DT Thomas was a perfect fit for Panthers

[Sultan33g]

http://www.carolinagrowl.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=181:dt-thomas-was-a-perfect-fit-for-panthers&catid=1:articles

[Montsta]

Tha man is huge, I don't know if he is much of a "perfect fit" for anything...

All jokes aside, he helped in the rotation quite a bit.

[ncbobcat]

This offseason I said it was a bad omen when we locked up Peps and Lewis limiting our monies. Kemo was already locked up for a while. I knew that we were mediocre at best when it came to the interior DL. By not getting one of the top 3 or 4 DTs in the draft, I knew the depth would not be there if Kemo or Lewis got hurt, mind you all-the-while not thrilled with either of them anyway. When the coaches said they wouldn't look for FA DTs and try to develop the young 'talent' depth, I knew we were officially screwed. Kemo then goes down in the first day of camp and the rest is history.

A long story short, the team should have taken the safe route and gotten one or two vet DTs in here when they had the chance early in the offseason. It's taken injuries and almost 180 yards against the run for them to figure out they screwed up.

Defensive tackle was the one area I just had a feeling would bite us square in the @ss this year and unfortunately, I was right. Thomas (or any decent veteran) may have gotten here too late to salvage the season, but lets hope not.

[Cyberjag]

IF (notice the caps) Thomas is in good shape and healthy, then he could actually be an improvement on Kemo. However, that's a very big if. When he's on his game he'll play like Kemo with a pass rush. But he was released in New Orleans for being fat and out of shape, and St. Louis didn't really play him a lot.

He's 35, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. Pat Williams in Minnesota is 36 and part of one of the best defensive lines in football. Grady Jackson is still playing at 36 in Detroit. Jeff Zgonina in Houston is 39 and already has 11 tackles, despite playing in rotation. Linemen don't depend on speed, and as a result can play at a high level a lot longer than a running back or wide receiver.

Thomas was great in Philadelphia, and he was pretty good in New Orleans as well. He still can be, it's all about his health and conditioning.

I stand by my words. As long as he's healthy, he'll be an improvement on Kemo. I just hope we can rotate him out enough to keep him from getting worn down in December.

[Woodcookedbbq]

That was a great article. Hopefully Thomas can stay healthy and be around for a while.

[monstercat]

So, has anybody signed Shaun Smith yet?

I'm telling you, everybody who has that Skins game recorded, go back and watch the sack (I think it was either late 3rd quarter or early 4th quarter) where HT shoved two Redskins into the backfield and allowed the DE's to get there without the QB being able to step up and avoid them for a change. That was freakin beautiful! I don't expect him to do that every time, but that kind of pressure up the middle hasn't happened very much since Jenkins and Kemo were both here and healthy.

[Darth Biscuit]

Speaking of Jenkins... I know I wasn't high on him his last two years here, but did anyone else see that play last night on the goal line where he literally one-arm shoved the Miami left guard completely out of the way... he might have been a jerk in our locker room but he is one strong joker.

[Claws]

Great link, thanks for the article.

Very truthful article as well. I think adding Hollis, as i said, would be good. At that point, any help was gonna be appreciated. I'm just glad he had an impact his first week.

[Sultan33g]

Speaking of Jenkins... I know I wasn't high on him his last two years here, but did anyone else see that play last night on the goal line where he literally one-arm shoved the Miami left guard completely out of the way... he might have been a jerk in our locker room but he is one strong joker.

ya it was awesome...look at us now...I would be glad to have jenks back

ps: Nice avyy :ihih:

[Claws]

Pervs

[CRA]

Speaking of Jenkins... I know I wasn't high on him his last two years here, but did anyone else see that play last night on the goal line where he literally one-arm shoved the Miami left guard completely out of the way... he might have been a jerk in our locker room but he is one strong joker.

he has abused some guys this year..... he has always been a playmaker.

[Snake]

So, has anybody signed Shaun Smith yet?

I'm telling you, everybody who has that Skins game recorded, go back and watch the sack (I think it was either late 3rd quarter or early 4th quarter) where HT shoved two Redskins into the backfield and allowed the DE's to get there without the QB being able to step up and avoid them for a change. That was freakin beautiful! I don't expect him to do that every time, but that kind of pressure up the middle hasn't happened very much since Jenkins and Kemo were both here and healthy.

I think he is a Turd player and thats why no one has touched him.