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Panthers' content creators collaborate to create a Carolina Draft Guide

Icege

By Icege,
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Icege Grand Master

Icege

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There's a lot of great info in this for the Huddler that isn't intimidated by reading. Take just the stuff on defensive philosophy + scheme for example.

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  • CAR is far more willing to present single safety structures. Probably for run support purposes so they can play with 8-man spacing underneath.
  • Predominantly zone alignment defense. This allows them to challenge the QB to do most of their mental work post-snap. Downsides are the matchups inside.
  • Utilize an Under front structure when in their base package (as opposed to Odd/Tite/Tuff). CAR moreso than PHI, but the overall approaches are similar. CAR is just more willing to load up the box, and the Under fronts essentially streamline the run fit rules compared to Tite or Tuff rules, which are based more on spilling and overlapping with a Gap + 1/2 mentality.
  • CAR utilizes a Flex front (7/6i-3T-2i-7/9) in their Nickel package on 1st & 2nd down with the closed side End reduced to a heavier technique and the open side End given some freedom to play short as a 7T or wide as a 9T.
  • Since they don't have the pure horsepower to rush the passer at will, CAR is forced to get more creative with the front mechanics and pressure charges to create some havoc for the QB.
  • The coverages they use are actually very similar. The big difference is in how they utilize those coverages. Due to underwhelming pass rushing talent, CAR is forced to use 5+ defenders in the front charge, and that just puts even more stress on the defenders in coverage. They have to rely on fire zones and Single (Cover 1 Dog) pressures just to speed up the QB's process.
  • CAR stacks the box at a very high rate, but the thing that really sticks out is the fact that teams run the ball at the highest rate in the league when CAR stacks the box. That basically means the offense had very little regard for the personnel they were facing. In fairness, they lost the foundation of their front for the season in Week 1.
  • When they did play with a light box, CAR was the worst defense in the league and it was not particularly close. They simply had nobody who was a force multiplier up front and that's a recipe for disaster when it comes to light box run fits.
  • The only times CAR was even a semi-competent defense in 2024 was when they sent 5+ rushers. They basically had no chance to get off the field without allowing points unless they blitzed to create a negative play.
  • CAR utilized some of the Fangio tree Cover 9/Strap and Fire Zone against Dallas and had some success (much of it against the run). The teaching of them seemed clean, whereas the execution wasn't. Much of that was a result of personnel being exploited and/or the front/coverage relationship not being balanced enough to work.
  • CAR's coverage mechanics & alignments were often based on field/boundary rather than to the passing strength. This is something Dom Capers toyed with in GB that resulted in some unfavorable matchups on #2 to the speed side. This is done to relieve stress on defenders from having to communicate and maintain proper leverage against a fluid offense, but it's not nearly as effective in the NFL as it is in college or HS (which is where those rules are were designed and implemented). In contrast, Fangio is a believer in the Nickel being the primary adjuster and aligning relative to #2 to the passing strength.

Right away, we see where the loss and return of Derrick Brown will play a big influence. It also gives us insight into why the team targeted Moehrig as aggressively as they did despite his coverage grade since he's going to be likely down in the box often.

I also had a suspicion when trying to do some armchair scouting that the defense paid less attention to the power-side and more to the field vs. boundary. Going to be interesting going back and rewatching film with that in mind. I'm wondering if this was due to the rebooted CB room and making it easier on them. Might do things slightly different this season if they're more confident in the personnel?

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Icege Grand Master

Icege

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2 hours ago, rayzor said:

it really is. i love it. can't wait to dig in....when i have a couple hours lol.

I skipped around it a little bit before posting and just got a chance to start going through it. I found this page to be incredibly informative (pg.20)

image.thumb.png.5fa243a64eed5eaba80cd8e27eb45ab0.png

Based on the visits we get to see not only positions of interest but also the ranges that they might be interested in trading to.

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