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BOLD Prediction: Defense will be Better not Worse

WUnderhill

By WUnderhill,
in Carolina Panthers

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WUnderhill Grand Master

WUnderhill

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Call me crazy, but I’m not seeing the huge dropoff in defense. Here’s the moves so far:

Luvu gone hurts a bit and I think we’ll miss him. Replaced with Jewell who may be an overall step down, however much cheaper and hopefully a little more well rounded. Luvu was terrible in coverage.

Burns gone. 8 sacks can be easily replaced. We aren’t talking about replacing 12.5 sack 2022 Burns because that’s not the Burns we got last year or would get this year. We’re talking low effort, playing not to get injured Burns. DJ Wonnum had just as many sacks and forced fumbles in 2023 and won’t cost half as much. The team was right to get rid of Burns and use that cap space more wisely.

Donte Jackson for Dane Jackson seems like a wash unless I’m mistaken, Dane Jackson officianados feel free to correct me. At least their numbers last year look near identical. Zero interceptions, 5 passes defended. Dane Jackson had less tackles but maybe that means he wasn’t thrown to as much.

Adding A’Shawn Robinson is huge IMO. Legit set the los, run stuffing, 3-4 NT. I think this is the move that changes the whole defense. Our run D looked terrible at times last year. Our DL looks like it will be a major strength, which will make our LBs and pass rushers look a lot better.

Getting Shaq back will help. He hasn’t lived up to the expectations of typical Panthers first round LBs, but he’s a solid presence in the middle who can coordinate the D. From what I’ve read, one of Jewell’s strengths is also coordinating the D, so we should have some strong voices in the middle of the field calling the plays and getting everybody on the same page.

Vonn Bell and Jeremy Chinn were  both low impact players for us last year and should be easily replaced.

So overall, the losses should be easily replaced for cheaper, in some cases have been already, and the addition of A’Shawn Robinson will have more impact on this defense than Brian Burns did. They’ll add somebody to replace bum Burns’ 2023 production rather easily, whether Wonnum, Young, whoever. And if, big IF, Horn actually stays healthy for a season the secondary could easily be better than last year.

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DeAngelo Beason Mentor

DeAngelo Beason

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I mean... the only guy we lost that was a consistent contributor was Luvu.  Burns was nothing special despite what this forum thinks, and Donte Jackson was inconsistent at best.

Assuming we sign any of the free agents we are bringing in, they will replace Burns' production as a pass rusher while also not being laughably terrible against the run.

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rayzor Grand Master

rayzor

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if the offense is improved at all, that will also help out the D. 

i see us picking up a couple more vets in the next few days and in the draft we could probably pick up a couple more solid contributors. 

i think the quality guys we've gotten so far can be used as a good indication of what we might be able to expect in the draft. o think fitt was more looking at trying to find diamonds in the rough or guys who could be great if given another chance or whatever. i don't know. whatever it was that he was looking for, i think Morgan is looking at something else. probably benefitting more from being a player himself rather than fitt who was a desk jockey relying on input from other desk jockeys. 

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mrcompletely11 Grand Master

mrcompletely11

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31 minutes ago, WUnderhill said:

Call me crazy, but I’m not seeing the huge dropoff in defense. Here’s the moves so far:

Luvu gone hurts a bit and I think we’ll miss him. Replaced with Jewell who may be an overall step down, however much cheaper and hopefully a little more well rounded. Luvu was terrible in coverage.

Burns gone. 8 sacks can be easily replaced. We aren’t talking about replacing 12.5 sack 2022 Burns because that’s not the Burns we got last year or would get this year. We’re talking low effort, playing not to get injured Burns. DJ Wonnum had just as many sacks and forced fumbles in 2023 and won’t cost half as much. The team was right to get rid of Burns and use that cap space more wisely.

Donte Jackson for Dane Jackson seems like a wash unless I’m mistaken, Dane Jackson officianados feel free to correct me. At least their numbers last year look near identical. Zero interceptions, 5 passes defended. Dane Jackson had less tackles but maybe that means he wasn’t thrown to as much.

Adding A’Shawn Robinson is huge IMO. Legit set the los, run stuffing, 3-4 NT. I think this is the move that changes the whole defense. Our run D looked terrible at times last year. Our DL looks like it will be a major strength, which will make our LBs and pass rushers look a lot better.

Getting Shaq back will help. He hasn’t lived up to the expectations of typical Panthers first round LBs, but he’s a solid presence in the middle who can coordinate the D. From what I’ve read, one of Jewell’s strengths is also coordinating the D, so we should have some strong voices in the middle of the field calling the plays and getting everybody on the same page.

Vonn Bell and Jeremy Chinn were  both low impact players for us last year and should be easily replaced.

So overall, the losses should be easily replaced for cheaper, in some cases have been already, and the addition of A’Shawn Robinson will have more impact on this defense than Brian Burns did. They’ll add somebody to replace bum Burns’ 2023 production rather easily, whether Wonnum, Young, whoever. And if, big IF, Horn actually stays healthy for a season the secondary could easily be better than last year.

I can see it

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PanthersGTI Mentor

PanthersGTI

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Luvu hurts, we may feel that one. Burns didn't do much last year on purpose so hopefully another player in his spot playing 100% will AT LEAST be able to mirror his impact if not improve upon it. I still like Haynes Sr personally, hopefully he is healthy and still has that burst. 

 

Robinson will hopefully shore up this run D and let Tuttle shine a little more.

Edited by PanthersGTI
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PappyMay Mentor

PappyMay

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If we get one of these pass rushers and starting quality safety I think we will be better. If we can force a few more turnovers and the offense looks marginally  better so defense has more time off the field could be a solid side of the ball.  We were terrible but lost a few 1 possession games. Next year we win half of those and keep building!

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Khyber53 Grand Master

Khyber53

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We lost both Burns and Gross-Matos.

That wasn't a bad thing, IMO. One fizzled out as it came time to talk about money (I think he had itchy feet to get to somewhere else for the paychecks) and the other guy just never developed into anything but a back-up, not even a real role-player.

Luvu hurts, but like you said, he wasn't much help in coverage. It will be good to get Shaq back and he brings leadership and legacy there. He will make a difference. 

Losing Jackson, well, yeah. I think we're all on that page. And Bell was, umm, un-notable back there?

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