Defensive Tackle

[invisible38833]

I have seen a lot of folks question our DT's and with good reason. But.. I think the youth we have there is something to consider. Kemo and Lewis were not worth their money. Dang, Thomas was good and he was older then both. I actually believe that both Leonard and Tyler are heading into their best years. They may not be talented enough, but I believe the coaching staff thinks they won't lose much from what they had. I also believe Leonard will give us more of a pass rush from the middle then ever before. Plus, Ed Johnson from Indy is just as young and obviously Meeks likes what he has seen from him before. He has been injured, so maybe there is hope there. Irvin is a big kid too that might be a diamond in the rough. I think this line has potential purely because they are young and could mold into a nice group. If the OL can do it, why not the DL: Johnson, Leonard, Tyler and Brown are all young, mobile and possibly a better complete unit then the one man wrecking machine (when the switch was turned on) and the rest of the stand around and take up space crew. One thing is for sure: They better all come in hungry and giving it 110%. They will be competing for playing time. PLus Beason and Davis give you some solid insurance right behind. The line just needs to hold there own and get some pressure and I like our abilities to maintain what we had late in the season.

[House]

BEWARE teh Wall of Text.

[Guest silver82blade]

the most successful defensive lines have huge nose tackle types. we only have louis leonard over 320 pounds. i don't care about talent. i don't think ma'ake or damione were very talented, so we don't lose anything there in my opinion. ma'ake, though, was big and stuffed runs. if louis leonard under performs or goes down with an injury, we might be doomed perhaps maybe kind of. this team usually does the opposite of what i thought they were going to do though, so i don't know.

[mr beauxjangles]

the most successful defensive lines have huge nose tackle types. we only have louis leonard over 320 pounds. i don't care about talent. i don't think ma'ake or damione were very talented, so we don't lose anything there in my opinion. ma'ake, though, was big and stuffed runs. if louis leonard under performs or goes down with an injury, we might be doomed perhaps maybe kind of. this team usually does the opposite of what i thought they were going to do though, so i don't know.

not ambiguous enough. please try again. :prrr:

[Guest silver82blade]

well, i don't know! i hate to be too definitive, 'cause i'll look stupid when we have the number 1 run defense. every year some aspect of our team performs way better or way worse than i could ever have anticipated.

[Fiz]

[DaveThePanther2008]

I am on the bandwagon that this DT corp will be BETTER than last season. I think these guys are in the mold of what Meeks likes on a D-Line.

Seems to me I read where Tank Tyler was in the wrong system and that he would blossom in a 4-3 defense. That in itself should give some of you hope.

[koolkatluke]

The thing I like about our DT situation is we have so many option.

We have like 5-6 on the roster not too mention 2 DE that can play DT on pass rush downs. So we have alot of ? at the position but we have more ways too anwser the questions which I like.

Now DE is a diffrent story right now alot of ? and we are very thin LB is another where we are thin.

[panthers55]

So this group is going to be better..........................

Lets ignore that both Louis and Irvin are coming off IR and combined have played 2 game in the NFL last year. Tyler played in 6 games last year and mustered a total of 8 tackles. Ed Johnson has played a total of 5 games with 18 tackles in the past 2 years and has no sacks in his career. Of the DTs on our roster you know who has the most tackles last year? Nick Hayden. Yeah he was surely effective.

This group is surely not better and will be even more pressed because without a game changer like Peppers who had to be gameplanned for by the defense, defenses will be able to single Johnson and Brown and double the tackles. Meeks has never had great run defensive teams and our run defense was poor last year. None of the current crop will improve our ranking from last year and a guy who could like Haynesworth, we are too cheap to go after.

Unless we make some upgrades to the defensive line we better hope Baker is a magician or the best defensive line coach in the league.

[koolkatluke]

So this group is going to be better..........................

Lets ignore that both Louis and Irvin are coming off IR and combined have played 1 game in the NFL. Tyler played in 6 games last year and mustered a total of 8 tackles. Ed Johnson has played a total of 5 games with 18 tackles in the past 2 years and has no sacks in his career. Of the DTs on our roster you know who has the most tackles last year? Nick Hayden. Yeah he was surely effective.

