Who should the Panthers starter be at Left Tackle Next Year?

[FootballLivesMatter]

13 hours ago, Riverboat Ron said:

Why draft an OT when you got Remmers?

 

[CRA]

we should have an offseason competition to determine who is the most left handed out of all left handed guys on the roster.  Winner gets the job.

[AU-panther]

 

11 hours ago, CarolinaNCSU said:

I'm all in favor of trading for one of the older big name vets.  Thomas, Staley, Peters mentioned above...don't really care. At this point, a draft pick is worth the 2-3 years we hopefully get out of them to help fix our line issues. 

 

No, I wouldn't be crazy about let's say...trading a 2nd round pick for one of those guys. But, a lot better getting the sure thing (IMO), than drafting a guy we "hope" develops into a decent OT. 

People love to talk about trading for players but what would you really give up.

A third or fourth for Thomas or Staley? I would guess there would be several teams lining up.  No guarantee you would get him.

How many people would really be ok with a 1st or 2nd for one of those guys?  Those teams might want a good young player on a rookie contract  as part of the trade.  There are a lot of teams in this league that need a left tackle. I would think the asking price for them might be more the most people on here realize.

 

12 hours ago, AceMan said:

We should target Menelik Watson. I'm extremely wary of Matt Kalil and his horrible knee ailments. Gotta do something in FA though...maybe look at Ben Ijalana too

I could see this type of signing happening.  Young guy with some potential.  High reward low risk type of signing. 

Also it would be really nice if we could find an OT that has been cut by his team.  Would help us in the compensatory pick equation. 

[pantherclaw]

I believe this thread is ignoring the obvious. That there isn't  any clear upgrades available. 

A healthy Oher at LT is much better than any FA available, and better than any rookie. 

[iamhubby1]

14 hours ago, TheRed said:

The problem with Oher is, all we have to hang our hat on regarding the possibility that he is going to be back next year is a bunch of random "sources" saying he isn't ready to retire.

When you throw that on top of the already overwhelming issues we have to address, many of which already happen to be within our OL depth, it is a recipe for disaster that Stevie Wonder could see coming a mile away.

If our FO drops the ball again, seats better be on fire.

 

So, if we have "Overwhelming issues". Is it really feasible for the FO to fix them all in one off-season?

 

I mean, I knew we had a bad year. I guess I just didn't realize how bad our situation had deteriorated. I had no idea we had "Overwhelming issues".

 

I guess I can see why folks are on the ledge now. 

 

And here I thought we were in pretty good shape. In my mind, all we need are a solid Vet DE, and SS to round out our Defense. Get our Oline healthy, while adding some talent, and our Offense should be just fine.

 

We have money for the first time in the Gman era, and we have great draft position. Seems like we are in good shape to fix our "Overwhelming issues".

[Carolina Cajun]

Byron Remmers

[panther4life]

1 hour ago, iamhubby1 said:

 

So, if we have "Overwhelming issues". Is it really feasible for the FO to fix them all in one off-season?

 

I mean, I knew we had a bad year. I guess I just didn't realize how bad our situation had deteriorated. I had no idea we had "Overwhelming issues".

 

I guess I can see why folks are on the ledge now. 

 

And here I thought we were in pretty good shape. In my mind, all we need are a solid Vet DE, and SS to round out our Defense. Get our Oline healthy, while adding some talent, and our Offense should be just fine.

 

We have money for the first time in the Gman era, and we have great draft position. Seems like we are in good shape to fix our "Overwhelming issues".

We don't have any starting caliber DE under contract. Ealy is not the answer. Johnson is a free agent, Addison is a free agent and anybody behind them can not be trusted.

We have to bank on Bradberry and Worley being the answer at Corner. That was too much to ask of them their rookie years but thats water under the bridge now. I don't expect them to turn out a year as good as Norman and Tillman had in 15 but they need to advance closer to that level. Nickel corner shouldn't be too hard to find. Depth is scary here tho, if Bradberry or Worley go down for more than a game or 2, then we are in major trouble. 

Coleman did not live up to his new contract this year. Can't really find a reason that this is his fault. He needs to go back to FS and likely will. This still leaves us in need of an answer at SS. Will we get a long term solution or another Harper type of band aid? Either way Boston can not see the field that much again next year.

DT- I have 0 concerns about. Short will be back under the franchise tag worst case scenario.

Offensive line. We made it with what we have in 2015. So its fair to assume we can be okay there, assuming Oher doesn't regress after so much time away and he has to stay healthy all year of course.

WR-. We need help here in a major way. If Ginn, comes back how much longer can we count on him? Funchess regressed last year. No way our 2nd round pick should be taking less snaps than Philly Brown  who was an undrafted free agent. But the coaches used him as our 4th option. Maybe he's ready to rise to the occasion. By all accounts he looked the part in camp, but what happened when the lights came on? I am not giving up on the guy, however it would be foolish to assume he's going to double his production next year and become a legit #2.

HB- Stewart has played 9 long seasons and has taking a lot of hits over those years. His ypc dipped to 3.8 last year and again some of the blame goes to our offensive line injuries. However for somebody who has only broke 900 yards in once in the last 7 season's and carries a cap figure of 8.250 million, we have to do something about him sooner than later.

