Helter Skelter » Panthers 2018 season opener countdown: 78 days to g

o Jersey number 78 remains unclaimed by a Panther at the moment. So here is a look back at the players that used to wear No. 78. Quick DJ Moore Jersey White , name one right now and see if you are correct. Well the first Panther to wear No. 78 was one of our first two Panthers in history...Offensive Tackle Blake Brockermeyer (1995-98)Brockermeyer played four seasons for the Panthers with 56 starts. He was a decent player just not worth the money he was going to get on the market. Other lesser known players to wear No. 78 were Jeno James (2000-2003), Todd Forham (2004 to 2006) and everyone’s favorite... Nate Chandler. Chandler was the Panthers Dr. Jekyl experiment. They tried to turn a DT into an OT and it just didn’t go so well. But you can get his jersey for a really good price right now. We do have some former training camp bodies that wore No. 78. Like Dan France, Tom Lally and from earlier this year Connor Wujciak. Who? Exactly. No. 78 is apparently not a very lucky number when it comes to the Panthers. I think it might actually make players slower than they really are. So we are about 2.5 months from the season opener. It goes quick my friends. Soon enough we will be watching the season kickoff. Just don’t expect much from No. 78. The Carolina Panthers found themselves in an ideal position in the 2018 NFL Draft when it was their turn to pick at No. 24. The Panthers wanted a dynamic wide receiver and as luck would have it, none of the 23 previous selections played that position. Carolina would be able to pick the player they evaluated to be the top wide receiver in the entire draft. They went with Maryland’s D.J. Moore. Moore then had a slow start to his NFL career. In his first three games he registered just two receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed the ball two times for 10 yards. The Panthers had a Week 4 bye and since that time D.J. Moore has shown why he was the first wide receiver selected in the 2018 draft. Per Pro Football Reference, Between Week 5 and Week 12 Moore has led all rookie wide receivers in receptions (33) https://www.pantherslockerroom.com/authentic-donte-jackson-jersey , yards (482), catch percentage (84.6%), and yards per target (12.4). Rookie WRs Weeks 5-12 (min 10 recs)PlayerTmGamesTgtRecYdsCtch%Y/TgtPlayerTmGamesTgtRecYdsCtch%Y/TgtPro Football ReferencePro Football Focus recently provided some pretty incredible statistics which illustrate just how good Moore was between Week 5 and Week 11 (so this excludes his Week 12 performance against the Seattle Seahawks with eight receptions on nine targets for 91 yards):Just let that sink in for a moment: Between Weeks 5 and 11, D.J. Moore led the NFL in yards after catch per reception, led the NFL in yards after contact per reception Christian McCaffrey Jersey White , and ranked fourth in forced missed tackles per reception!Now, I’m purposefully going back to Week 5 for these stats because I’m a Panthers homer and would prefer to disregard everything that happened over the first month of the NFL season when discussing D.J. Moore. When looking at the entire season, Moore’s 565 receiving yards ranks second among rookie receivers behind the Atlanta Falcons Calvin Ridley with 625 yards. However, Ridley plays for a pass-happy Falcons team and has been targeted 66 times to just 48 targets for Moore. It’s a volume thing. D.J. Moore averages 11.8 yards per target so if he had Calvin Ridley’s 66 targets he would be sitting at 779 yards on the season and leading all rookies by a country mile. The difference between Ridley and Moore comes down to team offensive style (the Falcons are No. 5 in pass attempts, the Panthers are No. 23) Curtis Samuel Jersey White , not individual productivity. Ultimately, D.J. Moore is looking like a stud. Throw in Curtis Samuel and Christian McCaffrey and the Panthers have a trio of young, explosive playmakers who are only getting better. While the Carolina Panthers 2018 season is caving in on itself and will likely be remembered as a disappointing season of missed opportunities, I’d give the selection of D.J. Moore a giant thumbs up.