10 Players to watch and Johnson making the Panthers pay

[CRA]

Let me introduce you to the 2012 Carolina Panthers starting defensive line:

DE: Greg Hardy

DT: Sione Fua

DT: Derek Landri

DE: Everette Brown

Not to self: Start a RB (maybe even the backup) in fantasy when they play the Panthers defense.

Rivera ain't lameduck Fox....they will spend money on that DL before the start of the year.

[4Corners]

Hopefully. If not, we won't have to worry about our top pick being used on Andrew Luck, because it will have to go to DL.

[Mvp2014]

WHen we drafted him as a junior in the third round he was seen as a project who needed to get bigger and more physical as well as work on his hand technique, footwork and quickness off the line. It has taken him time to work on those skills and he has developed over the past several years. In the last 2 years he has increased his strength and power ten fold as well as continued to develop his moves and his ability to play the run. The reason that he is a full time starter is that he is now the complete package and the best DE on the team. He didn't play well when he got here and had significant deficits in his game but not anymore.

As such he is now worth big bucks and needs to be paid. He is a stud right now and worth every penny.

Yea he could always get to the qb but it took a while for him to learn not to over pursue, I cant even count how many sacks he missed in his first 3 years due to bad footwork. He can sure as hell play big boi ball now

[panthers55]

Charles Johnson's stats per play were better than average last year, but so were those of our multiple other DE's. They all looked fresh on individual plays. Secondly, less DT tackles = more DE tackles.

Compare CJ in other areas though, is he a ball hawk, does he have quickness and does he cause a lot of forced fumbles, blocked passes, blocked kicks, and has scooped one up for a TD? Those types of things are what segregate a competent DE from a play making DE.

Put simply, 10m is too much. We have no emergency at DE.

Completely disagree. Teams gameplanned for him last year and he was frequently double teamed yet still made plays. Whoever told you that DEs are supposed to block kicks or scoop up fumbles for TDs in order to earn their pay??

We have no emergency at DE if we sign Johnson to a long term contract. If we don't we have an immediate crisis.

He was the best defensive linemen we had by far and has improved his game each year to the point that he is a stud. He is worth 10 million a year which is still almost 2 1/2 million a year below the average of the top 5 DEs in the league. Plus if you lock him up for 5 years, that 10 million will be cheap in 4 years if he continues to progress and the franchise tag numbers continue to grow.

Simply put, few if any folks would agree with you on this.

[4Corners]

I like Johnson, but the Panthers will not pay him $10 million a year.

[OchoNueve]

Charles Johnson was good, but his stats were slightly inflated due to the fact that our defense was on the field for almost 3 quarters of every game. Although I think it is important to our team, I am nervous that we overpay him.

[Mvp2014]

Not everyone is Julius Peppers BOBO, give CJ another double digit season and he will be an elite 4-3 end

[CRA]

Charles Johnson was good, but his stats were slightly inflated due to the fact that our defense was on the field for almost 3 quarters of every game. Although I think it is important to our team, I am nervous that we overpay him.

Carolina also lost just about every game and never got to play with leads.....which means Johnson never got to pin his ears back and just go after the QB for an entire 4th Q (or even 2nd half in some cases)....like many DEs got the chance to.

[Urrymonster]

WHen we drafted him as a junior in the third round he was seen as a project who needed to get bigger and more physical as well as work on his hand technique, footwork and quickness off the line. It has taken him time to work on those skills and he has developed over the past several years. In the last 2 years he has increased his strength and power ten fold as well as continued to develop his moves and his ability to play the run. The reason that he is a full time starter is that he is now the complete package and the best DE on the team. He didn't play well when he got here and had significant deficits in his game but not anymore.

As such he is now worth big bucks and needs to be paid. He is a stud right now and worth every penny.

He sat his rookie year, but since then he has performed in every season. In 2009 he had one of the highest pressures per play rates in the NFL and picked up 6 (technically 7) sacks in 2008. He has NEVER been poor against the run.

Charles Johnson's stats per play were better than average last year, but so were those of our multiple other DE's. They all looked fresh on individual plays. Secondly, less DT tackles = more DE tackles.

Compare CJ in other areas though, is he a ball hawk, does he have quickness and does he cause a lot of forced fumbles, blocked passes, blocked kicks, and has scooped one up for a TD? Those types of things are what segregate a competent DE from a play making DE.

Put simply, 10m is too much. We have no emergency at DE.

What a load of bull crap. Who would you replace him with? ANY top tier DE would cost more than $10mil per year in free agency, even ones with less production that Johnson.

You say his 'stats per play were better than average last year'. Actually he had THE best defensive stops per play as a 4-3 DE, the most pressures as a 4-3 DE, 4th most sacks and 10th most hits on a QB. How is that average :eek:

You are asking for a DE to be a ball hawk?! Frankly a quick first step when the ball is in the air is the last of my concerns for a DE, afterall he was in coverage just 24 times last year :confused:

You then also ask how many fumbles he has forced. It's pretty common knowledge that the weakside rusher gets the best shot at fumbles as they blindside the QBs. If you don't get that luxury, fumbles are generally down to luck. Likewise 'scooping up' fumbles is purely luck and DLine generally get so few opportunities for this, as LBs actually get a run on the ball.

Next you talk about blocked passes. Last season the highest for a 4-3 DE was 6. Johnson had 1. If the difference between competency and elite is 0.41 blocked passes per game then I am at a loss.

Seriously. How many blocked kicks are there by one team i a season?

You are talking out your ass

[DaCityKats]

He needs to be signed.12 sacks with no dt push and playing from behind is beastmode.a de job is to stop the run and get after the qb.

[Montsta]

If I have to chose between CJ+Kalil or Kalil+Williams, sorry Deangelo, I'll miss ya bud thanks for the memories.

[CatMan72]

franchising a de would be more than 10 mil, so why is the writer saying it like it would have saved us money?

Tagging would be more expensive but it's the only way to guarantee we don't lose him.

I think we should have tagged CJ, tagging Kalil means we pay him the avg of the top 5 tackles in the league and I think Kalil was less of a risk to leave via FA than CJ.

[panthers55]

I like Johnson, but the Panthers will not pay him $10 million a year.

Then they will lose him to someone else who will. Simple as that.

[panthers55]

Carolina also lost just about every game and never got to play with leads.....which means Johnson never got to pin his ears back and just go after the QB for an entire 4th Q (or even 2nd half in some cases)....like many DEs got the chance to.

Good point, it is hard to get sacks when teams are running the clock out.