Matt Kalil has confidence.

[top dawg]

David Newton has provided a nice little fluff piece on Matt Kalil. Apparently Kalil still feels that he can be a great player..."when healthy." And whether he can stay healthy is one of the questions---perhaps the main question if you believe in unicorns and pots of gold at the end of rainbows. The other question---the real one, at least in my mind, is whether or not Kalil just sucks, or whether his nagging injuries really were the main cause of the decline in his quality of play from his rookie year until now. Coach Matsko, who has a reputation for being one of the best in the game, obviously saw enough potential in the LT that Dave Gettleman decided that Kalil was a good bet. Matsko was also a reason that Kalil wanted to come to the Panthers.

"'He's the first guy I played for that demands excellence from his offensive line room,' Matt said. 'The way those guys work in there, we each push each other harder each practice to outwork the other. We're a pretty physical group in my opinion.'

"Besides aches and pain, technique was keeping Matt from being a top left tackle. Matsko is fixing that, although a groin injury and the humidity of training camp slowed the progress.

"'Watching film over the years I knew there were certain things I needed to work on," Matt said. "But his take on those things and the way we had to attack them from a technical standpoint and things I needed to do in terms of technique-wise to fix those things, he's helped me a lot.'"

 

Now I forgot which huddler it was that suggested that perhaps Matsko was overhyped in his coaching abilities (they said, much like Ricky Proehl), but it doesn't sound like it from Kalil's comments. And one thing is undeniable, Matsko certainly helped Michael Oher make a bit of a rebound in his career. So, we'll see if Matsko can help Matt Kalil revive and manifest that first round potential.

In addition to a little insight on Matsko, Matt Kalil also sheds light on the professionalism of Ryan and their relationship.

 

"'This isn't big brother giving you advice. This is your teammate,' " Matt said. 'I take everything that he says real seriously.'"

 

With the support that Kalil is getting from his coaches and his teammates, maybe he'll make good on his quest to prove to everyone that he isn't an overpaid, injury prone, retread of a bust that rolled down to Charlotte with Gettleman's roll of the dice. Let's hope that it turns out to be a great gamble for a player that thinks he can be great.

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/26426/brotherly-love-aside-matt-kalil-says-i-can-be-a-great-player-when-healthy

[Jeremy Igo]

Probably the biggest factor on the success of this season other than Cam Newton. 

 

If Kalil turns out to just be adequate, things are looking good. 

[Cyberjag]

Having Norwell lined up next to him can't hurt either.  In MN their Left Guard was Charlie Johnson for most of Kalil's career there, and he was awful. 

[Devil Doc]

18 minutes ago, Cyberjag said:

Having Norwell lined up next to him can't hurt either.  In MN their Left Guard was Charlie Johnson for most of Kalil's career there, and he was awful. 

I was going to mention this earlier, but you went ahead and said it. Maybe Kalil was good, but the players around him were not, it takes the team effort. 

[ladypanther]

5 hours ago, top dawg said:

With the support that Kalil is getting from his coaches and his teammates, maybe he'll make good on his quest to prove to everyone that he isn't an overpaid, injury prone, retread of a bust that rolled down to Charlotte with Gettleman's roll of the dice. Let's hope that it turns out to be a great gamble for a player that thinks he can be great.

 

AMEN

[therealmjl]

Just being slightly above average is all we need at this point and it'd be a huge improvement.

[Daeavorn]

Ill take an average LT, hands down. I think he can get there, at least.

[Hogmolliesmaht]

Listening to the actual interview, it sounded like the surgery fixed everything that had been bothering Kalil for the last 4 years, so I'm feeling pretty good about the guy.

[ncsu12engr]

I think Matsko might be our best position coach (actually Panthers.com has him listed as Running Game Coordinator now). Just look what he did with Oher and Remmers two years ago. I know everyone shits on Remmers for the Superbowl and Falcons games, but other than that he was actually a pretty good RT that year. Last year the OL was decimated with injuries and Matsko did everything he could to put something together.

[Peppers90 NC]

4 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Probably the biggest factor on the success of this season other than Cam Newton. 

 

If Kalil turns out to just be adequate, things are looking good. 

Push that plant-based diet on him bro, he might stay healthy then.

[electro's horse]

sad about the talent, though

[Cats Riverboat Touchdown]

--Matt Kalil deal earns Panthers an 'F' grade from independent NFL Source Pro Football Focus

--In 2013, Matt Kaklil was the 51^st ranked offensive tackles, per Pro Football Focus.

--In 2014, Matt Kalil was graded bottom "poor" and the 81st ranked tackle, per Pro Footbal Focus. Terrible. He gave up 55 pressures, second worst in the NFL, and 12 sacks, the worst in the NFL.

--In 2015, poor again with 44 pressures allowed, per Pro Football Focus. His score was a 48.8!!! Terrible!

--In 2016 he played next to Pro Bowler Alex Boone at guard. Before being lost for the season (how disruptive) and hurt again, his play was "poor" at 37.2. (Boone did not have a bad score, nor did excellent Vikings center Joe Berger).

 

See the pictures of Matt Kalil's play in the 2015 Vikings-Cardinals game. The Cardinals were a hot team with a strong record. The Vikings took it to them and outplayed them in many aspects of the game. The end of the game came down to the Vikings being down by 3 points and entered a long field goal range.

Then Matt Kalil practically fell down and #54 of the Cardinals had a blindside open shot to Teddy Bridgewater and made a strip sack, unblocked.