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making the playoffs in 2014 hurt us

juliosantos

By juliosantos,
in Carolina Panthers

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SpeedOFLight Collaborator

SpeedOFLight

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I mean...all due respect, it’s easy to look back on what could of and should of been done. In all reality, we really don’t know what would have happened. I remember the days of people saying how we could have had Steve McNair (RIP) but we ended up wit the fumbler. Who knows what would have happened with said person on our team. Maybe they don’t get off like that or they do,  who knows.  I just prefer to look forward. Looking in the past will drive us all crazy and the different outcomes that could have happened. I really hope we can find grit and win out. Make the playoffs and show out but not sure if that will come. Hopefully we have a solid offseason in FA and the draft. Anything can happen . I respect the points made tho 

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emhoward Enthusiast

emhoward

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4 hours ago, RumHam said:

So we would have went 16-0 rather than 15-1? We would be clamoring for a LB if we didn't get Shaq. I don't get why all you people hate on Thompson. If you watch tape, he's better at his job than anyone in the secondary has been since they got here and arguably more consistent than TD. He's also on a rookie deal. Would you rather have fuging Chase Blackburn still back there? I didn't think so. 

I like Thompson too, but he hasn't proven to be much of a game changer thus far.

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Davidson Deac II Grand Master

Davidson Deac II

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8 hours ago, Icege said:

I think our biggest setback, and I say this as a diehard Gettleman advocate, was the offseason following the Super Bowl. Cam had carried the team, and several things occurred afterwards:

 

1. No upgrades were made to the offense
More than likely, the idea around the front office was, "what was there to upgrade?" The offense had been a force all season, and it looked like answers had been found. In fact, an upgrade was thought to be coming in the return of Kelvin Benjamin as Cotchery and Norwood were not brought back along with Funchess going into year two. Michael Oher looked like the answer at LT while Daryl Williams had been drafted to eventually replace Mike Remmers. Little did the team expect the concussion issues that Oher would end up having that would lead to retirement. The response to Oher retiring? Matt Kalil. Sad face.

2. DL Busts
Kony Ealy had had a breakout game in the Super Bowl, and the staff likely thought the same as they did with the offense and the return of their 1st round pick from 2014: that their third year 2nd rd pick was about to be a star if not at least a starter in the league. Ealy, as we know, did not build off of that SB flash. Vernon Butler was brought in as insurance in case Kawann Short left (Star Lotulelei, being a 1st round pick, still had the bonus option on his contract). The idea here is that you can never have too many pass rushers, and if we lost KK then we would have had Butler with a year of experience under his belt already. If KK stayed, then we had a fresh, 1st round body to spell him. Butler has been a bust (I defended Butler up until the game where Poe didn't start, after that I couldn't defend him anymore). Now, our pass rush is old and at times inept. For a defense that relies so much on their front 7, having a less than above average DL is a death sentence.

3. DB Debacle
The team went from a secondary with Josh Norman, Charles Tillman, and a rising Bene Benwikere to a Bene Benwikere that was a big part of Julio Jones' historic 300yd receiving game while coming off of injury (which would lead directly to him being cut), Charles Tillman retiring, and the JNo fiasco. The result? Along with continuing to apply patches to the safety position, Leonard Johnson was brought in to hold down the nickel while the ill-fated draft of Vernon Butler, James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, Zack Sanchez, and Beau Sandland occurred. Of the entire draft, James Bradberry looks like one of the answers at CB, but would another answer be needed had JNo been retained? This had seemed to finally be addressed with the emergence of Donte Jackson, but with the decline of Captain Munnerlyn and the lack of production from Corn Elder there is a hole at the nickel. We have again gone into the season with band-aids at safety with only Gaulden and Searcy returning. There is no guarantee for Searcy to continue considering the head injuries he sustained, and Reid is not guaranteed to return. Problems at both CB and S has given our DB group fits, and not having an elite pass rush to mask this has exposed them.



So not only did we gamble on being ok-to-slightly-improved which ended up falling apart, we still haven't fixed other areas that were blown up. I believe that we are in a better place with the CBs than initially concerned, but S and DE are in desperate need of restocking. Gaulden and Searcy are the only safeties under contract next season (as well as Cole Luke and Kai Nacua if they are retained). There are several free agent options in the offseason, so I expect to see another band-aid applied along with a depth signing OR depth draft pick.

Only Haynes and Addison are under contract for next season at DE (and Addison has about 7.5M in cap space that we can potentially restructure). Some potential FA targets include Trey Flowers, Frank Clark, Kerry Wynn, Mario Edwards Jr, Dante Fowler Jr, Demarcus Lawrence, Ezekial Ansah, Aaron Lynch, and Dion Jordan. I expect the team to retain either Wes Horton or Bryan Cox Jr, but not both. Between Addison, Haynes, Horton/CoxJr, and an FA (I'm thinking Lynch or Obada might be who we go with) we are potentially a high draft pick away from having a decent group of DEs. This draft is also stacked at DT, so we can move on from Vernon Butler (and Kendrick Norton if he doesn't look like he'll pan out) by drafting their replacement who will come in to push KK.

That leaves us with the offense, where investments have most definitely been made. Cam is a former league MVP and a generational talent. CMC is looking like the perfect compliment to Cam in the backfield, being the shake to Cam's bake. DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel, and Ian Thomas are all looking like young weapons that can turn a Cam laser into a 30yd scamper. Jarius Wright has looked like a reliable veteran pick-up that Cam trusts on 3rd downs. Armahgeddon looks good too! Daryl Williams will be a free agent but has developed into one of the top RTs in the league. Taylor Moton is looking like the solution to the issue that is Matt Kalil and the LT position post-Jordan Gross. Trai Turner is a Pro Bowler. While QB2, RB2, WR4, and whether or not Olsen will be returning as anywhere near the same player that he was next season are concerns, the only starting positions aside from TE (which we still have Thomas for) where there are question marks are center and left guard. Van Roten has been an okay fill in that has even sparked on occasion, but we could get better. A new center is a huge need. Tyler Larsen has been decent, but I would rather the team spend some draft capital on a perennial All Pro center if there are any in the draft. I'm a big fan of Michael Deiter who can play anywhere on the line as a 2nd round target.

In all though, we have the potential to be a powerhouse next season. I would love to see this season close out with a Cinderella story so that we can see TD, Olsen, R. Kalil, and Peppers off into the sunset with rings (and Cam with his first of many!).

Well said.

But that is way to much typing.  lol

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