Carolina Panthers Super Bowl 50 roster
By Josh Hill
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The Carolina Panthers are trying to win their first Super Bowl ever — and sport a roster capable of winning.
It was over a decade ago that the Carolina Panthers were in Super Bowl XXXVIII, where they almost pulled off the upset over the New England Patriots. While it’s taken 11 years to get back, the Panthers have what might be their best roster in franchise history, led at the top by newly minted NFL MVP: Cam Newton.
But the Panthers success is so much more than Newton. While the world watched the quarterback smile his way to the top, a deeper look at the Panthers roster shows us just what Cam had so much to smile about. Kelvin Benjamin was lost before the season to an ACL injury and it looked like the Panthers were going to have to wait until 2016 to fully reload. But Newton took guys like Philly Brown, an aged Ted Ginn and a washed up Jericho Cotchery and made them into a Super Bowl receiving corps.
While they’re not as star-studded as the Broncos are, the makeup of the Panthers roster feels like one of those teams that has everything click at the right moment to win a Super Bowl.
Here’s a look at the Carolina Panthers Super Bowl 50 roster:
| # | NAME | POS. | HT. | WT. | AGE | EXP. | COLLEGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | Addison, Mario | DE | 6-3 | 260 | 28 | 5 | Troy |
| 69 | Allen, Jared | DE | 6-6 | 270 | 33 | 12 | Idaho State |
| 3 | Anderson, Derek | QB | 6-6 | 230 | 32 | 11 | Oregon State |
| 34 | Artis-Payne, Cameron | RB | 5-10 | 220 | 25 | R | Auburn |
| 11 | Bersin, Brenton | WR | 6-3 | 210 | 25 | 2 | Wofford |
| 33 | Boston, Tre | S | 6-1 | 210 | 23 | 2 | North Carolina |
| 10 | Brown, Philly | WR | 5-11 | 185 | 24 | 2 | Ohio State |
| 20 | Coleman, Kurt | S | 5-11 | 200 | 27 | 6 | Ohio State |
| 82 | Cotchery, Jerricho | WR | 6-1 | 205 | 33 | 12 | North Carolina State |
| 58 | Davis, Thomas | LB | 6-1 | 235 | 32 | 11 | Georgia |
| 91 | Delaire, Ryan | DE | 6-4 | 265 | 24 | R | Towson |
| 84 | Dickson, Ed | TE | 6-4 | 255 | 28 | 6 | Oregon |
| 94 | Ealy, Kony | DE | 6-4 | 275 | 24 | 2 | Missouri |
| 92 | Edwards, Dwan | DT | 6-3 | 305 | 34 | 12 | Oregon State |
| 26 | Finnegan, Cortland | CB | 5-10 | 190 | 32 | 10 | Samford |
| 17 | Funchess, Devin | WR | 6-4 | 225 | 21 | R | Michigan |
| 9 | Gano, Graham | K | 6-2 | 205 | 28 | 6 | Florida State |
| 19 | Ginn, Jr., Ted | WR | 5-11 | 185 | 30 | 9 | Ohio State |
| 41 | Harper, Roman | S | 6-1 | 205 | 33 | 10 | Alabama |
| 53 | Jacobs, Ben | LB | 6-4 | 240 | 27 | 3 | Fresno State |
| 44 | Jansen, J.J. | LS | 6-2 | 240 | 30 | 8 | Notre Dame |
| 95 | Johnson, Charles | DE | 6-2 | 282 | 29 | 9 | Georgia |
| 42 | Jones, Colin | S | 6-0 | 205 | 28 | 5 | Texas Christian |
| 67 | Kalil, Ryan | C | 6-2 | 300 | 30 | 9 | Southern California |
| 56 | Klein, A.J. | LB | 6-1 | 240 | 24 | 3 | Iowa State |
| 59 | Kuechly, Luke | LB | 6-3 | 238 | 24 | 4 | Boston College |
| 98 | Lotulelei, Star | DT | 6-2 | 320 | 26 | 3 | Utah |
| 93 | Love, Kyle | DT | 6-1 | 315 | 29 | 4 | Mississippi State |
| 29 | Marlowe, Dean | S | 6-1 | 205 | 23 | R | James Madison |
| 55 | Mayo, David | LB | 6-2 | 240 | 22 | R | Texas St. |
| 27 | McClain, Robert | CB | 5-9 | 195 | 27 | 5 | Connecticut |
| 1 | Newton, Cam | QB | 6-5 | 245 | 26 | 5 | Auburn |
| 24 | Norman, Josh | CB | 6-0 | 195 | 28 | 4 | Coastal Carolina |
| 8 | Nortman, Brad | P | 6-2 | 215 | 26 | 4 | Wisconsin |
| 68 | Norwell, Andrew | G | 6-6 | 325 | 24 | 2 | Ohio State |
| 81 | Norwood, Kevin | WR | 6-2 | 200 | 26 | 2 | Alabama |
| 73 | Oher, Michael | T | 6-4 | 315 | 29 | 7 | Mississippi |
| 88 | Olsen, Greg | TE | 6-5 | 253 | 30 | 9 | Miami (Fla.) |
| 74 | Remmers, Mike | T | 6-5 | 305 | 26 | 3 | Oregon State |
| 79 | Scott, Chris | G | 6-4 | 340 | 28 | 4 | Tennessee |
| 99 | Short, Kawann | DT | 6-3 | 315 | 27 | 3 | Purdue |
| 80 | Simonson, Scott | TE | 6-5 | 250 | 23 | 1 | Assumption |
| 28 | Stewart, Jonathan | RB | 5-10 | 235 | 28 | 8 | Oregon |
| 54 | Thompson, Shaq | LB | 6-0 | 230 | 21 | R | Washington |
| 35 | Tolbert, Mike | FB | 5-9 | 250 | 30 | 8 | Coastal Carolina |
| 70 | Turner, Trai | G | 6-3 | 320 | 22 | 2 | LSU |
| 61 | Velasco, Fernando | G | 6-4 | 310 | 30 | 6 | Georgia |
| 14 | Webb, Joe | QB | 6-4 | 235 | 29 | 6 | UAB |
| 32 | Wegher, Brandon | RB | 5-10 | 215 | 25 | R | Morningside College |
| 43 | Whittaker, Fozzy | RB | 5-10 | 205 | 27 | 3 | Texas |
| 60 | Williams, Daryl | T | 6-6 | 335 | 23 | R | Oklahoma |
| 21 | Williams, Teddy | CB | 6-1 | 210 | 27 | 4 | Texas-San Antonio |
| 22 | Young, Lou | CB | 6-1 | 205 | 24 | 1 | Georgia Tech |
The biggest player to watch will be Greg Olsen. While everyone will be looking at Cam Newton — after all he’s the MVP — Olsen is the real wild card here who could change everything. Carolina won this year with no receiving corps whatsoever, as Olsen helped open up the offense in a really underrated way.
If the Broncos let Olsen get behind them, or even out in the flat, then they’re going to be in trouble as the rest of the offense will open up as a result.