John Fox Responds to Peppers Request Big Time
by Jaxon on Jan 19, 2009 1:10 PM EST
20 comments
I'll just say this: We've never held players back," said Fox.
Whoa, way to set him straight there John. There's one little problem with that statement though, you kind of have held players back before. There's DeAngelo Williams last season, who you held back by keeping DeShaun Foster as the starter when Williams was clearly better. I could also argue you're holding back both CB Richard Marshall and WR Dwayne Jarrett. But I digress. The same point cannot be made of Peppers whom the Panthers have built their defense around for years.
If you want a more appropriate response to Peppers request you'll have to turn elsewhere. I like what former NFL GM Charlie Caserly had to say about it:
I don't think he's a 3-4 player at all," Casserly said. "He's a right end in a 4-3 defense. That's his best position, and that's where they played him at Carolina."
Casserly said he didn't see any reason Peppers' couldn't fully excel playing in the Panthers' 4-3.
"There's nothing they didn't do to help him reach his potential," Casserly said. "They lined him up at defensive end, and that's what he does. Anything he didn't achieve is his own fault."
Thank you Charlie for saying what every Panther fan has been saying since this bullshit story broke. Maybe he wants to argue that without Kris Jenkins next to him he's getting more double teams. The truth is that many teams this season found their starting LT had an easy enough time blocking him straight up. So he wants to be an OLB in a 3-4 defense? Think again.
While Peppers, listed at 6-foot-7, 283 pounds, has the textbook size for a 4-3 end, he's 20 to 40 pounds heavier than the classic 3-4 outside linebacker.
Maybe he wants to prove something in that regard, that he's quick enough and athletic enough to play that position. Come on Pep, the least you can do is be honest about your reasons. Floyd Reese is another former NFL GM perplexed by his request:
I see him best as a space, speed rush kind of guy, and I think that's where they tried to use him," Reese said. "I don't know what kind of a system he would be looking for, but I think most people ... would see him as a rush defensive end in a 4-3 scheme.
"They tried to put him in the best spot to succeed. We've seen him be very, very successful in that system. I don't know what he would get someplace else that would make him more successful, other than maybe being on a different team with different defensive lineman around him. But that doesn't really have much to do with the scheme."
Peppers agent tried to play the "he's a student of the game" who is intrigued by the 3-4 defense card. Oh please!!
Maybe all this an excuse just to leave, blaze new trails, who knows? It doesn't appear to be the money. I don't see where he could get anymore notoriety since he's thought of as a God here. I wonder if we will ever get the true reason behind this since I bet it's something very petty.The more this drags out the more I'm inclined to say "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out."
0 recs |
20 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
I'm more tolerant
But then I’m biased, I find the guy so amazing, I tend to side with him.
I really reckon he is just keen to spread his legs, try somewhere new. Who can hold that against him? I think it may not be the best move for his career, but fair enough if he wishes to try.
I think it is much easier for OLB’s in a 3:4 to rack up sacks than for DE’s, that is evident from the sack list this year (Peppers was joint second for DE sacks). I think that’s what he’d like to do and to effectively pioneer being an oversive backer. I think that is intriguing.
But my concern is that he wont get onto a better team. The real contenders over the next few years are unlikely to be ones with big salary cap holes that he can fit into. Maybe that’s hard to predict though, I dunno, I just feel if they could get a better pass rush out of his teamates, either from the draft, free agency or existing players stepping up, I reckon the Panthers are likely to be about the best contender he could be on.
You noted the 3-4 options. The Cowboys, Dolphins and Chargers aren’t going to pay for an unproven version of something they have excellent versions of (Ware, Porter, Meriman). I don’t see the Pats risking that kind of money, nor the Steelers (they’ll want to spend on their offense surely?), so it leaves the Jets. Are they gonna risk it? Do they have cap room?
Otherwise he’ll be a proposition to fix a crap D some place. A crap D on a team who’s offense is ready to win now? They’re not going to trade him to the Saints!
I heard it mentioned that he may well end up staying, the example was given of Lance Briggs who publicly declared he wanted out of the Bears but now is Bears through and through again.
Its interesting.
I don't hate Peppers
I just don’t think he will be worth what we would have to pay to keep him around and I also believe he is a little bit lazy out on the field. There is no reason he should not be even better than he already is. I guess my worry is that he is not improving all that much. I have a bad feeling this is going to end with the Panthers not getting anything of value for him.
I agree, it may sound like I hate the guy but I don't
I just don’t get it, he had a career high number of sacks yet he somehow feels like he should have done better. But the reason for that is the defensive scheme? I don’t think he can really blame it on the players around him but maybe he is. I agree with Caserly, if he feels cheated he has no one to blame but himself.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
Sounds like..
1. We need to work out a deal with Jordan Gross. Cha-ching $$$$
2. Franchise Peppers
3. Hope somebody gives something of value for him in a trade- this being the toughest since he has made it clear he wants out of Carolina.
I'll Just say this about Williams
He was no where near as good last year as he is this year. He couldn’t block in the back field, now he can. I think a lot of the talk about yards per carry is good but if he couldn’t be a complete back there was no reason to put him in there all the time. Now he is a great player. Last year he was a great change of pace back. The comments made about how last year he’d raise his hand to go out after a couple of carries also doesn’t speak well to his conditioning last year.
Yeah, this whole Peppers dilemma has just gotten worse as the days go by
And now I think it’s in the Panthers best interest to atleast franchise him and then trade him to a team with interest like Kansas City did with Jared Allen last year.
