Last April, the Carolina Panthers appeared to land a steal in the NFL Draft, selecting tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders in the fourth round.
At 6-foot-4 and around 250 pounds with terrific athleticism, Sanders was viewed as a physical freak coming out of Texas, and there were very lofty expectations for him right off the bat.
However, Sanders was a bit of a disappointment during his rookie campaign, catching 33 passes for 342 yards and a touchdown.
To be fair, the 21-year-old suffered a scary-looking neck injury during the back half of the season, which definitely threw a wrench into things for the youngster.
But based on what Joseph Person of The Athletic is revealing when it comes to the Panthers’ needs this offseason, you have to wonder if Sanders is already falling out of favor in Carolina, or at least if the Panthers are not too entirely confident in him as a prime weapon moving forward.
Why? Well, Person has already identified tight end as a need for Carolina going into the Scouting Combine and feels that Penn State star Tyler Warren could represent a target for the team this April.
“The more pressing need could be tight end, where second-year Ja’Tavion Sanders would be the lone returnee if Tremble and Thomas move on,” Person wrote. “It’s hard not to think about what Penn State tight end Tyler Warren could bring to the offense.”
See, but here’s the thing: Warren wouldn’t just be a backup. If the Panthers do draft him, they would almost surely do so with the expectation that he would start.
Unless Carolina plans on going heavy with two tight-end sets, Sanders would ultimately see a considerable tip in targets if Warren comes on board, and he was only targeted 43 times in 16 games this past year to begin with.
It could be a mistake for the Panthers to prioritize the tight end position that early in the draft, as it definitely seems like Sanders has sky-high potential.
We’ll see which direction in which Carolina decides to proceed, but it would be a shame if the Panthers decided to throw in the towel on Sanders this early.