Panthers #7 in power rankings...

[CRA]

Not a big fan of power rankings, but with regard to this:

I don't think it's dead set that this is Fox's last year, but I'm glad at least one member of the media isn't buying into the whole dumb "tanking the season" notion that everyone else is constantly floating about the Panthers.

No one on the board that I have seen has claimed Carolina is tanking it. They are just claiming Carolina is preparing for life after Fox.

[OneBadassCat]

I think our offense is going to abuse the hell out of defenses. Despite our passing woes last season our RB's were still getting theirs, simply because they are just that good(and the o-line). Teams won't be able to double Smith and not pay the price, this is where Edwards is going to pay dividends. Having a more accurate QB is going to make Jarrett useful no matter how bad he is at beating the press, he has amazing hands and can practically jump 10ft in the air. LaFell will push the hell out of him so we should have 3 good redzone targets, albeit 4 if you consider Gary Barnidge/Rosario/King. Don't sleep on David Gettis either.

We are going to have a good QB lead this offense, and there is just too much talent for a defense to be able to contain it. The only thing that I think that could hold them back is play calling, which might be a real possibility but I don't think Foxy can afford to be conservative this season.

[MadHatter]

Oh no, the forum bad boy wannabe just called me a 12 year old. What will I do? I better watch what I say from now on so poserboy doesnt humiliate me like this again. LMFAO!!!!

Last time I checked none of the starters at DT has been named yet. Louis, Tyler, Irvin, Johnson, etc you can name any combo of these career backups/average DTs that you wish. Its still a downgrade from what we had before even if they werent great.

Actually, the depth chart HAS been released and it shows Irvin and Leonard as the starters.

Thanks for playing....but, you FAIL once again.

[MadHatter]

Woah!!! Falcons fan here...

Moore even with Ryan???

Let me start this argument off with firstly saying Moore did look good at the end last year and could develop into a good QB but lets employ the Derek Anderson rule and have him start a full season and have more tape that can be studied on him before calling him equal with Matty Ice

OL yes you do win here vs the Falcons but ours isn't bad

RB you do win because of the two headed monster but once again our RB's when healthy*** are not that far behind

Defense... well Pass Defense probably but we have improved this over the off-season Run-Defense I would give us the edge we were good at this last year and we are getting Jerry back and Spoon is a Beast at LB

Receivers go to the Falcons with White and Smith cancelling each other out then we have Tony G who is better than anyone you have and i can only say get ready for HD at third string you will be sick of him...

QB Falcons easy because well he is just better than Moore is right now by quite a lot its his body of work and 2 Seasons full time starter > 5 games last year

Based on what I have seen on the field, I would put Moore and Ryan as equals.

Ryan has a good rookie year....for a rookie. Last year, he was meh....

6-2 as a starter for Moore.....TD to Int ratio much better for Moore.

I still believe Moore will prove this season to be every bit the QB that Ryan is. Not going to argue about what might happen....we can just revisit this at the end of the season to see how things pan out.

As for WR, I would still rank Smith slightly higher than White....but they pretty much do cancel each other out. As for Tony G, he is definitely a stud and a force. Again, with Edwards and LaFell being added, we will have to see how they play on the field. I believe Rosario could be a major offensive force if used correctly. That all depends on whether Davidson starts to utilize the TE as a weapon. Hard to evaluate any of the receivers on the Panthers (other than Smith) when Jake "The Human TO Machine" Delhomme was at QB.

I think the Falcons and Panthers are pretty neck in neck overall. That is why I find it amusing that many of the experts are positive on the Falcons and negative on the Panthers.

Should be an interesting season.

[Dpantherman]

Who knew he could do anything? Im pretty sure he wouldnt have played for 14 years if nobody knew he could do anything.

I guess you werent watching the tape when pro bowl LT Bryant Mckinne was benched because Peppers was abusing him the whole game. Is Peppers dominant in every game? NO! No DE is. Even Jarred Allen has games where he was quiet. Seriously, I just love people who say "watch the tape" as if they really watch it themselves. LOL! But go ahead and give me a list of all the DEs that you think are better than Peppers since you watch so much more tape than everyone else.

don't act like a noob just to make a point. Thomas is how old?? no one expected him to contribute. no one

[PantherBob]

Actually, the depth chart HAS been released and it shows Irvin and Leonard as the starters.

Thanks for playing....but, you FAIL once again.

Funny, because Im looking at depth chart on panthers.com and they dont have anything listed. Whatever depth chart you saw probably had Dwayne Jarrett as a starter too LOL! Is it possible its just because he's been on the roster longer than every other WR (besides Smith) on the team just like Irvin and Leonard has been there longer than the other DTs? None of the current depth charts mean anything. Lots of positions are up for grabs including both DT positions.

Try again poserboy!

[PantherBob]

don't act like a noob just to make a point. Thomas is how old?? no one expected him to contribute. no one

He's been a solid starter for over 10 years even at his age. There was no reason to beleive he couldnt come in and contribute as a run stopper.

[PantherBob]

I think the Falcons and Panthers are pretty neck in neck overall. That is why I find it amusing that many of the experts are positive on the Falcons and negative on the Panthers..

Because the falcons arent replacing 9 starters with rookies and backups. Because the falcons actually made moves to upgrade their team while the panthers decided to let some of their good ones go like Peppers and Harris in order to save money. Right now the falcons are better until the panthers can prove otherwise.

[rmoneyg35]

The positives about having this young unproven defensive line is that they will be fresh and healthy, they will be faster than the older guys and the simple fact that there are no clear cut starters besides Brayton all of our young defensive linemen will have to fight and prove themselfs that they are worthy to start. Players like Johnson and Brown will play thier hearts out for the starting job.

We will have 4-5 defensive tackles fighting for a starting job and if they all have the right mind set then they know they must play their hardest to keep thier starting job. Sure we might have average defensive linemen but if everyone gives it their absolute best everydown then we will have nothing to worry about.

The negatives are that they are inexperienced and will miss tackles and blow assignments,ect but look at Peppers who didn't give it their all every play and look how much money he has made. These kids are going to fight to keep their job and if we can have atleast two players that play with passion then we could have a great year on defense. Leonard Louis is the player who I predict who will have a break out year, last year in two games he had 6 tackles and one sack. Tank Tyler also has potential. We have Corvey Irvin was our 3rd round pick but we haven't even see him play a down. We also signed Ed Johnson who started in all 16 games for the colts in 2007, led the defensive line in tackles and made nine tackles and a pass defended against the Chargers in a playoff game and has already played under Meeks. We also have a good defensive linemen coach who helped coach one of the best DTs currently playing in the NFL, Kevin Williams.

Have faith in our young line and when we have one of the top defenses this year you will forget all about the problems on the line. Worry about our WR or special teams because that is going to be our weakest link this year.