Can Ian Thomas become the first productive tight end

Can Ian Thomas become the first productive tight end the Panthers have ever drafted? The Carolina Panthers have never drafted a productive receiving tight end in franchise history. Let’s hope Ian Thomas can reverse the curse. With data taken from Football Reference http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-taylor-moton-jersey , here are the abysmal receiving stats for the nine tight ends Carolina has drafted prior to selecting Thomas in the fourth round this year.Career receiving yards of tight ends drafted by the PanthersYearRoundPlayerGamesReceptionsRec YdsRec/GRec Yds/GTDYearRoundPlayerGamesReceptionsRec YdsRec/GRec Yds/GTDBelieve it or not, but the Panthers have never drafted a tight end who went on to average at least 1.5 receptions or 20 receiving yards per game throughout his career. Gary Barnidge is the most productive receiving tight end Carolina has ever drafted, but he’s an oddity because nearly half of his career yards came in his improbable 2015 Pro Bowl season when he registered 1,043 of his total 2,258 yards. He was 30, playing for the Browns, and entering his eighth NFL season. His previous career high before his 1 Daryl Williams Jersey ,000-plus yard campaign was just 242 yards. Can we get a 30 for 30 or an Outside the Lines on Gary Barnidge’s miraculous 2015 Pro Bowl season, please? While the nine tight ends drafted since the Carolina’s founding in 1995 might seem like a low number, it’s right in line with the rest of the NFC South. In that same time frame the Saints have drafted six tight ends, the Falcons have drafted eight,and the Buccaneers have drafted 13, but seven of them were sixth- and seventh-round picks. Carolina’s history using tight endsThe lack of production from tight ends the Panthers have drafted shouldn’t be viewed as some sort of team bias against featuring the position in the passing game. Wesley Walls joined the Panthers in 1996 after six years with the 49ers and Saints. Walls went on to play seven seasons in Carolina (1996-2002) and make five Pro Bowl teams. During his seven seasons in Carolina his 3,902 receiving yards trailed only Shannon Sharpe Authentic Ian Thomas Jersey , Tony Gonzalez, and Frank Wycheck among tight ends, per Football Reference. We all know how dominant Greg Olsen has been as a receiver since joining the Panthers from the Bears in 2011. No need to explain further. While Walls and Olsen have been among the NFL’s most productive tight ends in their respective eras, neither of them was drafted by the Panthers. The hope for Ian ThomasAs CSR’s Billy Marshall highlighted after the draft, Ian Thomas is raw and athletic. In his two seasons at Indiana he caught a total of 28 passes for 404 yards and five touchdowns so the Panthers are clearly gambling on his upside. Despite his lack of college production the rookie earned praise from Luke Kuechly for his effort at training camp:In the Panthers first preseason game against the Bills he recorded just one reception for two yards. He had the opportunity for a longer reception but couldn’t get both feet down before going out of bounds, which shouldn’t be surprising in light of his limited experience. The good news for Thomas and the Panthers is he won’t be expected to contribute immediately while playing behind Greg Olsen. Ian will have plenty of time to learn from one of the all-time greats over the next few years. But at some point in the future Olsen will retire (or get injured, knock on wood) and the Panthers will need Ian Thomas to step in and step up. Let’s hope he can become the first productive tight end the Panthers have ever drafted. The Giants lost to the Panthers 33-31 on Sunday Youth Torrey Smith Jersey , but the result would have been different without a pair of calls by the officials on the last two drives of the game.On the final drive, running back Christian McCaffrey was ruled to have gotten a first down on a third down run and that allowed the Panthers to stop the clock before Graham Gano‘s game-winning 63-yard field goal. There was no call for a booth review of a spot that the Giants felt was short and the team had no timeout to use in order to give time for one to take place.Carolina’s previous possession saw Giants safety Landon Collins flagged for unnecessary roughness after making contact with wide receiver Devin Funchess. Collins dove to try to intercept the pass and made contact with the ball before hitting Funches,s but that didn’t stop the flag from flying.“I hit the ball first,” Collins said, via Tom Rock of聽Newsday. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all I remember, hitting the ball and somebody hit me in the back. I thought it was my player hitting me in the back, I look down http://www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dontari-poe-jersey , and it was [wide receiver聽Devin Funchess]. But I went for the ball, my eyes were on the ball, didn鈥檛 see the opposing player there. I don鈥檛 know what kind of call that was. That鈥檚 how they saw it. The call was bad. A bad call. Second week in a row we鈥檝e gotten bad calls like that.”Collins said it felt “like you鈥檙e playing against two teams out there” while defensive tackle Damon Harrison said the NFL has explaining to do after the Giants had “a win stolen” from them.