It had been a couple of weeks since the Carolina Panthers had put anybody on injured reserve, so they were overdue. The streak ended with today’s announcement that rookie offensive tackle Greg Little has been placed on IR and wide receiver Chris Hogan has been activated to the 53-man roster.
Little was the team’s second-round draft pick this year and the Panthers had high hopes he would become their franchise left tackle. We’ll have to pencil him in for an ‘incomplete’ grade for his rookie year since he missed so much time due to injury. Little sat out a long portion of the season in the concussion protocol and it ends early due to an ankle injury.
In the meantime, the team will continue developing sixth-round pick Dennis Daley at left tackle. He has had some strong games but needs to show more consistency from week to week.
As for Hogan, he probably won’t make much of an impact on offense given the unit’s deep-rooted problems. He’s the No. 4 receiver on the depth chart and only caught three passes for 24 yards in his first four games of 2019. One area he could make a difference is on special teams. Hogan has experience as a punt returner and the Panthers are once again in need of another after waiving Greg Dortch for the second time this year.
