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Panthers Sign DT Ian Scott

Boy, when the Panthers decide to cover a position they don’t mess around. They signed another former Bear/Eagle in DT Ian Scott.

Scott, 26, has good size as well at 6-6 and 302 pounds. He played in 49 games with 33 starts with the Chicago Bears from 2003 to 2006. He was signed as an unrestricted free agent by Philadelphia last year, but was placed on injured reserve before the start of the season with a knee injury. A fourth-round draft pick in 2003, Scott had 155 tackles, two sacks, and one interception with the Bears. "Ian's a guy we have always liked," Hurney said. "We had been talking (with his agent) for some time."

This guy was injured most of last season so don't get your hopes up too much.

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Kiper Gives the Panthers a B Grade

I give Kiper props for being the only mock out there that I saw that correctly picked Jonathan Stewart going to the Panthers. Here’s what he had to say of the Panthers draft.

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. says he would have given the Carolina Panthers an "A" grade for their picks last weekend if they hadn't given up a 2009 first round pick to acquire Pittsburgh offensive tackle Jeff Otah with the 19th selection this year. So he gave them a "B" instead.

Kiper has this to say about our day 2 picks:

"I think (third-round pick) Charles Godfrey can play corner or safety," said Kiper. "He's a very good pickup. I thought he was the best player available on Day 2.

"Dan Connor (Penn State linebacker and third-round pick), we all know about him. I think (sixth-round pick) Nick Hayden will make it as a defensive tackle. (Seventh-round defensive end) Hilee Taylor had a great year at North Carolina. (Seventh-round Oregon tackle) Geoff Schwartz, at one point in time I thought he could be a fourth- or fifth-round pick. (Seventh-round guard Mackenzy) Bernadeau from Bentley will make the team and could be a starter down the road.

"They did the best job on Day 2. There's no question."

Now that is serious props for a staff that has struggled to find impact players on day 2 of the draft. If only three of these guys turn into starters that would be huge. Of course they still have to perform on the field this fall but at least other guru’s agree with the selections. It gives us a lot of hope going forward that Fox and Hurney will turn this thing around this season.

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Nick Hayden at the Combine

I was reviewing my combine tapes hoping to get a glimmer of any of our second day draft picks and sure enough I remember Nick Hayden very well. He was the slow, plodding white boy I was laughing at. Seriously, he’s not a natural athlete by any stretch as evidenced by the position drills but the guy is strong for sure. If he has the proverbial ‘non-stop motor’ as some claim then he has a shot to make the roster even with the addition of Walker and Scott.

Poll
How much better does the addition of Darwin Walker and Ian Scott make the Panthers d-line?
  • Best in the NFL
  • Best in the NFC
  • Best in the NFC South
  • Average at best
  • d-line is still below average
  • d-line is still awful, one of the worst

  63 votes | Results

0 recs | Comment 6 comments | Add your comment

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offseason work

It’s often been said that champions are made during the offseason. Jerry Rice and Walter Payton could attest to that. But sometimes, there is only so much you can do as a player on a 53-man roster, and finally the coaching staff is doing their part as well. I love signing Ian Scott and Darwin Walker. I don’t think either one will beat out Kemo, but Lewis might find himself still on the bench next year. That’s fine with me. I have nothing against Kemo or Lewis, but we can be sure the two best of this bunch will start. Menawhile, we have a couple rookies who will be groomed for the future if they make the team.

Our defensive line, LB corps and secondary are all better thru the draft and free agency. Our defense was already pretty good, though, so look for a top five performance, and over 20 sacks combined from Peppers and Johnson. One aspect of that to consider is that we’ll score more points, so teams will have to throw more in the second half. We’ll have Stewart and D-Will, who did average 5 yards a carry last year, to churn out the yards and run out the clock in the second half. Don’t be surprised, though, when they try to run out the clock by giving the ball to D-Will on 1st and 10, and he breaks it for a score.

Our entire team is better and I’m ready to enjoy this run to the Superbowl winner’s circle.

by usana_gaines on Apr 29, 2008 8:06 PM EDT reply reply   0 recs

Our defense was already pretty good???

Our defense was pretty good in 03, When we made it to the Superbowl. But it’s been declining ever since. Last year sucked. Peppers had only 2 sacks. The best player in our secondary was a backup Safety from Chicago. And a rookie led the team in tackles!

For the first time in a long time, Fox and Hernia have really tried to make our team better this off season. Almost every position is looking solid… except for the d-end. We can only hope Peppers will bounce back. And the other d-end position is a big ??? Johnson and Stanley “McLovin” have yet to show us anything. D-line could be very stout, or it could easily be very weak. But either way, with all the other upgrades, we should still be a better football team.

Jack Sutherland on behalf of Southtunnel
Southtunnel Web Development
http://www.southtunnel.com

by Jaxonweb on Apr 29, 2008 10:22 PM EDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

charlsong1

I just wanted to mentin that I changed my screen name to usana_gaines. I hear what you’re saying Jaxon, but keep in mind that I am always over optimistic, even without justification. The defense was pretty good for the most part, but we had some embarrassing moments inthe first few games. We were nowhere near champiioinship caliber, but that will change. I expect our offense to be on the field more, and that will be the biggest change for our defense.

by usana_gaines on Apr 29, 2008 11:16 PM EDT reply reply   0 recs

Seriously Mel...

It seems like to me each year of the draft should be graded seperately…
Isn’t he going to give us a poor grade next year for not having a first rounder?
So therefore he shouldn’t give us a poor grades this year AND next year for something that actually makes us a better team this year!!! Not that it matters what grade he gives us but I think Fox and Co. dserve and A.

On another not, hilarious stuff with Emmit Smith! enjoy…
ttp://www.walterfootball.com/emmitt.php
http://www.walterfootball.com/draft2008emmitt.php

by ClaytonFire on Apr 30, 2008 5:12 AM EDT reply reply   0 recs

Typos...

Wow, sorry for the typos, I guess that’s what I get for posting at 5 AM before work.
Hopefully you guys got the gist of what I was trying to say…
Fox and Co. deserve an A!

and on another note

I think maybe my e key is sticking…?

by ClaytonFire on Apr 30, 2008 11:49 AM EDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Ahh..relax

Don;t worry about the typos. It happens. Thanks for the comments and I get your point.

Mel is right, the Panthers had a good draft. If your sure you are going to improve your team then using next years pick to land a difference maker this year makes sense. At this point in time, all the Panthers have paid for Otah is a 2nd and 4th round pick. What a bargain!

I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com

by Jaxon on Apr 30, 2008 11:52 PM EDT reply reply   0 recs


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