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Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills Preview: The Roast of Kelvin Benjamin

Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills Preview - Kelvin Benjamin surprisingly won't have a whale of a time against a hungry Carolina defense.
Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills preview

On Thursday night, Carolina Panthers football will finally be returning to a screen near you. It’s been a long wait since Cam Newton took an unblocked sack up the middle of line to end the 2017-2018 season. Fans and players feel like this Panthers team could be something pretty special. Even if this is a preseason game, you’d like to see the team perform well in their first game under new owner David Tepper. Tepper has promised a change and has already taken impressive steps towards a culture shift in an organization in desperate need of one. We’ve already waited long enough, so here is the Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills preview

Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills Preview: Kelvin Benjamin’s Unwelcome Return

The Carolina Panthers will be taking on the Buffalo Panthers at New Era Field on Thursday night. Wait, sorry, according to sources the team in Buffalo is still called the Bills. With a huge chunk of their players and personnel coming straight from Charlotte, sometimes its hard to tell the difference. The Bills have a somewhat peculiar, yet withstanding relationship with Carolina. Over the past three years, Buffalo has brought in several former Panthers players via trade or free agency.

This all began when former Panthers Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott was hired as Buffalo’s new Head Coach in January 2017. Brandon Beane, former Assistant General Manager in Carolina, was hired a few months later as the GM in Buffalo. McDermott and Beane proceeded to sign the likes of fullback Mike Tolbert, quarterback Joe Webb, safety Dean Marlowe, and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei. All former Carolina Panthers players. It doesn’t stop there either. The Bills and Panthers made two trades in the 2017 season involving cornerback Kevon Seymour and wide receivers Kaelin Clay and Kelvin Benjamin. To top it all off, the Bills also recently hired former Panthers linebacker Dan Morgan for a front office role.

No wonder Buffalo is being called “Carolina North”.

What To Watch For:

Kelvin Benjamin:

Oh Kelvin, Kelvin, Kelvin. You just had to go and say something didn’t you?

On Saturday, former Panthers wide receiver (current Bills wide receiver) Kelvin Benjamin spoke with The Athletic HQ and ripped his former QB Cam Newton along with the Panthers organization as a whole:

 

 

Interesting. For a guy who consistently reported to camp overweight, took plays off on the field, and never really put up numbers outside of garbage time, these are some fighting words. Especially when you consider that the Panthers record with Benjamin was 19-22-1. Without Benjamin slowing down the offense, the Panthers went 23-3, including a berth in Super Bowl 50. You don’t have to be a genius to see a correlation here.

 

 

We all know that Benjamin and Carolina just weren’t good fits for each other, skill-set and scheme-wise. However, talking down about Newton who has spoken so highly of “Benji” in the past seems petty. You have no one to blame for your failures but yourself, Kelvin. Good luck on Thursday night, Carolina’s defense should be head-hunting.

Bills Rookie debuts:

Enough of that disappointing garbage. Who’s excited to see some coveted rookies debut?

On the Bills’ side, Thursday night will be the debut of seventh overall pick quarterback Josh Allen. Allen has been compared to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, two guys with small school origins and absolute cannons. But laser beam arms always don’t translate to being a great NFL quarterback, especially on four-yard throws to the flat:

 

 

The Bills took some heat for trading up to take Allen while UCLA’s Josh Rosen remained on the board. However, they are hoping to see a strong return on investment starting on Thursday night.

The Bills’ second first-round pick of the draft has some great upside. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds out of Virginia Tech has been heralded by some as the best in his positional class. It’ll be interesting to see how Sean McDermott plans to use the young backer in a defensive scheme that demands athleticism and versatility at the position.

Panthers Rookie Debuts

Onto the Panthers, who will be debuting first-round wide receiver DJ Moore, a player they hope to get a lot out of this season. Moore showcases a rare ability to run after the catch and has impressed at camp with fluid route-running and ability to separate from defenders. Coming out of Maryland, where Moore was forced to play with five different quarterbacks on a 4-8 team in 2017, the NFL might be less of a challenge. Moore has never played with an offense that didn’t lean on him to make every play. It’ll be great to see if the kid can have a strong inauguration to the league in Buffalo.

On the defensive side, everyone has been very intrigued by the play (and talk) of second-round pick Donte Jackson. Jackson, a cornerback from LSU, makes up in speed and athleticism what he lacks in size. “Action” measures out at 5’11” 178 lbs, but ran the fastest 40-yard dash of any defensive back at the NFL Combine at 4.32 seconds. Jackson’s blazing speed accompanied with his out-of-this-world confidence and attitude has had training camp buzzing with anticipation. Finally being able to see Jackson in game action should be exciting for fans, as Donte could end up being a real gem for a Panthers secondary in need of one.

Offensive Line 

The Panthers offensive line is a hot mess right now. With the recent injury to tackle Daryl Williams and the departure of All-Pro guard Andrew Norwell via free agency, Head Coach Ron Rivera is hoping some younger players can step up to the plate. All indications point to second-year player Taylor Moton to fill in at the right tackle spot while Williams recovers from a torn MCL and displaced patella. Thursday night will be a great test for Moton facing Bills defensive ends Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson.

Thursday night also allows a great opportunity for a player to seize leverage for the left guard spot. The current projected starter at this spot for Carolina is Amini Silatolu, who has shown a tendency in the past to be somewhat of a revolving door on the Panthers offensive line. With Moton moving over to the right tackle spot, that leaves Tyler Larsen, Brendan Mahon, and Jeremiah Sirles to compete with Silatolu at left guard. Larsen has provided great depth for the Panthers and was able to fill in nicely at center for the oft-injured Ryan Kalil in recent years. Mahon, an undrafted free agent, has been impressive in camp and will have a chance to show if that will translate to the playing field on Thursday night. All fans can do is hope that someone can emerge at this spot, otherwise it’ll be a long season.

It’s unfortunate, Kelvin Benjamin could have been a great option at left guard if he hadn’t been traded.

Worst Case Scenario:

Josh Allen begins his Hall of Fame career guns blazing, throwing touchdown after touchdown to Kelvin Benjamin, who just needed a decent quarterback to really showcase his potential. The Panthers are no match for the effort and determination of Benjamin in this matchup. Amini Silatolu emerges as the clear-cut starter at left guard. David Tepper sells the team to Buffalo, Bradon Beane laughs maniacally.

 

Best Case Scenario:

 Carolina has a legitimate QB2 battle in the works so expect the guys coming in after Cam to really compete. Damiere Byrd shines as a preseason superstar once again. Kelvin Benjamin plays like Kelvin Benjamin and quits football entirely to go into sumo wrestling. Cam shines thru the shade. Everyone stays healthy and ready for the regular season.

Bolded Predictions:

 

Score: Panthers 23 Bills 16

 

Offensive MVP: Damiere Byrd (six catches, 78 yards and a TD with a bird flap)

 

Defensive MVP: Donte Jackson (two PBUs, four shit-talks and some really nice makeup speed (he’s fast!))

 

BONUS:
LFP: Least Fitting Player – Kelvin Benjamin in his own jersey
 

This will be the first of many game previews in this format, hope you enjoy.

Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images

Jake Wexler

Jake Wexler

My name is Jake and I really like sports. Mostly football. I graduated from Texas A&M and now work and live in Austin, Texas. I tweet about the Carolina Panthers a lot. Follow me @jwex520 on Twitter and @lastwordonpanthers on Instagram

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