Schedule preview: Can Carolina leap back into relevence?

Are Carolina going to do a St Louis? Will they draft a new QB and instantly flee their sorrows and become a competitive team? Now I don't think they were anywhere near as bad as the 0-16 Lions, but they were lucky to face a 49ers team that gave them a game last year. They have some talented young pieces, and I key on the word "young" as they were very young across the board last year; young, unprepared and inexperienced.

With that in mind it is hard to guess as to how long the road back is. Throw in the fact that they could lose DeAngelo Williams and it gets harder. I remember the Lions wanted to trade for Ken Lucas when Schwartz first joined and he laughed the Lions off saying "heck no! Never!" Bet he wishes he could change his tune now...

The fact is the Panthers are in this position because they draft and manage their squad extremely poorly. You cannot continually trade away future picks like they do. In 2008 they traded back into the first round to grab tackle Jeff Otah. Good player, except they gave up their 2009 first round pick to do it. So then in 2009 they give up their 2010 second round pick to trade back into the bottom of round 3 (!) and take wide receiver Armanti Edwards...just 11 selections after taking a capable wide receiver in Brandon Lafell. Armanti Edwards' career stats so far? No receptions, 1 rushing attempt for 7 yards, and one fumble! They then lose Julius Peppers in free agency and apart from rookie DE Everette Brown they can't fill that gap. Now they have had a nightmare season and pick first in the draft and instead of picking 1st and 33rd they pick 1st and have a long wait...and who has their 1st pick in round 2? New England! A team whose draft strategy is the complete opposite of theirs, and has the success to back it up.

The front office has also pushed the team to the very limits of it's cap with boneheaded moves. It gave Jake Delhomme upwards of $14 million a year on a 5 year extension after he'd dumped them out of the playoffs with 6 turnovers, leaving them no money for Peppers when he became a free agent. They have just not had the cap space to sign anyone in free agency as they have pushed things so far. They did well to pick up Jeremy Shockey on the cheap though so maybe the penny has dropped finally...

I personally thought grabbing Clausen was a great decision but he needs help and weapons badly, as well as a defense that won't allow him to be under so much pressure. Given the opportunity to develop properly he has the tools to succeed.

Ron Rivera will improve the defense massively for starters. He did an amazing job at Chicago and San Diego as DC, but he sure does have his work cut out for him in Carolina.