Gantt Previews Ravens Preseason Opponent
Darin Gantt from Pro Football Talk joined the Scott Garceau Show with Jeremy Conn to talk about the Ravens opponent tomorrow night, the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers are coming off a Super Bowl 50 loss to the Denver Broncos after going 15-1 in the regular season. Gantt expects this year's team to mirror last year's team. "There's not been a lot of turnover with that team. Other than losing Josh Norman, it's effectively the same team that everybody last saw in the Super Bowl…The system they play, and it's carried over from one GM to the next, and one coach to the next, cornerbacks just simply aren't that important."
Cam Newton is coming off an MVP season in which he threw for over 3,800 yards and rushed for over 600 yards while amassing 45 touchdowns. Gantt thinks the team will be in contention the next few years with Newton at the helm. "Because they've got Cam under contract for the long term, they've got Luke Kuechly under contract long term, there's just a floor through which these guys aren't going to fall as long as those two guys are healthy…They've got a good, stable roster. It's a good mix of young guys and veterans. They're really positioned to contend for the next two or three years."
The Panthers led the league in scoring last season at 31.2 points per game. Gantt thinks the offense will be even better with the addition of wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL. "You take an offense that was, by several measures, the best in the NFL last year and make it better by taking Jerricho Cotchery off the field and replacing him with Kelvin Benjamin, who went for 1,000 yards as a rookie."
Listen to the full interview with Darin Gantt here and don't forget to follow Scott & Jeremy on Twitter: @ScottGShow1057 and @JeremyConn1057.
