The Answer to our Offensive Woes is on the Bench

[Fiz]

The Situation: Other teams have figured out the Panthers' offense. Teams are stacking the box against the run, oftentimes only using a single safety over top of Steve Smith. They're hardly respecting the pass at all. Moose is nice, but isn't going to shatter the world. Jake is either unable or unwilling to thread those passes like he once did with reckless abandon, and is forcing them into awful situations.

They need someone they can line up in the slot to take some pressure off, open up the passing game, and create a mismatch.

Kenny Moore is nice, but can't do that.

Dwayne Jarrett is worthless.

The answer: a guy who was recruited originally as a wide receiver. A guy who deceptive speed. a guy who is a matchup nightmare due to his body and agility. A guy who doesn't want to block anyone when he lines up besides the tackle.

Wherever in the world would we find a guy like this?

oh

Dante Rosario is the same size as vincent jackson, someone who is arguably a top ten wide receiver in the league right now.

He'd create a matchup nightmare for corners, as he'd be one of the few that could consistently come down with jake's high passes and would basically be indefensible on fades.

we already know linebackers can't cover him.

All dante does is get open. He catches everything thrown at him. He's the second best receiver on the team.

Now yes, I know, he doesn't like to block. He parties a poo ton. He doesn't stand out in practice all that much. But when the lights turn on he's the best tight end on any field, and he's been showing it since the end of 2007.

everyone make my avatar yours in a sign of solidarity

we, the huddle proletariat, shall march upon the streets and demand a larger role for our vanguard tight end. he is the panthers historical inevitability, and we shall stop the habit of looking at the past and embrace the future. forget ancestors, worship descendants, choose dante.

[Sultan33g]

[panthers55]

The Situation: Other teams have figured out the Panthers' offense. Teams are stacking the box against the run, oftentimes only using a single safety over top of Steve Smith. They're hardly respecting the pass at all. Moose is nice, but isn't going to shatter the world. Jake is either unable or unwilling to thread those passes like he once did with reckless abandon, and is forcing them into awful situations.

They need someone they can line up in the slot to take some pressure off, open up the passing game, and create a mismatch.

Kenny Moore is nice, but can't do that.

Dwayne Jarrett is worthless.

The answer: a guy who was recruited originally as a wide receiver. A guy who deceptive speed. a guy who is a matchup nightmare due to his body and agility. A guy who doesn't want to block anyone when he lines up besides the tackle.

Wherever in the world would we find a guy like this?

oh

Dante Rosario is the same size as vincent jackson, someone who is arguably a top ten wide receiver in the league right now.

He'd create a matchup nightmare for corners, as he'd be one of the few that could consistently come down with jake's high passes and would basically be indefensible on fades.

we already know linebackers can't cover him.

All dante does is get open. He catches everything thrown at him. He's the second best receiver on the team.

Now yes, I know, he doesn't like to block. He parties a poo ton. He doesn't stand out in practice all that much. But when the lights turn on he's the best tight end on any field, and he's been showing it since the end of 2007.

everyone make my avatar yours in a sign of solidarity

we, the huddle proletariat, shall march upon the streets and demand a larger role for our vanguard tight end. he is the panthers historical inevitability, and we shall stop the habit of looking at the past and embrace the future. forget ancestors, worship descendants, choose dante.

Rosario is often the second best tight end on the team yet alone the best on the field and surely hasn't been the best on the field any week of the season so far this year.

He is due props for not disappearing this year as he has in the past and his ability to hold onto the ball so far and separate against linebackers is why Jake is throwng him the ball. He is surely improving and is justifying the faith coaches have had in him. He has gone from on the bubble in camp to a good option for Jake.

But his failure to be a well rounded player who can block as well as catch is not overcome by his receiving ability. King has just as many catches and can block as well. Neither of them are very fast or would fare well against someone with even decent speed. I would love to see him continue to develop and improve as we have not had a good TE option in almost a decade. Still he is not the answer to our offense or the missing piece to the puzzle. He is a piece but not the main piece. That would be better line play especially by Vincent. Frankly Gross looked pretty bad as well.

[Carolina Husker]

His girlfriend sits in front of me at the games.

Or at least it's someone who thinks she's his girlfirend.

Either way, he's definitely smashing it, and she's hot.

Now you know.

[Brandon]

Barnidge is the answer, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why he's not getting more time in. He ran a 4.6 40 so he's the third fastest receiver on the team (behind Smith and Moore) and demonstrated pretty damned good hands in preseason. Not only that but he's huge at 6'6" which gives Jake a big target window in which to throw the ball.

