Gary Barnridge on 1st team

[megadeth078]

King signed an autograph for my grand daughter after practice the other day. It was the 1st time I had ever been up close to him and I was surprised that he isn't bigger than he is. I've heard that he was 6'4" to 6'6" but I hate to burst people's bubble but I was at least as tall if not slightly taller and I only claim 6'3".

good job, you just figured out King is 6'3".

[God]

King is awful, Barnidge WILL start over King at some point in the season.

[mantal]

King is awful, Barnidge WILL start over King at some point in the season.

Yeah, Barnage can give you highlight reels occasionally. Meanwhile, King can give you consistency constantly.

Algie Crumpler averages 4.5 yards after catch and we all wanted Algie here last year and were ready to pay him big bucks to do so. King averages 4.3 YAC, what's the problem? Meanwhile Barnidge is not even listed on the list, what's up with that? Nothing against Barnidge, just sayin'...

[Mr. Scot]

King's not awful. He just isn't great.

On a level playing field, "adequate" appears just as it is (adequate). But when compared to something superior - say, the other tight ends in the division - suddenly "adequate" looks inferior, even though it's really still adequate.

(I hope you got that on first read, cause I'm not even gonna try to repeat or explain it; it makes sense, trust me) :sosp:

Remember this team kept Kris Mangum (who was better than he got credit for) as a starter for years. And while I still think that Jeff Davidson wants to expand the role of the tight end in the offense, the same head coach is still in charge now that was in charge then, so who knows?

[Kevin Greene]

When are we going to go TE #1 like Mel Kiper says we should?!?!?

[Zod]

King is a solid starter and does everything asked of him. He blocks well and has good hands. He just is not a game breaker.

[magnus]

We have our game breakers. This team built playoff runs on roleplayers.

Barnidge looks interesting as a receiving option, but so does Rosario. Rosario and King had a lot of mistakes early, so hopefully that's gone, but I doubt we see much movement away from King as the default. And I'm okay with that.

[CatMan72]

What the experiment tells me is that Fox is doing some thinking.

Barnidge is more of a receiving threat than King, and might be more consistent than Rosario given the chance. Since the Panthers still love their two TE sets, King would likely still see plenty of time even if Barnidge becomes number one.

Fox may have some concern that the defense is not going to be as stout as hoped, especially with Kemo out. Hence, he could at least be considering the possibility that to win, they might have to be outscore people in a shootout.

So a defensive tackle goes down, anda tight end moves up to take his place.

(sort of) :sosp:

I don't think Fox will ever adopt the "shootout" mentality, it goes totally against his mantra of "run the ball, stop the run". I think what he's realized is that Jake needs a better receiving threat at tight end to help Jake out. Under the best of circumstances, a 34 year old QB is in decline. A TE can be a struggling QB's best friend.

P.S. this is not a "hate Jake" thread - I love Jake and he's the best option we have right now, I'm just being a realist.

[panthers55]

I don't think Fox will ever adopt the "shootout" mentality, it goes totally against his mantra of "run the ball, stop the run". I think what he's realized is that Jake needs a better receiving threat at tight end to help Jake out. Under the best of circumstances, a 34 year old QB is in decline. A TE can be a struggling QB's best friend.

P.S. this is not a "hate Jake" thread - I love Jake and he's the best option we have right now, I'm just being a realist.

Funny that Jake is in decline because he is 34 but has the wear and tear of roughly 6 seasons. Why is no one concerned about Brady who is 32 and has more wear and tear on his body after 7 full seasons.

I guess Warner is in decline going on 40.

Realism equals pessimism and cliche responses. No reason he is decline at all. With more weapons and a new coach this could be one of his best years yet.

[CatMan72]

Funny that Jake is in decline because he is 34 but has the wear and tear of roughly 6 seasons. Why is no one concerned about Brady who is 32 and has more wear and tear on his body after 7 full seasons.

I guess Warner is in decline going on 40.

