The Panthers have the No. 16 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft thanks to their 7-9 record and third place finish in the NFC South in 2018. There are a lot of holes on the roster that have to be filled Ian Thomas Jersey , and because there probably aren’t enough draft picks available to fill them the Panthers will have to be smart with their approach to the draft. Let’s take a look at the five position groups the Panthers need to address, in no particular order.Defensive endThe Panthers have six defensive ends currently on the roster, but four of them will be free agents when the league year starts in March: Julius Peppers, Efe Obada (ERFA), Bryan Cox Jr. (ERFA) and Wes Horton. The two remaining are Marquis Haynes and Mario Addison. That’s not a sufficient group of pass rushers for any team, so the Panthers will definitely have to address this need somehow. Fortunately, there are some really good defensive ends in this year’s draft class. Will any of the good ones be available by the time the No. 16 pick rolls around? We can only hope.Offensive tackleJust like defensive end, the Panthers have six players listed at offensive tackle on their current roster, but again, three of them are set to hit free agency in March: Daryl Williams, Chris Clark and Marshall Newhouse. The only ones left are Taylor Moton, Matt Kalil and Isaiah Battle. Moton is solid, but Kalil’s health is a question (but he hopes to ‘give it another go’ in 2019) and Battle has never played a regular season NFL snap in the four years he’s bounced around various practice squads across the league.To put it lightly, the Panthers’ offensive tackle situation is dire. The Panthers may not be able to afford to re-sign Williams (unless his season-ending injury substantially drives down his market value) and we saw what a left tackle rotation of Chris Clark and Marshall Newhouse can do to a franchise quarterback’s long-term health. I don’t know if the Panthers can fix this problem with a first round draft pick because I don’t know if a cornerstone left tackle will fall to No. 16 overall. This might be a position that has to be addressed in free agency, but if a quality left tackle miraculously falls into the Panthers’ lap during the draft, it should take Marty Hurney approximately 2.7 seconds to hand his card in at the podium.SafetyThe Panthers have eight players listed at safety on their roster right now. There are two problems with that number, though. Four of them are scheduled to hit free agency: Mike Adams, Eric Reid, Colin Jones and Damian Parms (ERFA). Of the four safeties left, two of them are not free safeties (Da’Norris Searcy, Rashaan Gaulden) and two of them are virtually unknown quantities (Kai Nacua, Cole Luke). The Panthers could address this problem in the draft. Dan Kadar of Mocking the Draft has the Panthers doing that with their No. 16 overall pick by taking Deionte Thompson from Alabama. Depending on how the draft board looks that might not be the biggest mistake the Panthers could make in the draft, but it might be better to try and find a free safety in free agency instead. (Note: There aren’t a lot of options here, to be honest. It’s a matter of ‘Would you rather have mediocrity at safety or mediocrity at defensive end/offensive tackle?’ and that’s really not a difficult question to answer.)Running backBefore you get mad, hear me out. The Panthers rely on Christian McCaffrey more than they should. Yes, he’s awesome Curtis Samuel Color Rush Jersey , but you shouldn’t dedicate 95% of your snaps to one player (other than the quarterback because you kinda have to do that). The Panthers need at least one running back to pair with McCaffrey. They fixed this problem last offseason by signing C.J. Anderson to a one-year ‘prove it’ deal, but then decided they didn’t need his services any longer and let him go. As of today, there are six running backs on the roster other than McCaffrey: Kenjon Barner, Cameron Artis-Payne, Fozzy Whittaker, Reggie Bonnafon, Travaris Cadet and Elijah Hood. Of those six, five of them are set to hit free agency. Bonnafon is the only one left. (Hood is an ERFA so he could return.) I’m not sure the Panthers will allocate cap space to bring any of those five guys back when they could throw a fourth or fifth round pick at a running back and get the same amount of production, but somehow they need to find someone to spell McCaffrey. Of course, they could always just roll with Bonnafon and Hood if they wanted to save their draft picks for other needs, but I don’t know if that’s the best idea.QuarterbackAgain, let me explain before you bring out the pitchforks. Cam Newton is the franchise quarterback and that’s not changing any time soon. But, let’s be honest: His shoulder isn’t right. He hasn’t been the same since T.J. Watt speared him in Week 10. The Panthers must have a backup plan in case Newton’s shoulder isn’t ready for 