As for interested parties (3-4 defensive teams in particular), I can’t really think of one that is in need of a pass rusher. San Diego? I don’t so. Pittsburgh? Doubtful. Dallas? I hope not, but you never know. Baltimore? Unless they don’t resign Suggs, I don’t see them having the financial space to fit Pep in.
So who else?
by ChipperTeixeira89 on Jan 19, 2009 5:02 PM EST reply actions
My concern is
that he wants to go to a team that runs the 3-4 defense, which really limits where the Panthers can send him. I am with you on this. If we do try to trade him, he is certainly going to want to go to a 3-4 team and I am concerned that is really going to inhibit what we get for him. Teams already know the Panthers want something in return, Peppers wants to go a 3-4 team and that Peppers does not want to play for the Panthers. We really have zero leverage at this point.
by bengoodfella on Jan 19, 2009 5:33 PM EST up reply actions
3-4 teams...
Dallas.
San Francisco.
Arizona.
Baltimore.
San Diego.
Pittsburgh.
New England.
Miami.
New York (Jets).
I am pretty sure Arizona runs a 4-3. Regardless, of these teams, I am going to go ahead and mark San Diego, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New England, and the Jets off the list as teams he would go to. I am a little confused because I read online that moron Peter King said he would compliment Philip Merling well but doesn’t Peppers want to be a stand up LB and not a lineman in the 3-4 defense?
by bengoodfella on Jan 19, 2009 6:00 PM EST up reply actions
Whoever
runs the 3-4, I just hope one of them wants Peppers bad enough to try and give the Panthers a 1st and 3rd round pick. I just don’t feel like we have leverage enough to get that much for him. Of course knowing John Fox, he may keep Peppers around as a franchise player for another year. I don’t really know at all what they are going to do.
by bengoodfella on Jan 19, 2009 8:48 PM EST up reply actions
Pretty sure Arizona runs a 4-3
Berry and Smith are the DE’s and Docket and Watson the DT’s. They actually have a post up now about how a recent change in the line has resulted in the improved run D.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
From what I know
(I ‘know’ a couple of Cards fans who watch them a lot more than I do because, surprisingly, they’re never on in Utah)
they switch off between the 3-4 and the 4-3, and their 3-4 is actually more like a 5-2 in set-up.
Of course, I don’t watch them all that much, so I’m not certain, but yeah…
To add to that Dallas...
gave up their first round to Detroit for Roy Williams, but I kinda doubt they would trade him to them anyways.
Dang, Jax.
What’s with all the hostility? You’ve clearly got a lot of anger about this situation. I’ve got a lot of sadness, myself, so I understand the emotional response, but I don’t quite get where the “vs Peppers” attitude comes from. You’ve been hitting him pretty hard (“not the brightest light in the hall”, “he’s jealous”, “let’s trade him to Detroit”, etc.). Where’s that coming from?
First off, I’m pretty sure, having read all of his agent’s comments and interviews, that he wasn’t necessarily saying that he wanted to go to a 3-4 defense. Specifically, he was saying that he wants a new scheme, a new system. Doesn’t necessarily mean 3-4, it probably means more aggressive defenses that utilize complex (or at least smart) blitzes, misdirection and a variety of stunts (Philly, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, NY Giants, Chicago). Smart, aggressive defenses. We don’t have that. I think John Fox wants that, but I haven’t really seen it since 2002 and 2003.
Again, it’s hard to hate on the guy, at least for me. If I were him, I’d rather play in a bigger market with more prime time and nationally broadcast games, and more endorsement opportunities, and we all know that means Pro Bowl and All Pro selections, and and that might eventually mean Hall of Fame.
Of course, since 2005 he hasn’t shown himself to be HoF material, so it’s no wonder in my mind that he wants to work with another coaching staff. It wouldn’t shock me at all if he ended up in Philly or Baltimore or even New England. I think we’re all in agreement that he’s not driven by finances, so he’ll probably take something below market value to play with a staff and a scheme that he’s excited about.
Now we just have to find one of those teams who want to give up a 1 and a pair of 2s. Because, seriously, he’s better than Jared Allen, who was worth a 1 and pair of 3s.
His comments certainly struck a cord with me
The guy would seem to have it all here in Carolina but he assumes that with a different team he would be better. “The grass is always greener” analogy. It bothers me that the guy this fan base has held up as its model player now thinks he’s too good to be here. He’s bought into his own hype. It still pisses me off and I doubt I will get over it until this situation is resolved. I think I feel like a ‘jilted lover’ to some degree!
I think the 3-4 thing is a smoke screen. I think he just hates the defense the Panthers play but doesn’t want to say that just yet because its not certain he’s leaving.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
r3
I completely agree. Peppers knows he’s not going to play LB, and he should know that LBs get sacks in the 3-4, not DEs. Charlie Casserly’s comments were way off. This is the first season where Pep played as a RE, and the first where he was moved around some for different fronts. If his lack of development was all his own fault, like Casserly said, then his 14 sacks were all his own, too, with no help from the DC or staff.
I think the Patriots would be willing to trade Cassel for him, but if so, we might be the ones throwing in a draft pick. I think he’ll end up in the AFC and be more dominant as the new DC will see how to effectively use all his talents. And when compared to other DEs, you have to also look at run defense and blocked kicks.
Either way, I predict he’s gone by the end of the week.
Jaxon posted an article earlier that talked about guys who don’t want to win in the playoffs. Maybe he didn’t either, which is why he didn’t do much against ARI. He was tired of Carolina and wanted the season to end.
Julius Peppers to Patriots for Cassel and 1st round pick
Get the deal done son!
"Once again the trowsers of evil are yanked down by the mocking hands of justice!"-Revshawn
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
