Carolina Panthers Training Camp: Young Players Putting On a Show

So far Carolina Panthers training camp in Spartanburg, SC has gone exceptionally well (leave the Steve Smith-Ken Lucas incident, of course—although the team is moving on very well).  The young players in particular have given great performances. 

Charlotte Observer staff writer Tom Sorensen wrote of this year's camp, "I've covered of all 14 of their [the Panthers'] training camps, and this has (or had) been among their best.  Almost every session has had a virtuoso performance, and they haven't all been by receiver Jason Carter."

Jason Carter, 25, is technically a third-year wide receiver who graduated from Texas A&M in 2005.  In 2006, Carter was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent. 

Carter played college football at Texas A&M.  From 2002-'05 at A&M Carter scored six receiving touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns.  Okay, so his college stats are rock-bottom awful.  Eleven touchdowns in four years?!  That means he definitely didn't start—he was probably more likely the last option in the shotgun five-WR formation.

And the Vikings obviously didn't see much in him.  They signed him before the 2006 season and he split time on their practice squad and active roster for a year.  In 2007, they cut him at the end of training camp.  Not long after that the Panthers picked him up and signed him to their practice squad. 

Carter is really impressing everyone at this year's Panthers training camp, though.  He's making such an impression that I think he has a great shot to make the final roster.  At worst, he'll be on the practice squad all year. 

But Carter isn't the only one commanding the coaches' attention. 

Running back Jonathan Stewart, a first-round pick in this year's draft, is wasting no time showcasing his skills all camp.  Multiple veterans as well as coaches have had great things to say about his exceptional talent.  As well as he's performed so far, his toe has been bothering him the entire time.  Once his toe fully recovers from surgery, Stewart will be an absolute beast.

In his junior and senior seasons at Oregon, Stewart ran for 2,703 yards and 21 touchdowns on 463 attempts.  He also averaged 5.8 yards per carry and never lost a fumble. 

Offensive tackle Jeff Otah, the team's other first round pick, has been integrated into the Panthers' restructured offensive line, one of two units the coaches like in particular.  While Otah presumably has had a good camp, we as Panther fans can only hope that he proves he's worth what we gave up to acquire the pick we used to draft him. 

In two seasons at Pittsburgh, Otah started all 24 games, earning an 81.58 percentage blocking consistency percentage.  He also recorded 192 knockdowns on 1,523 offensive snaps.  Twenty-six of these knockdowns resulted in touchdowns. 

It seems that safety Charles Godfrey, a third-round pick in the draft, is earning the most respect from the coaches out of any of the young players.  When a coach gushed about how well the rookies were coming along, Sorensen mentioned Stewart and Otah.  The coach immediately followed him up by bringing Charles Godfrey's name into the conversation. 

In college at Iowa, Godfrey averaged 74 tackles per year in his last two years while playing cornerback.  As a senior, Godfrey broke up nine passes and picked off five others.

Despite the fact that Godfrey played cornerback in college, he had played safety before that, and the Panthers have switched him to the starting free safety over Nate Salley.

Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd has such power in his leg that the sound of impact between his foot and the ball is different from other kickers.  

Before he suffered a minor leg injury, defensive tackle Damione Lewis looked quicker than in the past. 

In Charlotte Observer writer Tom Sorensen's opinion, running back DeAngelo Williams has been the best player in camp.  He's reading his blocks as well as he ever has, changes directions on a dime, and finds space where none looks to be.

One coach praised one player in particular I hadn't heard of before: No. 91, defensive tackle Gary Gibson.  Gibson, 26, was on the practice squad much of last year.  He played at Rutgers and didn't play football in 2006—he was training to be a financial consultant.  But he found he wasn't ready to give up football and the unity that comes with being on a team yet.

The Panthers' young players sound very impressive.  I can't wait to see them play in Saturday's preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at Bank of America Stadium.