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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Anthony Rizzuti

Projecting the Panthers’ depth chart following roster updates

Andre Roberts Christian McCaffrey Pat Elflein Shi Smith Amaré Barno Bradley Bozeman Brady Christensen Brandon Smith Cade Mays Cameron Erving

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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.