Casey Hampton

[mountainpantherfan]

Don't need speed or pressure, we have plenty of both in Beason. Just need someone to occupy the blockers.

This will never happen.

:cheers2:

That is true. IF the Panthers could get him, I wouldn't be mad, in fact I would be thrilled but to me he isn't the ideal DT we need. But like you said, never going to happen.

[Jackofalltrades]

Kemo was a 3-4 NT in Baltimore bfore coming here- he'd be worth it if he's not looking for his last big pay day.

[Fiz]

if a hall of fame NT is available and we don't make a move then we deserve what we get.

[unicar15]

I hope if the Steelers don't want him we could work out a trade for him. Maybe a 4th, but that's stretching it, unless they know they're getting rid of him regardless. If we could pull off a trade, he'd have to play this year out and it would give us time to get our cap # down so we could sign him to a slightly longer extension. I would love it.

The Steelers are definitely getting rid of him. I didn't think it would be this year. I thought it they would let him play out his contract and just let him walk next year. The drafted Ziggy Hood to replace him so the move is coming.

For those of you that are questioning his age and giving him a contract etc..No team is going to give him for than a 4 or 5 year contract and he has been in the league only 1 year more than Kemo.

I also dug up this on rotoworld:

Kemo had hoped to come back in late December, but Carolina was never going to hold a roster spot that long. Keep in mind how weak the Panthers' run defense will likely be without their massive interior clogger. Kemoeatu is signed for next season, but will be 31, coming off a career-threatening injury, and is due a $9.3M option bonus in March 2010. He may be a cap casualty.

Like I said...his achilles is never going to be the same again and his body is breaking down. I love the guy but if he is due a 9 million dollar bonus next year it might be in the best interest of the team to eventually cut him. We won't do it now b/c it would probably do something crazy to the cap. But if we signed Hampton, Williams, or someone else for a few years and set him up to replace Kemo (while we drafted another NT) it could work out really well for the immediate future. IMO it is a better option that keeping Kemo and hoping that he is good to go next year AFTER we pay him 9 million bucks.

[chbright]

Just to fill the role of a space eater, yes Hampton would be perfect. But don't expect anything else. He doesn't have any speed and rarely does he create pressue, nor is he asked to.

you just described exactly who went down late last year and helped lead to 250 rushing yards for the giants when he was out. now he is out for the year, and people ran over us again in the preseason. we had 1 true NT on the team, he is now down for the year, hampton fills the role that we now desperately need: a 2 down guy to eat 2 blockers (his exact role in the 3-4 with pitt where he is a god at it) and make it a pita for opposing teams to run on us as beason and the lb crew have not G or C to deal with when going to the ball carrier. hell look at the division: 3 outa the 4 teams are gona be running the rock alot. we will, tampa will (i hope they let leftwich loose), and the falcons will as well. yes the saints arnt a running team, but have vowed to run it more than the last few years now with thomas.

if we cant fix the gaping hole in the run defense that kemo left, whats the need or point for other teams to sit back and pass the ball when they can ave 4+ yards a run all night long? fix the biggest problem 1st, which is the DT that eats blocks for beason, then figure out a rotation or package to combat the lack of pressure (ie lb/de blitz specialists).

[dpanthersman]

I'm greedy..i want Casey Hampton and Corey Williams (pipe dream)

[Brandon]

My big worry about Casey is that if we sign him, will he be able to stay healthy?

[Fiz]

My big worry about Casey is that if we sign him, will he be able to stay healthy?

http://www.nfl.com/players/careerstats?id=HAM671173

[mountainpantherfan]

you just described exactly who went down late last year and helped lead to 250 rushing yards for the giants when he was out. now he is out for the year, and people ran over us again in the preseason. we had 1 true NT on the team, he is now down for the year, hampton fills the role that we now desperately need: a 2 down guy to eat 2 blockers (his exact role in the 3-4 with pitt where he is a god at it) and make it a pita for opposing teams to run on us as beason and the lb crew have not G or C to deal with when going to the ball carrier. hell look at the division: 3 outa the 4 teams are gona be running the rock alot. we will, tampa will (i hope they let leftwich loose), and the falcons will as well. yes the saints arnt a running team, but have vowed to run it more than the last few years now with thomas.

if we cant fix the gaping hole in the run defense that kemo left, whats the need or point for other teams to sit back and pass the ball when they can ave 4+ yards a run all night long? fix the biggest problem 1st, which is the DT that eats blocks for beason, then figure out a rotation or package to combat the lack of pressure (ie lb/de blitz specialists).

