Let’s All Pile on Julius Peppers

by Jaxon on Oct 17, 2008 9:38 AM EDT

What is wrong with Julius Peppers? I mean, he is having another TERRIBLE year, right? Just ask the fans:

Not good enough for the myriad of fans who call into talk radio and post on message boards about Peppers' lack of productivity. Charting Peppers' plays has become a cottage industry, with claims he faces fewer double teams and sometimes quits before the play is over.

All we have to do is look at the results, only three sacks season-to-date, which is the only real measure of defensive ends job. If only he could match the production of elite DE's Jared Allen, Dwight Freeney or this weekend's opponent Charles Grant. Wait a minute. They all have three sacks too.

Yeah, but if Peppers was doing his job then the Panthers pass defense would be so much better...they would be1^st in the NFL instead of the laughable 2^nd. He's completely lost the confidence of his coach, see for yourself:

"Our body of work is not done yet," coach John Fox said, when asked if Peppers was playing better than last year. "He's played very well for us, good enough for us to be 4-2. I think right now we're the third-ranked defense in the league and I think he's been a big part."

Well of course the coach is going to back up his player, he doesn't want to destroy Peppers fragile psyche. How about one of the New Orleans tackles Peppers may face this weekend? Certainly he must see the film and agree Peppers has gone soft.

"In our business, any time you lose, the first thing people look at is the star players," said New Orleans right tackle Jonathan Stinchcomb, whose team faces the Panthers Sunday. "They got behind early and ... it just changed the landscape of the game. So to single him out and say he's off, I don't know about that."

Stinchcomb went to UGA so we know he's not too bright. BTW, he and former UGA DE Charles Johnson will be having an up-close reunion this weekend.

So how does Julius live with himself, he of the puny little 3 sacks? Certainly he has to be having nightmares about his failure to get to the QB:

"Being a defensive end, of course that's what I'd like to do every play," Pepper said of pass rushing. "But that's not the defense we play. ... I can't say what other teams do as far as letting their ends rush the quarterback. But as far as our D, we have our chances. We also have times when we've got to do other things, too, and play other responsibilities."

Obviously this whole post is tongue-in-cheek as I am so tired of people questioning this guy's performance. He's fine and I'm fine with what he's been doing. As Fox said, we are only six games into the season. Once the season is over can we evaluate Peppers not just on his individual stats but also on his contribution to the defense as a whole.

See, Peppers is Always Getting Grilled

Poll

How do you feel about Julius Peppers performance so far this season?

Terrible, he needs to go at the end of the season

5 votes

He's an average DE at best

3 votes

He's played well but he's no longer All Pro

19 votes

He's played at a high level for a top rated defense

16 votes

He's still one of the best DE's in the league, just wait and see

29 votes

72 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I love the big guy

As Jaxon knows I’m a Brit that came to American football and the Panthers seriously early 07 after my friend from Charlotte told me to play as them on my Madden game and watched some Steve Smith footage.

At first when you’re learning gridron the role of the DE is less obvious, it rarely makes highlights, but over time I’ve grown to love Pep. He is quite simply the greatest athlete I can name, of course he’s a better athlete than football player. However, if we consider the aim of most athletic training is to get faster, stronger and quicker Pep is literally the pinnacle of the athletic specimen in every sport I know (I know quite a few :p).

I’ve heard about his “taking plays off” and his lack of production last year, but I think that can be attributed to his psyche. The guy is a 6ft7 20 stone dork. Watch an interview, he is a bumbling lovable dork who loves his mum and is really shy. He doesn’t have the “at all costs” attitude of Steve Smith, he has to work at keeping himself psyched up, and that is why he wont beat someone like LT’s production. But his value is MASSIVE to the Panthers, its not solely measured in stats and sacks, although most years he’s delivered there too, its measured in what he brings to the defence as a whole and the worry he causes offences.

I came over and watched my first game at the end of September. His sack of Matt Ryan at the end was a massive highlight of the whole trip for me and I love wearing my Peppers jersey. I particularly enjoy enthusiastically explaining to everyoneback here who “Peppers” is :)

by JIMcK on Oct 17, 2008 4:09 PM EDT reply actions

You nailed it McK

Peppers put a big stamp on the Saints game with that forced fumble.

BTW, 20 stone is pretty heavy right?

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Oct 20, 2008 8:49 AM EDT reply actions

Yes

I’m 6ft0 and 12 stone (about 170lbs) 14lbs in a stone. Sorry! 20 stone (or 280lbs) is noticeable because hardly any rugby players get that heavy (hard to keep Kemo style weight on when you have to be able to run for 80 minutes) and the ones that do are pretty slow. Pep, however, Pep is not slow.

I’m delighted in his performance yesterday!

by JIMcK on Oct 20, 2008 4:44 PM EDT reply actions