This group is surely not better and will be even more pressed because without a game changer like Peppers who had to be gameplanned for by the defense, defenses will be able to single Johnson and Brown and double the tackles. Meeks has never had great run defensive teams and our run defense was poor last year. None of the current crop will improve our ranking from last year and a guy who could like Haynesworth, we are too cheap to go after.

Unless we make some upgrades to the defensive line we better hope Baker is a magician or the best defensive line coach in the league.

No I agree P-55 we might not be better but atleast we have alot of bodies too throw at the problem. So atleast we can try like 4-5 diffrent combination. Then we also can get a nice rotation where their is always someone fresh in their. We can change lines like Hockey on every 2 plays that might be fun too see. Fat guys running back forth off and on the field. I know I will get a laugh out of that.

But seriously atleast their is alot of option. Unlike DE which right now if EB and CJ don't step up we are f**kED!! When it comes too passrush and protecting the edges. I still don't see why we didn't atleast bring in Arron K or Alex B.

[scpanther22]

I am on the bandwagon that this DT corp will be BETTER than last season. I think these guys are in the mold of what Meeks likes on a D-Line.

Seems to me I read where Tank Tyler was in the wrong system and that he would blossom in a 4-3 defense. That in itself should give some of you hope.

Tyler has played in a 4-3 before

[panthers55]

No I agree P-55 we might not be better but atleast we have alot of bodies too throw at the problem. So atleast we can try like 4-5 diffrent combination. Then we also can get a nice rotation where their is always someone fresh in their. We can change lines like Hockey on every 2 plays that might be fun too see. Fat guys running back forth off and on the field. I know I will get a laugh out of that.

But seriously atleast their is alot of option. Unlike DE which right now if EB and CJ don't step up we are f**kED!! When it comes too passrush and protecting the edges. I still don't see why we didn't atleast bring in Arron K or Alex B.

Honestly we have a bunch of guys who could be good in a rotation. What we lack is the big physical tackle like we had with Jenkins or the massive nose tackle like Kemo. Thomas showed last year that even at his age with a big stopper in the middle, or run defense got suddenly better. Louis could be good but I want to see how he comes back from his injury before I see him as the answer. The issue with Meeks scheme is that so much emphasis is put on the DEs to get pressure on the quarterback at all costs, that many times they are out of position on run plays and too far up field to recover. Look at how many times last year we were susceptible to runs around the corner because our DEs were caught inside trying to rush the quarterback on an inside stunt or trying to shore up the holes up the middle or between the tackles. The solution to that is a interior pass rush or at least a solid wall of protection which allows the linebackers to flow to the outside without worrying about getting killed on the cutback moves. DEs should be holding the edge and turning things back inside which frankly didn't happen last year. I really think we are going to do or die with who we have and not try and upgrade by getting someone like Haynesworth who could instantly improve the defense. Hopefully someone like Atlanta or New Orleans doesn't either. Since we don't seem bent on improving, hopefully they don't either or we are going to be in third place in the division looking up.

[blueblurr]

I've been using a online draft simulater the past two weeks at DRAFTTEC.com and have just tweeked out this possible selection by the panthers

2 48 Carolina Colt McCoy QB Texas

3 78 Carolina Taylor Price WRF Ohio

4 112 Carolina Mike Neal DT43 Purdue

6 175 Carolina Kevin Basped DE43 Nevada

6 202 Carolina Shelley Smith OT Colorado State

6 204 Carolina Adrian Tracy OLB43 William & Mary

7 223 Carolina Antonio Brown WRS Central Michigan

7 249 Carolina Freddie Barnes WRF Bowling Green

Caroline does have depth at DT. I can see Caroline going DT first with Tyson Aluala but I think this draft selection above would be a great draft for the panthers and we would still get a solid DT!

[Delhommey]

Little food for thought:

# of DT's selected in the past 5 drafts: 94

Number of those DT's that have made the Pro Bowl: 2 (Ratliff and Ngata)