Dave Canales got his first look at a healthier Carolina Panthers roster on Tuesday, and he liked what he felt on the field. Taylor Moton, Tershawn Wharton and Trevor Etienne were all back at practice after the bye, and Canales said their excitement spread through the team. “The joy, the gratitude coming out of guys like Taylor Moton, Turk Wharton, back at practice, Trevor, you know, these guys that have been waiting to get back and be with their teammates on the grass, and you could just feel that,” he said. “It was a spirited practice. It wasn’t the cleanest. We got stuff to clean up for sure. But the energy was right, and the spirit of it was right.”
Moton, back in his practice window after his blood clot recovery, was the one who broke the team down at the end of practice. Canales said players treat the veteran tackle “like a fun uncle,” and that a running joke in the building has teammates wishing him a happy birthday every other week. “As fun loving as he is, there isn’t anybody that is more conscientious about their fundamentals and their technique, and is why he’s been able to be so successful for so long,” Canales said, calling Moton “a great example” for rookie tackle Monroe Freeling and the rest of the line.
Why the RPOs worked against Detroit
Canales spent a good part of the session on the run-pass options that helped Bryce Young beat the Lions before the bye. He said the idea is to put a linebacker or nickel defender in conflict: instead of blocking him, the offense runs a route into his area and makes him choose. “That was something that the Lions showed, they’re really committed to stopping the run by making sure that they kept their linebackers in the box,” he said. The best answer for a defense is man-to-man coverage, he added, “but the advantage, if people do go to man-to-man, the advantage is you’re gonna get one-on-one opportunities down the field. So it’s a give and take.”
He said the RPOs were not a new wrinkle for Detroit. Carolina has run them for about two and a half years, and the Lions simply kept giving the Panthers space. “It wasn’t really an emphasis that we said, hey, this week guys, we’re really gonna,” Canales said. “It’s always been a part of what we’ve done.” His message once it was working: “Stomp the puddle out until there’s no water left.”
He credited Young’s ability to throw from different platforms “without even moving his feet,” and shared an example from Tuesday’s practice. After a wild snap, Young almost ran into Darren Waller, spun around and found Jalen Coker 18 yards downfield on the sideline. “He just got that kind of point guard ability to, you know, get back composed and make an accurate throw,” Canales said.
Chuba Hubbard’s running style fits the concept too. Canales recalled a principle he picked up studying Urban Meyer’s Utah offense: “replace the space,” meaning the running back attacks the hole a linebacker leaves when he chases the route. “He’s aggressive, he’s downhill, decisive,” Canales said of Hubbard. “So it’s a good combo.”
Darren Waller and Turk Wharton
Asked about Waller, who was not on the Panthers’ roster three months ago, Canales said there is more to come. “I think there’s still different ways to utilize his talents,” he said. “He creates interesting matchups for us inside the box against linebackers and safeties.” He said cornerbacks underestimate the 6-foot-6 tight end’s speed on crossing routes, and that Waller still reaches “upwards of 19 plus miles per hour in the route.” When general manager Dan Morgan raised the idea of signing him, Canales said, his reaction was, “Yes, absolutely. Can we make that happen?” Two-tight-end sets also help the run game when defenses stay in nickel.
On Wharton, who is back from neck surgery but not yet activated, Canales said he brings something different from Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown and rookie Lee Hunter. “He’s just built different, you know, a little bit leaner up top, and the suddenness at the line of scrimmage, the leverage that he plays with,” he said. “He adds a lot of juice, plays with his hair on fire, and really disruptive, whether it’s in the run game or the pass game.” Canales said the team would wait to see how Moton, Wharton and Etienne responded to a physical, padded practice before making decisions for Sunday, and that Coker, coming off quad and ankle injuries, “had a really nice day.”
Zig Wheatley and the trade deadline
A reporter read Canales the old scouting report on rookie safety Zakee Wheatley, which flagged his tackling and his coverage against double moves. Canales disagreed. “I haven’t seen any of those things show up for Zig,” he said. “He’s been a fantastic tackler in the open field.” The next step, he said, is for Wheatley to turn chances into takeaways. “He’s got magnificent hands,” Canales said. “He’s a special talent and he just has a real sense of just playing football.”
With the trade deadline about a month away, Canales said he and Morgan talk about the roster “all the time,” though he would not name positions. “I’ll pop into his office, you know, right after this meeting for about 15 or 20 minutes, and we may be watching, hey, let’s take a look at this guy,” he said. “So we’re always open, we’re always looking.”
He also said he begins every week by watching the TV broadcast of his next opponent, in this case the Eagles’ game against the Jaguars, before moving to the coaches’ film. “I think the commentators do such a great job of painting a picture of the story,” he said. “It gives me a sense of who we’re playing, not just from an X’s and O’s standpoint, but where are they at.” The 2-2 Panthers lead the NFC South and visit the 2-3 Eagles on Sunday, October 18, at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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