A Purrrseason Preview
The
fans that prowl the Carolinas have very high hopes and expectations for their
Carolina Panthers this season. To go along with the fans large expectations for
the team, the players have their own high hopes. In the last 3 months, three
Carolina Panthers (Jon Beason, Thomas Davis, & Ryan Kalil) have made
guarantees that they would win the Super Bowl this season. Yes, 3 months, 3
Super Bowl Championship guarantees by 3 different players. The Panthers have
made this season a mission and all of Carolina hopes they deliver.
Here is a position-by-position preview of the team
as they open camp:
Defense/Specialists
Defensive Line:
-The
defensive line is without a doubt the weakest unit of this year’s Carolina
Panthers. Charles Johnson is the biggest threat to an opponent’s backfield on
this line; He has 20.5 sacks combined the last two seasons. I’m still not sure
Johnson, who is coming off arthroscopic knee surgery, is worth the money the
Panthers are giving him, but granted they couldn’t afford to lose him. Johnson
will be the 15th highest paid athlete in the world this season and
he better play up to it. Lots of hype is surrounding DT Ron Edwards who was a
free agent signee in 2011 from the Kansas City Chiefs but tore his tricep in
training camp last year and missed the whole season. Edwards contributing at
the DT position is critical to the Panthers season and improving the league’s
25th defense that featured the 26th most sacks in the NFL
last season. The other starters look to be DT Terrell McClain and Greg Hardy
(“The Kraken”) at DE. Hardy, who gained 23 pounds this offseason to get him to
300 lbs., said he has maintained his speed to go along with his weight gain. It’s
great that Hardy has worked that hard physically to get his body into that shape,
but he has to approach the mental part of the game better, he plays at one
speed and that needs to change. 2nd year DT Sione Fua will rotate in
this season after being shoved into a starting role as a rookie last season.
This unit needs to just reach the “bend, but don’t break” point and I think the
Panthers will be just fine.
Linebackers:
-The
Panthers used their 1st round selection on Boston College LB Luke
Kuechly who had quite the decorated college career. During Kuechly’s junior
season he won the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Butkus Award, Lombardi
Award, and Bronko Nagurski Trophy. During his sophomore and junior seasons he
led the NCAA in tackles and finished 2nd all-time in NCAA history in
tackles, and was 13 short of owning the all-time NCAA record. During his junior
season, Kuechly averaged 16 tackles a
game, something only 1 other player in the history of college football has
accomplished. Kuechly has been starting at weak side linebacker during the
offseason, with Pro Bowler Jon Beason in the middle, and James Anderson on the
strong side. Beason says he prefers to be in the middle but Coach Ron Rivera
has said that both Beason and Kuechly will see time in the middle. Beason is
coming off an Achilles injury he suffered in Week 1 last year and looks to
return to his previous form that earned him three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances.
On the strong side, Anderson is a much underestimated player by many people;
Only 3 players have had more tackles combined the last two seasons than James
Anderson. This linebacker unit for the Panthers has the potential to be one of
the best in the NFL. Thomas Davis, returning from yet another knee injury, will
rotate in at both outside linebacker positions. I love Thomas Davis and what he
has done during his years in Carolina and I understand his knees are supposedly
fine now but I think Kuechly and Anderson are primetime football players and
need to be on the field as much as possible. I just hope Coach Rivera feels the
same.
Secondary:
-A much
underappreciated part of the Panthers 2011-2012 season was the play of CB Chris
Gamble. Gamble, someone who has never made a Pro Bowl, played at an All-Pro
level last season in my opinion, and I know many experts who agree. The
Panthers and their fans should be very excited if Gamble can replicate that
kind of season again. The Panthers secondary needs to have the same mindset of
the defensive line, “bend but don’t break”.
Brandon Hogan, Captain Munnerlyn, and rookie Josh Norman are the three
cornerbacks in the running for the starting right cornerback position. Hogan barely
played last season because of an ACL tear he suffered in December of his last
season at West Virginia. He’s healthy now and battling Norman and Munnerlyn for
that starting spot. Munnerlyn, a much-maligned corner out of South Carolina,
started the majority of the games last season but has serious competition this
season. Rookie CB Josh Norman has shown great lateral quickness to go along
with his big frame during the offseason and actually may start Week 1 in Tampa.
An unnamed Charlotte Observer columnist told me, “The front office doesn’t
think Brandon Hogan is going to be quite what they thought he was going to be
and they think Josh Norman is going to be more than they thought he’d be.” Only
time will tell but I think Gamble and Munnerlyn will be the Week 1 starters but
eventually Gamble and Norman will be the starters with Munnerlyn becoming the
Nickel corner, a position I think he can really excel in with his tackling and blitzing
abilities. Hogan and former New England Patriot Darius Butler will simply add
depth to the position. At the safety positions, Charles Godfrey and Sherrod
Martin will both return as the starters. Fans have been critical of both
Godfrey and Martin, but the two players have the coaches’ full support. I am
actually a fan of both players and believe that they both may have breakout years
this season. The Panthers signed former Baltimore Raven S Haruki Nakamura this
offseason and although many believed he was brought in to challenge Godfrey and
Martin for one the safety positions, he was actually brought in just to provide
depth and help the Panthers dreadful special teams.
Specialists:
-While
the Panthers let the last original Panther go in K John Kasay last offseason
because of frustrations of having to have one player as the place kicker and another
player to handle the kickoffs because of Kasay’s lack of leg strength, the
Panthers are right where they were in 2010. Kasay’s replacement, Olindo Mare,
certainly may be the most disliked Panther right now. Mare got booed, very
loudly, on the first day of training camp because he hit a kick off the
upright. Although the Panthers had the 4th best touchback percentage
in 2011, the front office brought in former Canadian Football League K Justin
Medlock. The big leg UCLA-product has seemed to put the ball even further into
the stands than Mare did last season. Medlock has NFL experience with many NFL
teams and was a consensus 1st team All-American in 2006 while at
UCLA. Medlock also has plenty of place-kicking talent in case the villain,
Olindo Mare, experiences some late game chockery again (I think I possibly just
made up ‘chockery’).
The Panthers used their 6th round pick in 2012
on Wisconsin P Brad Nortman. Nortman was very impressive during OTAs,
absolutely booting some balls and seems to be an upgrade from long time punter
Jason Baker. In terms of kick and punt returners, WR Kealoha Pilares, WR
Armanti Edwards, CB Captain Munnerlyn, and rookie WR Joe Adams figure all to be
in the mix. Fans should get very excited when they see Adams on the field, his
return skills, speed, and quickness are elite and that is exactly why the
Panthers drafted him. My guess is that Pilares will begin returning kicks with
Adams returning punts but by week 6 or so, expect Adams to be the full-time
returner.
When
reading this, keep in mind that great all-around defenses have not been the secret
to championships (well a good pass rush has but besides that it hasn’t been).
In the 2011-2012 season the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants had the 22nd
best defense, their opponent, the New England Patriots, had the 31st
defense, and the team that finished the regular season with the best record,
the Green Bay Packers, had the 32nd defense in the NFL. Yes the
worst. So again: Bend, but don’t break.
No comments:
Post a Comment