Panthers make a list (not a good one)

[EightyNine]

Well,  Remmers was there waiting on the rams practice squad before the season began. Imagine if the Panthers grabbed him then. Having Remmers play over Chandler a few games would have been helpful. No? 

Seems kinda harsh to question someone for not recognizing the talent in someone else's practice squad player...better late than never.

 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

​This may actually be it... Gman probably knows LT has been neglected but didn't want to reach in the draft (which he said over and over) and he felt Oher was the only legit FA worth having...   

It sucks but...

​I think that's exactly it.  Reaching on a position of need does you no good.  Maybe it helps your draftnik post-draft grade, but that doesn't matter for poo.  At the end of the day, you've added a player who isn't going to do much to help you while neglecting the chance to add better prospects at other positions.  If you have multiple players on your board with similar grades, I think that's where need acts as sort of a tie breaker.

[MHS831]

The rating is bs.  They signed 2 OTs who were early draft picks a few years ago and drafted a T. They found a pretty solid backup T in free agency in 2014.   Established, proven Tackles don't exist in free agency, and in the draft, only 20% of the OTs taken in the first 19 picks in the 2013 and 2014 drafts are solidifying themselves as LTs.  So what was the answer?  Draft T in the first round?  Nah.  Not this year. 

So while it is very easy to point fingers at what we did not do, it is much harder to make a legitimate argument about how we should have done it.  Are they suggesting that we reach in the draft for a T? 

It is frustrating, but how many solid LTs are there in the NFL?  I would say 10-15.

[thefuzz]

The rating is bs.  They signed 2 OTs who were early draft picks a few years ago and drafted a T. They found a pretty solid backup T in free agency in 2014.   Established, proven Tackles don't exist in free agency, and in the draft, only 20% of the OTs taken in the first 19 picks in the 2013 and 2014 drafts are solidifying themselves as LTs.  So what was the answer?  Draft T in the first round?  Nah.  Not this year. 

So while it is very easy to point fingers at what we did not do, it is much harder to make a legitimate argument about how we should have done it.  Are they suggesting that we reach in the draft for a T? 

It is frustrating, but how many solid LTs are there in the NFL?  I would say 10-15.

​I absolutely don't think for a second that DG doesn't know that LT is  a major issue, he isn't an idiot.

 

What I'm thankful for, is that he isn't an idiot, and blowing big money on a bad free agent.

 

MHS is right, it's just really hard to find those guys.  I got really nervous when Gross retired, as I know how hard it is to find another one of those.  Much like the Pats are spoiled with an almost bulletproof Brady, the same could almost be said for us and the Gross.  Those guys miss very little time.

[Mother Grabber]

​This may actually be it... Gman probably knows LT has been neglected but didn't want to reach in the draft (which he said over and over) and he felt Oher was the only legit FA worth having...   

It sucks but...

​which means it hasn't necessarily been neglected.  Not making a bad decision is also not an indicator of neglect, nor is it an indicator that Gettleburger doesn't have a plan.  His lack of action seems to be more appropriately attributed to a lack of viable options.  Blaming him for a crappy pool of LT FA, or no LT worth drafting seems rather foolish.

[MechaZain]

It's a sad and scary fact but I think the fate of this team next season lies with Oher. His performance will be the difference between struggling to get to .500 and the Panthers being an elite contender.

 

 

[GRWatcher]

I don't exactly feel like we're fiddling our thumbs. It's more like waiting until they can practice with the pads on to see much of anything. Worrying about it or complaining will not get us there any faster. 60 minutes in an hour no matter how you feel. So take a deep breath.

There is a huge difference this year from last at LT. The competition is wide open for the spot. This alone makes me feel better about it. Yeah, it might be a couple of FA's whose "days of future past" might be gone, or not. Throw in some rookies. All with youth on their side, item #2 to make me feel better. Do we have a proven veteran available? No. But I'll take our group of young players competing together, helping each other improve with Matsko's coaching any day of the week. Ah, that coaching. #3 to make me feel better about it. 

