A deeper look at the 2010 Carolina Panther roster

I think I would have rather kept Eric Moore rather than Andre Neblett on DL because they can always use Brayton as a DT and put Moore in his place or they could have kept Moore and let Nic Harris go, but mostly I am pleased with their picks.

DE with fresh legs = Sacks

Now lets get the First team Offense going and win the NFC South!!!

First of all, great article LK. It was very fair to all.

At QB, I like what we did, keeping Pike over Cantwell. I think Pike should be given a shot with our team to develop into a NFL QB. I did not think going with AE as an emergency QB was a good idea. This would have meant taking AE from the WR and PR to play some QB and learn yet again more of the playbook. I mean how much can this man handle. Also, LK you bring up a great point in that if we went with 2 QB’s and both of the QBs were taken, then where we be in a year. With this being said, I may be in favor of deactivating Pike for some games to give our roster some depth. In a game situation, if we have already lost the first to QBs, then running the mountaineer for the rest of the game gives us as much chance as Pike at QB.

At RB no one is really surprised that we are carrying 4 here. Im not sure if all 4 will be activated on game day but this has to be somewhat of a surprise. I think we only picked up Sutton when Goodson went down. He was a great find for us and gives us crazy depth at the RB, FB and PR positions. He is the new Nick Goings. (I always argue with my friend who is a Cowboys fan who has the better RB’s, and now we definently do.

I’m very happy with what we did at the WR position. I agree that when Wright went down, a spot for Martin opened up. As far as DJ goes, I saw on another post his stats in the last game of the season and if he can duplicate that, which I think he can (he did that with no Smith on the field), then he provides a decent WR2. I think he’ll be better. I’m excited about Gettis to the point, I kind of forgot abotu LaFell. I could see us deactivating AE if he doesn’t win the PR job. I don’t think we need 6 WR on gameday.

At DT I’m very surprised at what is going on. I’m not sold on keeping Hayden given his struggles. I liked Landri in what he was able to do. I’m also not sure we keep Neblett. I think he may be holding a roster spot too. However, I disagree with letting Irvin go. He was injured all last year, so he’s basically a rookie this year at the cost of a 3rd pick. According to the way the Panthers are treating DJ, we should keep the guys we’ve invested in. Irvin probably would be a we deactivate on gameday but I would have given him more time. I do trust in the FO decision but its confusing. Same basically goes for Tank but I think we were in a pinch last year at nabbed him. Will be place any of these guys on the PS? I think we would want at least one player on the PS.

Keeping 4 DE was a good idea because we have Norwood who could slide into the DE position. That would give us 4 for game day and a 5th if needed on game day. Eric Moore would have been deactivated too.

I don’t really care who we kept at the LB position as long as we kept Williams and Norwood. I wish Williams would have been healthy so we could have seen what he would do at the Will position. Injuries at the LB position will probably happen, so I want to see what there move will be.

I again don’t really care who they kept at he DB positions. Stanford never did look that good but then again didn’t Hudson get beat by Jared Cook in the Titans game? I like the rookies Pugh and McClain.

I willing to give some positions for the ST because they were horrbile last year. Give them all the help they can get even though ST is not nearly as important as the offense or defense. I do wish Baker could be the KOS.

The 6 we deactivate for gameday are AE, (one LB), Neblett, Gettis, either Goodson or Sutton, one DB (probably McClain or Pugh).

First thing to stand out is that the roster is probably not quite balanced with only 3 Guards and no decent backup at Center. The plan maybe to add one more guy as C/G backup and waive Neblett at this point. The odds are pretty good that if we have a crisis at DT, there will someone serviceable that can be promoted from the practice squad.

WR: I think, as suspected by some here, many WRs struggle at Carolina partially due to the conservative playbook. We need the likes of Smitty/Moose/Proehl to perform at the highest level in our offense. Free agents are probably even harder to work with, what with getting adjusted to a new scheme and quarterback. As long as Fox is here, this is not going to change much. (BTW, I would love to have Fox here next year)

I think Jarrett is the 2nd WR at the moment but I am not sure how that will work out for us. My greatest fear while Jarrett is out there is that he runs the wrong route but the DB reads the play correctly and runs it back for a TD untouched. However, when you have Smith who commands double coverage routinely, it becomes difficult to let go of someone who has good hands, especially given the drops from the other guys,

Gettis deserves his spot. I remember posting a video of him toasting Witherspoon with a double move during camp, hope to see more of that on Sundays….next year if not later this year.

Pike has a long way to go. We can hope that he gets there very quickly….but I am thinking at least year away from being a useful backup.

Hayden apparently outperformed both Irvin and Tyler. Somewhat surprising.

I think Hudson’s versatility (CB,S,ST) meant that Witherspoon was expendable.

I would actually like to see them sign K Steven Hauschka (who was released by Detroit)…looking at his Kick-Off stats from last year, his average yards per kick off was only a little over a yard behind Rhys Lloyd, who booted 30 touchbacks last year. And he has potential to stay on as our place-kicker in the event that Kasay retires in the near future. As an NC State alum, I can say that he’s not a bad kicker…In my opinion he’s a better (and probably just as cheap) option than Smoothie, who can’t seem to reach the endzone on his kick-offs consistently…and Carter doesn’t seem like the type to be able to fill in for field goals….Hauschka did for Baltimore (although he wasn’t the most accurate guy)…

I am glad we kept Gettis as I watched him at Indy this year during the combine, and he looked good has speed nice hands and has size. Needs work but it seems to me you guys are forgetting about Lafell. I want to point out 2 things I saw that impressed me during a preseason game he did. I think it was against the Titans, when he made the diving one hand catch, it was great but the THING that stood out was after the catch he stood up and immediately called TIME OUT. A good heads up play and by a rookie at that. The other play that impressed me was the drag route across the middle when he caught the ball and reversed his run he was short of the first down marker and KNEW it he dove the extra two yards to get the first down. Another heads up play. I think by the end of this season LAFELL will be our out right #2 WR, and in time Gettis and Edwards will be great too.
Remember you can’t coach heart you either have it or you don’t Jarrett doesn’t show me he has it!