ly morph into a 1 Youth Greg Olsen Jersey ,000-plus yard receiver, but he has plenty of skills to carve out a valuable niche in the Carolina offense."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Keep Sounding PodcastPanthers 2019 NFL DraftCSR Film RoomThree Chris Hogan stats that should have Panthers fans excited about their new wide receiverNew,48commentsThe Panthers newest addition won’t suddenly morph into a 1,000-plus yard receiver, but he has plenty of skills to carve out a valuable niche in the Carolina offense. EDTShareTweetShareShareThree Chris Hogan stats that should have Panthers fans excited about their new wide receiverMark Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsOn first glance there is nothing sexy about Chris Hogan’s career. He entered the NFL in 2012 as an undrafted and unheralded free agent. He spent the first four years of his career toiling away in the wasteland that is the Buffalo Bills. Hogan spent the last three seasons as the latest interchangeable Caucasian wide receiver to win Super Bowls in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady system. At age 30 he has never exceeded 41 receptions, 680 yards, or five touchdowns in a single season. If he had spent the last three years with the anonymity of the Tennessee Titans instead of the exposure of the Evil Empire, many of us would have never heard of him. But if you look a little deeper Blue Devin Funchess Jersey , there are reasons for Panthers fans to be optimistic. Hogan gets yardsWhile Chris Hogan isn’t a high-volume receiver he makes the most out of every opportunity. In his three years with the Patriots (2016-2018), Hogan’s 15.4 yards per reception ranked ninth in the NFL per Football Reference (min. 100 receptions).In 2016 he led the NFL with 17.9 yards per reception. Even if Hogan only pulls in somewhere between 30 and 40 receptions next year, many of them could go for big chunks of yards. Hogan gets openBased on free data available from Player Profiler, in 2018 Hogan averaged 1.41 yards of separation from the closest defensive back at the moment the pass target arrived. This was consistent with his Patriots teammate Julian Edelman’s 1.48 yards (one of the craftier players in the league) and significantly better than Josh Gordon’s 1.08 yards of separation. While it’s not apples-to-apples to compare Hogan to Panthers players from 2018 because they played in different schemes, his 1.41 yards of separation still looks good when you do. Average yards of separation, 2018PlayerSeparation YdsPlayerSeparation YdsThe only Panthers wide receiver to exceed Hogan’s 1.41 separation yards was Jarius Wright at 1.48. For those of us who follow the Panthers closely know that Wright was clutch in big moment last year, getting himself open on third downs or when Cam Newton was scrambling. If Chris Hogan can have a Jarius Wright effect of making things easier on Cam by simply getting open, he’ll be a helpful weapon in the arsenal. Football Outsiders loves it some Chris HoganLook Devin Funchess Jersey 2019 , I know Football Outsiders metrics aren’t for everybody. Same goes for Pro Football Focus and every other rating/grading system.If you want to throw out this paragraph as junk science, then that’s well within your rights as a football fan. That said, in 2018 Football Outsiders ranked Chris Hogan as the No. 20 overall wide receiver in terms of DVOA - Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. In summary, DVOA attempts to measure a player’s value, per play, when compared to an average wide receiver in the same game situations. Here is how Football Outsiders ranked Hogan along with the Panthers wide receivers in 2018: 2018 Football Outsiders DVOA ranksPlayerDVOADVOA WR RankPlayerDVOADVOA WR RankOverall, on a per-play basis, Football Outsiders placed Chris Hogan’s value somewhere between D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel Stitched Greg Olsen Jersey , both of whom proved to be productive players last year. Don’t expect Chris Hogan to put up a 1,000-yard season and make the Pro Bowl next year. Given the Panthers offensive scheme and the way the ball will likely get distributed among multiple targets, Hogan’s numbers may not be very impressive. But they don’t need to be. The Panthers need productive, efficient receivers who can get open and make big plays, which are skills Hogan has refined over his career. Chris Hogan played a limited but important role in helping the Patriots win two Super Bowls. Let’s hope he does the same in winning the first one in Carolina. The Panthers have several needs on their roster heading into the 2019 season. Offensive tackle should be their No. 1 priority in the upcoming draft."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Keep Sounding PodcastPanthers 2019 NFL DraftCSR Film RoomThe Panthers’ biggest need in the 2019 NFL Draft is offensive tackleNew,71commentsThe Panthers have several needs on their roster heading into the 2019 season. Offensive tackle should be their No. 1 priority in the upcoming draft.ESTShareTweetShareShareThe Panthers’ biggest need in the 2019 NFL Draft is offensive tackleThe Carolina Panthers limped to a 7-9 finish in 2018 largely due to franchise quarterback Cam Newton suffering from a shoulder injury that severely limited his ability to throw deep. The Panthers wisely—albeit a few weeks too late—shut him down for the final two games of the regular season. During those final two games, the Panthers cycled through three backup quarterbacks: Taylor Heinicke, Kyle Allen and Garrett Gilbert. Heinicke played in Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons and suffered an elbow injury in the first half. While he toughed it out and finished the game Youth Kawann Short Jersey , he was placed on injured reserve before the Panthers faced the New Orleans Saints in Week 17. For the season finale in New Orleans, Allen made his first career NFL start but was replaced by Gilbert in the second half after going down with a shoulder injury himself. Honestly, it’s amazing that Newton lasted as long as he did in 2018. The Panthers have had issues protecting their franchise quarterback since drafting him in 2011, but the situation heading into the offseason is the worst it’s been in recent memory.For reference, here’s the list of offensive tackles who spent time on the Panthers’ 53-man roster in 2018:Chris ClarkMatt Kalil (injured reserve)Taylor MotonMarshall NewhouseCorey Robinson (waived)Daryl Williams (injured reserve)While these lists are sufficient in quantity, they’re not so much in quality. The Panthers will only have three tackles on the roster when the league year starts in March, as Kalil and Moton are the only two players from the list above who will not be free agents in 2019. (The third tackle is Isaiah Battle, who signed a reserve future contract in December 2018 and will probably spend the majority of the 2019 season on the practice squad.) When you consider that Kalil spent the 2018 season on injured reserve and hasn’t lived up to expectations when he’s been healthy in the past Stitched Kawann Short Jersey , it’s not much of a stretch to say that the Panthers definitely need help protecting Newton on the edges. Taylor Moton is a very good right tackle, but he’s not so good that he can handle both left and right tackle duties himself. Even if he could, the Panthers still need adequate depth because going into 2019 with only three bodies at the position is a bad idea. There are enough first round quality offensive tackles in this year’s draft class for the Panthers to take one at No. 16 overall without it being a tremendous reach. They may not get the No. 1 tackle in this year’s class, but at this point adding any of the top five tackles would be an improvement to a Panthers roster that hasn’t seen consistent quality at left tackle since Jordan Gross retired in 2014.If the Panthers are going to claim that Cam Newton is their franchise quarterback and build an offense around his dual-threat ability, and if they want to ensure that he is protected from further damaging his surgically repaired shoulder, then it’s essential that they provide him with adequate protection to give him time in the pocket to make plays. The refusal to address this clear and obvious need would be a grave mistake the Panthers simply cannot afford to make.