Between navigating through a new infrastructure and dealing with a handful of key injuries, the Carolina Panthers have had quite the task in figuring out who to put on the field so far.
That learning process continued in Monday night’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, with these key takeaways from the game’s snap counts:
Forgetting Terrace Marshall?
Terrace Marshall Jr. may be getting lost in fold once again.
The 2021 second-round pick began his third season by playing in 69 of the offense’s 77 snaps last Sunday. But, with the return of DJ Chark to the group, he got all of 22 snaps while recording zero targets on Monday night.
Even though the Panthers are still clearly trying to figure out their passing game, those numbers should be discouraging for Marshall Jr.—who seems to be the fourth man in the pecking order. By comparison, Chark received 37 snaps, Adam Thielen got 52 and Jonathan Mingo led the bunch with 59.
The right right guard
With both Brady Christensen and Austin Corbett on the shelf, the Panthers were forced to start a new pair of guards. They began the night with Chandler Zavala on the left and Cade Mays on the right.
Mays, however, would be pulled after 34 snaps for veteran Calvin Throckmorton—who finished up the contest with 26 plays. Head coach Frank Reich told reporters after the game that the switch was always the plan going in, despite what some may have perceived as a poor performance from Mays.
And if some did perceive it that way, they probably weren’t wrong. Both Mays and Throckmorton wound up with two of the offense’s lowest Pro Football Focus grades of the week.
Powering up the pass rush
2023 is a pretty big year for Yetur Gross-Matos. So starting out with just four snaps in his first game must’ve hurt.
Luckily, he got a chance to eat in Week 2. The 2020 second-rounder was in on 42 of the team’s 77 defensive looks and turned that into two pressures—including a shared sack with fellow outside linebacker Justin Houston.
As a whole, the Panthers’ pass rush has shown up thus far. They’ve now recorded four sacks in both of their first two outings.
