PFF predicts Panthers sign WR Juju Smith-Schuster in free agency
According to Pro Football Focus, the Carolina Panthers have “no receiving weapons to speak of beyond wide receiver DJ Moore.” (Sorry, Terrace Marshall Jr.) So, they have them going out and getting another.
This past week, the team of Arjun Menon and Brad Spielberger found 50 homes for the site’s top 50 free agents. The two predicted a pair of additions for the Panthers, one of which is now a reigning Super Bowl champion—wideout Juju Smith-Schuster.
“The former second-rounder will still be just 26 years old for the first half of the 2023 season, his seventh in the league, and earned a 72.2 receiving grade in 2022 — his best since 2018,” the article reads. “He has been credited with just six regular-season drops over the past three seasons on 247 targets, with a drop percentage below 4% in each season. While he has sustained a few injuries over the years, Smith-Schuster has proven his toughness, notably pushing hard to play in the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ 2021 playoff game, which was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s last NFL outing.”
Menon and Spielberger also see defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones landing in Carolina. That signing would reunite the 6-foot-3, 281-pounder with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who led the Denver Broncos defense in 2022.
“The Panthers’ defensive front will be very multiple, but head coach Frank Reich told reporters in a recent press conference their base alignment will be a 3-4. Jones was a high-caliber pass rusher as a 3-4 defensive end during his tenure in Denver, with his 45 quarterback pressures and 25 defensive stops this past season under Evero both career highs.”
Adding Jones would certainly give Carolina some much needed firepower in their transition to a 3-4 base. And Smith-Schuster, along with bringing over some potential social media beef, would help beef up a pretty thin receiving corps for whoever is under center come Week 1.
