Pro Football Focus lists the highest graded Panthers for the 2018 NFL season

This team has a ton of potential, but as the grades show, there is a lot of room to improve on.

The Carolina Panthers may have had a disappointing season after leaving a sour 7-9 taste in our mouths, but the latest PFF rankings display that there is much promise for the future.

2018 highest grades — Panthers defense

The highest-graded Carolina Panthers on defense from the 2018 season pic.twitter.com/pM9iliJfQz

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) February 14, 2019

Unsurprisingly, Luke Kuechly is at the top of the list with a 90.7 grade. The man is a stud. That’s already been established for almost a decade. Kawann Short’s grade followed Kuechly’s with an 83.7. Short had a solid year, but his defensive line as a whole struggled to get to the quarterback. That’s the main reason why defensive line is an important emphasis in this year’s draft. Kyle Love, Julius Peppers, and Thomas Davis all had sub-par seasons in 2018.

However, Thomas Davis is playing in another jersey next year, and Julius Peppers retired. These two were important pieces to the Panthers defense, so replacing them will be a priority this offseason. The grades tell the story effectively. This defense played well at times, but it needs more consistent quality play in order to get the Panthers back into playoff contention.

2018 highest grades — Panthers offense

The highest-graded Carolina Panthers on offense from the 2018 season pic.twitter.com/kagh5RAGAa

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) February 14, 2019

To nobody’s surprise, Christian McCaffrey sits at the top of the list. His electric season was by far the highlight of this offense. The rest of these grades display that there is potential in this offense, but there is still a lot of room to improve on. Taylor Moton had a solid year at right tackle with a grade of 76.2. That grade isn’t blowing anybody away, but at least he proves to be productive from time to time. Wide receivers D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel also performed well for the Panthers, but their abilities weren’t able to be highlighted due to Cam Newton’s shoulder injury (Which explains Cam’s low 70.9 grade).

All in all, the grades weren’t that impressive, but isn’t that fitting for this past season? This team had some very bright spots during the first half of the season. Then, that dreaded second half happened. There were still notable Panthers performances, but more of them have to occur if this team wants to see the playoffs in 2019.

What do you think of the Carolina Panthers’ top grades? Let us know in the poll below.

from Cat Scratch Reader - All Posts http://bit.ly/2X0Z8Ot