The most underated asset in the NFL today

[PantherProfessor]

Veteran Leadership. How are rookies and 2nd year guys going to learn from other rookies and journeymen?

This team needs those kinds of guys, in the locker room if nothing else.

This team is very young and not sure if they have the kind of leadership in the locker room to pull out of this type of funk, even if they had the talent and coaching to go along with it.

i know this isnt groundbreaking, but its something that a lot of NFL teams seem to be losing with all the salary purges going on.

[Jangler]

If there is football next year, I think we will be very active in FA next year. The new Coach will try and fix this team quickly.

[Mr. Scot]

Veteran Leadership. How are rookies and 2nd year guys going to learn from other rookies and journeymen?

This team needs those kinds of guys, in the locker room if nothing else.

This team is very young and not sure if they have the kind of leadership in the locker room to pull out of this type of funk, even if they had the talent and coaching to go along with it.

i know this isnt groundbreaking, but its something that a lot of NFL teams seem to be losing with all the salary purges going on.

It's definitely missing right now.

I firmly believe though, if there is football next season, it won't be then.

[CatMan72]

Yup, if JR's point is to prove you can win without veterans it's backfiring in his face right now.

This Panthers team is proof that you need quality veteran players to win, which raises their value... ooops

[2jakefansinva]

JMO.......I still think it has more to do with coaching. Beason and Wharton both made huge mistakes yesterday, something someone of their experience shouldn't do. I believe our biggest mistakes are made by the OC. DWill is our number 1 playmaker......he touched the ball 15 times Sunday. That right there (in my mine) says it all.

[natty]

That's why Fox never went worse than 7-9 because he valued veterans so much(probably too much).

[Ruff]

I honestly think that if Cap'n wasn't getting held 30 yards downfield, that Forte play doesn't become huge. Beason took a chance, hoping he had coverage over the top, it didn't pan out, and Cap'n got held. It happens.

[carolinarolls]

kinda flies in the face of trimming cost and going young to throw in elements like "veteran leadership"

seriously people....seriously think before you post

[PantherProfessor]

Yup, if JR's point is to prove you can win without veterans it's backfiring in his face right now.

This Panthers team is proof that you need quality veteran players to win, which raises their value... ooops

yep, this is all tied into the CBA.

I like having guys on the field with potential upside (Hardy, Martin, Gettis, LaFell, etc..) but someone has to be able to help these guys mature into legit NFL players. There just arent enough of those guys on this team.

We have talent, and many of the young guys have lots of potential. This could be a very good team in a few years. I think we actually had another solid draft. but each of those guys needs to develop the right way, if not we could have an entire team of jarret's. then we are screwed.

[Brooklyn Bully]

It hurts Clausen the most. Who is he going to go talk to when he plays like ass? Moore? Hahahahaha.

[Khyber53]

JR may have also been trying to figure out something very important in deciding a head coach for next year: Did John Fox put together a great team once or did he put together a great system?

There can't be any doubt at this point. Fox built a strong, competitive team in 2002-2003 and executed game plans that fit the talent available. The team remained competitive with some additions and subtractions along the way, but no team stays strong over the long term. A system can, however, remain competitive.

So this year, JR had the team stripped down to its framework and handed it to Fox to prove what he could do. It's something you have to do before you make a guy your long-term partner. A few coaches, elite ones, have built franchises this way -- Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Tom Landry, Bill Belichick, real Hall of Fame guys -- have been able to do this.

Fox has now proved he isn't with those guys. That doesn't mean he's a bad coach at all, and he is a valuable one if you can let him start from scratch and create a purpose built team. There are some well known coaches that did that and some team owner will give him the keys like Richardson did in 2002. And chances are very good that he will do well and make a chump into a contender, making some good draft picks and picking up some seriously undervalued vets.

But let's get real, he won't be doing it here.

The fact that doing this plays into JR's Union Busting initiative just brings the deal full circle. And it might be shedding some light on Richardson firing his sons last year, something that makes me think they were firmly entrenched against this.

And so now, we need to look ahead. Look farther ahead, for it may very well be 2012 before we see football back after this year. And I do have a lingering worry that we'll see the Richardson family wash their hands of this and we'll have to get used to the idea of the San Antonio Panthers or some such.

But let's not dwell on that, too much.

[KillerKat]

I think its the most overrated. We suck right now because of coaching and play calling. With those 2 things, we could easily be 3-2 right now.