Ranking Derrick Brown's Season

[X-Clown]

35 minutes ago, thennek said:

Now do Fitterer:

2021: Horn

2022: icky

2023: Young

Ironic part of the 2020 draft. It was rumored that Hurney wanted to trade up for a QB….Herbert. But was voted down by the brain trust they thought Teddy was the answer. Also rumored that Rhule wanted Henderson. So Hurney picked Brown. 
 

I find it hard to believe that Hurney signed Bridgewater for NFL starter money, then a month or two later wanted to also trade up for Herbert.

[electro's horse]

3 minutes ago, X-Clown said:

I find it hard to believe that Hurney signed Bridgewater for NFL starter money, then a month or two later wanted to also trade up for Herbert.

Hurney drafted two first round running backs within 2 years of each other. 

[Johnstonny]

41 minutes ago, thennek said:

Now do Fitterer:

2021: Horn

2022: icky

2023: Young

Ironic part of the 2020 draft. It was rumored that Hurney wanted to trade up for a QB….Herbert. But was voted down by the brain trust they thought Teddy was the answer. Also rumored that Rhule wanted Henderson. So Hurney picked Brown. 
 

This mufker is STRAIGHT!!! Fizzle!

[Shotgun]

3 hours ago, Ricky Prickles said:

 

If im Tepper I would just hire you both as GM team because you make sense and are saying things that you would think Fitt. would realize at this point. I mean how in the hell has he gotten this far in life making decisions as he does? 

He’s good at saying “yes”.

[mav1234]

27 minutes ago, X-Clown said:

I find it hard to believe that Hurney signed Bridgewater for NFL starter money, then a month or two later wanted to also trade up for Herbert.

One thing I'll give Hurney is that his first round evaluations were spot on. He always seemed to get one of if not the best players available, regardless of what we thought was a need...

[electro's horse]

Best seasons for a defender in Panthers history.....

Kevin Greene in 1996 - all pro, complete force, his diving TD after a fumble recovery was the signature play of the young team. would eventually leave Carolina for san francisco for a year because they'd let him wrestle in the WCW. Came back and attacked a coach on the sideline but I'm sure he had some good reasons. 

Doug Evans 2001 - I'm serious. 8 picks, all in the first half of the season, no idea how he wasn't traded. 

Kris Jenkins 2002 - Jenkins has undiagnosed sleep apnea until after 2001. Once he got a CPAP he had two of the most dominant seasons for a DT....ever. Jenkins was obviously great in 2003, but in 2002 he just could not be stopped. Remember, Peppers missed 4 games in 2002 with a suspension, and was not what he would become. 

Julius Peppers 2004 - this was Peppers' best year. Morgan and Jenkins got hurt, Rucker was dealing with injuries, some of their depth guys were hurt...this was Peppers defense and it was his best performance. Once Fields got back in shape and gave him a little bit of support in the front seven, it was over. Panthers second half surge was due to a weak schedule, Contract Year Muhsin Muhammad, and Peppers just going super saiyan. 

Luke Kuechly - pick a season. He was the best player on the field (sorry cam, steve) the second he came into the league. For the record I hated that pick when they made it. 

Some hot takes

KK Short had some good productive years, but I always felt he was more a product of the system. He was paired next to Star who I always thought was the better player, and he also had Luke and Davis behind him. Remember, in his best seasons teams were scheming to stop the Panthers linebackers. Star filled his role perfectly and Short feasted. 

If we're talking about best all time seasons just by counting stats, then don't look who shares the single season sack record with Kevin Greene. Of course, 2013 was a stacked front seven. Johnson was (insanely overpaid to be) solid, Star and KK were in their first seasons, and Luke was ascending. Still, Hardy had a role, and if he had kept his head on straight there's no telling what he could have become. Of course, he's a woman beating sociopath who got out of shape during his 1.5 years out of football and just never got anything back. Stupid asshole with his colored contacts. Shout out to Fox playing him as a gunner on the return team his rookie year. Enjoy rabbit punching toe tags in MMA fights in Reno. 

