Carolina has signed Chris Hogan to a one-year deal, but I don’t think anyone should be rushing to adjust their draft boards. I don’t think he’ll wind up playing much of a role.
The Panthers have DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel, and I think they’re comfortable with those guys as their starters. They’ve got Jarius Wright, and he’s got a lot of experience working with Norv Turner as a slot receivier. I think Wright will continue to be their third guy.
Hogan, I think, is just a depth pickup. If any of those other three receivers gets hurt, Hogan could potentially fill in. Hogan is a larger receiver, but he played some in the slot with the Bills way back when. The Panthers also have Torrey Smith, but I think Hogan is a little better than Smith.
Hogan has caught 34-38 passes in each of the last four seasons. But he’s 31, and the Patriots weren’t interested in re-signing him. Seems he’s at the point now where he won’t be a certainty to be on the 53-man roster when the season begins.
When we last saw Hogan, he was struggling in the Super Bowl. He didn’t catch any of the 6 passes thrown his way in that game. So for the postseason, Tom Brady went only 8 of 18 when passing to Hogan, for 58 yards. That works out to 3.2 yards per pass play – lowest of the 37 players who saw at least 8 targets in the playoffs this year.
Dontrelle Inman, oddly, finished in the No. 1 spot on that list, and he wasn’t even on a roster when the regular season started last year. But if I were running an NFL team, I would be more interested in signing Inman than Hogan.
| POSTSEASON RECEIVING (yards per pass play) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Yd/Tgt |
| Dontrelle Inman, Ind. | 8 | 8 | 108 | 13.5 | 1 | 13.5 |
| Julian Edelman, N.E. | 35 | 26 | 388 | 14.9 | 0 | 11.1 |
| Allen Robinson, Chi. | 13 | 10 | 143 | 14.3 | 1 | 11.0 |
| Sammy Watkins, K.C. | 16 | 10 | 176 | 17.6 | 0 | 11.0 |
| Brandin Cooks, LAR | 27 | 19 | 292 | 15.4 | 0 | 10.8 |
| Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 19 | 13 | 191 | 14.7 | 0 | 10.1 |
| Amari Cooper, Dall. | 18 | 13 | 171 | 13.2 | 1 | 9.5 |
| Tyrell Williams, LAC | 11 | 7 | 103 | 14.7 | 0 | 9.4 |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 12 | 6 | 112 | 18.7 | 1 | 9.3 |
| Michael Gallup, Dall. | 15 | 8 | 137 | 17.1 | 1 | 9.1 |
| Michael Thomas, N.O. | 23 | 16 | 207 | 12.9 | 1 | 9.0 |
| Phillip Dorsett, N.E. | 8 | 5 | 70 | 14.0 | 2 | 8.8 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 15 | 10 | 131 | 13.1 | 1 | 8.7 |
| Alshon Jeffery, Phil. | 17 | 11 | 145 | 13.2 | 0 | 8.5 |
| Keke Coutee, Hou. | 14 | 11 | 110 | 10.0 | 1 | 7.9 |
| Ted Ginn, N.O. | 13 | 6 | 102 | 17.0 | 0 | 7.8 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 17 | 15 | 131 | 8.7 | 0 | 7.7 |
| Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 16 | 9 | 114 | 12.7 | 0 | 7.1 |
| Chester Rogers, Ind. | 11 | 9 | 76 | 8.4 | 0 | 6.9 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 21 | 9 | 145 | 16.1 | 1 | 6.9 |
| Mike Williams, LAC | 16 | 7 | 110 | 15.7 | 0 | 6.9 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | 8 | 6 | 55 | 9.2 | 1 | 6.9 |
| Zach Ertz, Phil. | 15 | 10 | 102 | 10.2 | 0 | 6.8 |
| Josh Reynolds, LAR | 18 | 8 | 121 | 15.1 | 0 | 6.7 |
| Damien Williams, K.C. | 14 | 10 | 91 | 9.1 | 2 | 6.5 |
| Antonio Gates, LAC | 12 | 9 | 76 | 8.4 | 1 | 6.3 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 10 | 8 | 63 | 7.9 | 0 | 6.3 |
| Robert Woods, LAR | 28 | 17 | 172 | 10.1 | 0 | 6.1 |
| James White, N.E. | 27 | 20 | 151 | 7.6 | 0 | 5.6 |
| Eric Ebron, Ind. | 15 | 8 | 77 | 9.6 | 1 | 5.1 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 10 | 6 | 51 | 8.5 | 0 | 5.1 |
| Golden Tate, Phil. | 13 | 7 | 64 | 9.1 | 1 | 4.9 |
| Nelson Agholor, Phil. | 9 | 4 | 38 | 9.5 | 0 | 4.2 |
| Taylor Gabriel, Chi. | 9 | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 0 | 4.1 |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 10 | 5 | 37 | 7.4 | 0 | 3.7 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 9 | 7 | 33 | 4.7 | 0 | 3.7 |
| Chris Hogan, N.E. | 18 | 8 | 58 | 7.3 | 0 | 3.2 |
—Ian Allan