Marcus Hudson rumored to become a Cat

[AceMan]

Reliable source is reliable.

[rayzor]

Just checked the stats on pro football focus. Hudson is a total bum in coverage and has almost no experience on defense at age 27. He did have a beastly year in special teams coverage, but do we need two gunners?

yep. it's been pretty bad. you have to have one on each side. might as well get two solid gunners.

i won't be noticeable but this is what we are needing and the results should be very good.

from the looks of it, special teams is going to be a huge priority much moreso than it has been in years. probably going to be looking at getting someone who is a strong returner at some point.

i am really liking this direction. all along this offseason i have been saying that depth positions need to be filled by players who are STers first.

i'm glad we are doing that. i'm just really happy that STs are no longer an ofter thought.

we get that shored up then we can start dealing with the skill positions.

[rayzor]

Good work Cape Fear Cat, still surprised we're going to look at a 2nd PURE ST coverage guy, maybe we're actually going to have an open-competition for the starting gunner spot!?!

there are two gunners. they line up like WRs. a lot of time these guys get double teamed. looks like these guys that we have picked up do a pretty good job of taking care of the double coverage.

[pantherfan81]

I like the fact they are focusing on an area that really needed work for a long time. ST started as a headache & developed into a migraine.

[ncbobcat]

Sweet another no-name STs guy!!!! But why would we sign a guy 27 years-old? He's a mere 3 years from being cut...UNLESS it's a 2 or 3 year deal. The front office is getting crafty.

[scpanther22]

Good ST guys.But we also lost two ST guys in Teal and Wesley.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

Sweet another no-name STs guy!!!! But why would we sign a guy 27 years-old? He's a mere 3 years from being cut...UNLESS it's a 2 or 3 year deal. The front office is getting crafty.

Outside of your big-name returners, most special teams guys are no-namers. That doesn't mean they can't help us in an area of need.

But you're right -- at 27-years-old, I have no clue why they brought him in. :rofl:

[pantherfan81]

The Panthers have stayed quiet, but they are doing a little business behind the scenes.

Along the lines of the Wallace Wright signing earlier this week, they've discussed a deal with San Francisco CB Marcus Hudson, an N.C. State product who's primarily a special teams player.

Doesn't sound like anything that's happening immediately, but it does reflect the way they're doing business at the moment -- low profile (i.e. cheap) guys only.

http://blogs.charlotte.com/panthers/2010/03/panthers-talking-to-former-wolfpack-cb.html

You said it brother.

[Big Ed]

New D Cord

So Panthers get rid of deadwood and $$$ to bring in Meeks Players

New S/T coach

So Panthers get rid of deadwood and bring in new blood for new coach .

[British_Panther]

there are two gunners. they line up like WRs. a lot of time these guys get double teamed. looks like these guys that we have picked up do a pretty good job of taking care of the double coverage.

I knew a 'gunner' lined up on each side but I didn't think an NFL team would solely dedicate two roster spots to that role. Then again I don't look at who is the 6th string WR or DB on other teams so maybe that's not so odd.

[ncbobcat]

Outside of your big-name returners, most special teams guys are no-namers. That doesn't mean they can't help us in an area of need.

But you're right -- at 27-years-old, I have no clue why they brought him in. :rofl:

Yeah, I know gunners are relatively unknowns. As for an area of need, that's fine, but how about a few other positions that play more than kick coverages? That would make sense to me since those are bigger needs.

As for being 27 years-old, dude better not even think of buying a house in Charlotte, especially if 28 is quickly approching. :eek:

[British_Panther]

I think this is the reason why Hoover and Lloyd are gone:

We needed roster spots to dedicated to kick coverage and returns. Hudon is a Rodgers guy, he would have played under him for the 49ers.

Jeff Rodgers was promoted to special teams coordinator on Jan. 30, 2010 after spending the 2009 season as the Panthers' special teams and strength and conditioning assistant. He served as the special teams coordinator at Kansas State in 2008 following five years assisting with the San Francisco 49ers' special teams.

In his only season with Kansas State, Rodgers guided the special teams units to among the nation’s best. The Wildcats led the country in blocked kicks with a school-record nine, blocked punts with four and kickoff coverage with an opponents’ average drive start of the 21.9-yard line. Kansas State also scored six special teams touchdowns, including five on punt returns. Additionally, Rodgers coached two players who earned All-Big 12 honorable mention: kick/punt returner Brandon Banks and kicker Brooks Rossman.

His college resume is impressive and his promotion has been pretty rapid. I'll be interested to see if we make any moves for a kicker or KR.

[rayzor]

I knew a 'gunner' lined up on each side but I didn't think an NFL team would solely dedicate two roster spots to that role. Then again I don't look at who is the 6th string WR or DB on other teams so maybe that's not so odd.

i think we have typically had 5th and 6th stringers who are considered long term projects that are low risk acquisitions hoping that they could do alright on STs until we needed them later.

it's obvious that they thought any bonehead could play special teams and used that as a place to stash people until they can be promoted into a starting role. that strategy hasn't worked out at all. they never did all that well on STs and didn't rarely ever cracked the starting lineup or got much in the way of PT.

it's much better that they use those roster spots on solid STers rather than long term projects who use STs as a place holder.

[pantherfan81]

i think we have typically had 5th and 6th stringers who are considered long term projects that are low risk acquisitions hoping that they could do alright on STs until we needed them later.

it's obvious that they thought any bonehead could play special teams and used that as a place to stash people until they can be promoted into a starting role. that strategy hasn't worked out at all. they never did all that well on STs and didn't rarely ever cracked the starting lineup or got much in the way of PT.

it's much better that they use those roster spots on solid STers rather than long term projects who use STs as a place holder.

Agreed.