Is a dominant Dline already on the roster?

[firstdayfan]

With the departure of Peppers, the last remaining member of the Panthers once vaunted defensive line is gone. The one that included Mike Rucker, Brenston Buckner, and Kris Jenkins. This was a dominant defensive line and they helped us to a Super Bowl and rivaled what the Vikings have now. The question is if the Panthers currently have the makings of a dominant defensive line or are we a few years and a few players away from anything close to that line.

I firmly believe that we have the makings of an above average line but a lot of that depends on the development of a few key pieces. Everette Brown is the biggest X factor right now to me, can he be an everyday player or is he simply a pass rush specialist? Charles Johnson is definitely our Mike Rucker of that old line, although much yonger. Johnson is a blue collar guy who is going to bust his butt on every play and get about 8-10 sacks a season. Then you have the interior of the line, its obvious that Lewis is the Buckner of that old line. He is the savy veteren who is the unquestioned leader and does all the talking. There is no player on the roster that can be even remotely compared to Jenkins but Louis Leonard and Tank Tyler could be good players. There is also Ed Johnson who we just added, Corvey Irvin, and Tyler Brayton who could return.

OR...Do you feel like we desperately need to find help from outside the team to bring our defensive line back to dominance. We currently do not have a first round draft choice and we have a huge hole at WR (Brandon Lafell would be an ideal fit) so I feel unless someone falls into our laps at the 48th pick then we wont be able to address the dline much in the draft. Aaron Kampman could be brought in, that would be a huge boost. We could also trade for a big time DT although I think we have enough already on the roster.

So is the defensive line good enough right now or do the Panthers need to bring in some help?

[CharlotteBeer.com]

I feel we can be above average, but not yet dominant. We're either one DE or one DT from being very good on the line though.

[firstdayfan]

I kinda agree but I don't really think we are going to find that player this offseason. I would like to add someone at DE throgh the draft but I'm fine with our DT situation right now. Maybe next season (if there is a season) we can draft and big time DT in the first round.

[GreatPoupon]

i like the leonard and tyler pickups. getting underachieving guys off bad teams might be what they need to be more productive.

case in point damione lewis. panthers acquired him from the rams and he's done nothing but come to work and hold his spot. he's led our DT's in sacks and disrupts the run with penetration.

i think tyler and leonard may surpass expectations this year.

[Swarly]

i like the leonard and tyler pickups. getting underachieving guys off bad teams might be what they need to be more productive.

case in point damione lewis. panthers acquired him from the rams and he's done nothing but come to work and hold his spot. he's led our DT's in sacks and disrupts the run with penetration.

i think tyler and leonard may surpass expectations this year.

agreed about Tank Tyler. Guy's legit, better than any DT we could have gotten in the 5th round so the trade was well worth it.

[PantherPride]

The only thing dominant about our D-line is going to be playing for another team next season.

[scpanther22]

Very deep DT class.I think we need to at least take 1.We have been missing a dominant DT.and now with no peppers we need a good DT more than ever.I cant take another year of getting good pass rush from our DE and no push up the middle.

[firstdayfan]

Very deep DT class.I think we need to at least take 1.We have been missing a dominant DT.and now with no peppers we need a good DT more than ever.I cant take another year of getting good pass rush from our DE and no push up the middle.

Who do you think gets the boot if we draft another player at DT? There are a couple of nice options to potentially choose from including Cam Thomas from UNC, Geno Atkins from Georgia, and Earl Mitchell from Arizona. Each of these guys could be had in 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds respectively...but that leaves us with another body at the position.

I would much rather use that first pick on a WR, Brandon Lafell or Golden Tate would be awesome. But like I said before if someone talented fell that far I wouldn't be against taking them.

[KillerKat]

You can pretty much say bye bye to Lewis if we draft another DT.

[theyhateme45]

I agree with what most of you have said. As of now I do not believe our D-Line is dominated. Currently they are not a unit opposing coordinators have to game plan against. Our young DE's have the potential to step up and grow the season and make our D-Line very respectable in the NFL.

A young motivated Peppers on the line from the superbowl was a beast and a stud. It's not something you can easily replaced... teams have tried to find that type of player as D-Line men have been drafted at the top of the draft in recent years, but they just don't hit that potential...

Baring being in the right place at the right time, and some luck into getting a All-pro, All-Decade D-Lineman on our roster in the next few years I don't see our line getting back to that level of dominance...

[firstdayfan]

I agree with what a lot of you are saying but there is one thing I don't necessarily agree with and that is that it takes one player to be dominant. I know Julius Peppers can't be replaced but that doesn't mean that our dline can't be really, really good (although I'm not saying that it will be). Julius Peppers was young that season and he was a big factor but Buckner, Jenkins, and Rucker were also very important. Peppers has been with us for what 8-9 years and our dline has been dominant for maybe half of that time. We HAVE to find the right pieces that fit together to make up for Peppers and bring back some dominance to the defensive line. I'm not saying its there right now but just because we lost a Dominant player doesn't mean we can't have a dominant line.

I wouldn't be against bringing in a guy through the draft (just finished looking over free agents and there isn't anyone there), but has anyone seen anybody that we could get in the later rounds? I like the measurables of Austen Lane out of Murray St, he is 6-6 and weighs 267 lbs, high motor guy from a small school. I can't wait to see him at the combine. Any other prospects that anyone else has seen?

[Montsta]

Unfortunately, you usually gotta be in the top 10 drafting to get a guy like Peppers or Mario Williams. We are a looong way away from having a dominant DLine, but if we could

even be at the "serviceable" mark, I think our overall D could be pretty good.

[theyhateme45]

Unfortunately, you usually gotta be in the top 10 drafting to get a guy like Peppers or Mario Williams. We are a looong way away from having a dominant DLine, but if we could

even be at the "serviceable" mark, I think our overall D could be pretty good.

Agreed, and even if we are in the top there have been plenty of bust on the D-Line as of lately... Ask the Falcons about that. :wink5:

[OneBadassCat]

I think Leonard has the potential to be a really good player if not the anchor to our line next season. He's like a better version of Kemo that can actually generate some pressure. Tyler has potential as well. I'm not worried about Brown, I think he'll pan out, it's a just a matter of when. Charles Johnson is the x factor to me, he has serious serious potential and is the strongest dude on the team he has to step it up and be every down player and a 10 sack guy.