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

[monstercat]

Maybe Irvin will step up this year....not much mention of him but he was a force at Georgia, from what I hear. Haven't heard one thing about him since he went on IR last year.....which is probably not good.....

I don't know if you can call him a force at Georgia, but after watching a few of his games there, it's clear that he has some good athletic ability for a big man. He just needs to keep getting stronger and working those practice reps, and he should be a pretty decent player.

[Ohio]

FTR, there is no reason why a "space eater" can't make a lot of tackles either. Kris Jenkins had 50 tackles from his NT position in the one full season he played with the Jets, which is more than he ever got as a Panther. And he is probably fatter now than he ever was, and takes on double teams routinely.

But we had our worst year in 4 years since Kemo was hurt. And just because his stats arent as high because he forces double teams, doesnt mean he isnt doing a good job. Heres our stats with Kemo

2006- 11th against the rush, 108ypg 10tds

2007- 18th against the rush, 110ypg 13tds

2008- 20th against the rush, 119ypg 14tds

Without Kemo

2009- 22nd against the rush, 125ypg 15tds

The 2 games that Leonard played in we gave up 185 rushing to the Eagles and 151 to the Falcons.

Kemo was better at DT then the guys we have now. His role was to take on double teams and let the LB's make the tackles.

[monstercat]

But we had our worst year in 4 years since Kemo was hurt. And just because his stats arent as high because he forces double teams, doesnt mean he isnt doing a good job. Heres our stats with Kemo

2006- 11th against the rush, 108ypg 10tds

2007- 18th against the rush, 110ypg 13tds

2008- 20th against the rush, 119ypg 14tds

Without Kemo

2009- 22nd against the rush, 125ypg 15tds

The 2 games that Leonard played in we gave up 185 rushing to the Eagles and 151 to the Falcons.

Kemo was better at DT then the guys we have now. His role was to take on double teams and let the LB's make the tackles.

It wasn't just Kemo though. It was the perfect storm of Kemo getting hurt on the first day of camp, installing a system that was new to everybody, and not having another NT on the roster until right before the start of the season (Leonard), then having him get hurt two games in to the season, and having to sign 35 yr old Hollis Thomas to fill in for the rest of the year. Not to mention the fact that the offense constantly put the defense in terrible positions all year long, due to all the 3 and outs and INT's. Those things are morale killers for any defense.

The fact that the 09 Panthers defense ended up being the 9th best scoring defense in the NFL is a minor miracle, and I think John Fox and Ron Meeks deserves a ton of credit for keeping them together as well as they did.

[KatsAzz]

Worst DLine in the League is the most absurd comment I have read this offseason. This is based on what? Cause Peppers and Kemo and Lewis are gone? Cause we don't have a Pro Bowl DT or even an Alternate Pro Bowl DT?

I also don't believe that our D-Line is going to post negative rushing yards allowed for the entire season.

I believe we are going to be somewhere in the middle. I have faith in Coach Baker, I have faith that the defensive line won't be destroyed by injury bug again. I also believe that the talent we acquired last season only to get injured will pay big dividends this season.

I believe in our Front Office and outside of Johnson, who played for Meeks in Indy, we didn't need any more DT talent.

[SorthNarolina]

Worst DLine in the League is the most absurd comment I have read this offseason. This is based on what? Cause Peppers and Kemo and Lewis are gone? Cause we don't have a Pro Bowl DT or even an Alternate Pro Bowl DT?

I also don't believe that our D-Line is going to post negative rushing yards allowed for the entire season.

I believe we are going to be somewhere in the middle. I have faith in Coach Baker, I have faith that the defensive line won't be destroyed by injury bug again. I also believe that the talent we acquired last season only to get injured will pay big dividends this season.

I believe in our Front Office and outside of Johnson, who played for Meeks in Indy, we didn't need any more DT talent.

Yes.

I have faith in the D-line too but I can't really back much of it up until they actually play.

[ChucktownK]

"We'll show YOU see....SEE!

[KatsAzz]

While it is evident that the Panthers do have a somewhat unproven defensive line or to be more specific unproven DT's that in no way makes them the worst in the league. These players are young and talented. They have played well when they were not injured. Inexperienced, yes to a degree. They will have to show that they can successfully stop the run and put pressure on the quarterback as a unit.

It's because they are, for the most part, an unknown to us fans at this point that I am willing to take a wait and see approach and give them a reasonable chance before conceding that they are an unproductive, weak unit before seeing them play in a regular season game.

Surely, the Panthers coaching staff and GM Marty Hurney would not have ignored the DT position this off-season if it were the worst,or close to the worst in the league. Therefore, I believe they see this unit as one of solid potential and production which will be proven on the field,not in an outsider's press report.

[dimbee]

Panthers should acquire Tank Johnson, so they could line up 2 tanks at DT

[KatsAzz]

Panthers should acquire Tank Johnson, so they could line up 2 tanks at DT

Yes! That would be great to have if war broke with another team.

[CRA]

Worst DLine in the League is the most absurd comment I have read this offseason. This is based on what? Cause Peppers and Kemo and Lewis are gone? Cause we don't have a Pro Bowl DT or even an Alternate Pro Bowl DT?

I also don't believe that our D-Line is going to post negative rushing yards allowed for the entire season.

I believe we are going to be somewhere in the middle. I have faith in Coach Baker, I have faith that the defensive line won't be destroyed by injury bug again. I also believe that the talent we acquired last season only to get injured will pay big dividends this season.

I believe in our Front Office and outside of Johnson, who played for Meeks in Indy, we didn't need any more DT talent.

based on the fact Brayton is the only proven starter.....and Brayton ain't all that great. Sure, he plays hard and can be an important cog in a good DL but that is it. No other team in the NFL is going into the season with less proven talent.

[panthers55]

The ranking right now just reflects how they line up before the season starts. We have arguably one of the youngest and most inexperienced line in the league. That puts us down at the bottom right now. It doesn't mean we will stay there but right now there is little else to suggest we should be anywhere but at the bottom. I expect we won't stay here but honestly speaking not as a Panther fan but being objective, what indicates we won't be a poor defensive line?

[Zod]

The good news is ESPN is rarely right about anything during the offseason.

[panthers55]

The good news is ESPN is rarely right about anything during the offseason.

The other good news is that there a number of teams ranked at the bottom who surprise everyone. Given how low we are ranked right now we are very likely to be one of those surprises.

[monstercat]

The only thing that really bothers me, is that he's saying the Panthers D-line just plain sucks and that they have no chance to get better, not that they're unknown. How can he possibly know this? Does anybody really believe that this guy has studied coaches tape on Leonard and Tyler? It's more likely that he googled them just to get the trade information right, because he had never even heard of them.

On the other hand, I'm quite sure that Fox and Meeks actually did study the coaches tapes and saw something they liked, or they wouldn't have traded away future draft picks for them.