Hot take here: Josh Norman was not that good in 2015. He had four interceptions in the first four weeks; two off Jameis, one off Bortles, and one that was admittedly amazing against Drew Brees. After that I think teams just sorta bought into the hype about him and decided to mostly stay away from him. Panthers defensive line was actually not that great in 2015, it's just that the safeties and linebackers were playing in a different dimension. Then all of a sudden the offense just went nuclear and the defense could do whatever it wanted. But he got beat at times during the regular season, notably in New Orleans, at Seattle, and obviously against the Giants. He also never came close to replicating that season; he never even made a pro bowl again. Now you can point out he ended up in Washington which fair but still, didn't sniff that kind of productive again. Another mark against him is how simple that system was to pick up. Courtland Finnegan like walked in off the street on a Friday and was starting on Sunday and did fine. So yeah, Norman was a flash in the pan, had like 1 good month ever, got paid way too much and Gettleman was right to let him walk. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by electro's horse

[FuFuLamePoo]

4 hours ago, onmyown said:

Sign Brown and get rid of Burns.

This is the way. We are more or less building this roster from scratch. Let Derrick know he’s a cornerstone guy and put pen to paper this summer.

[electro's horse]

As far as Brown, he's the closest to Jenkins as far as just dominating interior lineman. It's like he's finally figured out he's bigger and stronger than everyone else in the NFL too. He doesn't have Jenkins' mean streak. Jenkins played angry, and he had a lot of emotional issues he was working through. He was similar to Steve Smith in that regard.

A lot of people don't realize this, but Jenkins really struggled with Alcohol use during his early years in the league. When he missed two seasons back to back with injuries, he really hit the bottle hard. He lived in that shopping center near South Park (i can't remember the name; had a dean and deluca) and would just throw empty liquor bottles and pizza boxes out of his third floor window and pay someone to pick it up. It's one of the reasons he got hurt right away in 2005 after missing 12 games in 2004; you can't rehab if you're drinking that heavy and you're that big anyway. 

He was never the same when he came back, in part because he got a lot of the psych help he needed and he lost a little of his edge. Plus, playing only 5 games in 3 years put things into perspective for him. Jenkins is a smart guy. also, when he came back he became disillusioned with the way the team was using (and treating) peppers. For me, Jenkins is second biggest player "what if" in Panthers history. First of course would be trading a first for Joe Thomas in 2015. DAMMIT GETTLEMAN 

But yeah, Brown has that at times. He's also in better shape than Jenkins. Jenkins was a freak athlete to be fair, but diet as above. Brown is huge and solid; he doesn't jiggle. I agree with the sentiment that if it comes down to him and Burns...bye Brian. Of course there's no reason not to extend them both; the Panthers don't have many players worth resigning. 

[electro's horse]

Another best season for a Panther by position, and this is kinda weird and let's just call it strong safety, was Jeremy Chinn. It is still baffling to me how he went from so good and instinctive his first season to barely cracking the field now. He's had a couple nagging injuries, but his rookie year I thought we had a perennial all pro. I've never seen a player hit harder, know how to be in the right spot, move more naturally; just a revelation out there. 

I still think he's going to end up somewhere that knows how to use him and just go off, and I hope he does. 

[Basbear]

I always thought thomas davis had the DPOY the year luke did. He should have a couple in the top ten, such a joy watching the pain he dealt out. 

Jenkins also blocked a couple FGs for his insane 2003 yr. 

Lots of comp for the top five, I dont think brown made it. 

[X-Clown]

51 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

Best seasons for a defender in Panthers history.....

Kevin Greene in 1996 - all pro, complete force, his diving TD after a fumble recovery was the signature play of the young team. would eventually leave Carolina for san francisco for a year because they'd let him wrestle in the WCW. Came back and attacked a coach on the sideline but I'm sure he had some good reasons. 

Doug Evans 2001 - I'm serious. 8 picks, all in the first half of the season, no idea how he wasn't traded. 

Kris Jenkins 2002 - Jenkins has undiagnosed sleep apnea until after 2001. Once he got a CPAP he had two of the most dominant seasons for a DT....ever. Jenkins was obviously great in 2003, but in 2002 he just could not be stopped. Remember, Peppers missed 4 games in 2002 with a suspension, and was not what he would become. 

Julius Peppers 2004 - this was Peppers' best year. Morgan and Jenkins got hurt, Rucker was dealing with injuries, some of their depth guys were hurt...this was Peppers defense and it was his best performance. Once Fields got back in shape and gave him a little bit of support in the front seven, it was over. Panthers second half surge was due to a weak schedule, Contract Year Muhsin Muhammad, and Peppers just going super saiyan. 

