Evero getting another shot with new players

[Jmac]

I honestly couldn't name but a handfull of guys that played on defense this season. He had to scrape together practice squad guys and JAG's to even field enough guys to play. I'm not crazy about the 3-4 scheme as it is, but having to start that bunch was awfull. 

Continuity is a good thing. Give him a chance with some healthy players and a bunch of draft picks and see what he can do. I wouldn't have objected to grabbing Saleh's either as the guy, but if Dave and Dan want to give Evero another shot with a full revamp, then I'm good with it.  

He has one more season to prove he has what it takes in Carolina.

Edited January 8 by Jmac

[Johnstonny]

6 minutes ago, Jmac said:

I honestly couldn't name but a handfull of guys that played on defense this season. He had to scrape together practice squad guys and JAG's to even field enough guys to play. I'm not crazy about the 3-4 scheme as it is, but having to start that bunch was awfull. 

Continuity is a good thing. Give him a chance with some healthy players and a bunch of draft picks and see what he can do. I wouldn't have objected to grabbing Saleh's either as the guy, but if Dave and Dan want to give Evero another shot with a full revamp, then I'm good with it.

I kinda agree but Glenn says fk off..

[Tr3ach]

I agree in theory, I will just never care for his scheme, play calling, or adjustments.  I will always prefer an aggressive defense over a bend but don't break and Evero will always be bend but don't break style play calling no matter who his personnel is.

[CPantherKing]

So, what defenders are you replacing?

It's Evero, so Jewell, Robinson, Fuller and Williams aren't leaving. Those are his guys. Brown and Horn are mainstays. Clowney and Wonnum (knowing he had to heal up) were just signed so they aren't leaving for 2025. 

Shaq was the best playmaker on the team, and he is likely gone. I could see a 1 year contract for him since he has been with Evero for 2 years.

The only 2 starting defenders to stay healthy are likely gone. Mike Jackson was a 1 year signing. Woods is a free agent I don't expect to sign again.

That leaves NT, ILB, CB, S.

I expect Evero to push for DJ Jones at NT in free agency.

So, if Shaq does come back, that leaves a similar Evero defense with hopeful improvements at CB and safety. We should not expect a complete overhaul while expecting more of the same from an Evero defense. Evero would need to be replaced to overhaul the defense. Here's to hoping the Panthers land the best CB and/or S in the league.

33 or 34 defenses need to be aggressive with disguised zone coverage. Evero wants to play soft zones while trying to sneak in some pressure on rare occasions.

Evero needs a game changing safety, a dominant run stopping NT, 2 gap aggressive ILBs, and a 12+ sack edge rusher to make his defense above average. Not happening.

 

[Jon Snow]

3 minutes ago, Tr3ach said:

I agree in theory, I will just never care for his scheme, play calling, or adjustments.  I will always prefer an aggressive defense over a bend but don't break and Evero will always be bend but don't break style play calling no matter who his personnel is.

I'm not sure if that was by design or necessity. We had zero pass rush and the dbs were green and outmatched. Guess we will find out eventually. 

[Adb6368]

I agree he should probably get another shot. 

however, using injuries as an excuse isn’t exactly valid considering you have to always assume you’ll lose a few key starters to injury every year. You need to be able to scheme a defense into acceptability.

most points scored on of all time is not a good look, even with an extra game 

[Daddy_Uncle]

We are going to load up this defense in the offseason and I'm excited for it

[MHS831]

1 hour ago, Jmac said:

I honestly couldn't name but a handfull of guys that played on defense this season. He had to scrape together practice squad guys and JAG's to even field enough guys to play. I'm not crazy about the 3-4 scheme as it is, but having to start that bunch was awfull. 

Continuity is a good thing. Give him a chance with some healthy players and a bunch of draft picks and see what he can do. I wouldn't have objected to grabbing Saleh's either as the guy, but if Dave and Dan want to give Evero another shot with a full revamp, then I'm good with it.  

He has one more season to prove he has what it takes in Carolina.

Well said. On top of losses in free agency and trades last year (Burns, DJax, YGM, etc). This team had nearly 100 starts lost to injuries.  I think he will be fine, but I am concerned about his "bend don't break" approach--one that could be based on personnel and not philosophy.  If you give him some defensive weapons he will attack.

In my view, DT (NT) is the biggest need, and DE is next.  Edge is a problem, but with Clowney and a healthy Wonnum, not so much.  We need an alpha safety.  A stud, run-stuffing ILB.  Re-sign Jackson (CB). 

It was not fair to evaluate Evero after this season--we are concerned, but the greatest coach in the world would have been abused with these holes.

I think you have to be careful evaluating players that depend on others doing their jobs in order to do their jobs.  I can say this with a fair degree of confidence:  Ray and Tuttle sucked.  That impacts the rush from the outside and it creates traffic for your ILBs to hunt.   I think we can "over fix" this.

Fuller? (UFA and his numbers were not good-but we shall see)  We need a few safeties, fwiw.

[MHS831]

49 minutes ago, Adb6368 said:

I agree he should probably get another shot. 

however, using injuries as an excuse isn’t exactly valid considering you have to always assume you’ll lose a few key starters to injury every year. You need to be able to scheme a defense into acceptability.

most points scored on of all time is not a good look, even with an extra game 

You know who had the most missed time on defense due to injuries?  Detroit.  Carolina was #2.

[cranky]

I hear the personel excuses - the problem is he had Burns, Luvu, Chin and Brown last year and he didnt show much then either: 23rd against the rush with Brown, Burns and Luvu at the line AND they gave up 29 rushing TDs - the most in the NFL. They also were either last or near to last with pressure and sacks. I'm not sure its so much personel as it is scheme.

[MHS831]

56 minutes ago, cranky said:

I hear the personel excuses - the problem is he had Burns, Luvu, Chin and Brown last year and he didnt show much then either: 23rd against the rush with Brown, Burns and Luvu at the line AND they gave up 29 rushing TDs - the most in the NFL. They also were either last or near to last with pressure and sacks. I'm not sure its so much personel as it is scheme.

Ok, I agree that I was not happy with the rush stats.  But most teams were beating us--what are they going to do?  Run the ball.

Overall, the Defense was ranked 4th and the Passing Defense was ranked 3rd.  (because teams did not need to pass much vs. the terrible offense)  Regardless, the same reason you can't give Evero credit for his pass defense is the reason you can't crush him over rushing data.  This is cherry picking--yet I agree with you that they gave up too much on the ground then and it got worse.  I think we are a stud DT(NT), a DE, and an ILB away from solving that problem--and I think it will be the priority.

[Martin]

Can someone explain the undersized NT thing to me, I don’t get how that works?

[cranky]

1 hour ago, MHS831 said:

-yet I agree with you that they gave up too much on the ground then and it got worse.  I think we are a stud DT(NT), a DE, and an ILB away from solving that problem--and I think it will be the priority.\

The problem with that is studs are rare. If we have to have a stud DT(NT) to fix our problem then we are probably doomed defensively.

[MHS831]

9 minutes ago, cranky said:

The problem with that is studs are rare. If we have to have a stud DT(NT) to fix our problem then we are probably doomed defensively.

That is a problem, but this draft is deep at DT/NT as well as DE/3tech.  I hear that Evero likes smaller NTs (Tuttle is smaller than DEs on the team, for example).   I REALLY like the DTs in this draft--and think we can find a stud in the second, but I would not be surprised to see us take a DT early--and to your point--we need to stop the run first and work on the other areas afterwards.

Edited January 9 by MHS831