The Panthers are under new ownership after the sale of the team to David Tepper formally went through earlier this week, but that’s not the only significant change in Carolina.
They’ve also made significant alterations to the offense. Norv Turner is in as offensive coordinator and they have added three wide receivers and running back C.J. Anderson to a complement of skill position players that also includes tight end Greg Olsen and running back Christian McCaffrey. Quarterback Cam Newton remains in place, although Turner is clear that he hopes to see some differences from him this season.
“But the one thing that I think when you look at it that we’re going to work hard to help him is, he has a large number of games where his quarterback rating is as high as anyone’s is,” Turner said on Sirius XM NFL Radio with Alex Marvez and Bill Polian. “It’s in the high 90s, low 100s. But in the middle of that, of a 16-game season, he has four or five games where that rating is not very good. And that, obviously, makes your average not as good as you’d like. So what we’re going to try to work hard for is eliminate the peaks and the valleys and try to, on a weekly basis, make it more consistent. And I think that’ll help us, offensively, be more consistent and certainly will help him.”
Increased consistency and precision passing from Newton have been frequent topics of conversation around the Panthers as the quarterback prepares for his eighth NFL season. The results of those efforts will determine whether Carolina’s offense moves in a new direction and should loom large over the team’s overall success for the year.