Work cheap? Stop the run? Call Panthers

[Rod Butsecks]

(By Tom Sorensen, [email protected]) p/ John Fox and the Carolina Panthers have a two-part philosophy. Run the ball. Stop the run./pp/ Although that philosophy is as integral to who they are as their colors and nickname, as Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith, as Jerry Richardson and his golf cart, the Panthers no longer have the personnel to make it work. /pp/ Until they uncover or discover an interior lineman, teams will run on them with impunity./pp/ A player who would have prevented this, 6-5, 345-pound tackle Maake Kemoeatu, likely is out for the season. About seven minutes into the first practice of training camp Kemoeatu performed a drill he probably has done 100 times. This time he tore his Achilles tendon./pp/ Kemoeatu watched Carolina's third practice Tuesday from the side of the field on a sturdy white folding plastic chair. His crutch got the chair next to him./pp/ Replacing him in the starting lineup was second-year tackle Nick Hayden, who played two games last season, the two Kemoeatu missed with an ankle injury./pp/ In the first of them, the Panthers played the New York Giants. This was the next-to-last game of the regular season and at stake was the best record in the NFC. The Giants won 34-28 in overtime./pp/ Pounding the ball inside, New York rushed for 301 yards. New York averaged 7.3 yards a carry. Derrick Ward, who rushed for 215 of those yards, looked like Jim Brown, only better. Carolina shuffled players into Kemoeatu's place and they took turns not tackling./pp/ The Panthers suddenly have a new mission: Find a starter who can replace the big man and is willing to work cheap because the Panthers have no money to pay him. They spent so much on the items they craved that they no longer can afford what they have to have./pp/ They'll pay Julius Peppers more than a $1 million a game. To put that in perspective, he'll make about 14 percent of the money Carolina has under the salary cap./pp/ But the lack of cash is much bigger than Peppers. The Panthers have drafted well and teams that draft well have to spend money to retain their stars. They offered massive contracts to offensive lineman Jordan Gross and cornerback Chris Gamble./pp/ The Panthers gambled. They gambled they would stay healthy. The team with which they went into camp was tested and talented and thin, and the thinnest position is the one Kemoeatu plays./pp/ You can't rip the Panthers for drafting well. You can rip them for failing to anticipate the fiasco that Peppers' contract has become./pp/ There is one asterisk here, however, one unknown. /pp/ Ron Meeks, Carolina's new defensive coordinator, also has a philosophy. When he designed the defense in Indianapolis, he filled his line with small, quick linemen the size of Kemoeatu's left leg./pp/ Before practice Tuesday I ask Meeks what he wants from the position./pp/ ldquo;Productive guys that can get a rush on the quarterback,rdquo; he says. ldquo;Guys that can control the running game, are quick, guys that really want to make plays.rdquo;/pp/ If they're willing to work for food, call 704-358-7000 during business hours./p

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