Panthers strong in week 1

Steve Smith had a 68-yard touchdown catch and Drew Carter added a pair of receiving scores as the Carolina Panthers defeated the St Louis Rams 27-13 on Sunday. Jake looked solid, and the defense played very well. An encouraging start to a unknown season.

Colbert #2 WR

This offseason, Kerry Colbert was trying to stay on the team.
Now he's the #2 WR, opposite Steve Smith.

"I really just kept faith in myself and didn't believe what other people were saying or what I heard," Colbert said Wednesday. "That's kind of how I dealt with it."

Depth for the D; Wesley comes home

It's official, the Panthers inked deals with S Marquand Manuel and CB Dante Wesley on Monday.

Marquand is a 6th year player out of U of Florida. Last year for the Packers he tallied a career high of 81 tackles (62 solo) and ran an INT back for a TD. In 2002 he was the 6th rd pick of the Bengals.

Dante Wesley comes home to Carolina, where he played 4 seasons before defecting to the Bears last season. Dante was the 4th rd pick of the Panthers in 2002.

Donald Bowens, my favorite player

One good feeling I have coming away from watching State lose to lowly UCF this past weekend was the performance of Sophomore WR Donald Bowens. He will be another in the long line of State WRs playing on Sundays. Let's hope Beck can get him the ball successfully the rest of the season. Bowens might lead the league in yards after catch if he gets an adequate number of receptions.

Panthers making moves, adding players

The Carolina Panthers made four roster moves Sunday, agreeing to terms with free agent cornerback Dante Wesley and claiming three players off waivers - quarterback Matt Moore from Dallas, tight end Marcus Freeman from Baltimore and tackle Frank Omiyale from Atlanta.

To make room on the roster, the Panthers waived offensive tackle Rashad Butler, a former third-round draft pick, and center Will Montgomery. They placed tight end Michael Gaines on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

The Panthers were also courting free agent safety Marquand Manuel, who was cut by the Green Bay Packers on Saturday.

D-II star Bell moves up to #3 QB for Panthers

Dalton Bell threw for almost 8,000 yards and 62 TDs at Division II West Texas A&M. With a season-ending wrist injury to reserve quarterback Brett Basanez, the undrafted rookie quarterback has a chance to make the regular season roster. Yesterday, Bell took some snaps with the first string.