I don't disagree with at all. But sadly many fans thought Kemo was a bust because of his lack of pressure. And while I don't agree with them, having a NT that can create some pressure is the best option.

I'm not saying Hampton would be a bad option but IMO he isn't ideal. The same knocks on Kemo would be the same for Hampton.

The bigger question would be if Hampton was acquired then who plays beside of him because Lewis is horrible and at that point you are looking a zero pressure from the inside. Note that I'm not talking about just today or this season but for the forseeable future.

[dpanthersman]

I don't disagree with at all. But sadly many fans thought Kemo was a bust because of his lack of pressure. And while I don't agree with them, having a NT that can create some pressure is the best option.

I'm not saying Hampton would be a bad option but IMO he isn't ideal. The same knocks on Kemo would be the same for Hampton.

The bigger question would be if Hampton was acquired then who plays beside of him because Lewis is horrible and at that point you are looking a zero pressure from the inside. Note that I'm not talking about just today or this season but for the forseeable future.

that's a good point. i don't think Lewis is that bad but hes deff better when coming off the bench. that's why i would really like to see us bring in a couple DTs. maybe one via trade and one via free agency

[Brandon]

http://www.nfl.com/players/careerstats?id=HAM671173

I watch a lot of Steelers games and he gets dinged up a lot during the game, and I'm worried about how long he'd be able to hold up. But that would be my only real concern, he wouldn't have any issue fitting into our defense considering moving from a two gap to one gap system isn't very difficult.

[chbright]

lewis' role when he was signed the 1st time, and extened before the jenks trade i believe, was as a situational pass rusher. now we are stuck with him as a 3 down lineman. he was good at that role when we brought him here (but i vividly remember the cincy game where he got stuck out there and abused in the running game). the whole jenks deal sucked hard, but he wanted out and it left us in a pickle: no good 3 down DT on the squad. he was great in getting pressure with kemo in there, and you could slide him to NT on passing downs and then bring in lewis for kemo. players like jenks are few and far between. now we have a 3 down lineman in lewis who was only a situational guy. hurney did a good job imo with the line up until this point: no depth at DT after the jenks trade. we traded not only our starting DT (and best imo), we lost a guy who in a pinch could slide over to be the full time NT if kemo went down. now i get why hurney had to do it, and we did net value via picks, but hurney left the DT position weaker and thin after that trade. imo thats his biggest blunder, and we are paying dearly atm.

the other DTs thrown out there are more of a question than hampton. either limited success (corey williams in GB for 2 years), pure potential (dorsey, who of all the guys thrown around is the most interesting, and improbable), or known malcontent (say no to rogers people, if you hated the jenks deal, rogers is worse). with hampton you know exactly what your getting, he is a proven consistant NT that frees up the rest of the DL and the LBs. he isnt gona garner fan praise due to him not filling up the stat sheet or getting sacks.

i dont think the steelers are near stupid enough to let him go, i expect he would garner the LBs seal of approval on keeping him around to make their jobs much easier. if they did, beason and the other LBs should all take a pay cut if possible to bring in a guy that will make thier jobs easier, and prolong their carears as they take less abuse from the lineman casey would eat up.

[Cyberjag]

Lewis isn't horrible, he's just one-dimensional. He does a good job when he's isolated on the guard but when he has to deal with a tackle or the guard and center he's toast. If we had two of him, then they could line up next to each other and on any given play one would look pretty good. That's what Indy has done for years.

[Cat'sGrowl]

What's it matter?

The sky is falling.

We lost preseason games.

That's pretty much impossible to recover from.

I mean, it's preseason..