South Charlotte Today

CHARLOTTE—Long snapper JJ Jansen and punter Johnny Hekker have declared their involvement in what they humorously refer to as a "quarterback competition" within the Carolina Panthers' practice sessions. Hekker stated, "We have a really deep quarterback room now." However, Andy Dalton expressed skepticism: "Are you eligible? Is 44 eligible to be quarterback?"

Jansen acknowledged that his teammates consider Andy Dalton the superior quarterback among them. Hekker recounted, "Let it be marked in the record that JJ pointed to me and called me, Andy," while Jansen suggested another solution: "Can we have GPT answer these questions?"

The informal competition began when Jansen and Hekker started participating in various drills during practice. Hekker explained, "As a specialist, sometimes it's limited...you want to practice special teams the first bit of practice and then you kind of look around like, what do we do? Let's do some drills."

The two were enlisted to assist with defensive back drills by throwing passes. Hekker noted, "I mean, not to knock any of the coaches, but sometimes their arms get a little sorer throwing a few days in a row...So every now and then JJ and I throw the ball."

Their participation has provided defensive backs with more challenging drills. Safety Nick Scott explained, "The point of the drill is...they throw the ball as hard as they can, which simulates breaking on the ball." Scott added that this makes it tougher for DBs to catch balls at full speed.

Hekker remarked on learning new terminology from these sessions: "The good thing is we're learning a lot of terminology of the DBs," with Jansen adding terms like “weave” and “kick.”

When asked who was better between them at quarterbacking duties during practices, Scott replied without hesitation: "Johnny because Johnny's done it in the game." He referenced an instance when both were with the Los Angeles Rams and connected on a successful fake against the Atlanta Falcons.

Hekker has completed 15 out of 24 fakes in games, including one for a touchdown. Sam Franklin also weighed in: "JJ is pretty accurate...but Johnny's done it in a game."

Jansen mentioned that Franklin often joins his line during drills. Franklin retorted by saying he prefers Jansen’s throws because they are easier to catch.

Despite their competitive banter about long toss distances—Jansen claims 48-50 yards while Hekker boasts at least 55 yards—Dalton reminded them he'd thrown a 63-yarder recently.

In conclusion, while neither specialist may be ready for full-time quarterback duties just yet, their contributions are valued within team practices. Franklin emphasized they need more practice if they intend to play quarterback roles effectively.

"They need to go practice a little bit...If they're going to play quarterback, they got to do it right," said Franklin.

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