Wharton vs Damien Lewis

[kungfoodude]

3 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

I'd imagine BB is spending most of the time clogging the middle.  That's what we paid him for.  I know the depth chart says differently but come game day I'd bet BB is logging the most minutes at NT. I am concerned we overpaid for Wharton...

I mean, if we legit have BB on the bench at DE and Wharton in the middle......Evero might be gone by mid-season.

[LinvilleGorge]

IMO, we have a guy tailor made to play 3-4 NT on the roster in Derrick Brown but since we paid him a gazillion dollars and drafted him in the top 10 we feel forced to try to play him in roles where he'll get sacks instead of just letting him focus on clogging the middle. He's not a sack artist. He's never going to be a sack artist. And honestly, that's fine. Just let him clog the middle.

[PNW_PantherMan]

29 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

IMO, we have a guy tailor made to play 3-4 NT on the roster in Derrick Brown but since we paid him a gazillion dollars and drafted him in the top 10 we feel forced to try to play him in roles where he'll get sacks instead of just letting him focus on clogging the middle. He's not a sack artist. He's never going to be a sack artist. And honestly, that's fine. Just let him clog the middle.

Better yet let him be a 4-3 DT.  Is he really an ideal 3-4 NT?  Is anyone else an ideal 3-4 anything on our roster?

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

Better yet let him be a 4-3 DT.  Is he really an ideal 3-4 NT?  Is anyone else an ideal 3-4 anything on our roster?

Only the edge rushers. We're stocking up on 3-4 edge rushers. So yeah, we're building the D around one of our weakest overall units. Typical Panthers brilliance. LOL

[CRA]

37 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I mean, if we legit have BB on the bench at DE and Wharton in the middle......Evero might be gone by mid-season.

I think after the Rams loss entering that late bye week screams Evero is gone. 

 

 

[OldhamA]

Lewis needs to stop grabbing so much jersey.

[LinvilleGorge]

10 minutes ago, CRA said:

I think after the Rams loss entering that late bye week screams Evero is gone. 

 

 

If Evero still fails to adapt his scheme and the D is trash again there's gonna be serious questions about why the guy was retained in the first place. I mean, yeah we had a lot of injury issues last year on a unit that wasn't that good on paper already but when you field a literally historically terrible unit you're usually gone. That's just the way it works.

[OldhamA]

45 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

IMO, we have a guy tailor made to play 3-4 NT on the roster in Derrick Brown but since we paid him a gazillion dollars and drafted him in the top 10 we feel forced to try to play him in roles where he'll get sacks instead of just letting him focus on clogging the middle. He's not a sack artist. He's never going to be a sack artist. And honestly, that's fine. Just let him clog the middle.

Nah, he's not big enough to be a 3-4 NT and realistically it's a waste of his skills. He's tailor made to be a 4-3 DT or a 3-4 DE.

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, OldhamA said:

Nah, he's not big enough to be a 3-4 NT and realistically it's a waste of his skills. He's tailor made to be a 4-3 DT or a 3-4 DE.

He's plenty big enough. We just seem determined to try to make him a pass rusher when that's the weakest part of his game. Just let the guy clog the middle, whether it's in a 4-3 or a 3-4. He's similar to an in shape Kris Jenkins in that most of his pass rush success comes from just physically mauling the OL in front of him. It's never going to be the crux of his game.

[OldhamA]

4 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

He's plenty big enough. We just seem determined to try to make him a pass rusher when that's the weakest part of his game. Just let the guy clog the middle, whether it's in a 4-3 or a 3-4. He's similar to an in shape Kris Jenkins in that most of his pass rush success comes from just physically mauling the OL in front of him. It's never going to be the crux of his game.

So you're paying franchise DL money to guy who you just hope can occupy two blockers and not give up ground?

Seems unwise. 

[LinvilleGorge]

5 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

So you're paying franchise DL money to guy who you just hope can occupy two blockers and not give up ground?

Seems unwise. 

Better than trying to make him a pass rusher that he's not. Those guys who can occupy two blockers and not give up ground are hard to find.

[csx]

35 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

Better yet let him be a 4-3 DT.  Is he really an ideal 3-4 NT?  Is anyone else an ideal 3-4 anything on our roster?

Brown and Jackson pretty much protypical NTs. Brown started at NT last 2 seasons in 3-4. Jackson has only played NT in 3-4 in college. Brown could play any 3-4 line position but his quickness is suited for end. Our OLB are all best suited for 3-4 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2025 by csx

[Icege]

Turk signed a 3-year, $45M deal but in actuality it's at worst a 2-year, $30.25M w/ a $14.5M signing bonus.

His ~$15M AAV puts him at 16th out of all DTs currently (DB is 4th).

Milton Williams, for comparison, has an AAV of $26M on a 4-year, $104M deal that had $51M guaranteed at signing. His deal has an out after two years as well, meaning that it can also end up being a 2yr, $55M or 3yr, $79M deal.

I can't remember which content creator (maybe Brett Kollman?) made it but there was a really good video on YouTube calling out how reporting the full details of deals was done more for the media to get reactions and eyeballs on the story. 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

$50M+ tiniest DL

I still don't know how he fits in this defensive scheme and I'm starting to get borderline panicked that the unofficial depth charts continue to list him as the starting NT because that is just not going to work.

I thought Brown and Jackson were going to be the NTs. Pretty sure Wharton is more of a pass rusher maybe I'm wrong though