Cuts - No Impact

[Urrymonster]

First thing, no I am not saying the cuts have no impact on the team. Instead I am pointing out that no one of them was an impact player.

The theory

Meeks' defensive scheme relies on front four pressure, as does every Cover 2 base in the league. Otherwise the safeties can be pulled all over the shop and clever OCs and QBs will make the day long and painful.

This off-season we lost the biggest impact player we had in Pep. No one could replace him in FA, no one could replace him in the draft. Simply put, we need other positions to step up to factor the loss in quality at the RE position. Therefore the two DTs and the LE simply have to have the ability to make plays both in the running game and especially in t he passing game. However with Ma'ake, Lewis and Brayton, you were assured of exactly the opposite. They were dependable, solid and rarely did anything extraordinary.

So, the FO decided that the only way to get more of an impact in the passing game from the DL, was by throwing some guys into the fire and seeing who can produce. There was no way our scheme would work without Peppers unless the DLine was shaken up. Bare in mind that we need contributors from all four positions across the DLine, with any of the old guys we knew we were not going to get a difference maker.

It would appear the FO would trade off for dependability and go for a more, boom or bust DLine. A Dline that can generate significant pressure at the expense of a mistake or two. Or three.

Looking at Diggs and you can summarise the same thing. He pretty much has not made a significant play in his entire duration at the Panthers, so with the loss of our huge play maker, we at the least need some who 'could' provide that. Diggs is not that guy.

My theory is, is that the FO recognise there is no way we can replace the game changing abilities of Pep with just one guy and thus we were forced to try and get contributors across the whole front 7. Even one of the 'steady' guys reduces our chances of getting an impact play from the younger guys. We knew what we had with the guys who were let go, however with this team needing big play potential, it was pointless keeping guys who provided exactly the opposite.

[ncbobcat]

Really? You couldn't have squeezed this post into one of the 4 other similar threads currently running?

[mr beauxjangles]

First thing, no I am not saying the cuts have no impact on the team. Instead I am pointing out that no one of them was an impact player.

: points and laughs :

[Urrymonster]

Really? You couldn't have squeezed this post into one of the 4 other similar threads currently running?

Grow up.

Find me one that has the theory that the reason the cuts happened was because Pep left in an attempt to find players that can actually impact the game, rather than being 'steady'

[Urrymonster]

: points and laughs :

Who?

I am pretty objective so if you want to discuss it, please do.

[MaineManPanther]

: points and laughs :

Who did we cut that was a big impact player? Peppers wasnt cut.

[ncbobcat]

Grow up.

Find me one that has the theory that the reason the cuts happened was because Pep left in an attempt to find players that can actually impact the game, rather than being 'steady'

Exactly, none...but there are 4 or 5 that are about the cuts, impact, offseason implications, and outcome of next season and beyond. It could have fit nicely into a couple of them.

I am a grown man and don't see why multiple threads are started when a offshoot thought on a current thread necessitates a brand new one.

[carolinanimal]

i think many are misunderstanding about "impact" players. all players have a impact on a team. either negatively or positively. just because some one is not a probowler or all pro doesnt make them not a impact player. most teams dont have that many impact players everywhere. you need guys who are "just solidt" to make up some of your team. they are the bridge or glue on the team that makes up a real team, not a probowl roster.

we dont even know if the guys replacing them are even solid. so before saying we "only lost non impact players". lets make sure the guys we have can even be solid starters first, (or even come back from there injuries fully) before we start talking about impact.

also in fa, we have actually released some of the better defensive fa on the market. so anyone we pick up will probably be below thier level and what a decent contract. think about! if teams are doing like the panthers and dumping older players with big contracts(which most teams arent, wonder why?) then all that will mostly be on the market is older players that will want a good deal of money. afther that will be scrubs willing to sign for a 1 year deal and undrafted fas. that is where our help will be coming from ,and oh our 4-5 rookie draft picks of which at least one will be offensive help.