[Woodie]

​It's just really frustrating.  I understand that he was caught off guard by Jordan's decision to retire.  I understand that the cupboard was somewhat bare last year in FA.  I understand the whole salary cap thing.  But our OT depth last year would have struggled to start for an SEC school.  Thank god he stumbled upon Remmers to get us through the second half of the season.  Dave has done really well at finding us talent at positions of need but he gets an F so far when it comes to OT.  

​He didn't "stumble upon" Remmers.  He identified, scouted, and evaluated a player at a significant position of need for us.  Remmers didn't just fall in his lap, he went out and found him...that's a far cry from stumbling upon.  

[Woodie]

​Not impressed by the Bell/Chandler experiment?

​I don't think that was ever an experiment.  I think it  was always a prayer...one that obviously wasn't answered.  Despite some thinking they actually believed Bell was the answer, I think they never fully had faith in him.  If they did, they would have signed him to more than just a small one year deal.  They knew he wasn't the answer, just a placeholder until they could find someone competent. 

And despite some that complain that they didn't do enough to address the problem, in truth, they didn't have the means or opportunity to address it.  The limited cap space wasn't made up, the lack of solid options that were even available wasn't made up, and the lack of quality options at 28 wasn't made up.  The fact is that his hands have been tied for a couple of years now. 

But even with those constraints, he has found a way to improve the talent level of a line that was among the worst in history to start last year.  At the start of last year, we had one legitimate starter on the roster, this year we have four.  That is the definition of addressing the line.  I think people unrealistically expected him to be able to fix the whole thing in one or two offseasons, but that is unreasonable.  Even the idea of finding a serviceable LT in FA or at any point we drafted is unreasonable.  IMO, he's done about a good a job of fixing that OL as anyone could reasonable hope.  And if their scouting on Oher is correct, and he becomes a solid starter (which he used to be), then he needs to be appreciated even more. 

[Khyber53]

I think that to draft a first class, no problems left tackle, you're going to have to pick high in the draft. Those fellows are few and far between and we're just not going to see one fall to the 20s. You will find some guys who "might" make a good left tackle, or might be trainable, but the sure bets are gone in the top 10 picks.

Until you can grab one, if your team is in need, you've got to do what we did: grab some veterans off the street that will work cheap and hope one of them will be serviceable for the short term. With Oher and Martin, we've grabbed two chances with experienced tackles at a pretty low cost. If either or both can hang in there and hit at least NFL average performance for the position, we win the gamble. If not, we're not in for too much money and we can spin them off next year.

There's always the chance one of those guys will blossom into the best year of their career. It'd be a great story if they do.

If they, however, both flame out, well... that high draft pick might be available to us.

It's better to bargain shop for the short term until you get a sure thing. Reaching for one of those who aren't a sure thing can hurt worse and for longer.

 

[Kurb]

I think it's more he refuses to draft for need or deviate from his cap plan.

he's too smart a GM to throw OL out the window.

Least we forget the Panthers media dept. Is basically Bagdad Bob and coach speak tells us they have confidence in everyone at every position.

[jasonluckydog]

We have Cam we don't need no line

[MadHatter]

Well,  Remmers was there waiting on the rams practice squad before the season began. Imagine if the Panthers grabbed him then. Having Remmers play over Chandler a few games would have been helpful. No? 

​Fair point.

But given that Remmers had underwhelmed in the league to that point, I could see how one might think that he was not better than what we had.  Bottom line is that we took a gamble on Remmers and it is paying off.....and we took a gamble on Bell and it did not.

[MichaelNewtonII]

​Sitting here with our fingers crossed hoping that Oher will all the sudden become something he has not yet been is a huge chance to take.  Huge.  We are facing some pass rushers this year as well.  Dave's thinking on the OT position just baffles my mind.

If that idiot Jerry Jones realizes the importance of adressing O-Line, idk how Gettleman doesnt