Today's press conference tweets

[AceBoogie]

So another top defensive pick who's just a rotational player. Sad

[hepcat]

So another top defensive pick who's just a rotational player. Sad

Even Kuechly started as a rotational player...

[Captain Morgan]

 

Joe Person ‏@josephperson  5m5 minutes ago

#Panthers DC Sean McDermott said A.J. Klein watched a lot of film last week, paid off when he replaced Kuechly. Called Klein a "true pro."

 

[Seltzer]

You may not feel that way if we have to play Dallas (Witten) or Seattle (Graham) in the playoffs.  Besides, Thompson being a rotational player is not a bad thing considering the makeup of this team.  

We have two 2 five LB's that you can't pull out on 3rd down, and Bene is one of the best nicklebacks in the league.  It's a good problem to have.

 

[motocross_cat]

So another top defensive pick who's just a rotational player. Sad

 

So us having the right players for right situations is a bad thing?  

I think the rotation we have on the dline is a good thing.  And swapping bene for shaq in certain situations with their specific skill sets is also a good thing. 

 

[RelaxImaPro]

After initially saying KB had a sprain before the MRI, I'm still nervous about D Williams until we get confirmation.

A torn ACL is a knee sprain.  It's a grade 3 sprain.

[Dex]

So another top defensive pick who's just a rotational player. Sad

you realize that TD isn't getting any younger right?

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

modern defenses in the NFL rotate personnel like crazy.  the title of "starter" doesn't carry an enormous amount of weight except for a few positions on defense.

we have a very deep, experienced LB corps.  even a great rookie who is ready to start on day 1 would struggle to get snaps early on.  i would expect shaq's snap count to steadily increase as the season goes on.

[LinvilleGorge]

 

 

1. Carolina Panthers ‏@Panthers  12s12 seconds ago

   Rivera was very pleased with DE Mario Addison's performance vs. #Jaguars and sees him as a long second-down, third-down player.

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2.  

   Bryan Strickland ‏@PanthersBryan  15s15 seconds ago

   Rookie LB Shaq Thompson played about one-fourth on snaps. Rivera says that was dictated by Jacksonville's looks, as will be case all year.

So... all of that talking he and Gettleman did about how drafting Shaq would allow them to play more base 4-3 and not show their hand so much on D by having to switch personnel based on offensive looks was just bullshit?  Sounds like we're essentially going to be running nickel as our base D again this year with Shaq playing roughly the same percentage of snaps that we played 3 LBs last year.

 

That's... well, that's disappointing.

[KillaCamNewton]

So... all of that talking he and Gettleman did about how drafting Shaq would allow them to play more base 4-3 and not show their hand so much on D by having to switch personnel based on offensive looks was just bullshit?  Sounds like we're essentially going to be running nickel as our base D again this year with Shaq playing roughly the same percentage of snaps that we played 3 LBs last year.

 

That's... well, that's disappointing.

i think alot had to do with Julius Thomas being out. If he would have played I think we wouldve seen way more of Shaq

[KillaCamNewton]

Even Kuechly started as a rotational player...

hell, we even drafted TD for the sole purpose of chasing around Michael Vick

[Riverboat Ron]

Shaq is a weapon we haven't had in Carolina that can counter these big TE's and spread offenses that seemed to kick the poo out of us every time we faced them. Jacksonville without Thomas is a team with a noodle armed QB who can throw an accurate ball 10-15 yards but after that tosses up floaters and a running game that was average at best considering we didn't have Star or Luke half the game. Not much use for a rushing liability in Shaq when he really had no target to neutralize, let him learn and he'll eventually take the roll full time when he can tackle better.

[Ricky Spanish]

So another top defensive pick who's just a rotational player. Sad

Who are the other ones?

[LinvilleGorge]

Yeah, we usually do a good job of getting our high draft picks on the field early and often.  I guess that, combined with the talking Rivera and Gettleman did about playing more 4-3 that I alluded to earlier, made Rivera's comments today very surprising to me.  Sounded like this year was going to be the same approach as last season when back in late April/early May they were singing an entirely different tune and it sounded like the addition of Shaq was really going to allow us to do what we actually WANTED to do on D instead of being forced to simply react to what the offense was putting on the field.

Now, Shaq missed a lot of off season and preseason work with that lingering hammy, so hopefully as he gets more reps under his belt we'll see more of a shift in the D to what Rivera and Gettleman talked about after Shaq was drafted.

If we go through the season only playing three LBs on 25% of our snaps with the nickel essentially being our base again, then Rivera and Gettleman lose a lot of credibility to the fans in my book.  That'll tell me they pretty much just sold us a story of bullshit because they knew most fans wanted offense at #25.  If we picked him to be TD's eventual replacement, that's fine, but don't bullshit a bullshitter.