Smith | |
| MLB | Damien Wilson | Cory Littleton | |
| SLB | Frankie Luvu |
Carolina has themselves two intriguing rookies in Barno and Smith. They’ll, obviously, start out as depth—but could make their presences felt with opportunities just waiting to be seized.
Secondary
| Position | 1st string | 2nd string | 3rd string |
| CB | Donte Jackson | CJ Henderson | Stantley Thomas-Oliver III |
| CB | Jaycee Horn | Keith Taylor Jr. | |
| FS | Jeremy Chinn | Sean Chandler | |
| SS | Xavier Woods | Myles Hartsfield | Sam Franklin Jr. |
Even though he stands at just 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds, Hartsfield should be a big player in this secondary. He can line up from a number of spots, giving defensive coordinator Phil Snow a chess piece of sorts over the top and from the slot.
Specialists
| Position | 1st string | 2nd string |
| K | Eddy Piñeiro | |
| P | Johnny Hekker | |
| LS | JJ Jansen | |
| KR | Andre Roberts | Chuba Hubbard |
| PR | Andre Roberts | Shi Smith |
With Zane Gonzalez done for the season, Piñeiro takes over the kicking duties.
Roberts, the most experienced return man on the team by a wide margin, could handle both kickoffs and punts.
