I’m surprised they put us over the Vikings. With AP they would be the one team I would think could rush more than the Panthers.

I received a copy of Lindys magazine that featured D-Will on the cover. They also had the Panthers as the #1 rushing team. They also had the Panthers losing to the Eagles in the NFC playoffs. Boo. Gotta love predictions.

Brad Hoover, an asset as a runner and receiver? Maybe five years ago.

Also, since when is J-Stew going by John. If anything, it’d be Jon.

Nice to see them acknowledge us for something. I still think if the O-line can stay relatively healthly, the Panthers will have the leagues #1 rushing offense. Unless we call pass, pass, pass, again throughout an entire game….

While impressive in a backup role, Taylor looks only as good as that O-Line allows him to be. AP is as good as advertised, and on his own could turn that #32 Browns ranking into a #10, because he is a game changing back. I dont think Taylor deserves that honor.

On the other hand, I think both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are game changing backs. They both have proven on a professional level to be exactly what they were in college, not to mention they are both much younger than Chester Taylor. The jury is still out on Mike Goodson, the film looks good, he certainly was a game changer at TAMU, but I would like to see him on the field not just as a 3rd running back, but also on 4WR sets. You cant just predict when you are going to need that home run speed… it needs to be available all the time so defenses cant soften up the middle to protect the edges.

There is another 3 headed monster in play though that may be just as dangerous. Marion Barber III, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice in Dallas. Let us not forget Jones was averaging 19 YPC until getting hurt last year. The difference tho is in the O-Line.

So congrats to the cats on their #1 rushing ranking.

The Giants, Titans, Falcons, and Ravens are also competitors. In the end though, you could really put any of those teams towards the top and have them be pretty decent.

The thing about the Panthers is this though, we have two decent backs. Both can carry the weight of this team. Let’s take a quick look at the carry numbers of some of the other backs. First our own backs, and then theirs.

DeAngelo Williams 273, 5.5 average rushing
Jonathan Stewart 184 4.5

Now the other teams

Adrian Peterson ((Vikings)): 363, 4.8 average rushing
Brandon Jacobs ((Giants)): 219, 5.0
Michael Turner ((Falcons)): 376, 4.5
Chris Johnson ((Titans)): 251, 4.9

The Falcons are turning Michael Turner into a cowbell back, and the Giants lost their secondary back behind Brandon Jacobs. And sure all of these backs are good, but Williams has that 5.5 average rush edge over them all. Also, Peterson and Turner are both coming off their first year of being a cowbell back their previous year, and statistics show that sometimes that can add up to a drop in production.

I still can’t let go of that statistic. 5.5 yards per rush. Makes you wonder how good the Panthers rushing attack might have been in 05-07 if he had started as the primary running back, not Foster.

Here’s the thing I see:
Atlanta: Michael Turner to Jerious Norwood
Jerious is a great change of pace guy, could he go 4 full quarters though. Jerious will have 6 runs with 6.2 yard average because defenses get worn down from Michael Turner.

Minnesota: Adrian Peterson to Chester Taylor Taylor is seeing 30 rapidly approaching. There was a strong push at the time to drop DeShaun and pick up Taylor. Would have been a good move. He’s the poor man’s Michael Turner. Peterson is fantastic if the Vikes don’t run him into the ground. Those impacts will add up.

New York: Brandon Jacobs to Ahmad Bradshaw Brandon Jacobs is up and down and Ahmad Bradshaw is a shade under 200lbs. I don’t trust him to play a full season. It’s sort of like the poor man’s Atlanta running game.

Titans: Lendale White to Chris Johnson: Lendale White sort of has a Napolean Dynamite thing going on, he’ll play when he feels like it. Chris Johnson is lightening in a bottle. Got to wonder why he’s not a receiver. At 200lbs, TItans better hope no fat 350lb DT falls on him.

Panthers: DeAngelo Williams to J-Stew: Here’s what’s special – there is no drop off. These guys compliment each other, and are almost the same. If they can both stay 100% healthy, you can see one with 1500 yards and the other with 1000, which almost happened. J-Stew was getting over his foot and now his tendon, so hopefully in 2009, John Fox will have his dream scenario.

Gents, let me tell you – it’s extremely rare that salary cap, age, maturity, a passing game, and a pro-bowl line all converge together for this kind of power running game. This is like when all the planets line up. This is rare, really rare. Our defense answers the call and this could be a magical year.

I hope they remember that Arizona game and it angers them for 20 games this year. Jake and Smitty ain’t getting any younger and the salary cap balance has converged to the sweet spot for 2009.

I’d have to put us behind the Vikings, for sure. That team runs (and runs well) even when everybody knows that’s pretty much all they’ve got on offense. At least the Panthers have Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad as verifiable threats in the passing game. Minnesota has had nothing after Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. And yet, they’re still as productive (or more productive) than the Panthers in their ground game. Sure, they run more often…but, to me, that implies they’re able to run more often. So I’d rate them higher than us. The synergy between our passing attack and ground game helps our success that much more. It isn’t purely on the RBs.

But that’s just my two-cents,
—Neil