Could 2012 be 2007 all over again?

[CRA]

If you thought Carolina was going to draft Jon Beason in 2007 you probably are a liar. If you were excited about the pick...you probably were a Miami fan.

In 2012, could another ACC LB be BPA on the Panthers board at #9 when all is said and done? It would probably also draw similar reaction as the Beason pick did.

LB was a huge issue last year. Connor's status is up in the air, T. Davis coming back would be something the league has never seen, and the fan favorite Beason is coming off a major injury...What was viewed as the strongest position on the D certainly does have some question marks to it.

[Mage]

I remember there being a lot of talk about Carolina potentially taking Patrick Willis. Then San Francisco took him a couple of spots before us which led to us trading down.

[DJ Insicion]

I wouldn't be upset if we go LB first and heavy in the draft. Looking at the statistics on players comin back from a torn achilles is not good. Beason may help us mentally on the field and as a team leader, but I believe that unfortunately Beasons career is on the downturn. As for TD, I just don't see that turning out good for anyone especially for him because if something happens to his knee again he will be lucky to walk around normal for the rest of his life.

[Ruff]

I remember there being a lot of talk about Carolina potentially taking Patrick Willis. Then San Francisco took him a couple of spots before us which led to us trading down.

I remember that. All the Panthers fans I know were hyped about it, and extremely disappointed that Willis was taken.

I wouldn't mind seeing another Miami LB on our team if we could find a way to get him without reaching. (Sean Spence)

[Ruff]

I wouldn't be upset if we go LB first and heavy in the draft. Looking at the statistics on players comin back from a torn achilles is not good. Beason may help us mentally on the field and as a team leader, but I believe that unfortunately Beasons career is on the downturn. As for TD, I just don't see that turning out good for anyone especially for him because if something happens to his knee again he will be lucky to walk around normal for the rest of his life.

What statistics? DeMeco Ryans, the same position as Jon Beason, tore his achilles a couple of years ago, and had an awesome year this past season. I don't think it's a huge hindrance to a career like it used to be. Hell, Ryan Howard tore his achilles in October, and is ready to play in Spring training less than six months later.

[DJ Insicion]

Just some things i have been reading. I hope your right Beason is my fav player and want to see him get a ring along with everyone else in the near future. We have to have a back up plan tho for our LB situation because it looks like gaither along with connor will prob not be with us next year due to Hurney being such a "cap genius"

[Ruff]

Just some things i have been reading. I hope your right Beason is my fav player and want to see him get a ring along with everyone else in the near future. We have to have a back up plan tho for our LB situation because it looks like gaither along with connor will prob not be with us next year due to Hurney being such a "cap genius"

I'm sure if we still had the money, Connor would still want to go. I'd want to start on a team somewhere, rather than sit behind Jon Beason for the rest of my career.

Omar Gaither is getting old, his days in the NFL are definitely numbered now, and I'm sure he just wanted to play at Carolina since he's from the area before he retired.

But yeah, I agree, our LB situation isn't the best, and it definitely could be improved.

[bleys]

I was about to neg you if I thought this went in a different direction.. ;)

[Kurb]

Ryans had a significant reduction in tackles this season

[DJ Insicion]

Beason will to......he may get better in a couple years but he's def not gunna be the same player. So def could see us drafting for the future/depth this year

[panther4life]

If you thought Carolina was going to draft Jon Beason in 2007 you probably are a liar. If you were excited about the pick...you probably were a Miami fan.

In 2012, could another ACC LB be BPA on the Panthers board at #9 when all is said and done? It would probably also draw similar reaction as the Beason pick did.

LB was a huge issue last year. Connor's status is up in the air, T. Davis coming back would be something the league has never seen, and the fan favorite Beason is coming off a major injury...What was viewed as the strongest position on the D certainly does have some question marks to it.

Reason nobody saw it happening is because we never thought of trading down 11 spots. Everyone was dreaming for willis. If not him then Michael Griffin and if not him Olsen. But Beason was on nobody's radar at the time.

[XClown1986]

I remember really wanting Willis bad. If he wasn't there then Laron Landry was next in line.

I do however remember hearing that Fox and Hurney really really liked Beason and would draft him if things went a certain way. Didn't know much about him until I heard that here on the boards.

[Brooklyn Bully]

We need to think about LB for sure. IMHO, TD is done. And as much as we all love Beason, we can't count on anything until he goes out there and proves it on the field in a real game.

[Mage]

Ryans had a significant reduction in tackles this season

That's because he was playing in the 3-4 and surrounded by a bunch of other great players, including Brian Cushing. Tackles are a pretty useless stat anyway and he still had 64 of them.

I think people are forgetting Ryans got injured midseason. Beason hardly even made it through the first game, which means he'll have had a longer recovery period. If it took Ryans until midseason to get back into full football shape, it could reasonably only take Beason until maybe Week 3 or so (and that's not accounting for the fact that Beason is flat out better than Ryans).