Time is here for Martin

[mj4life]

i think that martin and godfrey give us two fast, athletic, versatile safeties who can cover alot of ground and have some corner skills, but neither lays the wood like harris and i think that's what we will miss the most.hopefully the ability to make big plays will offset this

[Snake]

they will have the same job, just on different sides of the field.

we don't really use a traditional SS anymore. what we needed was two quick safeties that can do both safety jobs.

i'm tending to believe that we have that now.

When you play the Saints twice a year you need speed at S. Just makes Cover 2 that more effective. Plus Godfrey is a harder hitter then everyone gives him credit for.

[OneBadassCat]

I believe Martin be end up being our leader in the secondary. The kid is smart and is a play maker.

I know I am one of the few, but I believe our secondary will be even better this year.

Coverage is going to be alot better. However Godfrey is gonna have to start laying the wood more often. I could see him adding a little bulk too.

[pantherclaw]

The secondary will only be effective to the extent that we get pressure on the quarterback and we don't have to commit a safety to the run all the time. Both of those areas are suspect to the point that the secondary could easily be affected. The strength of the line will go a long way to determining how our pass defense looks no matter who the back 7 are and how well they play. I would be hard pressed to say the pass defense will be better until I see how the D line looks this year.

Yes. The play of the dline is important, as it is every year. As it also can be said for any secondary.

We have a LOT of young talent along the dline. We have not seen them play together as a group yet. Until I see them play, and we know for sure what their strengths and weaknesses are, I'm not going to judge them. I'm not going to assume worst, or the best. I'm going to let their play speak for them.

There is still talent all throughout our defense. I am looking forward to seeing how meeks and our assistant defensive coaches have them playing this coming season.

[beastson]

we will miss Chris Harris this season

We will. If not for the whole season, the first half of the season

[pantherfan49]

Um we did go to sh*t when McCree left......

In fairness, the Panthers didn't have a good backup plan for McCree and made the right move in not matching the offer he was given by San Diego.

Retaining McCree (at the contract that SD offered) would have been bad for the Panthers long term.

[OneBadassCat]

We could just put Thomas Davis back at SS in a few running situations.

Martin............................ Thomas Davis

Norwood Beason Conner

Johnson, Tyler, Leonard, Brayton

MADDEN BABY

[The Question]

I think we'll miss Harris a bit in run defense but Martin is going to be a ball hawk so it's up to Godfrey to shore up the run and blitz effectively.

[davos]

Um we did go to sh*t when McCree left......

Well, I'll agree to disagree. I just didn't think he was anything that special or worth the panic. It was a disappointing year, but I wouldn't equate going to sh*t with it

In fairness, the Panthers didn't have a good backup plan for McCree and made the right move in not matching the offer he was given by San Diego.

Retaining McCree (at the contract that SD offered) would have been bad for the Panthers long term.

[KatsAzz]

I like that the Panthers will go with Martin and Godfrey as starting safeties.

I believe their reason for replacing Harris was so they could avoid teams getting mismatches on a slower SS, with a WR. As it was, whenever a team split out a fast RB, or slipped in a 3rd WR, unless the Panthers had brought in a nickle back, the FS (Godfrey) had to cover him, even if he had to switch sides with the SS. Now with Martin and Godfrey as the starting S's, they no longer have to shift to avoid mismatches, and can't be caught while switching up sides of the field.

This should be a great advantage (not having to make substitutions) when facing teams that run a no huddle offense.

I know LB's usually pick the RB's, but a LB running in the 4.6's can't cover a RB running a sub 4.4 beyond around 15-20 yards deep, without giving up a huge cushion. Now a S can cover him all the way, rather than picking him up from a LB on the back end, freeing that LB to pass rush, or defend the run.

The NFL is fast becoming a passing league and Harris was being considered a libility in that respect.Nice to see some added speed with our DB's.

Although Harris was a hard hitting safety, he lacked speed. So he couldn't hit or cover what he couldn't catch. ;-) I'm glad the Panthers are going with Godfrey and Martin as their starting safeties to improve overall speed and ball-hawking capability in the secondary, particularly on the deep routes. With the league favoring an increasingly high-scoring, passing game for offenses this move became necessary. These two are more interchangeable, have experience now and can cover more territory playing together.