Everette Brown will have more sacks than Pepp in 2010...

[Seal (SmittyIsOurSavior)]

I need to mention though… If Eve does start, I also believe he will finish with more sacks than Peps.

[GoreMetalJunkie]

Charles Johnson will be the man!!!

[Cyberjag]

Bank on it.

No, he is not as physically gifted as Pepp, but he has much more heart and motor. This is a HUGE motivation for him this offseason.

+1

Wait and see.

Pepp will sign a huge contract somewhere and have little reason to actually try hard. The only hope for him to out perform Brown is if he goes to a team with superior coaching, like New England, that will know how to keep him motivated.

I don't think coaching will ever get Pep to play to his capabilities. It takes other players that he has respect for guilting him into it.

[thejimmy]

I don't think it will happen simply b/c he would have to start to get his chances and I don't think the coaches will start him b/c he isn't good against the run yet. That makes him a situational pass rusher. I say 5-7 sacks.

Hey, I hope I'm wrong.

[methodtoll]

Just remember folks, this is a Ron Meeks defense

Indy has two undersized DEs starting and so far one of them is an all-pro DE

If there is one thing Ron Meeks can do is that he is great at developing DEs

So I am with Zod on this one

[csx]

Indy under Dungy/Meeks had a defense tailored to playing inside with an explosive offense run by argueabley the best QB to ever play. That poo doesn't work outside with conservative offense.

You aren't going to see a DL like that in Carolina. It's still Fox's defense with a Meeks spin.

[CatMan72]

This will be Johnsons 3rd year Brown's 2nd. Brown has already passed Johnson. Zod is right Brown will explode this year.

How has Brown already passed Johnson when Brown had 2.5 sacks in his first season and Johnson had 6 (and 4 the next year)?

I'm not hating on Brown, I think he will be a good player and may eventually surpass Johnson, but right now Johnson > Brown.

[WilkinsonDonnie]

I want to see us keep Brayton for at least one more year for Brown to build up more strength against the run. Brown did good towards the end of the season last year and think the only way to really get him improving is to just play him on most downs. Keep Brayton to push him and to use in any big run stopping packages.

[CatMan72]

I want to see us keep Brayton for at least one more year for Brown to build up more strength against the run. Brown did good towards the end of the season last year and think the only way to really get him improving is to just play him on most downs. Keep Brayton to push him and to use in any big run stopping packages.

Agree, you need a rotation at DE and we know we have a decent player in Brayton so we might as well bring him back. He also has the versatility to play DT on passing downs.

Peppers departure also creates an opportunity for the true forgotten man on the Panthers roster... Hilee Taylor.

[CatMan72]

Remember me? (4.5 40)

[WilkinsonDonnie]

Ive always had a place where I thought he could eventually develop into a awesome player but didnt hear much last year. Have to say Meeks is probably high on him.

[Cyberjag]

Peppers spent all last season putting on an audition for potential suitors in the offseason. The last season he had that didn't come with a big motivation to show off, he turned in 2.5 sacks.

So in his audition, he managed 10.5 sacks. That was good enough for 10th in the league, 6th among DEs. He barely made the top 20 for DEs in tackles. He played 16 games, tied for third with three other DEs with five forced fumbles, and he recovered one.

Everybody who's ever watched him play over the course of a season has seen some jaw-dropping plays, and when you see one you just KNOW he can take over a game. But he's done that so rarely, and he didn't really do it much last year when he was playing for a big paycheck at the end of the season.

Maybe he was trying to balance showing what he could do without making the Panthers feel like he was worth the $21 million it would take to keep him, I don't know. But somehow I doubt it, I think he was just stepping it up when it occurred to him to do so. And no one knows what really makes him take over like that--even in the playoff game last year he all but disappeared.

Once he's in a new town, I expect him to play great for the first few games of the season and then revert to the Peppers we all know and rant about. What with the prospect of a lockout and a guaranteed contract, who really thinks he's going to give 100% all season for anyone, no matter how good the coaching?

[CatMan72]

Ive always had a place where I thought he could eventually develop into a awesome player but didnt hear much last year. Have to say Meeks is probably high on him.

Yup, he's another Meeks prototype DE.

[KatsAzz]

I've been a Charles Johnson fan since we drafted him, and in a perfect world Johnson would/will stay healthy and start at one of the end positions because frankly he has more talent than Brayton, who could be used in running situations while Brown and Johnson start. But I'd like to see us sign or draft a DE, hopefully Aaron Kampman. Kampman is a better pass rushing version of Brayton and the same age. Also, can we PLEASE get Hilee Taylor more involved in passing situations?

My outlook on the d-line is this. We need help at End and Tackle. Find one of the two in FA, either Kampman at end or possibly Tank Johnson at tackle, then draft for whichever position isn't addressed with a FA signing.

I personally would like to see us shift and build a D-Line more geared toward stopping the run with the exception of Brown starting and Taylor coming in on passing downs. This is why I would like Kampman, he can do that and rush the passer.