Panthers Preseason Game 2 Bubble Watch
by Jaxon on Aug 18, 2011 11:25 PM EDT
in Panthers Game Previews
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One of my favorite things about the preseason is watching players with seemingly no chance to make the roster play themselves onto the bubble. This preseason for the Panthers is no different. In particular we've got a couple bubble players who are getting lots of playing time because starters are sitting out nursing injuries. Here's some guys on the bubble I'm hoping to see perform tomorrow.
T Byron Bell 6'5" 339 lbs
The word is the coaches are impressed with this monster of a guy. He's been getting work at both guard spots and at RT since Otah and Schwartz are out with injuries. I expect the Panthers to keep 9 o-linemen and only the first 6 or 7 are locks. Bell could very well warrant that 9th spot if he can play multiple positions
LB Thomas Williams 6'1" 240 lbs
Williams was the defensive star of the second half in the first game against the Giants. With Jon Beason sidelined with injury Williams is getting plenty of playing time in the second half. Let's see if he can keep it up again this week. He could sneak on the roster simply for special teams play if a guy like TE Gary Barnidge misses some time.
We've got a couple more bubble players to watch tomorrow night...after the jump...
WR Charly Martin 6'1" 212 Lbs
Martin is another guy looking to grab a spot that might be reserved for a special teams ace. Martin has always played well when he's given the chance. He was lost to injury last season after one game so he has a lot to overcome. Martin has sure hands and high energy. It's not whether he will make a play Friday night, its simply 'when'.
CB Kendric Burney 5'9" 190 Lbs
Burney has shown an ability to break on the ball with 3 passes knocked down last week. The Panthers secondary is in a state of flux so if Burney continues to impress he could very easily make this squad.
DT Andre Neblett 6'0" 295 Lbs
Neblett was the biggest surprise to make the roster last season. The 2nd year player would seem to have a leg up given the Panthers injury situation up front. Yet the emergence of DT Corvey Irvin has but Neblett's roster spot in serious jeopardy. Neblett really needs a good performance against the Dolphins.
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bubble watch...not bubble gum pop
…but I still laughed
Where's Adams?
I understood they picked up Cam’s leading receiver as a security blanket but I have not heard or seen a thing of him. Is he out the door yet?
He hasn't done much to even get to 'on the bubble' consideration
Given the extent of the competition I can’t see this kid making the roster. Great option for the practice squad though. That keeps him around for Cam if that truly is the thinking. Same with his center.
I don't know if he'll make the team, but he should......
Byron Bell looked very impressive to me at training camp. I actually think he looks a little better than Ziemba. Bell has a knack for putting guys on the ground and is extremely strong. Not that it’s hard to do, but Bell totally dominated Everette Brown day after day in drills.
"Keep Pounding" -Sam Mills
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I've seen him at both positions.
He’s a load at right guard, but plays pretty athletic for his size at right tackle. Just from what I saw at training camp, I’d keep him over Bernardeau in a second. Mackenzie Bernardeau is a tremendous athlete and as many know, has won a few strong man competitions over the years. For some reason, that athleticism doesn’t translate to the football field. Both Bell and Ziemba have taken a majority of their snaps at RG, but Bell has probably taken more than Ziemba at RT.
"Keep Pounding" -Sam Mills
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Bernie is not quick enough to play RG.
Remember the end of ‘09? He played LG fairly well. But at RG, his assignment, most of the time, is to block the under tackle one on one. He just isn’t quick enough to do that. He’s okay on the left side where he is mostly double teaming the nose tackle, or zone blocking a DE or LB.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
I would love to see Martin make the team
He’s a high motor player and always shows up big when given the chance. I’ve seen him make some great plays on ST and a few nice catches in preseason over the last couple years.
IT AIN'T SIZE OF THE DOG IN THE FIGHT BUT THE SIZE OF THE FIGHT IN THE DOG
I agree.
And from Marty’s perspective, it has to be harder to cut a guy who has worked so hard over the last three seasons for this team—overcoming injuries, a season on IR, etc.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
what WR should be cut then?
i think it might just end up being the odd man out on charlie…
"My everything, or nothing. My everything, or nothing. WE gonna fight, til we can't fight no more. We gonna lie down, and bleed a while. Gonna get up, and fight again." -Tashard Choice
by SouthernPanther on Aug 19, 2011 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe
By some slight possibility we go in the season with 7 wideouts keeping both martin and clowney.
I don't think that is out of the question.
Smith
LaFell
Naanee
Edwards
Pilares
Martin
Clowney
That means we would cut: Wright, Guy and the undrafted rookies. Anyone else I’m forgetting about?
