Career: Steve Smith is a small, speedy and very tough receiver out of the University of Utah
who has been selected to three Pro Bowls since being drafted by the Carolina Panthers in
2001. In his second season in the NFL, Smith earned a starting spot on the Panthers roster
and had over 800 receiving yards but it’s in his third season that he really broke
out with 1,100 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Steve Smith was quickly becoming one
of the best wide receivers in the NFL but suffered a severe leg injury on opening day in
2004. The injury kept him out for the rest of the season but it seems that it only made
him stronger because in 2005 he earned the Triple Crown by leading the league in
receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. For the next two seasons, Smith was
unable to repeat his performances from 2005 but he still had over 80 receptions and 1,000
yards in both 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately, in the last two seasons he has been bothered
by injuries that seemed to slow him down but he battled through them and still put up
pretty impressive numbers.
Supporting Cast: After reaching the NFC Championship game and losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the
2005 season, the Panthers have fallen off and have been unable to reach the playoffs. The
offense has ranked 26th and 27th for points in the past two seasons and quarterback Jake
Delhomme underwent the Tommy John surgery to his elbow and is questionable for the start
of training camp. Delhomme should be ready to go when the season begins but it’s
uncertain if he will be as effective as he was in 2005. Quaterbacks Matt Moore, David Carr
and Vinny Testaverde were highly ineffective last season and even though Moore should be
much improved in his second NFL season, the Panthers need Delhomme. The Panthers added two
solid wide receivers in free agency when they signed D.J. Hackett from the Seattle
Seahawks and brought back Muhsin Muhammad after he spent three seasons with the Bears.
Hackett is often injured but is a very talented receiver with great hands who will draw
some coverage away from Smith. Muhammad is a veteran who had his best season with the
Panthers in 2004 and even though he will be 35 years old when the season begins in
September, he could still be an interesting option in the Panthers passing game.The Panthers offensive line will undergo some
changes after the team chose to release C Justin Hartwig and LG Mike Wahle in order to
make room for younger linemen such as 2006 draft pick C Ryan Kalil and 2008 first round
pick T Jeff Otah. The Panthers also chose to release starting RB DeShaun Foster but
drafted Jonathan Stewart in the first round to continue the committee system with DeAngelo
Williams who will be playing his third NFL season in 2008.
Job Security: The Panthers have made many changes this off-season but if one thing is certain
it’s that Steve Smith will be the number one receiver for the Panthers. For the first
time since his sophomore season in 2003, Steve Smith will finally have other wide
receivers to draw coverage away from him in D.J. Hackett, Muhsin Muhammad and the young
Dwayne Jarrett out of USC.
Fantasy Outlook: After being the number one fantasy wide receiver in 2005, Smith has slowed down in the
past two seasons and has missed a few games due to injuries. He still managed to be a top
15 wide receiver in both years and after having four different quarterbacks throw to him
in 2007 and Drew Carter being the only receiver drawing coverage away from Smith,
it’s difficult to believe that things could be worse than they were in 2007 for
Smith. As long as he remains healthy, Steve Smith will for sure improve over his 2007
numbers. Moore and Delhomme each started three games at quarterback in 2007 and in those
six games Smith had 38 receptions for 538 yards and five touchdowns which would have given
him over 320 fantasy points in a PPR league in a 16 games season. Steve Smith should be a
top 10 wide receiver in 2007 and is a medium risk player because of all the changes made
by the Panthers but has a high reward.
