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Big Shoes to Fill

Even with Julius Peppers on our line this year I feel like we weren't a dominate defensive line. However, with the likelihood of Julius Peppers leaving us this offseason, I'm wondering how we fill those shoes not only with regards to our pass rush, but also on run stopping. Julius is around 290 pounds and is a solid run stopper, something that goes overlooked. Lets examine the possibilities of what our DE position will look like next season if Julius is gone. (BTW, for this article I'm assuming the Panthers are going to retain Tyler Brayton, I believe he is a RFA is he not?)

Tyler Brayton does an admirable job stopping the run although he is very susceptible to cutbacks because lets face it, he isn't exactly the quickest DE in the world. I noticed it against Tampa several times this season that he would over commit going across the line of scrimmage and just a simple cut-back would burn us because our containment was broken. Everette Brown as of now is too small to stop the run on a consistent basis, and Charles Johnson for the most part seems like a pass rusher, although from what I've heard he is the strongest person on the team (in the weight room). Lastly I haven't heard much about Hilee Tyler this year. I don't know much about him and I haven't really seen enough of his play for draw a conclusion about him but as far as I know he is on the roster.

Who do you guys think we could go after in either the draft or Free Agency to help beef up our depth at DE if Julius leaves?? Let me know what you guys think, and if you have any specific personnel suggestions they would be great to hear!!

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