Definites On Next Years Defense

[Vertical Asymtope]

I would like to start this off by saying I do not know if there is a bigger Julius Peppers fan out there than me. I have followed him since he came out of college and hoped the Panthers would lose every game in 2001 hoping that we would be in position to draft him. With all that said I think it is time for the Panthers to move on, but still pray this turns out to be a Lance Briggs type situation. I want to take a look at next year's defense assuming that Julius Peppers leaves, and see what needs to be done. I won't even talk about the offense because I would be content if every single starter came back next year.

First thing first is Trgo needs to be fired. I am really do hope Fox can bring in his old college buddy Herm to run this defense. I live in New Jersey and watched the Jets when he was the head coach. I think the man is a terrible head coach but there were not many head coaches who were as passionate as Herm is. I feel he alone would give this D a swagger and turn them much more aggressive.

Now for the Starters:

DE: Charles Johnson: I said this in a past post, he reminds me of a Justin Tuck type player. I dont know if he will be as good as Tuck, but as a situational player he had 6 sacks. I expect big things out of him next year.

DT: Maake Kemoeatu: I was on the fence with him until I read a recent post that I agreed with 100%. I feel like we should keep him and Lewis and rotate them, but find another starter. We saw how bad our run defense was without him.

DT: We ned to get someone to replace Lewis and just bring him in on third downs.

DE: Once again I like Brayton, but think we need to find someone else to start.

OLB: Thomas Davis: Him and Beason look to have a strong bond together ala Witherspoon and Morgan. He improved dramatically this season and hope hes here for a long time.

MLB: Jon Beason: Is now the face of the defense and makes everyone around him better. He is our captain.

OLB: I think we could improve here but would have no problem is Diggs was the starter again next season. Big college football fan here and would love to see Dan Connor get a shot.

CB: Chris Gamble: New contract, new scheme, could equal big things out of Chris.

SS: Chris Harris: I love the guy, but do think he is a liability in coverage. Hopefully a better pass rush will hide that better because he is a force against the run and can force turnovers. Another leader on the D.

FS: Charles Godfrey: Believe we will see a huge improvement out of him in his second season.

CB: I still like Lucas a lot and but would understand if they cut him to make cap room, and I have never understood the hype on Richard Marshall. This is one spot on the D that I really do not have an opinion on what we should do. I am just praying that whoever we have here will benefit from a better pass rush.

This now leaves holes at DE, DT, CB, and possibly OLB. I am very confident in Fox being a defensive guy that he can turn this around. Hopefully we can bring back Peppers or bring in Haynesworth to help out one D-Line spot and find more help in the draft. I like the depth we have in Taylor, Brayton, Hayden, Connor/Diggs, and Wilson. I believe that with a few tweaks here and there we have a great chance to returnto the playoffs. I am not ready to throw in the towel on Fox and Co quite yet.

[bryn10]

good post, I agree with much of this

[AKPantherFan]

Definites On Next Years Defense

If Turgo is on our staff we will continue to underachieve and PISS us all off.

[Vertical Asymtope]

I agree I dislike Trgo as much as the next guy. I refuse to believe this is on Fox, because our defense was number 2 in the league when we had Del Rio. Why would his philosophy just change. Fox wowed Mr. Richardson in his interview process by winning in the trenches. His first two draft picks were Peppers and Gross, we need to build this D. I want to see a line next year of

Peppers-Kemo-FA/Rookie-Johnson or First Round Pick/Haynesworth/Kemo/Johnson

[ladypanther]

Nice post.

[chef17]

Marshall is a nice, physical corner. I think he would shine if we allowed him to play press coverage every play.

[Big Bang Theory]

I would like to start this off by saying I do not know if there is a bigger Julius Peppers fan out there than me. I have followed him since he came out of college and hoped the Panthers would lose every game in 2001 hoping that we would be in position to draft him. With all that said I think it is time for the Panthers to move on, but still pray this turns out to be a Lance Briggs type situation. I want to take a look at next year's defense assuming that Julius Peppers leaves, and see what needs to be done. I won't even talk about the offense because I would be content if every single starter came back next year.

First thing first is Trgo needs to be fired. I am really do hope Fox can bring in his old college buddy Herm to run this defense. I live in New Jersey and watched the Jets when he was the head coach. I think the man is a terrible head coach but there were not many head coaches who were as passionate as Herm is. I feel he alone would give this D a swagger and turn them much more aggressive.

