A very general thought on the defense. Bullies in the making.

[top dawg]

Just a thought guys n gals. I was reading over our forum master's thoughts about our linebacking corps yesterday, you know where Jeremy was talking about their speed and ability to cover sideline to sideline. I then reflected on how stalwart our defensive ends can be with the return of CJ, as well as the progression of Kony Ealy and the other young, presumably situational guys at the DE position who have shown notable potential at times wether in last year's camp (Miley), preseason (Cox), or a regular season game (Delaire). I also almost forgot (not really) the arguably underappreciated Mario Addison. Addison's speed rush is as good as any in the league. When Addison comes in, he never really comes up short, which led me to my next thought, that Short is still coming up. KK has not reached his peak (his "pinnacle" as Cam might say), and neither has Star. Lotulelei's star is still rising. That raw material is being forged into a Death Star. How about a Borg Cube? Resistance is futile! No? Don't believe me, just watch (a nod to Mars---as in Bruno---since I'm talking stars and all). Moreover, let's not forget that we've added some other large bodies into the mix (maybe heavenly to some, I don't know, just sayin'). Sure, Vernon Butler is a massive man with an arguably massive learning curve, as is evidenced by some struggles in camp so far, but what rookie lineman doesn't have issues during the first couple of days of camp? It's to be expected. Even though he wasn't drafted to necessarily be a space eater,  playing alongside the likes of Star and KK will free him up and make him better able to get into the backfield. As green as Big Vern is, Paul Soliai is as experienced as they come. I'm thinking that his presence will pay in paydirt. With Soliai holding his own, and there is absolutely no reason that he can't, the others will be able to do what they do.

Now the potentially weak link, as we all know, could be the back end. We'll just have to wait and see. But Coleman is a ball hawk, and Boston looks to be one, as well as all the rookies from what we've seen in a few days work. We also know that the safeties like to lay the wood, and that's if the lumber truck of the line and linebackers haven't already run roughshod over the opposition in front. I suspect that at least a couple of the rookie corners already have some stag in them also, but even if not, that mentality can be infectious, so don't be surprised to see them gel by November.

Basically, what I am saying is that there are reasons to believe that Getty's architectural master plan on defense will come to fruition this season. We have the potential to be a historical bunch. The Panthers have the makings of the big bully on the block as a unit. It may sound funny for a group that is already a top unit in the league, but we have seen the flashes. We will get to the point where we can impose our will with consistency upon the QB and the rest of the opposition. Perhaps unbeknownst to some, but the pressure was present last year, and this year should provide even more (esp. with an improved offense). I'm thinking that this will translate to a few more actual sacks. 

Yeah, I may sound like an optimistic cheerleader, but it's the end of July and we just came off our best season ever and really only lost one major ingredient (no disrespect to Peanut who'd seen his best days). The defense should be nasty, as Jer pointed out---yeah I'm feeling pretty positive this Sunday morning, so "Jer" it is---with the addition of an experienced Shaq Thompson making his presence felt, the LBs alone will be an undeniable, if not unavoidable, nightmare for the opposition. Add in the rest, and the Bullies of BOA will be all up in the heads of QBs, coaches, lineman, receivers, backs, and fans of every team outside of Charlotte. 

Sweet dreams!

 

 

 

[jumpman910]

As far as the backend is concerned I feel like Worley will be the day one starter over Bradberry. 

[arbnranger]

Nice post Top Dawg!

[Burnout189]

19 minutes ago, top dawg said:

Just a thought guys n gals. I was reading over our forum master's thoughts about our linebacking corps yesterday, you know where Jeremy was talking about their speed and ability to cover sideline to sideline. I then reflected on how stalwart our defensive ends can be with the return of CJ, as well as the progression of Kony Ealy and the other young, presumably situational guys at the DE position who have shown notable potential at times wether in last year's camp (Miley), preseason (Cox), or a regular season game (Delaire). I also almost forgot (not really) the arguably underappreciated Mario Addison. Addison's speed rush is as good as any in the league. When Addison comes in, he never really comes up short, which led me to my next thought, that Short is still coming up. KK has not reached his peak (his "pinnacle" as Cam might say), and neither has Star. Lotulelei's star is still rising. That raw material is being forged into a Death Star. How about a Borg Cube? Resistance is futile! No? Don't believe me, just watch (a nod to Mars---as in Bruno---since I'm talking stars and all). Moreover, let's not forget that we've added some other large bodies into the mix (maybe heavenly to some, I don't know, just sayin'). Sure, Vernon Butler is a massive man with an arguably massive learning curve, as is evidenced by some struggles in camp so far, but what rookie lineman doesn't have issues during the first couple of days of camp? It's to be expected. Even though he wasn't drafted to necessarily be a space eater,  playing alongside the likes of Star and KK will free him up and make him better able to get into the backfield. As green as Big Vern is, Paul Soliai is as experienced as they come. I'm thinking that his presence will pay in paydirt. With Soliai holding his own, and there is absolutely no reason that he can't, the others will be able to do what they do.