Luke Kuechly - pick a season. He was the best player on the field (sorry cam, steve) the second he came into the league. For the record I hated that pick when they made it. 

Some hot takes

KK Short had some good productive years, but I always felt he was more a product of the system. He was paired next to Star who I always thought was the better player, and he also had Luke and Davis behind him. Remember, in his best seasons teams were scheming to stop the Panthers linebackers. Star filled his role perfectly and Short feasted. 

If we're talking about best all time seasons just by counting stats, then don't look who shares the single season sack record with Kevin Greene. Of course, 2013 was a stacked front seven. Johnson was (insanely overpaid to be) solid, Star and KK were in their first seasons, and Luke was ascending. Still, Hardy had a role, and if he had kept his head on straight there's no telling what he could have become. Of course, he's a woman beating sociopath who got out of shape during his 1.5 years out of football and just never got anything back. Stupid asshole with his colored contacts. Shout out to Fox playing him as a gunner on the return team his rookie year. Enjoy rabbit punching toe tags in MMA fights in Reno. 

Hot take here: Josh Norman was not that good in 2015. He had four interceptions in the first four weeks; two off Jameis, one off Bortles, and one that was admittedly amazing against Drew Brees. After that I think teams just sorta bought into the hype about him and decided to mostly stay away from him. Panthers defensive line was actually not that great in 2015, it's just that the safeties and linebackers were playing in a different dimension. Then all of a sudden the offense just went nuclear and the defense could do whatever it wanted. But he got beat at times during the regular season, notably in New Orleans, at Seattle, and obviously against the Giants. He also never came close to replicating that season; he never even made a pro bowl again. Now you can point out he ended up in Washington which fair but still, didn't sniff that kind of productive again. Another mark against him is how simple that system was to pick up. Courtland Finnegan like walked in off the street on a Friday and was starting on Sunday and did fine. So yeah, Norman was a flash in the pan, had like 1 good month ever, got paid way too much and Gettleman was right to let him walk. 

Excellent post. Just as an fyi to further your point about Norman, the amazing pick was actually against Luke McCown who was backing up Brees and started that week. It was yet another reason the 2015 team was discounted in the early part of the season as the worst X-0 team of all time

[electro's horse]

2 minutes ago, X-Clown said:

Excellent post. Just as an fyi to further your point about Norman, the amazing pick was actually against Luke McCown who was backing up Brees and started that week. It was yet another reason the 2015 team was discounted in the early part of the season as the worst X-0 team of all time

Oh fug I forgot that. That right. 
 

was still an amazing pick. That was the game winning td he intercepted. 

[t96]

5 hours ago, Seltzer said:

In spite of this awful season, Derrick Brown is having one of the very best defensive performances in franchise history.  I was thinking about where his performance stacks up against historic Panther performances.

In my completely unscientific internal polling, I rate the top 5, but this is by no means definitive:

1) 2013 Luke Kuechly- Won only DPOY in franchise history.  Generational season for a generational career.

2) 2008 Julius Peppers- Career highs in sacks (14.5) and FF (5) for the soon to be 1st Ballot HOF

3) 2015 Josh Norman-Consensus best CB in the NFL that year.  Wonder if he would have had better late season career switching to safety

4) 2015 Kawaan Short- Best interior pass rusher in the league that season and the best pass rusher season for a Panthers DT

5 Tie) 2023 Derrick Brown- Doesn't have the stats of some of these other performances, but his win rate on pass & run is at the top for DT's and anyone watching the games can see just how dominant he has been.  Should be 1st Team All-Pro IMHO

5 Tie) 2003 Kris Jenkins- 1st Team All-Pro.  Arguably best DT in the league outside of Warren Sapp

There may be some others but those are the ones that come to mind for me.  Any thoughts?

Also don't sleep on Hardy 2013, he was an absolute monster that year and a big reason Luke ran free at the 2nd level. I'd put that season from him 3rd behind Luke and Pep. Also Jenkins 2002 is up there, arguably better than his 2003.

[X-Clown]

3 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

Oh fug I forgot that. That right. 
 

was still an amazing pick. That was the game winning td he intercepted. 

I remember being frustrated by that game, Luke fuging McCown was 31/38 for over 300 yards passing in that one. But yeah, incredible fuging pick to save the game.