Greg Cosell names his three most needed upgrades for Panthers

[TheRed]

14 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah, Reid is not amazing. He is a pretty one dimensional player, unfortunately. 

It's funny how standards around here change for different players depending on the last name.

Reid has 96 solo tackles, 129 comb, 33 ast, 7 tackles for a loss, and 5 QB hits.

Luke has 81 solo tackles, 144 comb, 63 ast, 4 tackles for a loss, and 5 QB hits.

Yet all you hear about is how bad Reid is. Meanwhile we now have over 100 hundred million dollars tied up in two linebackers. But reeeeeeeeeeeeee Eric Reid is so awful!

[1of10Charnatives]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

Not sure he is really suited to playing LB. He is a pretty small guy. Also, pretty late in his career for that kind of switch.

You’re right, that might be the move that harpoons our chances of going to the sb next year. Kidding aside, sure it might not work out but clearly next year could charitably be described as transitional for us. What do we have to lose by experimenting with some outside the box stuff like moving Reid to LB? 

[MHS831]

This is why Bradberry feels that he has supreme negotiating power.  If we want to get better at 2 positions and Okubah is still on the board, it gives us a shut down-type CB  on one side and Bradberry on the #2.  Covering the second best WR will improve Bradberry's effectiveness.  The same dynamic is applied at WR---adding Jeury suddenly puts a lesser CB on Moore.  Do not be surprised if we go CB or WR in round 1 --People will insist on a lineman, but Marty drafted Little and has to be proud of the Daley pick.Unless they have given up on both, I do not expect a LT.  On the defensive line, I see a mid-round NT and a free agent.

If Thomas is on the board, all bets are off---you probably take him.  Still, we will see their draft plans after free agency.

 

[musicman]

1st RD: CB or DT.

2nd RD: C

3rd RD: DT or CB.

Then (in any order) WR, TE, T/G, S

I think between Little and Daley we have a LT (they will be better with the experience). GVR and Trai as Guards, Center was the very weak link in 2019. A great Center will help solidify that line more than any 1 other change. If we get a solid G is FA to upgrade GVR but Trai ain't going no where with his salary. Moton's got the RT down. 

A new DT, with KK and Poe and possibly Butler on a 1 year prove it again deal.

Even is we lose Bradberry, we need a CB and keep Cocktrell. Jackson is still unknown if he peaked.

[1of10Charnatives]

1 minute ago, TheRed said:

It's funny how standards around here change for different players depending on the last name.

Reid has 96 solo tackles, 129 comb, 33 ast, 7 tackles for a loss, and 5 QB hits.

Luke has 81 solo tackles, 144 comb, 63 ast, 4 tackles for a loss, and 5 QB hits.

Yet all you hear about is how bad Reid is. Meanwhile we now have over 100 hundred million dollars tied up in two linebackers. But reeeeeeeeeeeeee Eric Reid is so awful!

C’mon Red, you’ve been around long enough to know tackles is not a good stat for your safety to pile up. All it really tells you is your run D sucks. A safety’s primary responsibility is supposed to be coverage. Reid is good at run support and a heck of a blitzer from the safety position, but coverage is their main responsibility and at that he has proven lackluster. 

I do agree that the money we’ve tied up in the linebacker tier, which seems the least essential in a pass oriented league, is ill advised, but this fact does not change Reid’s poor showing in coverage. I’m perplexed that his obvious athleticism does not translate into better coverage skills, and I love that Tepper thumbed his nose at the league’s obvious blacklisting, but the guy has been disappointing at his position’s main responsibility.

[Snake]

When you look at our roster you realize Hurney sucks at the draft and DG wasn't much better. Yet we still have that dick bag drafting for us. 

[DubE_4MR]

Jackson is just a knucklehead. He needed to be humbled. I expect him to be better.

[Harbingers]

16 minutes ago, TheRed said:

It's funny how standards around here change for different players depending on the last name.

Reid has 96 solo tackles, 129 comb, 33 ast, 7 tackles for a loss, and 5 QB hits.

Luke has 81 solo tackles, 144 comb, 63 ast, 4 tackles for a loss, and 5 QB hits.

Yet all you hear about is how bad Reid is. Meanwhile we now have over 100 hundred million dollars tied up in two linebackers. But reeeeeeeeeeeeee Eric Reid is so awful!

