The Carolina Panthers were given an average draft grade by most experts and analysts, but cashed in when they signed undrafted free agent Jeremy Cash, a safety from Duke who was projected to go as high as the third round.
On the surface, it looks like Carolina added a great player for a secondary that is considerably lacking since losing Josh Norman. The addition of a player of Cash’s caliber on the back end is a big complement to a front seven that stops the run easily and can get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
However, the Panthers are not looking at Cash as a safety. The team’s director of college scouting, Don Gregory, claims the team signed him to be a linebacker.
“He’s a linebacker. We got him to be a linebacker,” Gregory said. “We see him as an outside linebacker. His production translates to outside linebacker for us.”
In his three years at Duke, Cash had eight sacks and nine forced fumbles, although he played defensive back and safety. He also had five interceptions. Not huge stats, but they do stand out, as they show his ability to drop back into coverage and rush the quarterback.
The Panthers have historically valued defense for their entire existence, and that showed in this year’s draft. Four of their five draft picks were defensive picks, the only offensive player being a tight end. The team also has a history of transitioning college safeties into linebackers, as they did with Thomas Davis and last year’s first-round pick, Shaq Thompson.
So why would a team that has two of the top three linebackers in the NFL, along with a rising star at the third linebacker position, sign a safety (a position at which they are now considered weak) only to convert him into an outside linebacker?
First of all, the Panthers feel they are fine at safety. Yes, they let Roman Harper walk, but for the majority of his time in Carolina, he was a liability at the position. He brought experience and veteran leadership into a positional group that was young, but was far too slow to play the position like he once did in New Orleans. Kurt Coleman had a fantastic year opposite of Harper last season, leading the team in interceptions with seven, which also tied him for third in the league in picks with Trumaine Johnson, behind only Marcus Peters and Reggie Nelson. The team also has a young gun in Tre Boston at the other safety position, and they feel that he is ready to step up as a starter. He showed some impressive flashes during the team’s 2014 campaign, when he had the opportunity to start as the team’s secondary became more and more depleted. However, after picking up Coleman in free agency, he was relegated to special teams duties. Now, he will have the chance to show what he is made of.
Second, the team seems to be preparing themselves for life after Thomas Davis. The 33-year-old is coming off arguably the best season of his career, and like a fine wine, Davis seems to get better with age. However, he can not play forever, and he is coming off an arm injury. There is no better tutor for both Cash and Thompson to learn the outside linebacker position from than Davis.
Third, who is to say Cash will not play both linebacker and safety? A player of his caliber could play at both positions and excel. Although the team may focus solely on playing him at outside linebacker, they should look at putting him at safety in certain situations and see how he plays.
The addition of Cash was a huge one for the Panthers. If he works out at outside linebacker, that front seven will be even more deadly for opposing offenses.
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