A little under a year ago...

[Mr. Scot]

The Panthers demoted defensive coordinator Eric Washington...

Fired defensive line coach Brady Hoke...

Also fired assistant defensive backs coach Jeff Imamura.

Then in the offseason, they announced they'd be changing to a different scheme.

Fast forward to this year.

Are we better, worse, or unchanged?

[ncfan]

We have reverted back to the old scheme, more 4-3.  A Lot to do with injuries, specifically KK's Injury.

Poe was trash in the 4-3 last year, and it was pointed out how he was brought in to be that plug in the run game like Star but he wasnt.

Fast forward, Poe looked real good to start the season at a traditional 3-4 NT.  Since reverting back, teams have run on us at ease.  And Luke has seen more blockers getting to him at ease than his whole career.

Also appears Washington is calling the shots on D still with Ron watching him.

[Snake]

3 minutes ago, ncfan said:

We have reverted back to the old scheme, more 4-3.  A Lot to do with injuries, specifically KK's Injury.

Poe was trash in the 4-3 last year, and it was pointed out how he was brought in to be that plug in the run game like Star but he wasnt.

Fast forward, Poe looked real good to start the season at a traditional 3-4 NT.  Since reverting back, teams have run on us at ease.  And Luke has seen more blockers getting to him at ease than his whole career.

Also appears Washington is calling the shots on D still with Ron watching him.

Nut shell right here. Scraping the 4-3 all together would be a good idea. Poe and Butler Excel at the 3-4. Also Burns absolutely sucks in the 4-3.

[t96]

Maybe a little better, not worse. Probably about the same but with different weakness. Last year weakness was pass rush. This year it’s run D. Secondary coverage probably pretty close to the same, maybe a little better this year. The run D this year is just unfathomably leaky though.

[LinvilleGorge]

Pass rush is much improved. I'd say the secondary is basically a push. Run defense is much worse. 

[outlaw4]

We're built for teams that attack through the air. Unfortunuately, it looks like the league is trending back towards the ground game. Also, I feel the turnovers have been masking our deficiencies.

[Mr. Scot]

I remember when the story of the firings came out. There was reported to be some justification for Hoke, but I always felt like Imamura was a scapegoat for Richard Rodgers.

(seriously, who blames an assistant position coach for a unit performing badly?)

I'd say we've got better secondary coaching now with Perry Fewell (though I do wish he'd do something to improve the tackling in that unit) but worth remembering that Fewell didn't replace Imamura. He replaced Rodgers.

Side Note: That Richard Rodgers seems impossible to fire regardless of how poorly his units perform is a source of annoyance to some. 

[Snake]

7 minutes ago, outlaw4 said:

We're built for teams that attack through the air. Unfortunuately, it looks like the league is trending back towards the ground game. Also, I feel the turnovers have been masking our deficiencies.

I think that's a nice way of saying we are soft and tackling is our strength. 

[pantherj]

Jackson is horrid trying to cover WRs going deep, and he needs to be in the slot. Our safeties are barely in the NFL. Losing KK hurt our d-line. Burns is not having much of an impact as a rookie and needs an off season in the weight room. Poe's ass is the size of a small dumpster, he is eating too much and slower than hell, not that he needs to be fast, but damn.

Basically if you want a dominant 4-3, then you need a Peppers DE, and a Jenkins DT, with decent talent at the other d-line positions. This give you a big push up the middle, and a werewolf rounding the corner looking to pull the QB's head off. We just don't have that, and it's not easy to build a monstrosity like that. We need higher draft picks, but we've accumulated enough talent that no matter what happens we will probably win at least 6 games each season. We could start a Thanksgiving turkey at QB and still get wins against terrible teams running with CMC. 

It seems to me we're not going to have a shot at getting our hands on an incredible QB, but rather we're in the "game manager" situation. If that's the case, then we might as well do what Fox did and build a premier front 7 through the draft and FA. Unfortunately we'll need to replace Greg as well, and find a good center, so the offense has needs as well.

 

[Mr. Scot]

45 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Pass rush is much improved. I'd say the secondary is basically a push. Run defense is much worse. 

Here's a name that pretty much nobody has dared bring up...

Sam Mills III

if I were to ask you whether or not he's doing a good job right now, what would you say?

[Forty-Eight]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

The Panthers demoted defensive coordinator Eric Washington...

Fired defensive line coach Brady Hoke...

Also fired assistant defensive backs coach Jeff Imamura.

Then in the offseason, they announced they'd be changing to a different scheme.

Fast forward to this year.

Are we better, worse, or unchanged?

The defense is still giving points. Only that we have more sacks and ints. 

[Forty-Eight]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Here's a name that pretty much nobody has dared bring up...

Sam Mills III

if I were to ask you whether or not he's doing a good job right now, what would you say?

If not for the name, I’d probably and honestly want him gone

[pantherj]

Did Sam Mills win us a SB that I missed? He played what 3 seasons with us and came here because he was pissed at the Saints offer?

[Mr. Scot]

7 minutes ago, pantherj said:

Did Sam Mills win us a SB that I missed? He played what 3 seasons with us and came here because he was pissed at the Saints offer?

I don't think the Saints made an offer the year he came here.