Greatest Carolina Panthers Of All Time
Mon, Dec 5, 2022
by
CapperTek
The Panthers were added to the NFL as an expansion team back in 1995. At that point it did not take too long for them to become epic players, as they made it to the NFC Conference Finals in the second season since they came into existence.
They compete in the NFC’s South Division and are yet to win a Super Bowl, although they have won the NFC title twice, so it’s not like they’re a total underdog or anything.
But, we have to say the NFL betting odds that we see for the Panthers just are not quite what they used to be.
However, that is not to say that there have not been plenty of epic players in the game. There have been so many! Let’s take a look at the few who really outshine the rest!
Luke Keuchly
Let’s start off with Luke Keuchly. He was a very talented linebacker, hence why he is at the top of our list. We kind of struggled to choose between Cam Newton, Julius Peppers and Luke Keuchly, however, in spite of Newton being an MVP, Luke Kuechly came into the game with immediate impact.
He started to shake things up from the minute he entered the league!
The Panthers looked like they had their wits about them when they decided to draft him with the 9th pick in the first round of the draft back in 2012. He was a fan favorite from the get go, he figured out where the ball was, no matter where it was, and was a pro when it came to making contact.
He became a favorite player for many, just by people eyeballing his potential, and talent.
If you wanted to make a linebacker prototype, it would most likely be based off of Kuechly. He was an expert when it came to dominating the ball on the defensive side.
His achievements included winning Defensive Player of the Year in his second season in the NFL.
Although his career, at 8 years, is the shortest we will look at today, the length of his career did not do harm to his rank, and if he had been in the league for a few more seasons, he would also likely have ranked even higher on every list.
He played a total of 118 games, each of which he started, and the only season he did not get a Pro Bowl selection was his rookie season.
He was selected for 2 All-Pro Second-Team selections, and 5 selections for All-Pro First-Team.
His career ended with nearly 1,100 tackles, 164 of which were in his first year. He also got 18 interceptions, 7 forced fumbles, 66 defended passes, and 31 quarterback hits.
Julius Peppers
Then there is Julius Peppers, who is another defender. He was drafted second in the first round of the draft in 2002. He made instant impressions on the league, won Defensive Player of the Year, and finished his career with 17 years playing and the 5th highest number of sacks in league history.
His sacks topped at 159.5, with 97 of these sacks happening in the 10 seasons he played with the Panthers.
Peppers played 4 seasons with the Bears, and 3 with the Packers.
When he was with the Panthers, he played 154 games and started 133 of them. In 10 seasons he accumulated 89 quarterback hits, 10 fumbles recovered, 34 forced fumbles, 441 tackles, and 6 interceptions.
He also finished with the NFL with 8 Pro Bowls, 5 from the Panthers, as well as 3 All-Pro First-Team selections and 2 All-Pro Second-Team selections.
Cam Newton
Newton could easily be the best on this list, however, while he may be the franchise's leader in passes, he also has the record for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
Injuries did slow down Newton in the latter part of his career, and he's just not the same as he used to be. He went from the first pick of the draft in 2011, and he was more than worthy of this.
He led the team to their second appearance at a Super Bowl, facing the Broncos in 2016, and in that same year, he also won MVP. So, when he's been doing well, he's been doing really well. However, his performance has not been consistent.
His running has probably been his only real constant.
He played 10/11 seasons with the Panthers, with 1 season with the Pats before returning to replace Darnold.
In his 10 seasons with the Panthers, he started 129 of the 133 games he played, and gathered a passing percentage of 59.4% with 29,725 passing yards.
He also got 113 interceptions as well. With his passing and his running, he has always been something of a double threat.
He gained 3 Pro Bowl selections and one All-Pro selection.
His highlight was definitely passing, however, with 981 rushes per 5,036 yards.
If you were to combine all of his passing and rushing touchdowns then the numbers look incredible. He's still doing alright though, so we will give him that. We just hope that injuries aren’t the end of him!