Roster Decisions on Offense

[Pup McBarky]

7 minutes ago, dxpanther said:

we need a guy that can break tackles and that's not cap or barner.

Both CAP and Barner are better than Hood right now. Hood is the only one of the three that can be put on the PS. Hood may eventually be better than either of them, but right now, he isn't.

[Roebling]

QB: Cam, Heinecke

RB: CMC, CJ, Barner (Special Teams)

WR: Funch, Moore, Smith, Wright, Samuel, Byrd

TE: Olsen, Thomas, Armah

T: Moton, Kalil, Dorian Johnson, (Williams)

G: Mahon, Sriles, Turner, Van Roten, Mahon (Amini)

C: Kalil, Larsen

Total of 24. 26 with IR. I don't believe short-term IR take up roster spots?

I don't see 4 RB. You just wouldn't use them all. Hood has been impressive and I really like him, but he's got stiff competition on this roster. 

I think they really like Mahon, I don't think they let him walk out the door. Sriles has that vet experience they really want to keep on the interior.

Byrd has value as a receiver and special teamer. He has looked good in the preseason too. He's not a Kaelin Clay fringe type player. The dude is good. 

 

[KB_fan]

18 minutes ago, caatfan said:

I'm about ready to predict they'll only keep 5 WR's this season. When you consider how many balls are thrown to CMC and Olsen, and the upgrade in talent among the other WR's vs. last year, I'd say Byrd is on thin ice for a roster spot. I think they need more depth in the big boy positions this time around.

It's certainly possible.  Especially as the O line disaster has gone from bad to worse with Matt Kalil now out for who knows how long.

But given that we had a true position disaster last year at WR, and given potential injury concerns about Samuel (yes, he looks good, but I don't know that we want to put all our eggs in one basket) I think we try to free up a roster spot at TE or even RB before we do at WR.  

 

[dxpanther]

6 minutes ago, Pup McBarky said:

Both CAP and Barner are better than Hood right now. Hood is the only one of the three that can be put on the PS. Hood may eventually be better than either of them, but right now, he isn't.

are we watching the same game? cap is slower older weaker smaller and mediocre at blocking. barner is fast and has return ability but can't run inside. how are they better again?

[WarHeel]

I think Byrd’s ST abilities justify a roster spot. I’m with you on Hood and think his ceiling is higher than CAP or Barner. Would love to see him get some carries that aren’t in the red zone to see what he does in open space as well. Most likely he will be stashed on the PS so hopefully he won’t get snatched.

[Pup McBarky]

2 minutes ago, dxpanther said:

are we watching the same game? cap is slower older weaker smaller and mediocre at blocking. barner is fast and has return ability but can't run inside. how are they better again?

CAP isn't slower than Hood, nor is he weaker. Dunno where you get that. But he does have better vision. And if you watched the game this past weekend, you know Barner can indeed run inside, and he's faster and also has better vision than Hood. Hood may be better than them as early as next year, but right now, he's not.

[KB_fan]

Note: it should be obvious, but my initial post was written before the news broke that Matt Kalil may be dealing with an injury and wasn't practicing for the 2nd straight day.

That could shake things up even more on the offense... but it would likely lead to keeping more blockers...

[Roebling]

I don't think the knee injury is going to be a big deal. Rivera downplayed it. Even if it's a multi-week thing, he's got 3 to be ready for week 1. 

[Raleigh PF]

With the Matt Kalil news, I'm inclined to believe the Panthers keep Manhertz as the 3rd TE, primarily used in blocking situations. Armah is kept as FB/H-Back.

Barner stays as the 3rd RB and Hood goes to the practice squad. We carry 6 WRs, as we have a need for Byrd in ST. 

[Immortal]

Teams love speed. Buy we cut the fastest guy on the team for several years now? Byrd? He will not clear waivers.

He has something special the average NFL WR dosent. He's barely got his chance last year and did great on the field. We can't lose him and replace him with just anyone.

You can find Jarius Wrights and Torreys Smiths out there.

Funchess will be banged up this season. We saw Samuel go down. People will have to step up is a long season and no chance they all stay healthy every game all season.

[Untouchable]

2 hours ago, KB_fan said:

Note: it should be obvious, but my initial post was written before the news broke that Matt Kalil may be dealing with an injury and wasn't practicing for the 2nd straight day.

That could shake things up even more on the offense... but it would likely lead to keeping more blockers...

If Kalil injury is more problematic, a Torrey Smith cut is an easy way to get 5 mil toward a solid OT piece.  Probably not ideal to the coaching staff but desperate times...

[BrianS]

10 minutes ago, Immortal said:

You can find Jarius Wrights and Torreys Smiths out there.

Interesting theory.  However, if this were the case, why didn't we find them last year . . . or the year before . . . or the year before . . .

The point is, you really can't.  We've tried to find them, and wound up with Russell Shepherd, Kaelin Clay, Corey Brown . . . yea.  That hasn't really worked out for us.

We have actual NFL receivers on the roster this year.  Guys who have caught balls.  Let's not piss that away hoping we get lucky.  It's good to have developmental type guys on the roster . . . but someone gotta step up and make plays.  We have guys who have done that - guys that get 11 yards when we need 10 . . . instead of 8 when we need 10.

[Pejorative Miscreant]

2 hours ago, Untouchable said:

If Kalil injury is more problematic, a Torrey Smith cut is an easy way to get 5 mil toward a solid OT piece.  Probably not ideal to the coaching staff but desperate times...

This looks more and more viable as the young receivers continue to contribute.  When I first heard this floated a few weeks ago I tossed it into the “Training Camp Crazy Comments” folder. 

Its since been moved...

[KB_fan]

Good night. Can it get worse? Now Matt Kalil is "week to week"

The fact that none of these injuries to Williams, Silatolu or Kalil are season- ending makes roster management damn near impossible. Are we going to carry 11 or 12 Oline guys on the 53 to start the season?? 

Come on Hurney. You've got to give Amini an injury settlement. That's only small relief, but you've got to do something to free up spots. Otherwise these injured bums on the Oline (ok DWill isn't a bum...) are basically holding our entire roster hostage.