We are 95 days away from the beginning of the Carolina Panthers 2018 season. That means today is Dontari Poe’s day on the countdown.
Dontari Poe, Defensive Tackle
Bio
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 346 lbs
Age: 27
College: Memphis
NFL Experience: 7 years
Hometown: Memphis, TE
The departure of defensive tackle Star Lotulelei left the Panthers with a very large need at defensive tackle. The Panthers fortunately were able to address that very large need with a very large Dontari Poe. The Memphis product blew everyone away at the 2012 rookie combine with 44 bench press reps and a sub-5 second forty yard dash at 346 pounds, leading to fan speculation that he could be a target for the Panthers at the 9th pick in the draft. The Panthers instead selected linebacker Luke Kuechly while Poe went off the board two picks later to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Poe is primarily known as a hulking, run stuffing nose tackle, but he does bring some potential as a pass rusher. He only has 5 total sacks in his last three seasons, but he had 10.5 combined sacks in the two seasons prior. He should be able to adequately fill Star’s role at nose tackle at the very least, but it’s likely he ends up being a better player on a cheaper deal than the one Lotulelei got from the Bills.
He also leads all active defensive tackles in both rushing and passing touchdowns. In fact, every time the seventh year pro has touched the ball on offense, it has resulted in a touchdown for his team, a fact that surely has Norv Turner licking his chops.