The Carolina Panthers have come oh-so-close to a Super Bowl since their inception in 1995. They’ve won 6 division titles and went to the Super Bowl in 2003 and 2015 only to be stopped by the Patriots and Broncos.
That 2015 side was a special team that went 15-1, but since then the Panthers have been very up and down. In 2018 they went just 7-9 thanks in part to a terrible shoulder injury to quarterback Cam Newton.
They enter 2019 in a highly competitive division with a team that has talent but more than a few holes. Can you take over and finally bring the ultimate glory to the Panthers?
Team Rating
The Panthers come into franchise mode with a 79 OVR rating. Which puts them 7th, tied with the likes of Baltimore, Seattle, and Pittsburgh.
Carolina are a very balanced side, with a 81 rating on both offense and defense. That offensive score sits 11th in the league, tied with three others so they are fairly average there. The defensive score is on the higher side of the scale though. It comes in 5th and is tied with five more.
On the face of it that makes the Panthers fairly average, but there are very few teams as well-rounded and balanced as the Panthers are.
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Luke Kuechly, Middle Linebacker (98 OVR)
Age: 28
Development Trait: Superstar X-Factor
Contract: 3 years/$40.16 million
2019 Cap Hit: $9.96 million
Best Stats: Play Recognition (99), Awareness (99), Pursuit (97), Tackle (96), Hit Power (94), Block Shedding (89), Acceleration (89), Speed (86)
The Carolina Panthers picked Luke Kuechly 9th overall in the 2012 draft and have been richly rewarded for it. Kuechly came straight into the starting lineup as a rookie and was a dominant force, racking up 165 tackles and 2 interceptions as he won Defensive Rookie of the Year. In 2013 Kuechly had 166, 4 interceptions and claimed Defensive Player of the Year as well as his first of 5 First Team All-Pro berths.
In Madden 20 Kuechly is a superb player. He has elite play recognition (99) and awareness (99) to diagnose plays. His tackling (96) is amazing and his hit power (94) can force fumbles. His zone coverage (83) is elite for the position too.
Christian McCaffrey, Half Back (91 OVR)
Age: 23
Development Trait: Superstar X-Factor
Contract: 2 years/$10.19 million
2019 Cap Hit: $4.7 million
Best Stats: Agility (97), Juke Move (93), Acceleration (92), Spin Move (91), Elusiveness (91), Carrying (89), Short Route (82), Catching (81)
Christian McCaffrey was taken 8th overall by the Panthers in 2017. As a rookie he took just 117 carries for 435 yards, a poor 3.7 yards per carry average, but he caught 80 passes for 651 yards and 5 scores. In 2018 McCaffrey exploded though. A 5.0 yards per carry saw McCaffrey hit 1,098 yards and make 107 catches for 867 yards as he found the endzone 13 times.
In Madden 20 McCaffrey is an elite back. His catching (81) is the best at his position while his route running (82 short, 75 medium) is stellar too. McCaffrey has the tools to shake defenders with his juke move (93), stiff arm (91) and elusiveness (91).
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Gerald McCoy, Defensive End (86 OVR)
Age: 31
Development Trait: Star
Contract: 1 year/$8.44 million
2019 Cap Hit: $8.44 million
Best Stats: Strength (92), Play Recognition (92), Tackle (91), Awareness (88), Hit Power (85), Pursuit (84), Power Moves (84), Acceleration (83)
Gerald McCoy was the third-overall pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2010 and has been a superb player since. In 9 seasons with the Bucs he amassed 54.5 sacks, 140 QB hits, and 79 tackles for loss. In the offseason he was cut for cap reasons and quickly signed with the Panthers so he could get some revenge twice this season.
In Madden 20 McCoy can still get it done. His strength (92) and power moves (84) will be a problem for a lot of offensive linemen. His play recognition (92) and awareness (88) will keep him in the game while his tackling (91) and block shedding (85) means he will make plays.
Cam Newton, Quarterback (84 OVR)
Age: 30
Development Trait: Superstar X-Factor
Contract: 2 years/$44.3 million
2019 Cap Hit: $23.2 million
Best Stats: Break Sack (95), Throw Power (93), Play Action (93), Throw On Run (88), Short Accuracy (88), Acceleration (88), Awareness (88)
The Panthers picked Cam Newton #1 in 2011. Cam started from week 1 and threw for 4,051 yards and rushed for a massive 706 yards and 14 touchdowns as he claimed Offensive Rookie of the Year. Over the years Cam has run less, but he is still a constant threat on the ground. Cam claimed MVP honors in 2015 with 3,837 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, and an extra 10 scores on the ground.
