German_Force » with him some of the experiences

General manager Marty Hurney felt he needed to upgrade team speed after the Panthers failed to win the NFC South the last two seasons.

He believes he’s done just that in the NFL draft.

The Panthers selected field-stretching tight end Ian Thomas from Indiana and speed rusher Marquis Haynes from Ole Miss in the fourth round Josh Bellamy Jersey , and middle linebacker Jermaine Carter from Maryland in the fifth. They closed out the final day by taking middle linebacker Andre Smith from North Carolina and defensive tackle Kendrick Norton from Miami in the seventh round.

Carolina placed a major emphasis on adding speed, a pattern established in the first two days of the draft when it took wide receiver D.J. Moore from Maryland in the first round, cornerback Donte Jackson from LSU in the second and safety Rashaan Gaulden in the third.

”I have always believed that you can’t teach speed – and that is a big part of this game,” Hurney said. ”You have to be big and you have to be physical, but you have to be fast, too. Coming into this offseason that was one of our goals to add speed, especially to the skill positions.”

The Panthers had won three straight NFC South titles before Atlanta won in 2016 and New Orleans triumphed in 2017.

They lost three times to the Saints last year, including a wild-card playoff loss at the Superdome.

”One of the things that you have to do is look at your division,” coach Ron Rivera said. ”To get into the playoffs you have to win your division. … So when you compare those teams in your division with what you have you most certainly have to be able to match up with those guys across the board.”

THOMAS’ TOUGH ROAD

The Panthers got the third day of the NFL draft started by selecting Thomas with the first pick in the fourth round. They believe he is from the same mold as Greg Olsen with the versatility to catch passes and block.

Thomas was raised by his siblings after both of his parents died before he was 10 years old -his mother from a kidney infection and his father from a heart attack a year later. Thomas has eight siblings in all, but was primarily raised by his brother, Clif Farmer.

”I always thank him any chance I get for helping us growing up and for helping me become the man I am today,” Thomas said. ”He knows how much love I have for him and how much love he has for all of us. I know it’s just a blessing to have him as an older brother and a role model.”

WHAT A JOKER

The Panthers are high on Haynes, even though he’s slight for an NFL defensive end at 235 pounds. Still Jeff Allen Jersey , he broke Greg Hardy’s career record for sacks at Ole Miss with 32.

But Rivera also likes that Haynes can drop back in coverage and play the team’s ”joker” position.

Rivera says Haynes’ pass-rushing skills remind him of current Panthers defensive end Mario Addison.

”I got a knack for my first step, getting off the ball, because it really makes the offensive lineman really think that they have to overstep, I could then take an inside move,” Haynes said. ”But if they don’t, I can just run right around them and get to the quarterback.”

SWAGGER TIME

When the Panthers pulled the franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman two years ago, they lost some serious swagger in the secondary.

Well, that attitude appears back courtesy of second-round pick Donte ”Action” Jackson from LSU. Although he’s only 5-foot-10 and 178 pounds, Jackson is plenty confident. When asked who’s the fastest player on the Carolina roster he responded quickly, ”Me, Donte Jackson.”

”Yeah I’m fast, but my mentality and my toughness and my confidence and my swagger is all there, it’s all football Deshaun Watson Jersey ,” Jackson said. ”You know, that’s one thing I like to pride myself on. I never really liked to listen to people say I’m too small because I’ve been listening to that my whole life and it just adds fuel to the fire.”

Jackson’s father was in prison when he was growing up; he said he still speaks with him every other day.

STILL NEED

The Panthers never did find a replacement for running back Jonathan Stewart, cut during the offseason in a salary cap move. Rivera said that Cameron Artis-Payne will get ”the first crack” as the No. 2 back behind Christian McCaffrey. Carolina also didn’t draft a guard despite losing All-Pro Andrew Norwell to the Giants in free agency.

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Barring unforeseen circumstances, rookie Josh Rosen will begin his first NFL season on the sidelines as Arizona's backup quarterback.

The preseason, though, will be his chance to shine, beginning Saturday night when the Cardinals play at home against the Los Angeles Chargers.

"We want him to play quite a bit and really get into the flow of the game," coach Steve Wilks said.

Rosen said his two weeks of training camp have "gone really well."

"I think I've gotten better pretty much every day since I've gotten here," the former UCLA star said before Wednesday' practice.

Sam Bradford is Arizona's starter but the Cardinals view Rosen as their franchise quarterback of the future. Why else would they have moved up five spots in the draft to pluck him 10th overall?

Asked for specific areas of improvement since he became a pro, Rosen cites "a bunch of things."

"The most tangible is probably the playbook," he said. "I feel a lot more comfortable and fluid with it at the line of scrimmage. I'm focusing more and more with what the defense is trying to do to me rather than making sure I get the right snap count and in the right protection."

He said he's also picking up "the little things on how to use the double-cadence to try and buy yourself time and get someone offside, just little tricks of the trade I didn't know when I was in college."

From the beginning Bradford and Rosen seem to have gotten along well.

"Sam's actually really good with all those little things," Rosen said. "He's a crafty vet and very successful for a lot of different reasons. He might not share every reason with me Orlando Pace Jersey , but I'll take advantage of the ones that he does."

Bradford said Rosen "asks the right questions."

"He's hungry for information," Bradford said. "It seems like he's always trying to learn something. It doesn't stop in the meeting rooms. Even at the dinner table he'll ask me.

"It's fun to be around someone like that and to hopefully try to be able to help him. I share with him some of the experiences I've had, some of the things I've learned over the years. Hopefully it can relate to him and can help him in some way."

Wilks wouldn't say how much Rosen will play on Saturday night but it will be long enough to do some serious evaluation.

"The mechanics of really running the offense," Wilks said, "putting guys in the right position from a protection standpoint, going through his progression and reads and really just trying to detail the fundamentals."

Rosen is running second on the depth chart, ahead of Mike Glennon, who also figures to play a lot Saturday.

Early in camp, Rosen said he was thinking too much.

"I think I've gotten a lot better since then and continue to each day," he said. "The less thinking you can do, the more you can allow yourself to physically do what I've been doing since Pop Warner, and play the game I know."

As a big-name rookie quarterback, Rosen knows his every move will be scrutinized by fans and critics.

"It's part of the game Abry Jones Jersey ," he said. "I stay relatively offline for the most part. The most pressure I feel from anyone is myself. I'm very, very highly self-critical, almost too much at times. There's no pressure that should be greater than my own."

There's no changing his throwing style either, which includes an occasional sidearm toss on a bubble screen.

"It's not just how hard or far you can throw it," Rosen said. "It's being able to change your arm slot and delivery. I think Aaron (Rodgers) is the best at it because sort of like mid-throw, your ability to throw sidearm to fit a quick screen in there or just kind of contort your body to get halfback screens and stuff in there."

No one has tried to alter that style, he said.

"They drafted me for what I can do and I'm here to deliver that," Rosen said.

He said he's made preparation for the NFL a day-by-day process.

"Right now I'm fully in work mode," he said. "I'm trying to be the best that I can be and over the course of my career I'm trying to win Super Bowls. And right now I'm trying to put my best foot forward in this preseason game."

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