Carolina Panthers camp matchups...

[KB_fan]

12 minutes ago, shaqattaq said:

Yep, and Southward too for that matter

Yes, very interested in Southward, McCray & Marlowe.  Hoping one or two of them show up as adequate depth.

[top dawg]

Igo, you have to keep us privy to the presumed wr4/5 battle. Sure there is Shep and CJ2, but please PLEASE keep us aware of Garrett, Ross and Byrd. The WR battle is most compelling.

[KB_fan]

7 minutes ago, top dawg said:

Igo, you have to keep us privy to the presumed wr4/5 battle. Sure there is Shep and CJ2, but please PLEASE keep us aware of Garrett, Ross and Byrd. The WR battle is most compelling.

I don't think CJ2 is anything like a sure bet to make the roster.  Didn't he miss most of OTAs with an injury?

Shepard looks like he has a very very solid prospect to make the team.

My assumption is that the WR5 battle is among Bersin, Byrd, Duke, and CJ2... [oh and possibly Keyarris Garrett too, he seemed to get mentioned more late in OTAs]  probably in that order.  Given how few snaps a WR5 is likely to get anyway, you want them to either provide excellent depth (which Bersin does given his memorization of the playbook and quite good reliability at moving the chains), or add something dynamic on special teams (which Byrd does with his speed).  But Austin Duke could be a darkhorse here with his Charlotte pedigree.  Given how much JR loves local guys, I'm not ruling him out.

[Jeremy Igo]

Shepard is a lock.

[KB_fan]

Forgive me for reposting a comment I wrote earlier today in the "David Newton Roster Projection" thread.  I wrote up my perspective on the battles / storylines at each position.  Maybe this will be a helpful addition to this thread in terms of reminding folks of what positions are really up for grabs.

***

Most interesting / competitive camp battles & storylines:  My predictions to make the roster are in bold.

1.  Butker vs. Gano

2.  OT #4 [France, Clausell, Thompsen or perhaps TBD if we bring in a new guy to fill Oher's spot on the 90...]   edit:  Obviously there is also the question of who starts at RT.  Presumably it will be Williams but I hope Moton *REALLY* challenges him. 

3.  Fozzy vs. CAP

4. Safety #4  (I assume Colin Jones makes #3 because of experience & ST)  Marlowe, McCray, Dixon, Southward

5.  LB #5/#6 - (behind Luke, TD, Shaq, Mayo): Cash, Norris, Jacobs, Boulware, Bigger.  Lots of talent there!

6.  WR #5/#6 (behind KB, Samuel, Funch, Shepard):  Bersin, CJ#2, Byrd, Austin Duke, Key Garrett.  (JR likes local guys.  Enough Said).

7.  QB #3:  Do we even keep a QB #3?  If so Webb would be the presumed choice, but Gilbert sounds like he showed a ton of potential during OTAs.  There could be a Webb / Gilbert battle, especially with DA in the final year of his contract, I believe.

Other battles:

Fullback:  Young vs. Armah:  TBH, Young will probably win this easily, but it will be interesting to see how we use Armah and how he develops.

OG #3/#4:  Gotta think Silatolu is a lock now that Marty's back!  To be honest, I had Amini making the roster even before DG got canned.  Don't want him starting, but as depth I'm fine with him.  Assume Chris Scott will also make it, but Yankey has shown some promise.  If he looks good, we could keep him because he's younger... 

Backup Center:  I have Larsen over Gradkowski.

TE #3:  Sadly I don't think there's any competition for TE#2.  Barring something dramatic in the next few days (such as signing Barnidge) you can ink in Dickson.  TBH, I don't really care who wins TE#3.  Simonson & Manhertz haven't really shown anything and Wallace is still only an interesting Aussie Rules experiment.  Maybe Armah could help shake things up here??  Other than Greg, TE is depressing to think about.  Please stay healthy Greg.

CB #4 / #5:  I predict Elder is #4 if he's healthy.  If we keep 5 CBs:  Williams #5 for ST.  Sanchez to PS.

DE / DT:  I don't think we really have any battles.  Barring any injury (God forbid), we're in great shape with Peppers, CJ, Addison, Horton, Hall, KK, Star, Butler & Love.

Punter:  If he's healthy, we keep Andy Lee.  He's a weapon.  Good to give Palardy more reps and practice with our guys to keep on file as emergency fill in as we did last year.  But Lee is too good and he took a pay cut, I think.

[chknwing]

Concession guy #3.  I hear he is suppose to be good. May replace the older concession guy in the starting rotation.

[Jeremy Igo]

Concession guy #3.  I hear he is suppose to be good. May replace the older concession guy in the starting rotation.

Beer pour is weak. Foamy.

[mc52beast]

Really looking forward to seeing how CMC fares against our stud lb's

Cam won't be going 100% starting out but it'll be interesting to see how he does in his limited time

[jayflip]

One thing to note, that Hurndawg did a bunch that nippleshorts rarely did, is who do you foresee suffering that mystery injury that lands them on IR to really compete next year?

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

With an eye on the salary cap, here are the players who can be cut that will result in a net gain in salary cap over 1 million: 

Greg Olsen (6.75 Mil)

Thomas Davis (4.25 Mil)

Ryan Kalil (3.5 Mil)

Graham Gano (3.25 Mil)

Andrew Norwell (2.75 Mil)

Kurt Coleman (2.4 Mil)

Ed Dickson (2.05 Mil)

Charles Johnson (1.86 Mil)

Julius Peppers (1.85 Mil)

Derek Anderson (1.74 Mil)

Russell Shepard (1.6 Mil)

Kelvin Benjamin (1.47 Mil)

Wes Horton (1.43 Mil)


If you were to approach building the roster in a complete objective sense, these are the guys you would be hoping to lose their roster spots to younger, cheaper talent. 

IMHO, I hope we no longer need Gano, Anderson, or Dickson.  Not saying I dislike any of them as people. But, for the good of the team. 

**** On a side note, just thinking out loud.  Since Hurney discussed changing player positions, if he were to convert KB to TE, would he qualify as a TE or WR for the franchise tag next year?  TE is the cheapest position to tag a player on offense at just 10 mil per year.  






 

[tiger7_88]

3 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Now that this insane week is almost over, I am starting to gear up for training camp. As such, I need to know what to focus more on while I am there. Please give me any input you have on what players in particular you are wanting an extra set of eyes on. 

Taylor Moton

Daeshon Hall

Alex Armah

Russell Shephard

[Panthera onca]

Wide receivers 

[shulasmyhero]

I'm really interested in coaches interactions with players, 3 coaches in particular, Wilks, Taylor and Cothcery.

is Wilks more aggressive/vocal than McDermott was? How receptive are the players to his style.  Any difference In how he treats vets vs young guys and any difference in how well his style is received between those groups?

How about Taylor?  Does he push guys harder than Proehl?  How does Cotchery factor in?  Is it a good cop / bad cop scenario?

interesting mix of vets and young guys on this squad.  Seems some of the younger guys (I.e. KB and Funch) really could benefit from a more stern approach, interested to hear if that is in fact the approach.

[top dawg]

2 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Shepard is a lock.

I hope you're wrong, and that some earnest competition will finally take place and actually mean something.  But knowing Rivera, you're probably right. 

He couldn't even misplace the Adam Humphies. I don't get the Huddle excitement. If he shows something in camp, I'll happily support him. Until then, I'm more interested in the younger guys.