In Madden 20 Newton is a dual threat quarterback. He has good throw power (93) and can dominate with play action (93) while his acceleration (88) and speed (85) will force defenses to account for him. His accuracy (88 short, 84 medium, 82 deep) isn’t ideal but you can certainly work with it.
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Full Roster & Depth Chart
QB | OVR | SPD | THP | SAC | MAC | DAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cam Newton | 84 | 85 | 93 | 88 | 84 | 82 |
Will Grier | 64 | 78 | 86 | 81 | 76 | 77 |
Kyle Allen | 52 | 82 | 83 | 75 | 65 | 67 |
HB | OVR | SPD | CAR | SFA | ELU | JKM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christian McCaffrey | 91 | 91 | 89 | 77 | 77 | 93 |
Jordan Scarlett | 64 | 90 | 90 | 69 | 69 | 77 |
Reggie Bonnafon | 59 | 88 | 82 | 61 | 61 | 75 |
FB | OVR | SPD | CAR | RBK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alex Armah Jr | 67 | 82 | 77 | 58 |
WR | OVR | SPD | CTH | SRR | MRR | DRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DJ Moore | 81 | 93 | 86 | 84 | 81 | 82 |
Curtis Samuel | 78 | 95 | 83 | 80 | 79 | 77 |
Chris Hogan | 77 | 88 | 89 | 79 | 80 | 79 |
Jarius Wright | 75 | 90 | 82 | 78 | 79 | 80 |
Ray-Ray McCloud III | 67 | 90 | 84 | 77 | 71 | 69 |
Brandon Zylstra | 63 | 85 | 79 | 69 | 71 | 68 |
TE | OVR | SPD | CTH | SRR | RBK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Greg Olsen | 89 | 84 | 93 | 84 | 52 |
Chris Manhertz | 73 | 78 | 74 | 53 | 71 |
Ian Thomas | 73 | 83 | 79 | 71 | 53 |
Marcus Baugh | 62 | 79 | 71 | 58 | 59 |
JJ Jansen | 47 | 63 | 60 | 45 | 54 |
DE | OVR | SPD | STR | PMV | FMV | BSH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gerald McCoy | 86 | 69 | 92 | 84 | 71 | 85 |
Kawann Short | 85 | 70 | 91 | 89 | 69 | 91 |
Vernon Butler Jr | 69 | 66 | 83 | 72 | 59 | 69 |
Efe Obada | 66 | 85 | 75 | 62 | 70 | 64 |
Destiny Vaeao | 65 | 66 | 84 | 69 | 59 | 58 |
DT | OVR | SPD | STR | PMV | FMV | BSH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dontari Poe | 78 | 73 | 94 | 78 | 57 | 72 |
Kyle Love | 69 | 57 | 85 | 75 | 60 | 61 |
OLB | OVR | SPD | TAK | BSH | PMV | FMV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mario Addison | 76 | 79 | 79 | 67 | 68 | 82 |
Brian Burns | 75 | 88 | 75 | 66 | 54 | 79 |
Bruce Irvin | 74 | 86 | 80 | 75 | 73 | 55 |
Marquis Haynes | 67 | 82 | 76 | 64 | 57 | 72 |
Christian Miller | 64 | 77 | 76 | 68 | 58 | 68 |
MLB | OVR | SPD | TAK | BSH | MCV | ZCV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Luke Kuechly | 98 | 86 | 96 | 89 | 72 | 83 |
Shaq Thompson | 78 | 85 | 87 | 80 | 48 | 55 |
Jermaine Carter Jr | 64 | 83 | 79 | 71 | 61 | 66 |
Andre Smith | 62 | 84 | 82 | 69 | 45 | 58 |
Jordan Kunaszyk | 62 | 81 | 81 | 69 | 52 | 60 |
CB | OVR | SPD | MCV | ZCV | PRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Donte Jackson | 81 | 96 | 81 | 76 | 78 |
James Bradberry IV | 79 | 91 | 80 | 78 | 81 |
Ross Cockrell | 73 | 89 | 72 | 74 | 79 |
Javien Elliott | 66 | 89 | 65 | 69 | 77 |
FS | OVR | SPD | PRC | ZCV | TAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tre Boston | 79 | 87 | 80 | 84 | 74 |
Colin Jones | 69 | 89 | 64 | 71 | 68 |
SS | OVR | SPD | PRC | ZCV | TAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eric Reid | 76 | 87 | 78 | 79 | 67 |
Rashaan Gaulden | 67 | 86 | 65 | 75 | 71 |
Natrell Jamerson | 63 | 92 | 58 | 67 | 70 |
K | OVR | KPW | KAC |
|---|---|---|---|
Graham Gano | 79 | 99 | 85 |
Joey Slye | 68 | 98 | 71 |
P | OVR | KPW | KAC |
|---|---|---|---|
Michael Palardy | 79 | 92 | 88 |
The Panthers roster has a lot of talent across the board.