Now for the Starters:

DE: Charles Johnson: I said this in a past post, he reminds me of a Justin Tuck type player. I dont know if he will be as good as Tuck, but as a situational player he had 6 sacks. I expect big things out of him next year.

DT: Maake Kemoeatu: I was on the fence with him until I read a recent post that I agreed with 100%. I feel like we should keep him and Lewis and rotate them, but find another starter. We saw how bad our run defense was without him.

DT: We ned to get someone to replace Lewis and just bring him in on third downs.

DE: Once again I like Brayton, but think we need to find someone else to start.

OLB: Thomas Davis: Him and Beason look to have a strong bond together ala Witherspoon and Morgan. He improved dramatically this season and hope hes here for a long time.

MLB: Jon Beason: Is now the face of the defense and makes everyone around him better. He is our captain.

OLB: I think we could improve here but would have no problem is Diggs was the starter again next season. Big college football fan here and would love to see Dan Connor get a shot.

CB: Chris Gamble: New contract, new scheme, could equal big things out of Chris.

SS: Chris Harris: I love the guy, but do think he is a liability in coverage. Hopefully a better pass rush will hide that better because he is a force against the run and can force turnovers. Another leader on the D.

FS: Charles Godfrey: Believe we will see a huge improvement out of him in his second season.

CB: I still like Lucas a lot and but would understand if they cut him to make cap room, and I have never understood the hype on Richard Marshall. This is one spot on the D that I really do not have an opinion on what we should do. I am just praying that whoever we have here will benefit from a better pass rush.

This now leaves holes at DE, DT, CB, and possibly OLB. I am very confident in Fox being a defensive guy that he can turn this around. Hopefully we can bring back Peppers or bring in Haynesworth to help out one D-Line spot and find more help in the draft. I like the depth we have in Taylor, Brayton, Hayden, Connor/Diggs, and Wilson. I believe that with a few tweaks here and there we have a great chance to returnto the playoffs. I am not ready to throw in the towel on Fox and Co quite yet.

It is interesting that you say this about Harris, BUT he isn't the member(s) of the secondary getting beat and taking bad angles? He is always where he is suppose to be and usually covering mistakes for others.

Other than that, good post.

[Peppers90 NC]

It is interesting that you say this about Harris, BUT he isn't the member(s) of the secondary getting beat and taking bad angles? He is always where he is suppose to be and usually covering mistakes for others.

Other than that, good post.

How do you know this? I would love your access to coaches tapes and the plays called, and then I could agree with you.

[AKPantherFan]

How do you know this? I would love your access to coaches tapes and the plays called, and then I could agree with you.

Soooooo..................

You plan on changing youre screen name????

Just askin

[Big Bang Theory]

How do you know this? I would love your access to coaches tapes and the plays called, and then I could agree with you.

I have a lot of access. And this comes from guys that play the game.

And actually if you take the time to slow down the play and watch the whole thing develop, you would understand who is doing what. You would understand assignments. What type of defense they are in. Especially the secondary. Its not that hard to figure out. SS isn't rocket science. Try to do that. That's a good start.

[bigdog_10_2002]

I'm excited about the development of Beason, Davis, Harris, C. Johnson, and Gamble on this defense. Kemo is solid at what he does, and Godfrey is young and will hopefully learn.

It's the other four spots where I think our defense is a little questionable.

[Cyberjag]

I can't recall a season where we seemed to have so many parts already in place. Things looked good after 2003, but that team was old and this one is young.

It's a good time to be a Panther fan, if you can get over the last game and the angst-ridden posts about Jake, Fox, and Trgovac...

[Woodie]

I can't recall a season where we seemed to have so many parts already in place. Things looked good after 2003, but that team was old and this one is young.

Not to mention that in 2004 a lot of the pieces we did have went on IR or missed significant time to injury.

[Peppers90 NC]

Soooooo..................

You plan on changing youre screen name????

Just askin

When it's official, yes.

I have a lot of access. And this comes from guys that play the game.

And actually if you take the time to slow down the play and watch the whole thing develop, you would understand who is doing what. You would understand assignments. What type of defense they are in. Especially the secondary. Its not that hard to figure out. SS isn't rocket science. Try to do that. That's a good start.

You live in Charlotte or close to it? I would love to come watch some coaches tape with you, and you are right about not being rocket science. I think Harris is good but unless you do have this access, you cant tell from watching TV, and thats all the access 99.99% of us have, and thats bad to make assumptions with.