Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly said last week that the Panthers need to bring the same mindset to the 2016 season that they had heading into last season, but they won’t be bringing back the same group of players.
The biggest departure is cornerback Josh Norman, who signed with the Redskins after the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag they used early in the offseason. Norman played a big role in Carolina’s success last season both with his play on the field and as an emotional leader off of it, but Kuechly thinks the team is well-stocked with players who can fill the latter void.
“When you lose a guy like Josh, obviously, he’s entertainment, energy, attitude, but that’s kind of been the attitude of our defense,” Kuechly said to Tiffany Blackmon of NFL Media. “You know, you still have Thomas [Davis] and Charles [Johnson] and Kurt Coleman bring an edge and we’ve got a bunch of guys that still bring that attitude, enthusiasm. We’ve got older guys that when the young guys come in and they can kind of teach them what the mentality’s like and get them on the same page.”
They drafted three cornerbacks in April to help fill out the corps in Norman’s absence and Kuechly said he thinks “they’ll be good for us” come the fall. With the likes of Kuechly, Davis, Johnson, Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei still on hand, the Panthers have plenty of talent left on defense to help ease their transition to the professional ranks and reason to expect more success after last year’s NFC title.