The offense is led by quarterback Cam Newton (93 throw power, 88 short accuracy) but it will run through running back Christian McCaffrey (97 agility, 93 juke move) who is a big play threat any time he gets the ball.
The Panthers have some speedsters on the outside with DJ Moore (93 speed, 88 spectacular catch) and Curtis Samuel (95 speed, 83 catching) while Greg Olsen (93 catching, 84 speed) remains a threat at tight end.
The offensive line isn’t great, but the pairing of center Matt Paradis (86 pass block, 82 run block) and right guard Trai Turner (84 run block, 79 pass block) are your best blockers so try to run behind them more often than not.
Defensively the Panthers are a perfect user team thanks to their star middle linebacker Luke Kuechly (96 tackle, 89 block shed). In front of him the Panthers have a stout defensive line featuring Gerald McCoy (92 strength, 85 block shed) and Kawann Short (91 strength, 91 block shed).
The edge rush will come from Mario Addison (85 acceleration, 82 finesse moves) and Bruce Irvin (88 acceleration, 73 power moves) while Shaq Thompson (87 tackle, 86 acceleration) is a solid partner for Kuechly in the middle.
The Panthers secondary is a little thin, but cornerback Donte Jackson (96 speed, 81 man coverage) is a nice player and the safety pairing of Tre Boston (89 acceleration, 84 zone coverage) and Eric Reid (91 acceleration, 79 zone coverage).
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Salary Cap
The Carolina Panthers come into franchise mode with 55 players on the roster and $23.5 million in cap space. That means you only need to cut 2 for the regular season so creating extra cap space isn’t going to happen. However, the $23.5 million in space means you can go out and make a move if you want to, just try to hold on to some cap space as you will need it to re-sign some key players.
Impending Free Agents
The Panthers have 22 players on their roster that are entering the last year of their contracts. That is a big chunk of your roster and it includes some important players that you will miss when they are gone. The likes of Gerald McCoy could be allowed to walk due to his age but you will need to replace him. Who are the players that you should prioritise re-signing after season 1?
James Bradberry IV, Cornerback (79 OVR)
The Panthers have just 4 corners on their roster and three of them are impending free agents. That means you absolutely have to retain #2 corner James Bradberry. His speed (91) and man coverage (80) will keep him competitive and at 26 he can still improve.
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Tre Boston, Free Safety (79 OVR)
Tre Boston is a very solid free safety, something that can be very hard to find. With good speed (87) and zone coverage (84) he can make plays while his catching (75) and hit power (88) will create turnovers. Boston is just 27 and has star development so he can still improve too.
Retaining him and Bradberry will at least keep the secondary respectable while you try to draft or sign some new talent to take it up a notch.
Daryl Williams, Left Tackle (79 OVR)
Another mid-20’s player you need to hold on to is left tackle Daryl Williams. The Panthers offensive line needs an upgrade, but Williams is a strong (87) player who is well balanced between run (84) and pass (84) blocking. If you find an upgrade at left tackle you can slide Williams into the huge hole at left guard, but re-signing Williams means you aren’t desperate to take a tackle high in the draft and can take aim at the best player available instead.
Shaq Thompson, Middle Linebacker (78 OVR)
Thompson is a nice second linebacker next to Kuechly. He has good speed (85) and tackling (87) but his coverage skills are not great (55 zone, 48 man). However, a nice tactic here is to control Thompson while letting Kuechly work. Thanks to his athleticism he is a very good user linebacker and shouldn’t be too expensive to retain.
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Roster Needs
The Panthers are set at a couple of key Madden positions like quarterback, running back, and middle linebacker, but around that the roster does need some improvement.
The offensive line needs a new left guard in the worst way, while Greg Olsen is now 34 and will need a replacement soon. There is also very little depth behind Christian McCaffrey so adding another back would help you lighten his load and lessen the injury risk.
Defensively the Panthers are pretty thin despite a few stars. They need better edge rush to contain and attack quarterbacks, and the secondary is paper thin.
Finding a top cornerback should be your prior in the offseason, be that via trade, free agency, or the draft. But you shouldn’t stop at adding 1. You should look to take someone who can start and then find another two that can be role players. You need to fill out that depth chart because you’ll be playing with 3 on the field most of the time.
Only once that position is fixed should you be hunting after improvements at the offensive line and edge positions.
Running backs are pretty easy to find late in the draft so you shouldn’t need to invest too heavily there.