CAROLINA PANTHERS 2009 PREVIEW
CAROLINA PANTHERS 2009 PREVIEW
By Andy Benoit, www.NFLTouchdown.com
Your view of the Carolina Panthers depends on your interpretation of their disastrous 33-13 home Divisional Round loss to the Arizona Cardinals last January. If you are in the camp that believes America witnessed merely a 12-4 team being struck down by quarterback Jack Delhomme’s ill-timed career lowlight (in which he completed 22 of his 34 passes, but five of them to the wrong team), then you see this club as the favorite in the NFC South. After all, the Panther return all 11 starters from their seventh-ranked scoring offense, and 10 starters on a defense that, if not for a late season letdown, would have easily finished in the league’s Top 10.
But if you’re in the camp that believes what happened in the playoffs was not an aberration but, rather, a culmination of that second half letdown, then you think John Fox’s club will continue its trend of mediocrity between postseason appearances. (The Panthers, under Fox, have never won more than eight games the season after reaching the playoffs.)
Clearly, GM Marty Hurney and owner Jerry Richardson (who, thankfully, is recovering well from a February heart transplant) are in the first camp. They are pleased with how the team’s powerful, ascending offensive line enables young star running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to employ the tempo-controlling rushing attack that Fox and offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson prefer. They like how the defense is headlined by a shimmering star middle linebacker in Jon Beason, and supported by a solid, underrated secondary. They’re excited about new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks, a Cover 2 connoisseur who was hired after Mike Trgovac chose to leave.
Wanting to keep the skeleton intact, the Panthers eschewed the free agent market in favor of retaining their own bones. Much to his chagrin, super athlete Julius Peppers was slapped with a $16.683 million franchise tag. Top-echelon left tackle Jordan Gross received a new six-year, $60 million contract. The man Gross protects, Delhomme, was extended for five years and $20 million guaranteed.
It’s this last move that leaves the second campers even more incredulous. Never mind that Delhomme is 34. The issue here is that Carolina invested in someone who is not a Super Bowl quality quarterback. Delhomme’s charismatic mojo too often tailspins into demoralizing panic when the going gets tough (like in that playoff loss). His solid accuracy can often be trumped by a weak arm that becomes exposed when defenses get inside his head.
But the ultra conservative Fox has never thought his team needed a star quarterback in order to succeed. Fox views quarterbacks as only a moderately significant piece to his power-oriented offensive puzzle. But critics can lament that the Panthers really aren’t that powerful on the ground. Yes, Williams and Stewart headlined a rushing attack that set a franchise record with 2,437 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. But their numbers were inflated by 60 runs of 10 yards or more. When it came to consistently moving the chains and controlling the tempo, Carolina was average (evidenced in their 18th-ranked third down offense).
This criticism of smoke and mirrors has also been applied to the defense. If not for the insane athleticism of Peppers, the pass-rush wouldn’t exist. Even with Peppers, the Panthers enjoy only outbursts of dominance up front. The hope is that second-round rookie Everette Brown (defensive end) and third-rounder Corvey Irvin (defensive tackle) can change that. (Hurney sacrificed the team’s 2010 first-round pick just to move up to the middle of the second round and nab Brown.) Some experts grumble that these Panther linebackers and defensive backs are young and gifted but also alarmingly reactionary (which is why this unit ranked in the low teens in just about every major statistical category last season).
The issue is not whether the Panthers can change in 2009, but whether their formula can work. As long as Fox is calling the shots, Carolina will be a conservative team. Is conservativeness compatible with today’s NFL?
Click here to continue reading, or visit: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/carolina-panthers-2009-preview/
By Andy Benoit, www.NFLTouchdown.com
Your view of the Carolina Panthers depends on your interpretation of their disastrous 33-13 home Divisional Round loss to the Arizona Cardinals last January. If you are in the camp that believes America witnessed merely a 12-4 team being struck down by quarterback Jack Delhomme’s ill-timed career lowlight (in which he completed 22 of his 34 passes, but five of them to the wrong team), then you see this club as the favorite in the NFC South. After all, the Panther return all 11 starters from their seventh-ranked scoring offense, and 10 starters on a defense that, if not for a late season letdown, would have easily finished in the league’s Top 10.
But if you’re in the camp that believes what happened in the playoffs was not an aberration but, rather, a culmination of that second half letdown, then you think John Fox’s club will continue its trend of mediocrity between postseason appearances. (The Panthers, under Fox, have never won more than eight games the season after reaching the playoffs.)
Clearly, GM Marty Hurney and owner Jerry Richardson (who, thankfully, is recovering well from a February heart transplant) are in the first camp. They are pleased with how the team’s powerful, ascending offensive line enables young star running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to employ the tempo-controlling rushing attack that Fox and offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson prefer. They like how the defense is headlined by a shimmering star middle linebacker in Jon Beason, and supported by a solid, underrated secondary. They’re excited about new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks, a Cover 2 connoisseur who was hired after Mike Trgovac chose to leave.
Wanting to keep the skeleton intact, the Panthers eschewed the free agent market in favor of retaining their own bones. Much to his chagrin, super athlete Julius Peppers was slapped with a $16.683 million franchise tag. Top-echelon left tackle Jordan Gross received a new six-year, $60 million contract. The man Gross protects, Delhomme, was extended for five years and $20 million guaranteed.
It’s this last move that leaves the second campers even more incredulous. Never mind that Delhomme is 34. The issue here is that Carolina invested in someone who is not a Super Bowl quality quarterback. Delhomme’s charismatic mojo too often tailspins into demoralizing panic when the going gets tough (like in that playoff loss). His solid accuracy can often be trumped by a weak arm that becomes exposed when defenses get inside his head.
But the ultra conservative Fox has never thought his team needed a star quarterback in order to succeed. Fox views quarterbacks as only a moderately significant piece to his power-oriented offensive puzzle. But critics can lament that the Panthers really aren’t that powerful on the ground. Yes, Williams and Stewart headlined a rushing attack that set a franchise record with 2,437 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. But their numbers were inflated by 60 runs of 10 yards or more. When it came to consistently moving the chains and controlling the tempo, Carolina was average (evidenced in their 18th-ranked third down offense).
This criticism of smoke and mirrors has also been applied to the defense. If not for the insane athleticism of Peppers, the pass-rush wouldn’t exist. Even with Peppers, the Panthers enjoy only outbursts of dominance up front. The hope is that second-round rookie Everette Brown (defensive end) and third-rounder Corvey Irvin (defensive tackle) can change that. (Hurney sacrificed the team’s 2010 first-round pick just to move up to the middle of the second round and nab Brown.) Some experts grumble that these Panther linebackers and defensive backs are young and gifted but also alarmingly reactionary (which is why this unit ranked in the low teens in just about every major statistical category last season).
The issue is not whether the Panthers can change in 2009, but whether their formula can work. As long as Fox is calling the shots, Carolina will be a conservative team. Is conservativeness compatible with today’s NFL?
Click here to continue reading, or visit: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/carolina-panthers-2009-preview/
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