Observations From My First Ever Panthers TC Visit on 8/5/09

In the wed morning practice they had a little “scrimmage” with some pad popping, but no tackling. In the afternoon practice they wore their shell pads (a thin foam pad over the chest and shoulders), so there was no contact.

So why do they always flop when it comes WR???

I have been on the go since leaving Spartanburg and have not been able to keep up with much sports, let alone Panthers, news.

Do we have any reason to think Robinson, Carter or the Beav could really be #2 receivers? My impression of Jarrett is that he’s just lazy. I think he will come on in real games. But if he doesn’t I think we will have to go to the draft again.

Barnidge has actually been getting a lot of run with the starters of late.

I think Jarrett wasn’t so much “jerked around”…“not dressed for games”…and “never given a chance”…by his coach. It’s pretty well-documented that he didn’t perform well in training camp or preseason when he was first brought in. It was evident that he didn’t know his playbook, wasn’t running routes well, and generally wasn’t displaying the demeanor of someone they expected to compete for a starting job. Thus, we find ourselves at this crossroads. He’s not the first player (even at his position or school) to display incredible athleticism and get really good numbers in college…and then totally fade away when he reaches the pros. Blaming that on the coaches rather than the player is inappropriate in my view.

Regarding Delhomme’s “tunnel vision”…I don’t think it’s that as much as he looks for his “go to guys”…and for a LONG time now, the ONLY go-to guy he’s had as a receiver is Steve Smith. And, sometimes, even if he does have another open receiver, I think he trusts Steve a lot more when he HAS to make a play. That’s because Steve Smith is a much better playmaker than anyone else in the receiving corps. That’s not because the other guys were “held back” by the coaches. It’s because Steve has superior athleticism and far superior discipline in preparing himself to play.

Lastly, with respect to Rosario…the guy was triple-covered in the back of the endzone in the San Diego game. Delhomme threw the ball in there anyway. And, if we’re all being honest, the Panthers were incredibly lucky to come out of there with the win. If we run that play 9 more times, the Chargers probably stop us all 9 times compared that one time it just happened to go our way. Rosario “disappeared” after that game for a variety of reasons. Game plans change every week. Against the Chargers, we were without Steve Smith, so other guys had to step up. Rosario was the beneficiary of the game plan that week. Later in the season, we didn’t run as many plays to the TE…and when we did, they didn’t always have Rosario on the field as opposed to King. The running game went bonkers, thus our number of overall passing plays went down. Smith still took up the highest percentage of them, but not just because Jake has “tunnel vision” for him…rather, because you want to put the ball in the hands of your best playmaker. That’s Smith, not Rosario. So, it’s a philosophical thing and as much a measure of what the coaches consciously choose to highlight when they gameplan for particular opponents.

But that’s just my two-cents,
—Neil

Is there a specific point from my observations that you would not agree with?

If you’re not showing the kind of dedication to knowing your playbook, conditioning, and film study to encourage them to put you out there. Hell, you complain about Delhomme’s “tunnel vision,” yet Jarrett barely caught half of the passes thrown to him. As for Moore “hitting every open target,” his targets to Smith are very similar to Delhomme’s (you do that when your #1 WR is, you know, one of the best in the NFL, but hey…\/)

I like Moore alot. I think he will have a future in this league. I just don’t think that future is now.

What I’m most curious about is why you think Moore should start based on the 2007 year. He led us to 26 points in two games against teams who were actually trying. We scored 31 against the Bucs in the season finale but both teams were playing for nothing and it isn’t like Moore lit up the world there either (174 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT).

Your quote:

“With Delhommes tunnel vision and horrible decision making everyone knows the other receivers aside from Smith & Moose are not going to get the ball thrown to them(its funny how when Moore was playing in December in 2007 he was hitting every open target).”.

Well, Moore’s completion % that year ranks below Delhomme’s career average…..so I really don’t know what to say.