2019. They went with a rotation of Taylor Heinicke, Kyle Allen and Garrett Gilbert over the last two weeks of the season, but that’s not going to be good enough for the long term. Allen is currently the only backup quarterback who is a) healthy, and b) on the roster. The Panthers should look for value picks in the draft to find a backup quarterback, or they should sign a quality veteran to run the offense in case Cam isn’t ready to go. I’m sure this will go over like a fart in a spacesuit, but there’s a certain quarterback out there right now who would be a perfect short-term replacement for Cam, but whether or not the Panthers would be willing to make that move is up in the air.If you’re still reading this, congrats. You have dedication! Now that you’ve come this far, do me one more favor—tell me which need you think is the most important, and how the Panthers should address that need. Should they use the No. 16 overall pick to fill the need, or should they sign a free agent? Who should they draft and/or sign? I want to know that you think. There was a high dose of anticipation for Cam Newton's debut in Norv Turner’s offense. However, the Panthers also had a new defensive coordinator to show off in their season opener. Former defensive line coach Eric Washington was promoted to call the defense after Steve Wilks’ departure to Arizona. Washington’s unit gave the better show. The run defense, blitz packages, pattern matching concepts Daeshon Hall Jersey , and overall execution was on display. Washington’s introductory remarks to Sunday’s win emphasized the effort, energy, and team work.Shutting down Dallas’ rushing attackThe Cowboys don’t make any secrets about their intentions. They want to establish the run with Ezekiel Elliott. The issue for Dallas, however, is that their game plan was predictable. They aligned in heavy sets (multiple TEs, 6 OL) to compensate for the injuries on their line. This played right into Carolina’s hands. Despite Thomas Davis’ absence, the Panthers defensive line, safeties, and linebackers read their keys perfectly. The Cowboys run a “duo” concept with multiple double teams on Carolina’s defensive tackles. Dallas’ offensive line gets solid push. Da’Norris Searcy wins his individual battle with the tight end, but the run stop is made possible by the force player Donte Jackson. He anticipates the run to close down Elliott’s angle, but then shows off his tackling technique to limit the gain.Linebacker blitzes leading to sacksOne of my main criticisms with Steve Wilks’ scheme was his over reliance on blitzes. Blitzing is fine, but Carolina didn’t have the personnel in 2017 to be successful with a heavy volume. Dallas hired a new offensive line coach this off-season. Inevitably, there will be an adjustment period for them to get their communications in sync. Fortunately, Carolina was able to take advantage of these issues by blitzing their linebackers.There were subtle movements by the defensive linemen at the snap, which gave Kuechly and Thompson huge lanes to pursue Dak Prescott. Elliott is also late to diagnose the blitzing linebacker on Thompson’s sack.Pattern matching conceptsThe Panthers pattern matching concepts were equally effective as their blitzes. Dallas had to spread the field out in the 2nd half in hopes of scoring quickly. There is a lot going on in this play, so let’s break it down. Carolina is essentially playing a cover 3 fire zone pattern matching concept. On the weak side of the formation, Donte Jackson patrols the sideline while Searcy operates in the hook zone area.Julius Peppers drops into the fire zone while Shaq Thompson blitzes. Kuechly is reading the running back. The complex part of the coverage comes on the trips side. Bradberry and Munnerlyn are reading the releases of the receivers. When the number 2 receiver goes vertical, Bradberry immediately picks him up. Munnerlyn matches with the number 3 receiver who runs an arrow route. Finally, the number 1 receiver runs a crosser. The underneath defenders pass it off smoothly which disrupts the timing. Ultimately, Carolina is able to force Dallas into a holding penalty. While Munnerlyn’s coverage on Cole Beasley could have been better, this was an ideal circumstance of coverage and pressure working together.Here is another example of Carolina’s secondary working together to pass off and match routes in cover 4. When the receiver to the near side motions, it gives Bradberry an easy read. He’s matching the vertical route. The most impressive part of this play comes from how Carolina is able to fluidly pass off the crosser and limit the yards after catch. Washington lauded the teamwork during his presser. This is an example. Carolina had a couple breakdowns in coverage, which weren’t exploited thanks to pressure. This was a well rounded performance, though, The Panthers defense has to take this performance and carry it into Atlanta this weekend.