Will the Carolina Panthers have a top 5 scoring offense in 2018

Will the Carolina Panthers have a top 5 scoring offense in 2018? Is it just me Daryl Williams Jersey , or could the Panthers have an awesome offense in 2018? Last year Carolina’s 22.7 points per game ranked 12th in the league despite a sub-par wide receiver corps and several derailing injuries. With free agency and the draft now behind us, let’s look at the changes that could lead to the Panthers ending up with one of the league’s most potent offenses in the upcoming year:What’s betterCam Newton is no longer “rusty” following his March 2017 shoulder surgery.Greg Olsen is healthy after missing nine games last year. Ryan Kalil appears to be healthy after missing 10 games in 2017. C.J. Anderson is an upgrade over Jonathan Stewart (but we still love you here, J-Stew!).The wide receiver corps is upgraded with a healthy Curtis Samuel and the additions of D.J. Moore, Torrey Smith, and Jarius Wright. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner should be a major upgrade over Mike Shula. What’s worseThe departure of All-Pro Andrew Norwell leaves a huge void on the offensive line. What are the wildcardsLeft tackle Matt Kalil is reportedly healthy for the first time in a long time, but as I’ve asked before, will a healthy Matt Kalil be a good Matt Kalil? Will Christian McCaffrey make a Year 2 leap as a rusher? Maybe I’m seeing things with rose-colored glasses, but there are a lot more improvements than declines over last year. If Matt Kalil can rebound and Christian McCaffrey matures as a runner, then the Panthers offense could be downright scary. I’m not alone in being optimistic about the Panthers potential to score points this year. A couple of weeks ago NFL Network’s Willie McGinest said the Panthers are “probably one of the best offenses on paper, talent-wise, in the league.” He then said Carolina’s offense is “top five” in the NFL. That may be a bit of an impromptu hot take on a network with a lot of airtime to fill, but it rings true to me. With better health and upgrades across the offense (minus left guard), the Panthers could definitely improve on their No. 12 scoring rank from a year ago. In 2015 Carolina led the NFL in scoring at 31.3 points per game Authentic Ian Thomas Jersey , propelling them to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance. Let’s hope history repeats itself. The Panthers didn’t make the mistake the Bengals made this offseason.And it’s nice that they have that luxury now, to make decisions that only pertain to football.According to multiple sources in Carolina’s football operation, the question of whether free agent safety Eric Reid would continue to kneel during the national anthem never came up during their discussions this week. During a free agent visit to Cincinnati earlier this year, Bengals owner Mike Brown asked Reid about his future protest plans. Subsequently, Reid was not signed by the Bengals.In Carolina this week, it was never a factor.Simply put, it’s a move that never would have been made under former owner Jerry Richardson. And while the football operation wants to focus on how much Reid will help a team that lost starting safety Da'Norris Searcy, they know even if they won’t say it that having David Tepper in charge gives them a liberty they never previously enjoyed. (Of course, they haven’t used that liberty to sign the backup quarterback they desperately need, but when you’ve been crawling for 23 years, expecting a sprint is probably unfair.)Richardson had a deeply patriarchal view of his football team, and it reflected in the transactions they made. To call the Panthers conservative understates the case profoundly. Richardson bragged to Charlie Rose (in a visual made ironic given each of their future public humiliations) about No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton not being allowed to get tattoos. A fringe player (defensive back Marcus Ball) mysteriously disappeared from the roster after raising his fist last September at the peak of anti-Donald Trump sentiment. Defensive end Julius Peppers stayed in the locker room that day in his own silent protest, but since he’s a future Hall-of-Famer Youth Torrey Smith Jersey , he remains employed. Richardson’s desire to not risk offending his Old South base (i.e. conservative and white) was woven into the organizational culture, and the Panthers 192-192-1 record in 23 years was a metaphor for many things.But Richardson’s gone, after selling his team in the wake of allegations of workplace misconduct that included racial and sexual harassment. In his place stepped a man who once called the commander in chief “a demented, narcissistic scumbag” and “the father of lies.” While Tepper’s still very supportive of some of Trump’s policies (no one that rich isn’t), he has also been an active proponent for and participant in their efforts for social causes. This week, the Panthers were packing supplies for flood victims in Eastern North Carolina, and Tepper was elbow-to-elbow with players and staffers in the assembly line. He also impressed his players in his first meeting with them after the purchase, telling them that he cared about the issues they cared about, and was serious about allowing them to work for change.Assuming he’s in football shape, Reid should absolutely contribute to a football team that needs him. But whether he does or doesn’t, he already contributes to a culture that has changed, which certainly needed to.