Now the potentially weak link, as we all know, could be the back end. We'll just have to wait and see. But Coleman is a ball hawk, and Boston looks to be one, as well as all the rookies from what we've seen in a few days work. We also know that the safeties like to lay the wood, and that's if the lumber truck of the line and linebackers haven't already run roughshod over the opposition in front. I suspect that at least a couple of the rookie corners already have some stag in them also, but even if not, that mentality can be infectious, so don't be surprised to see them gel by November.

Basically, what I am saying is that there are reasons to believe that Getty's architectural master plan on defense will come to fruition this season. We have the potential to be a historical bunch. The Panthers have the makings of the big bully on the block as a unit. It may sound funny for a group that is already a top unit in the league, but we have seen the flashes. We will get to the point where we can impose our will with consistency upon the QB and the rest of the opposition. Perhaps unbeknownst to some, but the pressure was present last year, and this year should provide even more (esp. with an improved offense). I'm thinking that this will translate to a few more actual sacks. 

Yeah, I may sound like an optimistic cheerleader, but it's the end of July and we just came off our best season ever and really only lost one major ingredient (no disrespect to Peanut who'd seen his best days). The defense should be nasty, as Jer pointed out---yeah I'm feeling pretty positive this Sunday morning, so "Jer" it is---with the addition of an experienced Shaq Thompson making his presence felt, the LBs alone will be an undeniable, if not unavoidable, nightmare for the opposition. Add in the rest, and the Bullies of BOA will be all up in the heads of QBs, coaches, lineman, receivers, backs, and fans of every team outside of Charlotte. 

Sweet dreams!

 

 

 

Agreed. If our defense plays to their full potential then they are easily rated within the top 3 of the league.

[KB_fan]

I wonder which is harder:

Sustained greatness on defense vs. sustained greatness on offense?

I was reading an article by Bill Barnwell at ESPN yesterday about some of the teams with the best turnover ratios since 1989.  The stats were a bit shocking to me:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/BarnwellNFLPreview160726/predicting-which-nfl-teams-rise-decline-2016-dallas-cowboys-san-diego-chargers

Quote

 

teams with dramatically high or low turnover margins often regress toward the mean the following seasons, which, naturally, impacts their win-loss record in the process.

Indeed, the Packers (plus-14), Texans (plus-12) and Patriots (plus-12) were the three teams in the NFL that posted double-digit positive turnover margins in 2014 ... and their margins declined by an average of seven turnovers last season.

[...]

Best, worst turnover margin (2015)

Team	TO Margin	Team	TO Margin
Panthers	+20	Cowboys	-22
Chiefs	+14	Ravens	-14
Bengals	+11	Titans	-14
Cardinals	+9	Jaguars	-10
NE/NYG/SEA	+7	Browns	-9

The two outliers at the top of the charts loom large as teams likely to improve and decline. The Panthers, with much of the same personnel in key places, posted a turnover margin of just plus-3 in 2014. Their key addition in terms of creating takeaways was safety Kurt Coleman, who picked off seven passes last season after intercepting 10 in his first 74 NFL games. Coleman probably won't pick off passes at quite that rate this season.

Since 1989, the 50 teams with turnover ratios between plus-15 and plus-25 posted an average margin of plus-2.7 the following season, declining by an average of 15.8 turnovers.

 

I don't expect our decline to be that drastic, but it could be hard to stay at the top of the turnover ratio stats if history is an indicator.   I'm guessing a turnover ratio of +13 to +15 could be more realistic... 

Hopefully we will shock folks by not regressing to the mean but posting even better numbers.  With Luke's improvement in coverage, with Shaq improving dramatically, with Ealy hopefully breaking out, and with Short in a contract year hopefully ready to play like a beast.... it could be an excellent year for our defense.

 

[ColumbusCounty]

38 minutes ago, KB_fan said:

I wonder which is harder:

Sustained greatness on defense vs. sustained greatness on offense?

I was reading an article by Bill Barnwell at ESPN yesterday about some of the teams with the best turnover ratios since 1989.  The stats were a bit shocking to me:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/BarnwellNFLPreview160726/predicting-which-nfl-teams-rise-decline-2016-dallas-cowboys-san-diego-chargers

I don't expect our decline to be that drastic, but it could be hard to stay at the top of the turnover ratio stats if history is an indicator.

 

That's the importance of our backend. Looking at our strengths, teams are going to try to take advantage of our inexperienced secondary instead of forcing the run... I think we'll have an opportunity to improve upon last year's numbers if we can execute on D and take care of the ball.

The wildcard is Peanut. Last year we saw an increased amount of forced fumbles ...especially attempts....i.e Peanut punch iirc. Hopefully the mentality is the same and passed down although he's not here to guide and teach our young guys. REALLY hope we offer him a coaching gig in the future.

All that being said,  when a D doesn't allow more than 21 points in a game...it's doing its job when you consider all factors. 

[pantherclaw]

I expect our defense to improve as a whole, whether or not the turnover ratio goes up or down.

Turnovers tend to come from consistent pressure. Which our front seven is more than good enough to provide that.

[the butch]

Butler should come along nicely.  So many veterans to learn from.  He's already got the size that made him a first round pick, and I imagine playing for La Tech he used a lot of that size to his advantage.  At this level, guys are just as big, and so Butler is going to have to focus on technique.  And our coaches and veterans have that in spades.  Excited to watch Big Vern mature in this game.