Realism equals pessimism and cliche responses. No reason he is decline at all. With more weapons and a new coach this could be one of his best years yet.

Jake has only been playing QB for 6 years? LOL - Jake has been at it professionaly since 98 and was throwing footballs long before that. Football or not, you are not the same man at 34 that you were at 28... Doesn't matter how long you've been starting.... If Jake has only 6 years of wear and tear then why did he need Tommy John surgery? How well would Kurt Warner be doing without Fitzgerald and Boldin? (ask the Giants). I'm no fan of the Patriots, but lets be honest - Jake is no Tom Brady. (now I'm really gonna get it, LOL).

I knew I was going to get exactly this kind of hyper-sensitive response when I made my post. If you say anything on here that could possibly be interpreted as negative about Jake, you are going to get an earful.

I'm not pessimistic at all, I think this team could win a SB with Jake this year, but the fact is we've got a 34 year old QB with a surgically repaired arm and the Panthers need to start finding new ways to help him, like sacrificing some blocking ability for a legitimate receiving threat at TE.

[magnus]

The Tommy John wasn't from overuse. It was from a tear, I'd believed. It's not a matter of "worn out arm".

And honestly, having to try to position yourself as "realist" is just a way of campaigning to be thought of as 'right' on subjective matters.

[panthers55]

Jake has only been playing QB for 6 years? LOL - Jake has been at it professionaly since 98 and was throwing footballs long before that. Football or not, you are not the same man at 34 that you were at 28... Doesn't matter how long you've been starting.... If Jake has only 6 years of wear and tear then why did he need Tommy John surgery? How well would Kurt Warner be doing without Fitzgerald and Boldin? (ask the Giants). I'm no fan of the Patriots, but lets be honest - Jake is no Tom Brady. (now I'm really gonna get it, LOL).

I knew I was going to get exactly this kind of hyper-sensitive response when I made my post. If you say anything on here that could possibly be interpreted as negative about Jake, you are going to get an earful.

I'm not pessimistic at all, I think this team could win a SB with Jake this year, but the fact is we've got a 34 year old QB with a surgically repaired arm and the Panthers need to start finding new ways to help him, like sacrificing some blocking ability for a legitimate receiving threat at TE.

Thanks for correcting me Jake has played 5 full seasons in the NFL. (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008). He has been playing football longer but what you describe as decline due to age in the NFL is exacerbated by the number of hits, tackles and every day wear and tear he takes. Backups don't get that kind of abuse and therefore last longer.

You mention the age as the reason for his decline. I mentioned that other quarterbacks considered great and clearly not in decline were close to his age or older.

My point was your logic is erroneous and trite based on nothing else besides his age. No one compared his skill level to Brady. And I am not being oversensitive just pointing out that simplistic reponses like your don't jibe with any facts. And this bashing of Jake is not realism but pessimism. Wait until you have something to bitch about this year not last.

Show me how he is declining from 2006 or 2005. His performance last year in the few games he was awful I chalk up to the surgery afer effects. Therefore I believe he will rebound. Unless the facts back you up and they don't, what do you base your comments on? Jake is likely in better shape than he was at 28 based on the intensive rehab and conditioning program he did last year to rehab his arm. And trust me the passage of 6 years at 28 to 34 don't make the difference you think. If you add the abuse of 6 years of the NFL that players go through, then you have a point. As I have mentioned Jake has not taken that much abuse. His injury was not due to overuse, it was due to a sack by Abraham. Just like Brady's was due to a hit on the knee.

[bleys]

The Tommy John wasn't from overuse. It was from a tear, I'd believed. It's not a matter of "worn out arm".

And honestly, having to try to position yourself as "realist" is just a way of campaigning to be thought of as 'right' on subjective matters.

:iamwithstupid:

[weyco2000]

Well if we listen to Kiper we might as well kill ourselves or let King do it. Maybe we can let Kiper kill King and start Kiper at TE. It won't matter we won't throw to our TE anyway.