[GreatPoupon]

i actually like the post.

i think others have touched on it: old guys - you know what you have. new guys - potential, upside, possibility better or worse.

[Urrymonster]

Ok maybe I need to explain myself a bit more, or at least try and do it clearer.

Our defensive scheme demands players that can get to the quarterback in a hurry throughout the game. Leiws, Ma'ake and Brayton simply couldn't do that. Thus they could not be an impact player for us in the most important aspect of our scheme.

Our FO felt the only way to replace Pep and his production, was by removing the guys who can't do what they need to and replacing them with a DL that might get abused, be has a much higher potential for fulfilling the scheme.

Without pressure our scheme fails. Lewis, Kemo & Brayton were very poor at generating this, Pep was our only consistent performer. Due to him leaving, we were forced to cut ties with the others as we need to find guys who can generate pressure across the front, in an attempt to make up for losing Pep. This is because no one we could get in FA or the draft could even come close to him.

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

Grow up.

Find me one that has the theory that the reason the cuts happened was because Pep left in an attempt to find players that can actually impact the game, rather than being 'steady'

could have saved a lot of talk by just posting this to start......

[CanadianCat]

you make an interesting point but not sure if i buy into it totally. If we had better players on the roster that could make an impact they would have been starting. Diggs was not given the job he earned it was was the best OLB besides TD.

I understnd that the cuts now force guys to step up but I have a hard time thinking that a back up is ever happy being a back up in the NFL.

So I see where your going with this but I just dont agree.

[GreatPoupon]

not sure how youre conecting peppers departure to letting guys go that dont do well in our system.

if guys dont do well in a system shouldnt they be let go regardless?

i think lewis is an ok pass rusher for DT... kemo is obviously the stuffer he probably wouldnt have played passing downs... and brayton is similar in that aspect.

[cgarsmoker]

First thing, no I am not saying the cuts have no impact on the team. Instead I am pointing out that no one of them was an impact player.

The theory

Meeks' defensive scheme relies on front four pressure, as does every Cover 2 base in the league. Otherwise the safeties can be pulled all over the shop and clever OCs and QBs will make the day long and painful.

This off-season we lost the biggest impact player we had in Pep. No one could replace him in FA, no one could replace him in the draft. Simply put, we need other positions to step up to factor the loss in quality at the RE position. Therefore the two DTs and the LE simply have to have the ability to make plays both in the running game and especially in t he passing game. However with Ma'ake, Lewis and Brayton, you were assured of exactly the opposite. They were dependable, solid and rarely did anything extraordinary.

So, the FO decided that the only way to get more of an impact in the passing game from the DL, was by throwing some guys into the fire and seeing who can produce. There was no way our scheme would work without Peppers unless the DLine was shaken up. Bare in mind that we need contributors from all four positions across the DLine, with any of the old guys we knew we were not going to get a difference maker.

It would appear the FO would trade off for dependability and go for a more, boom or bust DLine. A Dline that can generate significant pressure at the expense of a mistake or two. Or three.

Looking at Diggs and you can summarise the same thing. He pretty much has not made a significant play in his entire duration at the Panthers, so with the loss of our huge play maker, we at the least need some who 'could' provide that. Diggs is not that guy.

My theory is, is that the FO recognise there is no way we can replace the game changing abilities of Pep with just one guy and thus we were forced to try and get contributors across the whole front 7. Even one of the 'steady' guys reduces our chances of getting an impact play from the younger guys. We knew what we had with the guys who were let go, however with this team needing big play potential, it was pointless keeping guys who provided exactly the opposite.

I see your point about pressure being important and that being a reason for some of the changes but you failed to mention the other major factor that makes this scheme work. RUN DEFENSE.....Teams blew out our DT's before we added Hollis Thomas into the mix and I'm not sure we have anybody that is a real run stuffer on the d-line. Nothing is more demoralizing than have a team run it down our throats between the tackles at 5 yards a clip. This worries me much more than our pass rush.