ESPN: Panthers have "worst group of D-tackles in the league"...

[SCPantherFan90]

Leonard was playing one hell of a game when he broke his ankle, if I remember correctly.

[SorthNarolina]

Our DLine could either tank, or step up like our Oline did in '08 or how our backups have stepped up the last 2 years when needed with little experience.

we'll have to wait and see..

I don't see the D-line stepping up like the O-line. The O-line "stepped up" because they were very talented with just the right amount of experience. It was 10x easier for them to step up than what it will be for the D-line.

[Pox 08]

When the Panthers get new unproven players, those players, more times than not, are always considered the worst of the worst by most.

It could be worse, they could all be hyped up as the next best things and if they perform at an average level, we'd have to listen to all the analysts trash talk them for being, well, average.

Look at Kolb. Almost every Eagles fan I know is gulping down the "Kolb is the next big thing" hype. When/if he fails, they're going to be forced to listen to BOOs and JEERs until my throat is sore.

[LaChance87]

None of our defensive tackles are proven... so obviously thats why they are underrated... Only time will tell weather they'll be a factor or not... We didnt lose a whole lot getting them and it could be theres a dimond in the rough there... I'm anxious to find out if there is a superstar in one or two of them... They guys are in a whole new sistuation from where they came from. They are all we have, they say we are in a rebuilding process so I like they idea of bringing in youth at that position, instead of keeping Thomas... and Kemo all he was, was a big body to fill a hole... Any big body could do what he did.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

The Kemo hate is strong these days.

I don't remember anyone saying he was just a big body and easily replaceable while he was here. I do, however, remember everyone panicking when he went down during training camp.

[Big Ed]

I remember lots of posters laying the wood to Kemo.

Talk of he did not get any pressure up the middle, too slow ,

wish Jenkins was still here ect...

But when he went down for season ,views changed .

Attitude was like Kemo was an all pro ..

As far as this seasons D T 's they are really unproven in Meeks defense

They came in at differnt times and some were injured .

New season ,all healthy lets see what they got !

[caddieman]

I do not honestly think it's that bad, not even close to worst in the league. Kemo and lewis wern't all that great to begin with.

Let me get this straight. You say Kemo and Lewis were not all that great. So their backups have to play now. And the backups are worse than Kemo and Lewis. You also lost a top 3 DE in the NFL and you think............"Its not that bad"............OK!

[panthers55]

Let me get this straight. You say Kemo and Lewis were not all that great. So their backups have to play now. And the backups are worse than Kemo and Lewis. You also lost a top 3 DE in the NFL and you think............"Its not that bad"............OK!

For the record, Kemo was out the whole year so Louis who was picked up to replace him wasn't his backup. He started 2 games before he went down with the ankle injury. Tyler was picked up when Louis went down and played in the rotation so he didn''t back up Lewis either.

The reality is that Louis will be the key to the run defense this year. If he comes back 100% and plays as well as he did in his brief stint last year, we shoud be decent in the middle. Tyler is a rotation guy so I wouldn''t be surprised if we pick up one more guy when other teams make final cuts.

[SorthNarolina]

Let me get this straight. You say Kemo and Lewis were not all that great. So their backups have to play now. And the backups are worse than Kemo and Lewis. You also lost a top 3 DE in the NFL and you think............"Its not that bad"............OK!

I just meant the DT's not the entire D-line. As far as where I would rank the D-line I think we're in the cellar. I don't see how how you think their backups are worse, Hollis Thomas played NT just as effectively so I think Tyler will be able to too.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

It could be worse, they could all be hyped up as the next best things and if they perform at an average level, we'd have to listen to all the analysts trash talk them for being, well, average.

2006 season in a nutshell.

[panthers55]

I just meant the DT's not the entire D-line. As far as where I would rank the D-line I think we're in the cellar. I don't see how how you think their backups are worse, Hollis Thomas played NT just as effectively so I think Tyler will be able to too.

I hope that Tyler plays the under tackle not the nose. He really isn't big enough to take on double teams which is why KC traded him. He really isn't much of a pass rusher either. He could be good in a rotation particularly on run defense.

[SorthNarolina]

The Kemo hate is strong these days.

I don't remember anyone saying he was just a big body and easily replaceable while he was here. I do, however, remember everyone panicking when he went down during training camp.

There were plenty of people who wern't impressed with kemo for his stay here. We had two one demensional DT's that shouldn't have been starting. Nobody panicked because kemo went down, they panicked because Nick Hayden was taking his place. Fox and Hurney completley ignored putting fresh legs in at DT for 2 years and paid for it.

[Woodie]

The Kemo hate is strong these days.

I don't remember anyone saying he was just a big body and easily replaceable while he was here. I do, however, remember everyone panicking when he went down during training camp.

I remember a lot of arguements about Kemo's worth on multiple Panther message boards...including the Huddle. And the arguement usually came down to the fact that some equated playmaking and penetration as what defined a solid DT, but others said Kemo did the job he was hired to do fairly well, and that's take up double teams and keep our LB's clean so they could make plays. Kemo was always just what he was, a big body that filled half of the interior line, which is all he was asked to do.

As for people panicking, that's because everyone saw the need for a vet DT even before he went down, so when he got hurt, we all knew this was going to be a problem area since we had very little depth behind him. But lets be honest, they were tailoring Meek's defenst to fit Kemo in; he typically doesn't need or want such a big body in the middle of his line. He prefers to use speed and quickness rather than space eaters.

[Woodie]

While many are worried about our rush defense because we no longer have a hoss in the middle, I think we will see the defense Meeks actually prefers to run. So any problems we may have with run defense will not be due to the loss of Kemo or Thomas, but more a result of our defensive scheme...and/or because the players we brought in simply aren't good enough (I don't think this will be the case).