Veteran Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen is buying stock in his team this season. He cites a faster and more athletic team for the coming autumn.
The three-time Pro Bowler is coming off a disappointing personal season which was also frustrating for the Panthers. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three years (and it suffered a wild card defeat in between, too).
The 34-year-old Olsen appeared in only nine games in 2018 for the Panthers due to two injuries: a right foot fracture at the beginning of the year and a plantar fascia rupture in the early-December. Prior to 2018, Greg Olsen re-signed with the team after his 2017 was shortened due to the first instance of a fractured bone in his foot. One of Carolina's leaders has been sidelined in recent years, playing 17 games in two seasons.
Nevertheless, Olsen believes in the on-field product, telling Joseph Person of The Athletic that the team will be faster:
“I think we have a lot of ability. We have a lot of young players, I think we’re a lot faster as a team, offensively and defensively. It’s just a matter of coming together and figuring out what guys do well, and putting it all together,” he said.
Greg Olsen went on to add that the team had “glimpses” of the quickness on the field last year, but it fell apart due to injuries.
The Panthers selected Florida State defensive end Brian Burns in the first round of the 2019 draft. He has yet to sign with the team. Carolina also took Georgia wideout Terry Godwin in the last round of the draft. These are manifestations of the speed Olsen is counting on in Charlotte this coming season.
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