The dude sucked in coverage and everyone knew that, the game planned around it in fact. It’s why when ever he dropped back past 10 yards the ball went his way. He’s not suited to play safety anymore. I would accept him at OLB. 

The reason his tackles were so high is the run getting to the second or third level. With Luke stuffed by an OL it came down to him. 

[Harbingers]

3 minutes ago, DubE_4MR said:

Jackson is just a knucklehead. He needed to be humbled. I expect him to be better.

Honestly it seems that groin pull was lingering more than was let on.

[TheRed]

11 minutes ago, 1of10Charnatives said:

C’mon Red, you’ve been around long enough to know tackles is not a good stat for your safety to pile up. All it really tells you is your run D sucks. A safety’s primary responsibility is supposed to be coverage. Reid is good at run support and a heck of a blitzer from the safety position, but coverage is their main responsibility and at that he has proven lackluster. 

I do agree that the money we’ve tied up in the linebacker tier, which seems the least essential in a pass oriented league, is ill advised, but this fact does not change Reid’s poor showing in coverage. I’m perplexed that his obvious athleticism does not translate into better coverage skills, and I love that Tepper thumbed his nose at the league’s obvious blacklisting, but the guy has been disappointing at his position’s main responsibility.

I would not say Reid has been "amazing", but the angst is overblown. Overall there have been a number of players on our defense who have been disappointing in different ways. Even fan favorites like Luke. That's the point. Reid only has two years left on his contract and will likely be gone after next year at this point and he isn't making particularly much anyway. He's really amongst the least of our worries big picture.

[1of10Charnatives]

7 minutes ago, TheRed said:

I would not say Reid has been "amazing", but the angst is overblown. Overall there have been a number of players on our defense who have been disappointing in different ways. Even fan favorites like Luke. That's the point. Reid only has two years left on his contract and will likely be gone after next year at this point and he isn't making particularly much anyway. He's really amongst the least of our worries big picture.

Well I'm certainly not inclined to call him the main problem and I think anyone who does is certainly overlooking more serious offenders. Pretty much nobody on this defense looked good this year except maybe Burns in limited playing time and even he managed to injure himself in a bonehead way. I think there are some guys who could still contribute to a good defense, but I see that side of the ball having so many holes it might find it challenging to rise to mediocre next season. For the past decade I have been more focused on NFL football than college basketball while their seasons overlap. Next year I forsee that changing.

[scpanther22]

always feels like we perpetually need a CB

[kungfoodude]

57 minutes ago, 1of10Charnatives said:

You’re right, that might be the move that harpoons our chances of going to the sb next year. Kidding aside, sure it might not work out but clearly next year could charitably be described as transitional for us. What do we have to lose by experimenting with some outside the box stuff like moving Reid to LB? 

Well, that kind of move would involve a definitive transition and it would also create an immediate need at safety and probably not be more than adding a backup/depth/situational player at LB. As poor as he was in coverage, I don't think we are going to get better as a team with him at LB, nor is it a given that he would even be starting caliber. And you are also probably going to have to get him on board with a positional switch which could potentially be problematic. 

As you said, it's going to be a transitional year, so I would probably just focus on trying to get a better player there in the next couple of offseasons. Cutting him in 2021 nets us a nice $7 mil in cap savings, so I think that is probably the move there. 

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, MHS831 said:

This is why Bradberry feels that he has supreme negotiating power.  If we want to get better at 2 positions and Okubah is still on the board, it gives us a shut down-type CB  on one side and Bradberry on the #2.  Covering the second best WR will improve Bradberry's effectiveness.  The same dynamic is applied at WR---adding Jeury suddenly puts a lesser CB on Moore.  Do not be surprised if we go CB or WR in round 1 --People will insist on a lineman, but Marty drafted Little and has to be proud of the Daley pick.Unless they have given up on both, I do not expect a LT.  On the defensive line, I see a mid-round NT and a free agent.

If Thomas is on the board, all bets are off---you probably take him.  Still, we will see their draft plans after free agency.

 

We were actually pretty decent in the secondary last season, although that might be skewed because of the atrocious run defense. But, continuing to neglect the OL is....well....how you get where we are now. Really almost regardless of what you think about Little/Daley, we just simply need to get better along that OL. If that means getting a great OT, then we should absolutely get that. 

As you said, we will see what the moves are in free agency because our needs will change quite a bit.