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
I think if Barnidge goes on IR, we keep 7 wideouts
If Barnidge doesn’t, we go with 4 TEs and 6 WRs
I don't always fail, but when I do...
I do it awesomely.
by BusyBeingAwesome on Aug 19, 2011 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions
That's a pretty safe bet.
I think that if we only keep one FB, we may keep 7 WRs and 4 TEs.
Its a lot of receivers, I know, but we’ve got some versatile backups on the OL, so we may not keep more than two or three backup OL.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
So
3qbs, 4RBs, 1 FB 7 WRs, 4 TEs and 7/8 linemen?
and off topic, but shouldn’t pike beconsidered a bubble player? i hope he makes the cut.
Yup.
That means there are 26 offensive players (if we kept 7 OL). That means, after three special teamers, we have 25 spots for defense.
I don’t know about Tony. I think he’ll be the practice squad/scout team QB. Frankly I would be surprised if he made the 53, especially since Armanti could theoretically play QB in an emergency.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
I Doubt Panthers Can Keep More Than 8 Or 9 WR's & TE's Total
The Defense will likely keep 9 D-Linemen, 7 LB’s, and 9 DB’s, a total of 25 players on their 53 man roster. When you add in The P, K, and LS, that only leaves 25 roster spots for the offense, Tha means a few painful cuts, at LB with either Thomas Williams or 6th round pick (#166) Lawrence Wilson (with Connor, Ganther, and Senn set as backup LB’s), At DB it would mean only 4 CB (starters Gamble, Munnerlyn, with and only 2 or 3 others from among, McClain, Stanford, Wilson, and Burney as backup CB’s. The 9th DB spot probably between S. Kevin Payne and the 5th CB, because the 2 starting S’s, along with Pugh can also play CB, and SS Considine.
With only 25 roster spots open for offensive players, that probaly means 3 QB’s (Pike cut), 1 FB (Tony F.), 3 RB’s (D-Will, Stewart, and Goodson), 3 TE’s (Olsen, Shockey, and hartsock), 5 WR’s (Smith, LaFell, Naanee, Edwards, and Pilares), and 9 O-linemen. That only leaves 1 roster spot open (unless they risk going with only 3 backup O-Linemen), for RB Tyrell Sutton, TE Gary Barnidge, WR David Clowney, WR Charley Martin, and WR Wallace Wright.
by PanthersRoar on Aug 19, 2011 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Nobody keeps 9 OL.
Certainly not on the active roster. I think we’ll keep 8 now that Barnidge is out. With as much as we are going to use the TE, only keeping 3 would be a mistake. I don’t see any of the backups not mentioned already as making the team, so I’d expect there to be a TE signing after cuts. Since we have at least one WR who can play special teams, we may see more than 5 kept.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
From what I have seen from these guys.........
They all deserve to make the team. I view it as a positive if they don’t because I means we’ve got some tremendous competition going on. From the outside looking in, I think Bell, Burney, and Neblett are the most likely to make it. Again, I’d like to see them all on the team though. The odd man out could end up being Charly Martin. He just doesn’t offer much as a wide receiver and his special teams contributions might not be spectacular enough to push him past Williams. With Beason’s achilles soreness, and the unsure state of Thomas Davis’ re-repaired knee, we might be better served to keep Williams around for awhile.
"Keep Pounding" -Sam Mills
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Despite 'pulling' for Martin, this makes far more sense.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
Sad but true.
I really like Martin, so I hope they all make the team. The kid really plays his heart out. He might just end up being a victim of the current circumstances. I’d bet that if we cut him, he’ll be picked up in a second by a team that’s a “contender”.
"Keep Pounding" -Sam Mills
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I really like Thomas Williams' motor last game, and Bell seems to be making a name for himself
Both could make the 53 as they represent solid depth at positions of need. We always seem to need LBs and OL help at some point in time.
Kendric Burney
He better make the full squad because some other team will grab him… no shot to keep him on practice squad. This kid will be good!
Honestly, I don't see how Burney doesn't make this team.
I’ve been preaching it since we picked him up. Burney is possibly the most physical CB we have on the roster and he has an uncanny knack for being around the football. His instincts cannot be taught. If we don’t keep him, we’ve made a huge mistake. This guy is going to break out and be a star in the NFL.
"Keep Pounding" -Sam Mills
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Yeah, the kid can play.
Also, we’re not in a position to cut any CBs right now, until we see a healthy #20 and a healthy #41 on the field.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
Edit police here,
We’ve got a couple more bubble players to watch tomorrow night…after the jump
Thats tonight not tomorrow!!!!
Official member of the 2011 Panthers Mafia
This was posted last night.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
Ok my bad, I didnt see it until now for some reason.
