panthers55

If he can collapse the pocket up the middle it keeps QBs from stepping up to avoid the rush. He may still not get big numbers but the ends sure will.

In 2019 we were terrible up the middle getting gashed for big runs straight up the middle. In 2020 we end up more solid against the run. Biggest difference- Brown. It sure wasn't Whitehead. How many passing downs did we rush 3 meaning Brown was doubled if not triple teamed. Even when we lined him up in the A gap he was mostly doubled. He played well outside of the penalties which you live with if you start a rookie. With better interior help and better pass rushers we have the talent to be aggressive and allow Brown to get more 1 on 1 matchups where is he tough to block. Snow just has to let the cats hunt this year and be aggressive and give up the prevent defense of last year.

That was a great video. I heard Mick speak at a local rotary meeting which I am told he does quite often. While the ample bosom descriptions are a little creepy, he is very well spoken and eloquent. He is a very good storyteller.

Since it includes TEs we were penalized because of our underwhelming group. If it was just about WRs we likely would be higher.

That is likely true. He gets traded from one of the worse franchises to one of the up and coming franchises with a ton more talent. He knows this stop will define his career. If he fails it won't be because he isn't giving his all.

That is a good point. Gentleman used to churn the rosters and we always seemed to start out slow and finish strong. I hope we don't do the same under Rhule since we really need to start off strong at the beginning because the second half will be much harder. I guess we will see how good these coaches are at building teamwork and a culture.

For those who say Jackson is too small to play nickel slot, the two top ranked slot defenders by PFF were Kenny Moore who is 5'9" and 190 lbs. and Bryce Callahan is 5'9" and 188. Compare that with Jackson who is 5'10" and 180. He is surely big enough and fast enough. And if he isn't a good tackler I would rather have him miss a tackle closer to the line where he might have help rather than putting him on an island as an outside corner or at free safety where he is our last line of defense. The only reasonable place you play him if you start him at all is at nickel slot.

So if Jackson struggles to cover players deep on one side of the field as a corner, you think we should move him to FS where he has to play both sides of the field deep? Why in the world would we do that? Now move him to the slot and I would agree.

Sure it makes sense. With big tall receivers who are tough to bring down you need a safety who is big, tall and fast as well. I hope he can be our version of Ed Reed in the secondary.

Chinn was a safety in college not a linebacker so he has played there his whole career except last year where we moved him to linebacker by necessity. He was great last year because he is insanely athletic and tough. But he is not a linebacker and won't last in that role. He is an athletic freak who is 6'3" weighs 220 and runs a 4.4. Who better to give over the top protection against Michael Thomas, Mike Evans, Julio if he is still in Atlanta, and the rest. I can't think of a better thing to cement the secondary than a huge free safety who likes contact, studies the game, and can run step for step with anyone and deliver a blow if you catch it. Perryman is a huge upgrade at linebacker so Chinn can play further back in our base look. Chinn can also fill in as a safety/ linebacker when they go to a nickel or dime look.

To me the success of the draft will be determined by how many of the 12 guys make the roster. If a bunch do and provide depth then awesome. If we kept trading down to get picks that don't make the team then the strategy of quantity over quality was not a good one. In either case you do have to give the FO props for still finding good value throughout the draft. There is a good chance many of these guys make the 53 or at least the practice squad. Another way to look at the depth of our draft will be to see how many guys get poached off our practice squad from the guys we drafted.

I am also a huge Jim Johnson and Dick LeBeau fan and love those aggressive defenses. We actually have those kind of players this year. If Snow can install that kind of scheme whether man coverage or a fire zone concept I will be a happy camper. Until then I am hopeful he will turn the dogs loose this year.

I think you are way overselling it. We were not 18th on most statistics. Total yards surrendered might be the standard of comparison but it hardly is determinant of wins or losses. Bend don't break defenses try to limit the damage by stopping big plays which gives you middle of the road stats in many categories but like in interceptions or sacks you are always near the bottom as we were. It doesn't make you good, it keeps you from being terrible. Like allowing over 50% of third down conversions and 60% of 4th down conversions. That doesn't win games or shut down other offenses. We struggled getting off the field and that was due to the scheme. Passive between the 20s and then gets more aggressive which already puts the opponent in field goal range. While you blame the offense let's remember that you aren't going to win a ton of games if you give up almost 26 points a game. And we lost many of those 8 one score games because we couldn't stop teams from scoring as well couldn't score enough on our own. Snow was surely not a miracle worker and looked like a college coach trying to use his 3-5-3 college scheme which was awful. Hopefully with even more talent and now experience he can craft a legitimate defense that dictates to others instead of a weak bend til you break scheme we saw last year.

I am going to wait until he actually develops a good defense before worrying about him leaving. And if this defense is good I am not sure how much credit he gets. With all the high draft picks he has to work with if we aren't good he might have to worry about being retained if he weren't so tight with Rhule.

