Gerald McCoy's Thoughts on the D-Line...

[SetfreexX]

It cuts off a piece of him describing Brian Burns early (referring to him off the edge and his bend), aside from that just some quality opinions regarding the unit up front. As a fan of pressure from the front, if it all comes together, and guys are able to stay on the field how could you not be excited by the potential.

Edge - Addison, Irvin, Burns

DL - GMC, Poe, KK

And that's just to name the focal points, like it or not a guy like Butler is quality depth, and IMO has just always been stuck behind Pro-Bowl talent (KK, Star, Poe). Then you add in Love as well, with Miller,  Haynes, and Obada off the edge behind our top three guys to round out the rotation....sheesh

And at the next level Shaq, and Luke blitzing...this defense has an opportunity to be special. 

 

[DeAngelo Beason]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is one of the best front sevens, on paper, that I've ever seen.  None of it means squat until the games are played, however.

[Peppers90 NC]

23 minutes ago, bull123 said:

Haven’t heard much about miller...how is he doing?

Taken with a small grain of salt, because it was coming from D Newton, but he said he hasnt done much to stand out and is more of a project. Which is somewhat of a surprise to me.

[trueblade]

Edit to add: While I'm also excited about the potential of our defensive line,

you're being a little more optimistic about Butler than I think the situation warrants. Neither Poe nor KK was playing anywhere near a Pro Bowl level in 2018, and Star wasn't a Pro Bowl level player at any point during his time here. When given opportunities, Butler hasn't been a stand out. I don't think the Panthers picked up his fifth year option which speaks to their own internal appraisal. 

[Moo Daeng]

He may not be a stand out and his future here is uncertain but that doesn't mean he can't be a useful part of the rotation. Everyone doesn't need to be Pro Bowlers to have a good DL.

[CPcavedweller]

9 minutes ago, trueblade said:

Edit to add: While I'm also excited about the potential of our defensive line,

you're being a little more optimistic about Butler than I think the situation warrants. Neither Poe nor KK was playing anywhere near a Pro Bowl level in 2018, and Star wasn't a Pro Bowl level player at any point during his time here. When given opportunities, Butler hasn't been a stand out. I don't think the Panthers picked up his fifth year option which speaks to their own internal appraisal. 

It's about fit. Clearly Star did more to benefit KK than Poe was able to do. Perhaps this year will be different with Poe returning to his usual NT (0 - 3 tech)

[kungfoodude]

Has anyone heard anything about Haynes or is he tracking towards being JAG?

[Snake]

1 hour ago, trueblade said:

Edit to add: While I'm also excited about the potential of our defensive line,

you're being a little more optimistic about Butler than I think the situation warrants. Neither Poe nor KK was playing anywhere near a Pro Bowl level in 2018, and Star wasn't a Pro Bowl level player at any point during his time here. When given opportunities, Butler hasn't been a stand out. I don't think the Panthers picked up his fifth year option which speaks to their own internal appraisal. 

We have 4 all pro players in our front 7 yet we should be not that excited? How about we worry about our Oline and just agree our defense is going to be nasty. 

[BrianS]

58 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Outside of Burns, I’ll be honest that with Addison and Irvin, I don’t think we should expect to see a ton from the other guys. Some rotation and snaps but those 3 are likely the main chunk of OLB/DE snaps.

And I don't see this as a bad deal anyway.  Consider that while we are changing to a base 3-4, I expect that we'll mix in 4-3 as well as 3-3 looks depending on what sort of personnel the offense puts out there.  I just want us to play good matchup defense.  The front isn't as important as matching up well to what the opposing offense is doing.

[SetfreexX]

1 hour ago, trueblade said:

Edit to add: While I'm also excited about the potential of our defensive line,

you're being a little more optimistic about Butler than I think the situation warrants. Neither Poe nor KK was playing anywhere near a Pro Bowl level in 2018, and Star wasn't a Pro Bowl level player at any point during his time here. When given opportunities, Butler hasn't been a stand out. I don't think the Panthers picked up his fifth year option which speaks to their own internal appraisal. 

Star made the probowl his rookie season, and even though KK, and Poe had a ''down'' year in the Huddle's eyes by all standards they were still above average by comparison to their peers across the league. 

I don't think we picked up his option because the value is too high. 

[mc52beast]

GMC stated that this D is the best he’s been around. Not saying much since he played on the Bucs, but I think he knows good players when he sees them. 

If KK and Poe can pick their game up and produce when GMC is doubled then our rush could be nasty. With all the speed we have on the edge and Ron calling plays we could have a special year

[SetfreexX]

I'm honestly not even concerned about the interior, I can't wait to see what revamped edge pressure looks like, picture this if you can, 

5-0-5 alignment for KK, Poe, GMC

A Gap mugged by Luke & Shaq

A combination of Addison, Irvin, and Burns flanking the 5 techs out wide, in that kind of alignment if the offense is in 11 personnel one of those edge guys will be uncovered and if we can create any hesitancy on an interior OL with Luke and Shaq mugging at the snap that's a short corner to turn for the edge defender. 

The flexibility of these fronts is what I'm most interested in. 

[Bronn]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

Has anyone heard anything about Haynes or is he tracking towards being JAG?

I could've sworn I'd read somewhere that he'd worked with the ones sometimes at Edge and/or OLB. I'm too lazy to verify.

If true, I think that is pretty good. I expect he'll make the team, and be a better fit in this system than the one in which we were using his rookie year.

[KneelingCamFan]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Has anyone heard anything about Haynes or is he tracking towards being JAG?

I heard like the few days that he was looking fast off the edge.  I wonder whats going to happen to him and Efe Obada, I hope they both show out during the preseason.  Can't wait!