Anderson gives Panthers defensive jolt

[Rod Butsecks]

(By DAVID SCOTT, [email protected]) EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - If rookie Mike Goodson provided the Carolina Panthers with its offensive punch in their 24-17 preseason exhibition loss against the New York Giants on Monday, then James Anderson took care of the defense and special teams. p/ Anderson started in place of injured Thomas Davis at weakside linebacker and had a second-quarter sack of Giants quarterback David Carr. Then, in his usual role on special teams, he blocked a Jeff Feagles punt that led to a safety.p/ Anderson's blocked punt came in the second quarter. The ball bounced into the end zone and Feagles - pursued by Anderson and Gary Barnidge - batted it out of bounds for a safety. They didn't have anybody in the slot, and I was the free guy, said Anderson. I got the 'go' call and was able to make the play.p/ Said Panthers coach John Fox: We didn't have a 'block' up, so they must have missed a block. But it was a good play by James.p/ Anderson said his second-quarter sack of David Carr was just as basic a play.p/ It was a coverage sack, he said. I was the free guy on it and the other guys had great coverage. I just had to go get him.p/ Anderson started in place of Davis, who has missed much of training camp with a sprained knee. A third-round draft pick out of Virginia Tech in 2006, Anderson has spent much of his career on special teams, but started two games his rookie season, also in Davis's place. He had two sacks in one of those games, against the New Orleans Saints.p/ Three seasons later, he still hasn't cracked the starting lineup. That's going to continue to be hard, with a lineup that includes Pro Bowler Jon Beason, rising-star Davis and young and highly regarded Dan Connor.p/ I think it's very important when you get an opportunity like this to make the best of it, said Anderson. You're not going to be perfect, but you need to make plays and do things correctly. This kind of opportunity doesn't always come, so you need to make the best of it.p/ Now Anderson is adjusting to a new system put in place by defensive coordinator Ron Meeks, who is in his first season with the Panthers.p/ The system plays to a lot of guys' strengths, said Anderson, who is 6-foot-2, 235 pounds. Guys see the quarterback, see the ball and go get it. There's not a lot of thinking involved or a lot of scheming. It's something good for athletes to just go make plays.p/ Anderson wants to be involved in that system as much as possible.p/ I see myself fitting in where the coaching staff puts me, he said. That's not my decision.

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[1789Cardiac Cats9020]

Pound for pound his is our most athletic linebacker not named Thomas Davis. Not the most instinctive, or productive, but by far the most athletic.

[rayzor]

i've repented. i'm a believer. he impressed for sure tonight. not as much, imo, as leman but still....he's got some value. if only we could keep him, connor, leman, and ivy. that would be a very sick LB corps. hopefully other teams see how good they can be and will make a trade with us for a big ol' DT.

[mantal]

And yet still I have read half a dozen posts this morning of how we need to cut him...

[Punisher]

Anderson has been pretty decent at getting sacks and pressure, and he is pretty decent in coverage. He seems to be more of a nickel linebacker because he gets run over in the run game.

[dpanthersman]

with connor,leman and anderson all playing pretty well. does anyone think that diggs could possibly get cut or maybe traded? not sure how much trade value he has considering his age. but i wouldn't be too surprised to see it happen.

[rayzor]

i'm thinking that we may go with 6 and maybe 7 LBs this year...esp. if we are going to be using the LB in the nickel much.

[Seamonk]

Anderson has been pretty decent at getting sacks and pressure, and he is pretty decent in coverage. He seems to be more of a nickel linebacker because he gets run over in the run game.

He played LB/Nickel Tweener in college. But yeah he's pretty explosive off the edge. In fact he picked off Hunter Cantwell in his last bowl game in '05 (which is probably why he got drafted in the third)