Panther Selection on 'ESPN's 2010 Top Prospects' a Mild Surprise

[pantherclaw]

So now fox is the one keeping the qb from throwing to the tight ends.....interesting theory.

Jake has never show me he looks to the TE much.

Now you could argue that on a john fox team, that the te is used for blocking first, and that would be correct. That being said, I highly doubt he's in the qb's ear, saying "don't throw to the te, don't throw to the te!"

Obviously the qb has to have a comfort level with the te, to use him as the outlet that us fans would like to see.

I also doubt they draft a player like barnidge, and only use him for blocking.

[PantherBob]

Guess you dont remember how Fox refused to use Wesley Walls in the passing game his first year as the panthers coach even though he was coming off a pro bowl season. I guess it was the QBs fault that Fox wasnt calling any plays that involed throwing to him just like its Jake and Moores fault that he isnt calling for any plays that goes Garys way either. I guess its also the QBs fault that Barnidge is 3rd string. The QB is obviously the one who decides who gets the most playing time.

[Delhommey]

I like this blurb by F.O. for Jeff King

King has probably inherited the Panther 4 Life mantle originally held by Brad Hoover and Nick Goings. John Fox and the organization just love guys like this: Pesky blockers who make minute offensive contributions despite extensive playing time. Few modern tight ends manage to average just 8.6 yards per reception after nearly 100 catches but King is going strong: With 10 catches for 55 yards he's close to achieving a new level of offensive anemia. We'll still be writing about him in 2016, when he'll catch 21 passes for 42 yards.

[monstercat]

Once again, Panthers TE's combined for 63 catches, 755yds, and 5 TD's, with Jake Delhomme throwing them the ball for 11 out of 16 games. If he hadn't missed so many throws, the numbers would be higher.

[PantherBob]

If Fox knew how to use a TE the numbers would have been normal.

[Davidson Deac II]

Once again, Panthers TE's combined for 63 catches, 755yds, and 5 TD's, with Jake Delhomme throwing them the ball for 11 out of 16 games. If he hadn't missed so many throws, the numbers would be higher.

Agreed, not only did Jake have a lot of int's, a lot of his passes were overthrown and thrown behind or in front of the receiver. Thats going to skew the numbers a lot.

[monstercat]

If Fox knew how to use a TE the numbers would have been normal.

Right, it had nothing to do with all the times Delhomme missed wide open TE's.

And BTW, I'm sure that if Barnidge has all the mental things down this year, then he will start. Everybody just seems to ignore the possibility that he may has been just a tad behind a guy like King, who has been doing this for a while.

Then again, judging by all the comments, everybody but me knows the Panthers playbook inside and out and can tell you exactly what Barnidges' responsibilities are on any given play.

[DickolausJ]

If Fox knew how to use a TE the numbers would have been normal.

You have to block well to be a tight end in this league. The same goes for running back.

Barnidge is getting better at blocking but he almost never blocked in college. Both of our other TEs were better blockers than him last year so when they were in defenses could not be sure if we were going to run or pass.

If I was a defender and I saw Barnidge in I would almost always think, oh this is probably a passing play, since we used him mostly as a passing tight end.

Once he develops into a complete player then we can use him up the middle a lot more and he will gain a lot more oppurtunites to show that he is our most physically gifted TE.

Saying the Panthers don't use their tight ends is retarded. For much of the beggining of the year our TEs had more TDs than WRs. Our entire passing game was a mess because of Jake and Tommy Jone (lol) last year.

[PantherBob]

Tell me then since you guys are the experts.....when was the TE position ever relevant under John Fox? The answer would be NEVER wether it was Wesley Walls, Gary Barnidge, Jeff King.... they have never been relevant because Fox simply doesnt acknowledge the position.

[DickolausJ]

Tell me then since you guys are the experts.....when was the TE position ever relevant under John Fox? The answer would be NEVER wether it was Wesley Walls, Gary Barnidge, Jeff King.... they have never been relevant because Fox simply doesnt acknowledge the position.

Troll better?

[PantherBob]

I take it you couldnt answer the question.....

[SorthNarolina]

It's amazing how a fan will bring something up on a message board, such as "Fox refuses to play rookies", "the Panthers never throw to TE's", or "every other QB on the Panthers roster spread the ball around more than Delhomme", and the next thing you know, 4-5 other fans agree with it and it becomes an assumed fact by the majority. Yet, when you actually look at the evidence, it turns out that Fox actually does play rookies if they earn it (what a concept), the Panthers do throw it to TE's, and Jake actually spread the ball around just as much as Matt Moore, it just didn't seem that way because the results were different.

I never said anything about him not playing rookies. I think he plays plenty of Rookies. But I do think he puts too much faith in veteran savvy over some guys with fresher legs. He certainly knows how to identify some older role players to come in and do very well, but he seems to really hang on to some of these guys for too long.

If you notice one thing I actually left of one of the biggest myths on here that D-will was playing so much better than foster during his first two years when really he didn't start to look much better until the 2nd half of 2007 when he actually did start to get more playing time.

[Montsta]

I take it you couldnt answer the question.....

Well Walls was only here 1 year I believe with Fox. Walls best year was '99. Our O in '99 was arguably our best ever, so even that is kind of skewed. When talking about the Panthers and the TE position you have to grade on a curve because TE isn't a position that a lot of teams can say they've had a franchise player at, let alone one that's only 15 years old. And being as John Fox has been our coach for damn near 2/3 of the franchises existence and he loves to run, of course any TE that can catch is gonna be an afterthought to one that can block. Who knows, maybe they open the play book because a TE in a balanced run/pass offense is a very dangerous weapon.

[Brooklyn Bully]

LOL at you fools blaming Jake. Please leave this board.