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Rivera, Panthers both on clock

pantherfan81

By pantherfan81,
in Carolina Panthers

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pantherfan81 Newbie

pantherfan81

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CHARLOTTE -- When Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson fired George Seifert following a 1-15 season in 2001, he declared the life had been sucked out of the franchise.

Nine years later, as the Panthers were parting ways with Seifert's replacement John Fox, Richardson offered a different perspective, saying he'd never been more excited about his team's future. A lot of that sentiment is centered on the hiring of new head coach Ron Rivera, with whom Richardson formed an immediate bond because both men played in the National Football League.

Ron Rivera's fate will likely to be tied to finding a winning quarterback.

Rivera spent nine seasons with the Chicago Bears and 15 more as an assistant coach with Philadelphia, Chicago and San Diego before landing his first head coaching gig with Carolina. The hiring came after Rivera unsuccessfully interviewed for nine other jobs.

But he inherits a difficult challenge.

The Panthers are coming off a 2-14 season and were the league's worst offense in 2010 -- and it wasn't even close.

They finished 32nd in total offense, passing offense and points scored. In fact, they scored only 16 touchdowns on offense last season and just 196 points, 56 fewer than Seifert's '01 team.

But as bad as the Panthers were last season there's a belief among ownership and management that things aren't as dire as their record might suggest.

The feeling here is the Panthers, who never lost more than nine games in a season from 2002-09, still have a strong core of young players, and that once they find stability at the quarterback position everything else will fall into place.

Whether or not that future revolves around last year's second-round draft pick Jimmy Clausen remains to be seen.

With opening day starter Matt Moore sidelined with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, Clausen started 10 games in 2010 for the Panthers, going 1-9 as a starter. He threw just three touchdown passes and nine interceptions and finished with the worst quarterback rating in the league (58.4).

The Panthers had every intention of using their first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft on Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, but the redshirt sophomore spurned them, deciding to stay in school to get his degree. Viewed as a once-in-a-decade prospect, Luck's decision to study architectural design rather than NFL defenses was a devastating blow for the Panthers and may ultimately set the development of the franchise back years.

During a press conference after the season Richardson said the Panthers had no plans to trade the top pick, but that was before Luck stayed in school.

Now all bets are off.

The Panthers will spend a lot of time and money over the next two months digging into the background of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton from Auburn. And while taking him at No. 1 might be a stretch, he's a real possibility if they trade down.

If the Panthers can't find a trade partner, or decide to stand pat at No. 1, then they'll almost certainly decide between Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley, Georgia wide receiver E.J. Green, Clemson defensive end Da'Quan Bowers and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson, the four players who have separated themselves from the rest of the college pack in this year's draft.

Either way, the Panthers will be adding a quarterback to the mix in some fashion, as Rivera seems lukewarm at best on Clausen.

When asked if he views Clausen as his starting quarterback heading into next season, Rivera said, "You assume right now until you find that other guy to come in and compete."

If the Panthers don't land a quarterback with their first pick in the draft, they'll likely have to explore free agency or the trade route because they don't have another pick until No. 65 overall, first pick in the third round.

Aside from Clausen, there isn't much to work with in-house.

Moore is a free agent, although he's said he wants to return. Last season's emergency free agent pickups Brian St. Pierre and Keith Null are also free agents. Tony Pike, a sixth-round pick last year out of Cincinnati, is also on the roster, although he only played in one quarter under Fox.

Along with his inability to put together back-to-back winning seasons, one of the reasons Fox isn't returning is because of his penchant for playing veterans rather than the young players. That's something that prompted Richardson to release a number of veterans last season, forcing Fox to play the team's young draft picks.

Rivera has placed an emphasis on bringing in coaches who are willing to teach young players and bring them along quicker, hiring Rob Chudzinski as offensive coordinator and Mike Shula as quarterbacks coach to work with Clausen.

It's likely the Panthers will bring in a quarterback with some experience and one option is Philip Rivers' backup Billy Volek, who has worked with Chudzinski in San Diego. Although he hasn't started a game since 2005, when Volek has played -- most of that coming with the Tennessee Titans -- he's done well with 27 career touchdown passes and only 14 interceptions. He might be the perfect temporary fix while Clausen watches and learns.

Trading is also an option, but while the fan base in Carolina seems enthralled with Philadelphia's Kevin Kolb, he might be a little too pricy for the Panthers.

Whoever the new starting quarterback is, the Panthers plan to give him a little help.

Rivera has already made it clear he'll look to add a pass-catching tight end, ideally one who could develop into the next Antonio Gates.

That dimension is something the Panthers haven't had since the days of Wesley Walls.

Elsewhere among the pass-catchers, wide receiver Steve Smith might want to be traded, but the lack of a collective bargaining agreement could prevent that from happening.

Defensively, Rivera likes what he has to work with, although he admitted the team will need to add a few players to fill in the gaps.

You get a sense from talking to Rivera that he wishes the team's first minicamp was here so he could get a good look at his players. At his introductory press conference, he brought the same intensity he did as a Bears linebacker, never cracking a smile as he laid out his expectations for the 2011 Panthers.

"I'd like it to be an aggressive, physical football team, whether it be running the football or throwing the football and pass protecting," Rivera said.

"(On defense), I want to get back to tackling. I'm tired of watching players head-butt with each other and try to knock people out instead of hitting and wrapping up and taking them to the ground. I want it to be a physical, no-nonsense, get-the-job-done identity. I think that's important."

In 2003, in just his second year as head coach of the Panthers, Fox took the Panthers to the Super Bowl.

Can Rivera work that same magic?

It's a question largely tied to how quickly the Panthers can find some stability at quarterback.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/14605178/rivera-panthers-both-on-clock

Good article by Steve Reed.

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Highlandfire Newbie

Highlandfire

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EJ Green?

Yeah, real great job.

I think I would have to stop watching because we would officially have the most moronic GM since Matt Millen. There has never been and never will be a WR worth #1. The best overall WR in the NFL plays in Houston, what has their record been?

I am praying we have a trade down partner

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