That is exactly right and why we did it. We went for a strong arm because Teddy didn't have one. Did we overcompensate and ignore the mental issues or did we think that the coaches could teach him in a hurry given what Brady did with Burrow in college. And we got Horn to finally upgrade the corner position which is critical in this division. If we finally go to a more pressure defense with man press coverage I will be one of Snow's biggest disciples. I hate passive zones and predictable rushing schemes with no misdirection or overloads. Hopefully our staff are learning and borrowing the best of what they see to emulate. The NFL is a copycat league. Hopefully we are improving on both sides of the ball. It had been way too long since we made some noise. 2017..... we are overdue.

They were in negotiations already it appears and the agent absolutely knows how he compares to teams showing interest. I was waiting for them to compare stats of TEs based on current salaries to production gained and use analytics. Given that is Teppers bend apparently.

I didn't think that was tough at all. I have negotiated harder buying a car. I wonder how that compares to Gettleman who had a reputation for tough negotiating.

Kueckly was a junior when he was drafted and he came from BC which isn't exactly a football powerhouse and he wasn't really hyped like many guys. So most of what folks saw were the stats where he was second in tackles his freshman year and 1st his sophomore year. But we had a good debate between those who thought he was good but not worth a top 10 pick and folks like me who where huge fans of him well before the draft. I said then that he was not only a top 10 pick but he was the best defensive player in the draft that year at any position. That if we got him at 9 it would be a steal.

If you casually look at stats you might say we weren't bad. But if you look at situational football it was a different matter. Defense isn't about how many yards you give up but how many points you surrender and when. We played prevent defense between the 20s and then stiffened up when our backs were to the wall. That meant teams routinely were in field goal range before we even started playing defense. That is called bend until you break. Opponents converted 3rd downs more than they were stopped. And it wasn't the personnel it was the scheme. When McDermott first got here he put in his system and we weren't that good but we were aggressive and we blitzed and that translated into an aggressive defense as guys learned their jobs and gained experience. Snow came in and played 3 and 4 man rushes from set pieces with few stunts or blitzes. Behind it a soft cover zone with guys standing around waiting to tackle the receiver after he catches the ball. Heaven forbid anything gets behind you. For Snow to be successful he needs to scrap the 3-5-3 and put in a ravenesque 3-4 with lots of misdirection and pressure fronts. He has the corners and linebackers to run it. With our nose tackles and DEs we have all the ingredients. But we have to have the scheme. Without it all the talent in the world isn't worth a hit of beans without the scheme to maximize the talent.

Exactly what I suggested held back the whole offense under Gase. Terrible scheme, no audibles and predictable play calling. Night and day different from what we have here.

I hope you are right about the defense. You always know when you bring in college coaches to roles they have not ever held in the NFL you are going to have a big learning curve. You only hope it doesn't take too long. Snow has been given a ton of high draft picks sprinkled in with good vets in key positions so talent isn't the question. And if Snow is such a good developer of young talent he should be able to whip them.into a cohesive unit. Hopefully he has been watching the most successful defenses in the league and emulating what they do well. After all the NFL is a copycat league and the best defenses I see are aggressive and dictate to the offense. Certainly 180 degrees from what we did last year. Hopefully he has figured it out.

I hope the defense is much improved over last year. We need good field position and not to have shootouts to win. Our offense is a possession short yardage passing game relying on getting yards after the catch. Coupled with a dynamic running game we have the ability to score points. But we need a solid defense that can get off the field. Otherwise each possession becomes more important as both sides eat up the clock.

I agree with those who say a qbs success is heavily dependent on where they go when they get drafted. People look at Mahomes and say we need him too without acknowledging that he had a great coach and a lot of talent around him. Sure he was really good but could he have gone to a Chicago or Oakland and turned them around like he did KC. I don't know. Fields would be best served sitting and learning for a year and then becoming the starter much like Aaron Rodgets did. In today's NFL getting to sit like Lance may get to do behind Garropolo is an exception not the rule.

I would hold off on the excitement yet. We gave up almost 30 points a game in 2019 but still gave up right at 26 last year. A small improvement but hardly enough to win more than you lose. We were in the mid to low 20s in most categories like sack percentage, opponent third down conversion of almost 60%, etc. We were not a middle of the pack defense but rather a bottom 10 defense in most categories and I don't agree that it was forced by lack of personnel. The rookies played better than the vets and our 3-5-3 scheme was dismal and needs to stay in college. Snow will get better I hope and he surely has more talent but until he actually creates a good defense color me hopeful but not excited.

Dallas fans are some of the worst. Obnoxious and yelling about being America's Team. What made it worse was losing to them in the regular season often with terrible calls. I remember Peppers blocking a field goal and then getting penalized for roughing the kicker when the ref said he didn't touch it and film showed the ball trajectory was clearly altered.