Steve is not the only Smith who wants to be a big part of this team

[panthers55]

When fans think Smith and the Panthers, naturally everyone thinks of Steve Smith. But Reggie Smith, a free agent safety acquisition from San Francisco, would like to be in the conversation as well by the end of this season. He also sees some parallels between his old team San Francisco and his new team, the Panthers. After seeing San Francisco go from a 6-10 team in 2010 to a 13-3 team in 2011 he thinks that we have a lot of the same things going for us as well. Here is his story on Panthers.com

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Safety-Smith-wants-more-for-himself-Panthers/add9acc8-b056-40bd-a9ef-ff7f06fabc19

[TruCatzFan]

It would be a very nice surprise for this man to come in and contribute immediately. I certainly am not/nor will I be looking for that though. If it happens it happens

[JawnyBlaze]

Reggie Smith is an NFL starting caliber Safety. Might not be an All-Pro, but he's shown he's solid and right now the only proven starting caliber Safety we got is Godfrey, and lots of people around here even doubt that. I think Smith has a better than average chance of starting at some point for us.

[Xrated]

OH god..does that mean when i buy Steve Smith jersey next season it will have S. Smith??

[csx]

I bet Greg and Armond Smith would love to be part of the team as well.

[1989]

OH god..does that mean when i buy Steve Smith jersey next season it will have S. Smith??

Im sure it will be the other way around. R. Smith. Looking forward to seeing our new Safeties play! Looking like we got a few really great sleeper free agent acquisitions!

[panthers34]

i wounder who will start at safety this year

[PhillyB]

this will be one of the more interesting camp battles to follow, especially with nakamura tossed in there as well.

i wouldn't be surprised to see some 3-3-5 packages designed with two safeties back and nakamura playing in the linebacker spot on some downs. there are a number of teams running similar schemes with a hard-hitting safety playing at that position, and nakamura seems to fit that mold perfectly.

[panthers55]

this will be one of the more interesting camp battles to follow, especially with nakamura tossed in there as well.

i wouldn't be surprised to see some 3-3-5 packages designed with two safeties back and nakamura playing in the linebacker spot on some downs. there are a number of teams running similar schemes with a hard-hitting safety playing at that position, and nakamura seems to fit that mold perfectly.

Not sure that Nakamura could substitute for a linebacker given he is actually somewhat light for safety. At 5-10 and 200 lbs he is built like a tough corner or free safety not a strong safety. I could see us using him in a nickel or dime but would be putting him in a safety position not as a third linebacker. More likely a 4-2-5 with Kuechly and Beason at linebacker and 5 DBs between the safeties and corners depending on whether we were playing zone or man coverage.

[MadHatter]

Not sure that Nakamura could substitute for a linebacker given he is actually somewhat light for safety. At 5-10 and 200 lbs he is built like a tough corner or free safety not a strong safety. I could see us using him in a nickel or dime but would be putting him in a safety position not as a third linebacker. More likely a 4-2-5 with Kuechly and Beason at linebacker and 5 DBs between the safeties and corners depending on whether we were playing zone or man coverage.

I could definitely see this formation....especially against teams like the Saints*.

[Gallagher]

I like Reggie and I especially like the parallel between the 2010/2011 Niners and 2011/2012 Panthers going from 6-10 to 13-3.

[rayzor]

I like Reggie and I especially like the parallel between the 2010/2011 Niners and 2011/2012 Panthers going from 6-10 to 13-3.

except we have a much better QB and offense. having a top 15 defense and much improved special teams will put this team over the hump.

[Frizzy350]

As long as Nakamura and smith are better than martin we should be all set to go. We ran ALOT of 3 safety packages last year and had jordan pugh suck it up hard. That guy was abysmal.

Also about asking if we would sub nakamura as an extra lb, we'd probably have kuechly do that sort of thing. I believe he came into college as a safety and transitioned to MLB.

[panthers55]

In games decided by 7 or less points we were 1-7 last year. Every other team in the division went 500 or better on the same metric. If we do that well this year by playing better special teams and defense we should be in most games and win more than our share. Safety play should be improved given they won't have to play the run first on every down even if we didn't upgrade the talent.