where are the weaknesses? is it doom and gloom?

[pantherclaw]

Where are the weaknesses?

Qb? Have more talent there than we've ever had with fox leading our team.

Rb? One of the best rb tandum ever.

Oline? Arguably one on the best we've had. Depth was a concern a year ago, but last season proved our young depth is pretty good.

Wr? we got some you talent to help steve. Don't sleep on goodson being used as a receiver either.

Te? We have a good group of guys that can catch. And block.

Onto defense.

Dline? This will be most people's choice. I believe the team like the young guys we have. While we are scared cause they are unproven as a group. I don't think any. Addition will help settle that fear. I'm going to have at least enough faith in our coaches to see how this group does before I say they are no good.

Lb? Davis back healthy gives us a great group of line backers.

Cb and safety? Not a weakness at all. In fact they have more options with how they do the defensive backfield. I hope marshall signs and shows up. If not...we'll move on

Special teams? I can't think of any other season that the team has done more to improve this unit. I can't wait to see the results. While I hope for a top 5 unit...a top 15 will help a lot.

My point is this team is improving. As much as people were complaining throughout free agency...I don't see us as bad as people think. In many ways...we are much more improved than a lot of people give us credit for.it is yet to be seen on the field...but I have genuine excitement for this coming season.

[Guest silver82blade]

defensive line is my only concern, obviously, pass rush and run stuffing. maybe everette brown comes in and does well. maybe greg hardy shows up big this year. or, maybe no one shows up and we get little pressure on any qb which is a great way to lose to teams you're expected to beat. i don't know how they didn't get a big guy behind louis leonard after what happened last year with the run stuffing. we'll just see is all i can say, but if we can't rush the passer or stop the run effectively we are screwed to the max, 'cause our team's conservative philosophy is not designed to get in a shooting match.

the rest of the team is solid though, if a bit unproven in some areas. best running back group. best offensive line. best linebacking group. solid secondary with depth at safety. deep talent at quarterback and wide receiver. deep talent at tight end. the defensive line will decide whether we are a playoff team or not. they need to realize that and give it all they have to get ready for the season.

[Rononoa3000]

DL against the run is my only concern.

[SOJA]

Where are the weaknesses?

Qb? Have more talent there than we've ever had with fox leading our team.

Rb? One of the best rb tandum ever.

Oline? Arguably one on the best we've had. Depth was a concern a year ago, but last season proved our young depth is pretty good.

Wr? we got some you talent to help steve. Don't sleep on goodson being used as a receiver either.

Te? We have a good group of guys that can catch. And block.

Onto defense.

Dline? This will be most people's choice. I believe the team like the young guys we have. While we are scared cause they are unproven as a group. I don't think any. Addition will help settle that fear. I'm going to have at least enough faith in our coaches to see how this group does before I say they are no good.

Lb? Davis back healthy gives us a great group of line backers.

Cb and safety? Not a weakness at all. In fact they have more options with how they do the defensive backfield. I hope marshall signs and shows up. If not...we'll move on

Special teams? I can't think of any other season that the team has done more to improve this unit. I can't wait to see the results. While I hope for a top 5 unit...a top 15 will help a lot.

My point is this team is improving. As much as people were complaining throughout free agency...I don't see us as bad as people think. In many ways...we are much more improved than a lot of people give us credit for.it is yet to be seen on the field...but I have genuine excitement for this coming season.

Great post, I think we will have two problems this year:

1.) Hitting our 'groove' early, seems like the last two years it took a couple of weeks for deangelo and j-stew to get going// same priniciple for defense, despite the injuries our defense improved as the year progressed--- If both of these happen I don't see us not making the playoffs unless of course...

2.) QB controversy splits team hurting chemistry...... its happened before and could happen again....I hope Matt Moore comes out and outplays Clausen. I've said it before look what a little preparation did for Aaron Rodgers. Moore is ready to take the reigns of Delhomme's game manager now, Clausen is a future game-changer if he is given the proper time to develop and learn.

[Brooklyn Bully]

WRs for now. They won't take pressure off Steve until a few games into the season at least.

FB for now. I don't trust Fiametta at all.

I'm fine with our D-Line, but it won't be amazing by any stretch. LBs are killer. CBs are servicable and the Safteys are good...but Meeks system has it weak parts so I'd say the defense scheme as a whole is a weakness. Hopefully they can skew things here and there.

STs looks better on paper but means nothing until they prove they aren't rubbish like ST was last year. I worry about kickoffs, Baker has seemed to slide, and Kasay isn't getting any younger.

But I can see us nabbing 10 wins now. Last week I thought 8 or 9.

[panthers55]

If the OP did Point then this is the Counterpoint.........

Quarterback- this is the first year under Fox that we are counting on a starter with less than 10 starts And behind him are a few guys who have never taken a snap in the NFL. Potential sure but nothing to fall back on if Moore goes down and nothing to say Moore will be that great either.

