Panthers Article Round-up

by Jaxon on Mar 26, 2008 2:44 PM EDT in Panther News

Panthers Sign Massive G Fonoti

The Panthers have signed 350lb free agent guard Toniu Fonoti.

The Carolina Panthers have signed free-agent guard Toniu Fonoti, a former second-round draft choice who has been in and out of the league in recent seasons because of weight problems.

Calling 390 lbs a weight problem is being a little politically correct. This is your guy if you prefer massive linemen. I had thought the Panthers zone-blocking scheme required smaller, quicker guys but maybe Fonoti will be a situational player. He has played at a high level in the past so it’s possible he could pull it together again. All this is predicated on Fonoti getting in shape, no small venture.

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Speaking of Free Agent Signings

If you like to reminisce here’s a list of the Panthers Top 12 free agent signings of all time. Here’s the top three with my favorite coming in at #2:

Stephen Davis, RB (2003): He had the best season ever by a Carolina running back, rushing for 1,444 yards while leading the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2003. It's too bad the Panthers got him so late in his career.

2. Jake Delhomme, QB (2003): A relative unknown when he signed with the Panthers, all Delhomme did was lead the team to the Super Bowl in his first season. He's posted a personal winning record in every season but one with the Panthers.
1. Sam Mills, LB (1995): Few can argue the impact of Mills, who went to two Pro Bowls in three sea-sons. He became the model for all future Panthers.

Jake’s my boy. He WILL lead us to the Promised Land yet again. I can’t argue with this list as is though. Sam Mills was a tremendous leader who exemplified everything Jerry Richardson wanted to instill in this franchise.

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More People Wondering about the Wonderlic

Here’s another in depth discussion of the Wonderlic intelligence test and what impact it should have on draft prospect evaluations.

A lot is made of the Wonderlic, particularly as the draft approaches and we run out of stuff to talk about. I haven't seen any studies, but anecdotally I'd imagine there isn't much of a correlation between a player's Wonderlic score and their NFL productivity.

I think he imagines wrong. Here are some of the questions:

Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will four pads cost?

The ninth month of the year is: (1) October, (2) January, (3) June, (4) September, (5) May

Which number in the following group of numbers represents the smallest amount? 7 .8 31 .33 2

If a guy can’t answer 20 of these questions correctly in 12 minutes I don’t want him having to make quick decisions that could impact the game. I just don't see how some people can dismiss the results of the test all together.

This paragraph makes a little more sense though his analogy is weak at best:

Ultimately, the test scores are a part of the overall puzzle. Just like 40 times, interviews, and -- this'll sound crazy, but stay with me here -- game tape. Frankly, I think the Wonderlic doesn't mean much when it comes to actually playing football. I mean, in 2004, the 49ers' Roderick Green scored a 3 and Craig Krenzel scored a 38. Guess who's still a mediocre NFL player and who's not even in the league any more.

You can always find exceptions to the rule though I don’t think the fact that Green is still in the league proves anything. I think a good evaluation would be the Wonderlic scores for last seasons Pro Bowlers. I bet they are above the overall average of the entire league.

The Wonderlic is simply a piece of information that must be weighted in it’s consideration based on the position being evaluated. Cerebral positions demand cerebral players and no less. The degree of separation in the NFL narrows every year and a low Wonderlic score isn’t exactly something you can coach up. You can’t work on it in the gym and you can’t improve it through a healthy diet. Either you got it or you don’t and I think it’s a worthy characteristic for NFL teams to be concerned about.

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Comments

Wonderlic? Wonderlic. Wonderlic!!!

Over at the Fanhouse, I made a few comments about the uselessness of Wonderlic scores as it relates to the Carolina Panthers and their draft choices (mine are comments #8 and #9). I think the numbers I related there are pretty clearly in support of my position.

But, Jax's expectation of higher Wonderlic scores for Pro Bowl players got me thinking, so I did a little research. We've got complete combine Wonderlic scores for 2004 and 2005, so let's use that data.

2004 has produced 21 Pro Bowl players, by positions and scores: 2 QB (30, 25) 1 RB (28) 2 WR (18, 17) 2 TE (12, 32) 2 OL (20, 28) 5 DL (11, 23, 10, 17, 19) 1 LB (23) 2 CB (23, 13) 2 S (10, 20) 2 K (26, 25)

2005 has produced 12 Pro Bowl players, by positions and scores: 1 QB (23) 2 RB ( 6, 16) 2 WR (27, 19) 0 TE 2 OL (12, 25) 1 DL (19) 3 LB (20, 19, 29) 1 CB (22) 0 S 0 K

So, we've got decent data on each of these two draft classes. I don't want to tally and average all 300 scores for each year, because despite all appearances to the contrary, I do have a life outside of football geekery. But according to the Wiki, the average person scores a 24 on the test while the average football player scores a 20.

So let's look at our numbers, shall we?

2004 draft's Pro Bowler average: 20.48
2005 draft's Pro Bowler average: 19.75

You can make of these numbers what you will. Maybe they support your point of view, maybe they challenge it.

Thoughts?

by r3 on Mar 26, 2008 6:28 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting...

I do have a bit of a background in statistics, enough to know you can bend the data to support whatever position you want. I think you've done a good job here though. The data clearly supports the notion that Pro Bowl players score on average the same as the rest of the league. I could perpetuate the arguement by singling out the 'cerebral' positions: QB, OL, S, LB but then we just argue about what positions are truly 'cerebral'. No need to go there. You've made your point.

In the end it's simply up to each team to decide how much weight they want to give the score. There are no absolutes about a certain score, but it may help in comparing specific players.

Thanks Ray. Now about those pet chickens....? Ha!

by Jaxon on Mar 27, 2008 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions

intelligence

The wonderlic scores are very important in determining a guy's ability to understand and apply certain things. However, there is a big difference between the wonderlic and playbooks. Furthermore, the womderlic can't measure toughness, concentration or work ethic. Anyone know what Rae Carruth scored on the wonderlic? It doesn't measure character, either. That's why we pay scouts good money to avoid drafting guys like Eric Shelton and Keary Colbert.

by usana_gaines on Mar 27, 2008 12:34 PM EDT reply actions