The best possession slot option we have is Moose, the reason I say that is because Moore whould be our WR2 based on the fact the he actually has the speed to force defenders to respect him, rather than Moose who can be safely covered without help over the top 90% of the time.

[firstdayfan]

I can't imagine why they aren't getting him the ball more either. It seems that we were really commited to the run yesterday so there just were a lot of limited chances for anyone. I think the real problem is the fact that Steve Smith is getting so many looks. There's a stat floating around that before this week he was the most targeted WR in the league even though we were on a bye. Jake has to spread it around and take advantage of all the guys like Rosario, Barnidge, and Moore.

[OneBadassCat]

Barnidge is the answer, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why he's not getting more time in. He ran a 4.6 40 so he's the third fastest receiver on the team (behind Smith and Moore) and demonstrated pretty damned good hands in preseason. Not only that but he's huge at 6'6" which gives Jake a big target window in which to throw the ball.

The best possession slot option we have is Moose, the reason I say that is because Moore whould be our WR2 based on the fact the he actually has the speed to force defenders to respect him, rather than Moose who can be safely covered without help over the top 90% of the time.

I agree but Rosario is a physical specimen as well.

[mr beauxjangles]

Agree with some of this. It's been clear that Davidson has been targeting the TEs a bit more this season. Right now, King and Rosario both have 7 catches. Last year they had 39 combined. They're on pace for 56 combined this year. Granted that's only an average of just over one more pass caught per game by a tight end, but I expect that will increase. Both King and Rosario have made good catches. I agree with the general premise, that teams are putting together good game plans to stop our offense, and the best opening is for tight ends. A more balanced receiving threat will open up a few plays per game for Smitty where he won't see double coverage as often. I'd like to see it happen - targeting the TEs more. And I'd like to see the staff key in on one of these guys. I'm just not sure which one it should be at this point. But I do think Rosario is a better playmaker at this point. Until the coaching staff gets Barnidge on the field, you can't say he's the best option. Good post.

[Fiz]

His girlfriend sits in front of me at the games.

Or at least it's someone who thinks she's his girlfirend.

Either way, he's definitely smashing it, and she's hot.

Now you know.

his brother sits in 127, besides me.

[panthers55]

I can't imagine why they aren't getting him the ball more either. It seems that we were really commited to the run yesterday so there just were a lot of limited chances for anyone. I think the real problem is the fact that Steve Smith is getting so many looks. There's a stat floating around that before this week he was the most targeted WR in the league even though we were on a bye. Jake has to spread it around and take advantage of all the guys like Rosario, Barnidge, and Moore.

Right now Steve Smith is close to the lead for being the most targeted WR in the league with 48 targets. He is the other Steve Smith though, playing for the Giants. But no wonder, he has caught 37 of those 48 for a 77% completion rate and has 4 TDS and over 400 yards.

Our Steve Smith does have 41 targets and only 20 catches for a completion percentage of right at 50%. Hopefully he and Jake will get use the next few games to get on the same page.

[rayzor]

rosario should be on the field as much as gonzo is for the falcons and he should be targeted as much.

i honestly don't think he is anywhere close to being a liability in the blocking game either. he can and does do it. his strength, though, is receiving and is exactly why he should be playing all the time. keep him on the field and keep feeding him the ball.

he for sure would help jake and the team out if they just kept him involved. he would do nothing but help move us downfield, help open up smith and moose and keep the box from getting stacked.

[pstall]

Only prob is the schemes still come across like Saturday football. 9 and 10 am football where 11 of the same color jersey's all get trophys at the end of the year for just playing

[Seamonk]

rosario should be on the field as much as gonzo is for the falcons and he should be targeted as much.

i honestly don't think he is anywhere close to being a liability in the blocking game either. he can and does do it. his strength, though, is receiving and is exactly why he should be playing all the time. keep him on the field and keep feeding him the ball.

he for sure would help jake and the team out if they just kept him involved. he would do nothing but help move us downfield, help open up smith and moose and keep the box from getting stacked.

I think he's a liability as a blocker. Straight up. I've seen it one too many times. He just watches people go by him. I'd find it much easier if they just stop using him to block all together. It's not helping anyway. Put him in the slot, put him anywhere by near the oline. Maybe a TE screen or something.. but for the love of god, please don't let him block. Davidson keeps trying to use King and Rosario and Barnidge like they're all the same, and they're not. You gotta use them at their strengths, not open up weaknesses for defenses to exploit.

[beastson]

What's the matter with you Fiz... Dante can't play the slot better than Moore

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