Wide receiver- Yeah we got Smitty and behind that a bust in Jarrett and several guys with no experience. Could we be okay? Perhaps..... Or maybe this is Colbert and Carter part 3 or 4. At this point no veterans and nothing to get too excited about.

RB and OL- the two best parts of the team. Both the RBs are veterans as are the linemen this year. No wonder they are good, they are the only experienced groups on the offense.

Yeah lets look at defense. The defensive line is going to be the achilles heel all year. Last year we couldn't stop the run but got pressure. This year's group won't be good against the pass or run. It was great we got so many defensive backs because with the way opponents will go up and down the field all day, we will need to platoon them in to keep them fresh.

The linebackers will be busy all day blitzing, making tackles and largely making up for the porous line in front of them. The problem is that they will be having to play so close to the line to bolster the run defense that we will killed by TEs and receivers catching balls behind them.

The secondary is an unknown until Marshall signs his tender. We have lots of bodies back there which is a good thing, They should be solid for the most part although without any pressure by the D line they will get toasted on a weekly basis.

Special teams- lets hope they are better, honestly could they be any worse? Our standards have slipped so badly that not being at the very bottom seems to be a good thing.

Now could they be better than this portrayal? Of course they could be. But until they actually deliver, we have one of the youngest and least experienced teams in the league. Not exactly something to get excited about yet.................

[R0CKnR0LLA]

Pretty much the entire DLine and every WR not named Steve Smith is a question mark.

[frash.exe]

[Mr. Scot]

This time of year, everybody has hopes and question marks.

My general outlook is always cautious optimism, so my views are probably more in line with Claw's right now.

[ChucktownK]

The thought of Norwood on ST has my danglies all tingly.

The only thing we DO seem to be lacking in some spots is experience.

[pantherclaw]

My second attempt at this post...

Experience is good, but it is not everything. Young teams can and have done well. In this league.

We move on from two defensive tackles that nobody liked starting, and peppers (that half of you can't stand)....and now our line has gone to poo?

We don't have any tackles worth a damn cause?? We didn't draft most of them? Cause they weren't first round picks?cause they came from other teams?

Whatever the reasoning....they were traded for a reason. not desperation like so many think. There is talent there.

The team has been preparing this transition for a couple of years now. Most fans love the play we got from johnson and brown in their limited time. They have both proven they can disrupt the backfield and get to the qb. We also drafted another pass rusher this last weekend. Can't think of his name right off the top of my head...and not going to look it up on my phone. The linebacker...while most feel that is all he will be, his strength is rushing the passer from the edge.

I feel many people are over looking our young talent! You can cite inexperience all you want...but the talent is there.

As I said last year, I'll say this again...john fox and hurney has never ignored the dline. They aren't now. Do I believe our dline will set the league on fire? Of course not...but I can't buy into the doom and gloom either. John fox hasn't stopped believing in stopping the run and rushing the passer.

[megadeth078]

Are people forgetting about the two DTs we traded for last season (Leonard, Tyler)? Did you guys really want the Panthers to spend even more picks for DTs when they already did that last season (using this year's picks btw). It's not like we traded for old band-aids that we could use for a season or two then throw away. We got some young players, and I'm sure we didn't set up the trades just so the FO could get our fans to stfu. When did these two get marked as worthless? We haven't picked up any DE's lately, but that position was addressed in the draft with two DEs taken (I'm counting Norwood, sue me). I don't see why we're all so worried. Sure it's all youth, but our linebackers will make sure we're not complete poo (as usual). Foxy and Hurney aren't worried to the point where they didn't even care if our old DTs came back. Don't quote me on this, but we may be overreacting.

[Big Ed]

The same overreacting that alot said about MEEKS early last season.

Heck I remember post wanting TURD back

Meeks got his new system in place and team finished strong.

Meeks went and got Ed Johnson D T

played for Meeks with Colts

DE

Johnson had 4.5 sacks but only started 2 game's

Peppers had 10.5 but started 14 games

With Johnson starting 14-16 games this year , his sacks should at least double to 9

Brown will be MEEKS Feeney in time .

Yes Moore has not started much and some are concerned

Jake only started like 6 games for N O

So jake had less experience than Moore when Jake became the starter .

And Jake was 3 rd string behind Aaron Brooks and Jeff Blake

I think alot will be surpriced !!

[Big Ed]

The same overreacting that alot said about MEEKS early last season.

Heck I remember post wanting TURD back

Meeks got his new system in place and team finished strong.

Meeks went and got Ed Johnson D T

played for Meeks with Colts

DE

Johnson had 4.5 sacks but only started 2 game's

Peppers had 10.5 but started 14 games

With Johnson starting 14-16 games this year , his sacks shoukd at least double to 9

Brown will be MEEKS Freeney in time .

Yes Moore has not started much and some are concerned

Jake only started like 6 games for N O

So jake had little experience when Jake became the starter .

And Jake was 3 rd string behind Aaron Brooks and Jeff Blake

I think alot will be surpriced !!