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3 Tight Ends the Panthers Can Target to Pair With Teddy Bridgewater

By Jason Schandl

Three tight ends the Carolina Panthers should target to pair with new quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Three tight ends the Carolina Panthers should target to pair with new quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. / Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images
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Entering the 2020 season with a new franchise quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, the Carolina Panthers offense is going to look a lot different.

They've already made a splash by adding Robby Anderson to the WR corps, but the departure of Greg Olsen has still left them with a hole at tight end. Ian Thomas has shown flashes, but with a QB that likes to play it safe the way Bridgewater does, they could stand to add another tight end to the mix.

With that in mind, here are three players at the position that the Panthers should target.

1. Cole Kmet

Cole Kmet during an interview at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine.
Cole Kmet during an interview at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. / Michael Hickey/Getty Images

Cole Kmet is being projected as a second- or third-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. If he slips toward the back end of that range, the Panthers could pull the trigger with the fifth pick of Round 3 (No. 69 overall). Arguably the top prospect at the position, Kmet is coming off a strong junior year that saw him turn 43 receptions into 515 yards and 6 touchdowns at Notre Dame. He would give Bridgewater a long-term partner to grow with in the offense.

2. Ricky Seals-Jones

Ricky Seals-Jones during a 2019 game with the Browns.
Ricky Seals-Jones during a 2019 game with the Browns. / Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

Another young option, Ricky Seals-Jones has bounced around a bit in his young NFL career. Through three seasons he's only started nine games, but he has been a role player from the jump, and has racked up 60 receptions for 773 yards and 8 touchdowns. He looked especially good with the Cleveland Browns in 2019, averaging 10.4 yards per target on a limited sample of 22 targets.

3. Charles Clay

Charles Clay during a 2019 game against the Browns.
Charles Clay during a 2019 game against the Browns. / Christian Petersen/Getty Images

A veteran option instead, giving the Panthers some consistency while their young players develop, Charles Clay has been in the NFL since 2011. A fullback early in his career, he's racked up 357 receptions for 3,868 yards and 24 touchdowns. Injuries have held him back a bit lately, and the Arizona Cardinals' scheme didn't get him many reps in 2019, but he had at least 500 receiving yards in six consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2017. At 31 years old, he should still have something left in the tank to offer Carolina.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.