FanPost

Who is Jason Shirley?

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That's what I was wondering on Sunday. He is a DT that was drafted in the 5th round in 2008 by the Bengals. He was released this year, picked up by the Seahawks, released again, and now he is in our D line rotation. So why should you or I care? Obviously we all know how much DT is a position of need for the Panthers, and Shirley had a hell of a game on Sunday. Of course it's only one game, I'm not saying he's a solution yet, but I wanted to point him out so fans would watch his progression. In his first game as a Panther Shirley totaled two QB pressures, one sack, and one tackle for a loss in 30 snaps played. The pass rush numbers are obviously the ones that jump out, with Shirley getting either a sack or a QB pressure 1/6 times he rushed the QB (18 total pass plays defended.) That's great for a DT, and not something we have seen from our interior line this year. He may have just had a great matchup, he may have just had a random good performance, but he's worth watching in these last few games. If he emerges as a viable starter it may not change our draft needs but at least we would feel better about depth at the position.

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