the joker dante wesley

[rayzor]

i noticed him being used more in non-special teams plays and have heard some comments about his new and expanded role. didn't notice much discussion about it but i do think it's going in a good direction.

But last week defensive coordinator Ron Meeks gave Wesley a chance to be a contributor on defense. Meeks worked Wesley into the defensive game plan by using him as a “joker” or a sixth defensive back on a handful of plays in Carolina’s 34-21 win over Arizona.

“I just come in on certain plays and sometimes I spy the quarterback or the running back – whatever they have planned for the week,” Wesley said. "They call me the joker."

Wesley, who turned 30 earlier in April, had worked at the joker position earlier this season in practice, but the Panthers waited until last week to debut the new look.

It worked well for the most part and the Panthers might use him again this week against the New Orleans Saints, another team that likes to throw the football.

“Coach (Meeks) is putting a lot of more secondary guys on the field that can run and I’m the sixth (defensive back) coming out there on the field,” Wesley said. “It’s exciting.”

“We had some nicked up linebackers and we thought he was a guy who could fill in and he did a nice job,” coach John Fox said.

link

i like it. it's going to help out a lot this week and against the pats when we get to them.

with him being utilized more and the apparent/possible rise of martin as a ballhawk and the vastly improved pass rush, we could find ourselves near the top of the pass defense rankings all year. there isn't much that we can hang our hat on this year so i'll take whatever i can get.

i like the direction of this defense. i can't wait to see how it handles brees.

[Sultan33g]

i noticed him being used more in non-special teams plays and have heard some comments about his new and expanded role. didn't notice much discussion about it but i do think it's going in a good direction.

i like it. it's going to help out a lot this week and against the pats when we get to them.

with him being utilized more and the apparent/possible rise of martin as a ballhawk and the vastly improved pass rush, we could find ourselves near the top of the pass defense rankings all year. there isn't much that we can hang our hat on this year so i'll take whatever i can get.

i like the direction of this defense. i can't wait to see how it handles brees.

I want to see Dante Wesley Knock someone on their ass!!

[CharlotteBeer.com]

Meeks is getting more and more creative with this defense as the players are becoming comfortable in it. I'm eager to see how the defense as a whole evolves by season's end.

We were all down on Meeks for a while, but it looks like he is doing exactly what we thought he would do: playing to each player's strengths.

[rayzor]

Meeks is getting more and more creative with this defense as the players are becoming comfortable in it. I'm eager to see how the defense as a whole evolves by season's end.

We were all down on Meeks for a while, but it looks like he is doing exactly what we thought he would do: playing to each player's strengths.

it sounded like he was hesitant to use blitzes much this year but had to when the Dline was struggling. i don't think it's struggling anymore but it hasn't stopped them from backing off the creativity.

the defense is actually on the road to being respectable again and it has been making adjustments this year. i like it.

[Panthers128]

i guess when you go against payton manning in practice for years you learn some tricks to slow a great passing attack down

[rayzor]

i guess when you go against payton manning in practice for years you learn some tricks to slow a great passing attack down

good point.

of course the colts pass D struggled a lot but they had most of their high round picks and money going to offense and i do believe that dungy was very limited in what he allowed to happen on defense...wanted a pure tampa2.

here, meeks has more to work with as far as talent and has had to deal with an offense that wasn't going to bail him out. he was forced to think outside the box he was in while in indy.

[Cat]

After Sunday’s game, wide receiver Steve Smith went out of his way to talk about Wesley’s contributions on defense.

“The one guy I’m actually really proud of personally is Dante Wesley,” Smith said. “He’s really been considered a special teams guy most of his career and he really came out there and played outstanding. He had some key stops. Just knowing Dante and being around him for so long and knowing him, just watching that I was real happy for him as a teammate to see him get his opportunity.”

Smith said he likes Wesley because he’s a guy that never complains about his role, but just goes out and does his job every day in practice.

“He’s never griped about not being out there and he got his chance,” Smith said. “They say sometimes you get what you wish for and he got it. He took full advantage of it and he did an outstanding job.”

Wesley smiled when told of Smith’s comments.

“Oh man that feels good,” Wesley said. “Steve and I, we both work hard. I try to work hard. Just to have a role on defense and play a couple of plays on defense that made me feel good, too. I want to continue to keep that role and continue to work hard.”

very cool

[CatMan72]

i guess when you go against payton manning in practice for years you learn some tricks to slow a great passing attack down

Excellent point! + rep

[GRWatcher]

I want to see Dante Wesley Knock someone on their ass!!

lol I believe that's why he is the joker. :biggrinjester: Good out-in-space tackling. That's why he's good on ST. He & Munnerlyn.

[therealmjl]

I love the direction the defense is going...Meeks has done a great job.

[PhillyB]

dante wesley blitzing at drew brees ftw

[CharlotteBeer.com]

Anybody else think it would be cool to see Wesley out as the joker, but in reality someone else -- maybe like Chris Harris or Thomas Davis -- is actually playing that role?

That would be interesting to see.

[Bigdaddy8523]

Yeah I would love to see Harris lay another lick on somebodys ass like he had on Brandon Jacobs.

[Brandon]

Really makes you wonder how good this defense will be at the end of the year once it's fully installed and all the players fully integrated. I guess this settles the debate as to whether or not Meeks was just a puppet, we never saw these kind of things out of Del Rio or Trgovac, and the level of creativity is definitely a sign that Fox is letting Meeks do what he wants on defense. I am really excited to see how we do against New Orleans this weekend.