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7/30 Camp observations from reddit

Coheed

By Coheed,
in Carolina Panthers

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Coheed Proficient

Coheed

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Once again, I come with gifts from the internet.

 

Reddit user Iamostrich posted his observations, figured I'd post it here for you guys. 

http://www.reddit.com/r/panthers/comments/1jd36c/caught_the_2nd_half_of_practice_today_on_my_way/

 

 

First of all, Cam was just off. Smitty and Kalil weren't practicing and the offense looked somewhat lost without them. Part of this was our defense just being good (they are gonna be really good), but Cam for sure didn't look great.

Usually Cam having a bad practice would be my big takeaway, but not today. Greg Hardy was incredible. I highly doubt Jordan Gross forgot how to play LT in the past 6 months, but Hardy pretty much had his way with him. I mean literally had his way with him, it was impressive. I only saw maybe 15 plays with Hardy in, but he my have had 4-5 sacks in a real game and almost picked off a screen pass. Oh, and he was limping through most it (he's fine, but he tweaked something). I'm just gonna put my money on Hardy being our best player this year, and if we wait to sign him after this season it's gonna be way more expensive.

On the brighter side for the O-line, Byron Bell didn't get destroyed by CJ from what I saw, and the interior of the line pass protected pretty well against Short and Star (Dwan Edwards didn't practice). Where Star and Short shined was against the run, and without Kalil the D was getting in the backfield pretty well on runs. Short for sure would have had a nice tackle for no gain or a loss on one play, and Star was taking on 2 blockers and holding his own. I do wish I'd had a chance to see them go against Kalil. Amini did hold down his spot pretty well from what I saw and was probably the best guy on our line.

The LB's were Blackburn - Luke - Klein, and honestly I thought they played well enough to be a solid starting unit for most teams. Luke was clearly the leader, but those two guys looked like they knew exactly what they were doing the whole time and I'm not worried at all if one of them has to start for us this year. The secondary was CB Captain - SS Mitchell - FS Godfrey - CB Florence, and I'd be surprised if that's not our lineup week 1. They looked really good, especially Captain and Mitchell. Granted they didn't have to cover 89, but they looked really solid. Captain should have had 2 picks (apparently he had 1 before I got there), and Blackburn picked off Cam on a play that the D had everyone blanketed and Cam made a bad read. There was really only one pass I saw, a nice 15 yard crossing route to Hixon, were they coverage wasn't right on top of everyone.

A few other notes, Armanti was running with the starters quite a bit and looked good (he did drop one pass I saw though). Barner was also getting a lot of reps with the starters and backups, but it was hard to tell anything about him with the line getting pushed back and no one really trying to tackle him. He looks the part though, and moves like an NFL back. Overall my main impression was that the defense looks way better than the offense right now. I'm very interested for the preseason to start because I don't think our offense is THAT bad, but they got their ass kicked today. I'm 100% of the opinion that Wharton is damn near a necessity at this point, and Greg Hardy needs a new deal.

 

 

It was brought it up in another thread, but with the D line we have, it's hard to gauge our O line and vice versa. We'll really have no clue till preseason. Love what 

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Coheed Proficient

Coheed

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I think Gettleman got a good dose of reality today with some of the key Offensive players sitting out.  I think some holes will be filled before we take the field in September

 I'm truly hoping so. If he plans on signing a vet gaurd, I just hope he doesn't wait till the end of camp; the more time the starting OL gets to gel, the better. Then again, I also think it'd be a good idea to see who gets cut over the course of camp; we could find quality guys there. It's a catch 22.

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Whats gonna be really troubling is if the defense gets stonewalled in the first preseason game AND the offensive line can't protect the QB's.

 

But I really do think that the defensive line is just that good.  It's crazy to think how last year the defensive line was such a huge question mark and now they are the strength of the team.  Hopefully the wide receiver core or offensive line can make that kind of a jump next year.

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Coheed Proficient

Coheed

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Whats gonna be really troubling is if the defense gets stonewalled in the first preseason game AND the offensive line can't protect the QB's.

 

But I really do think that the defensive line is just that good.  It's crazy to think how last year the defensive line was such a huge question mark and now they are the strength of the team.  Hopefully the wide receiver core or offensive line can make that kind of a jump next year.

 

 

Hopefully. We're a solid OL and WR addition away from being a playoff worthy team. Ideally, I hope we sign gross to a one or two year extension (this is his last year right? I think 2014 was voided), draft a OT in the first, move Gross to the right side, and draft a WR second. If we're high enough for a guy like Lee or Watkins, I wouldn't mind doing WR in the first and doing major OL shopping in FA. I'm looking a tad too far ahead though.

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