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Well after a year following the controversial departure of Josh Norman, the man who now dons his old jersey number in the black and blue is already on his way to creating his own legacy as a rising star.
Sure, it's only been one year for Panthers cornerback James Bradberry, but the early results are impressive, and the 2016 second-round selection and new No. 24 has the look of a future Pro Bowl cornerback.
Bradberry, who at first was an under-the-radar early Day 2 pick during the NFL Draft last offseason, posted the best coverage statistics of any rookie cornerback in Year 1, according to Pro Football Focus. The former Samford product adjusted quickly to the NFL, and overcame an early-season turf toe injury that costed him three games to perform the best among first-year cornerbacks.
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Bradberry started all 13 games, and he was the top-graded cornerback by PFF in the entire NFL for his Week 2 performance against the 49ers. Overall, Bradberry (82.6) even bested Norman (82.0) with his overall grade for the 2016 campaign via the analytics-based website.
SportsLine projects the two corners to deliver similar numbers in 2017:
| Tkl | Asst | PDef | Sack | Int | FF | DFR | |
| James Bradberry | 67 | 13 | 14.4 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Josh Norman | 57 | 9 | 17.3 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
While his coverage abilities were often the part of his game on display, Bradberry showed he wasn't afraid to make tackles against the run in 2016, booking 59 stops in all, including 47 solo takedowns.
Bradberry defended 10 passes and nabbed two interceptions, a number he will look to improve upon going forward to help elevate his status from a solid cover corner to a potential game-changing defensive back.
Fellow second-year pro Daryl Worley is projected to start across the defense from Bradberry at cornerback, while the veteran addition of Captain Munnerlyn at nickel back and Mike Adams at safety to go alongside Pro Bowler Kurt Coleman should only help Bradberry's all-around game with extra help to count on.
Munnerlyn and Adams will each replace subpar defenders from last year who were cut loose at season's end in Leonard Johnson and Tre Boston.
Outside of Panthers fans, Bradberry is still a player who's relatively unknown across the NFL. But all signs point to the physical cornerback changing that in the coming years, beginning in 2017.