I dont know why but some things don’t show up every time i click on the site lately. Even a fanpost i did a couple days ago was showing up sometimes and not other times. Anyway I just wanted to make sure e1 knows it’s on today, so they dont miss it.
Official member of the 2011 Panthers Mafia
Yeah....
It didn’t show up for me until about 20 mins ago.
I kinda like power running football though. It’s iike a bloody violent ballet…
When it was working it was a thing of beauty to me. - Vagus
(Please note that from now on I shall only refer to Cam as "The Newt" and Rivera as "BAMF")
Jerry Richardson: "Bitch slapping the NFL one signing at a time" - MMA_Pitbull
by The Duke Dude on Aug 19, 2011 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions
burney should absolutely make the squad
"My everything, or nothing. My everything, or nothing. WE gonna fight, til we can't fight no more. We gonna lie down, and bleed a while. Gonna get up, and fight again." -Tashard Choice
by SouthernPanther on Aug 19, 2011 11:58 AM EDT reply actions
BTW...what exactly is Otah's injury?
"My everything, or nothing. My everything, or nothing. WE gonna fight, til we can't fight no more. We gonna lie down, and bleed a while. Gonna get up, and fight again." -Tashard Choice
by SouthernPanther on Aug 19, 2011 12:03 PM EDT reply actions
swelling in his knee, supposed to be minor, but with Otah
you can’t help but be leery.
Rules and Regulations of the Game: 89, Bottom Line
by John Chilton on Aug 19, 2011 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions
In my opinion..........
Otah’s knee is never going to be 100% right. Neither is Stewart’s toe/foot, for that matter. It’s more troublesome with Otah though due to the amount of weight he has to carry around. Not being him, I obviously don’t know how bad it really feels, but at some point, I’m going to have to question his desire to play.
A couple of years ago the doctors told Stewart that despite the pain he felt, there was nothing wrong with his toe and he couldn’t do any damage. Stewart said that was all he needed to hear. He ended up being our leading rusher and “Double Trouble” was born. Granted, there is a big difference between a knee and a toe, but the psychology might still apply.
I look at it like this; either it’s bad and the doctors tell him he can’t play or it’s not and they tell him to play through it. If it’s swelling, something’s probably going on and he needs to sit out a bit. If it just doesn’t feel right, he’s just going to have to learn to deal with it and play ball. It is to early to condemn the guy because when healthy, he’s one of the best in the league; but to say I’m disappointed with him is an understatement.
Lastly, with regards to Otah, I believe Darin Gantt said it best the other day on Twitter.
@daringantt
Otah didn’t come with rep for playing through pain; just a big, bad man. Part of Ray Brown’s charter is to light a fire, teach toughness.
To that I say “Ray Brown, time to do work son”.
"Keep Pounding" -Sam Mills
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You Can't Light A Fire If Their Is No Fuel To Burn, Otah = No Fire Inside
If Otah is sidlined to start the season again this season, then it’s ime to move on, but with his 2011 and 12 salaries at just slightly over $1 million, and a $6.4 million (spread over 5 years) signing bonus, it will probably cost more to cut him than keep him for the next 2 seasons.
by PanthersRoar on Aug 19, 2011 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Same song...Its either the knee or the shoulder.
Shoulder, knee. Knee, shoulder…Vagina?
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
Burney & Williams!
I like them both to make the team. Burney would be a steal if he continues to make plays in the secondary. Williams was everywhere last week. not so sure with all the dept we have at the postion. I have high hopes for both of them.
"I Love It When A Plan Comes Together" Hannibal The A Team
Let's don't proclaim Burney...
or any of these other bubble players to be a lock to make this team just yet. One preseason game isn’t enough to say they belong. I’m as encouraged about these players as many of you are, but we must temper our glowing assessments by combining the first preseason game with the remaining games to get a more realistic picture of who will and will not make this team.
burney was great in college.
he can contribute on ST, and really his big knock is only his size…
"Don't put off til tomorrow what you can put off til the day after tomorrow." -Mark Twain
by SouthernPanther on Aug 19, 2011 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions
A lof of people
Said the same thing about Darrell Green, Sam Mills, etc., etc.
"You know you're in Charlotte when every day while you're having lunch in the city you hear ... "GOD Scott Fowler is a retard!"
by The Kackalack Kid on Aug 19, 2011 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions
The Knock On Burney Is His poor Speed (4.69-40 & 1.62-10) Short Arms (29 1/4 inches) & Lack Of Jumping Ability (32 1/2 inches)
by PanthersRoar on Aug 19, 2011 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions
He's an effort player.
"I don't know whatchu came to do...but IIIIIIIIIIIIII came to praise his name, yeyuss!!
~Reverend Brown, Coming to America
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