I'm glad GMAN has room to spend $$ and a loaded draft aresenal this year However the free agent class has far from aligned with what our current needs are, hence hindering our ability to use free agency to allow us to go BPA in draft. 

Gettleman has proven that he can find short term solutions if injuries don't bite him. However after 4 years of him being the GM, I think some of us wish he did himself a favor and set himself up for long term success, instead of having to constantly patch holes on a sinking ship. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AU-panther]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

Clowney destroyed Watson this weekend. I know, well it was Clowney, but when Remmers gets posterized, it was Von Miller, who is a better pass rusher than Clowney. Maybe Watson can improve, but Clowney isn't quite the speed rusher that Miller is, so I'd be worried about not really upgrading at all. He's also 28 already, not a young guy. He sure was a huge downgrade from Donald Penn, so if this is your answer at LT, I don't think it is a good one. He isn't a young guy with potential. Have to figure at 28 after 4 years in the league he'd be better.

Doesn't necessarily have to be Watson, I was speaking more of the profile.  A young player coming of a rookie contract who maybe didn't start  because he had a good player in front of him.  In regards to Watson specifically I agree he struggled against Clowney at times but I have no idea how he has looked in the rest of his playing time. Maybe he isn't better then Oher but could he become better then Oher's backup.

I'm just not convinced we are going to sign someone who is an automatic upgrade over Oher if he is healthy.

If you knew for sure Oher wasn't coming back the decision making process would in some ways be easier.  Sign the best player you can in free agency and draft someone to develop.

If you are confident Oher will be back then how much do you really spend in free agency.  Is there any reason to believe someone like Kalil is going to be an upgrade?  How much are you going to pay for a guy that might be a backup.  Someone like Kalil might decide to go somewhere else that he feels gives him a better opportunity.

What if we were able to trade for someone like Stanley, do you still keep Oher?  Here again how much money do you see tied up in a backup?

If Oher is indeed healthy it wouldn't surprise me if our week one roster consisted of:

Oher and Williams as the starters, a rookie, and Remmers or a cheap FA

 

[TheRed]

2 hours ago, iamhubby1 said:

 

So, if we have "Overwhelming issues". Is it really feasible for the FO to fix them all in one off-season?

 

I mean, I knew we had a bad year. I guess I just didn't realize how bad our situation had deteriorated. I had no idea we had "Overwhelming issues".

 

I guess I can see why folks are on the ledge now. 

 

And here I thought we were in pretty good shape. In my mind, all we need are a solid Vet DE, and SS to round out our Defense. Get our Oline healthy, while adding some talent, and our Offense should be just fine.

 

We have money for the first time in the Gman era, and we have great draft position. Seems like we are in good shape to fix our "Overwhelming issues".

We already have questionable depth on the OL, if Oher doesn't come back, or doesn't look the same, both of which are definitely possible, having to find an LT also in the midst of everything is going to be challenging to say the least.

If you want that veteran defensive end you are going to have to open the wallet. Realistically we also need a veteran in the receiver core.

We need a realistic option at RB to take the reigns from Stewart as well.

Could definitely use a 2nd TE worth a damn too.

Also, we need a kicker. It isn't even debatable. Gano is one of the highest paid kickers in the league, and cost us 2-3 wins this year.

If you're getting caught up on the wording, that's up to you. I didn't say these issues were insurmountable. I've said previously that we should be able to adequately address most of these if we are diligent,  and aggressive in improving our roster.

[AU-panther]

18 minutes ago, stbugs said:

I just wanted to mention that Watson isn't really young, so I wouldn't expect any real contribution (better than Oher/Remmers) based on what I saw and the fact that he's 28 now with four years of expertise. I know we want to find another Gross (like Penn) and it was clear that Watson was the glaring hole on the OL against Houston, i.e. our Remmers.

Even though I feel OK with Oher starting next year, he's now a 1 year stop gap as his guaranteed money is done after 2017. It would be great for us to have him duplicate 2015 and then groom some guys we draft. Increasing depth by signing a FA LT to compete with Oher as well. I don't expect any trades for studs to happen.

I didn't realize Watson was that old, I just new he was finishing his rookie contract.  Like I said earlier I wasn't just talking about him but that type of player.  A guy coming off of his rookie contract who maybe has been stuck behind a quality starter.  That would be where you might find a cheap FA.

I just have my doubts we are going to spend a lot on a FA LT to come in and compete with Oher.  Normally guys aren't signed to contracts >$3m to compete, they are expected to start.  I'm not going to be surprised when the team's FA LT signing is some guy that half of this forum hasn't heard of.    Everyone is talking like Kalil is going to play for the league minimum but I don't see that happening either. 

Maybe because of Oher's concussion issues this past year we do decide to spend more on depth.  Also  if some player is equal to Rammers you might as well resign Remmers because it doesn't hurt us in the compensatory pick formula.

[AceBoogie]

Cam

[Kevin Greene]

Tonight confirms why I voted Free Agent in the Poll and not via draft.

[Mr. Scot]

After tonight, Cam Robinson would be a very tough sell.