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Analysis: Preseason Game 3

Mr. Scot

By Mr. Scot,
in Carolina Panthers

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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For the record, Jarrett didn't really do anything bad tonight. He wasn't special either, mind you, and I think it can be said with some credibility that Steve Smith would have had that early TD pass. Still, nothing truly negative on Jarrett tonight.

But with that said, if we are going to be running more complex formations this year, doing various motions and shifts and such, I have to admit I'm a little bit worried about the guy who's been blowing the formations we already had :(

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Snake Grand Master

Snake

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For the record, Jarrett didn't really do anything bad tonight. He wasn't special either, mind you, and I think it can be said with some credibility that Steve Smith would have had that early TD pass. Still, nothing truly negative on Jarrett tonight.

But with that said, if we are going to be running more complex formations this year, doing various motions and shifts and such, I have to admit I'm a little bit worried about the guy who's been blowing the formations we already had :(

I really hope he gets a lot of playing time in the last game. We need to know if he is going to be able to handle the complexity of our formations(not that they are complex) so we can figure out who is going to hold down the 2 spot.

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Snake Grand Master

Snake

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I really am not a big fan of Jarrett but some people are piling it on when it does not need to be. Just let him suck on his own we don't need to help him out with that.

The fact people have to bash LaFell to make Jarrett look better shows you that he sucks. Jarrett has had 3 seasons and LaFell has had 3 games.

For the record, Jarrett didn't really do anything bad tonight. He wasn't special either, mind you, and I think it can be said with some credibility that Steve Smith would have had that early TD pass. Still, nothing truly negative on Jarrett tonight.

But with that said, if we are going to be running more complex formations this year, doing various motions and shifts and such, I have to admit I'm a little bit worried about the guy who's been blowing the formations we already had :(

Yes I have noticed this as well and I hope we take a long look at Jarrett to see if he can handle this. If he really wants the 2 spot he needs to be able to do everything.

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Wither Newbie

Wither

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Sometimes I wonder if its the system and not the player. Then again the Drew Carters and the Kerry Colberts did not set the NFL on fire.

Hell, Kerry Collins comes in the game and makes the Titans receivers look like gods. (Hey, I'm exaggerating, but still.)

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CAVSS Newbie

CAVSS

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As unpopular as it might be to say, I’m not as worried about the first team offense as I might have been. Yes, there were some rough spots, and more of them than you want, but for an offense in preseason form under a new QB and missing three key components, it could have been a whole lot worse. They definitely showed some signs of life as the game went on. And no, those weren’t second teamers they were beating any more than our guys were. The only starters that I know for certain were out early were Vince Young and DeAngelo Williams. Everything you want to see? No, but improvement, and at this point I’ll take it.

Matt Moore is definitely growing as a leader. It’s clear he has no fear of expressing his displeasure when a teammate messes up. For that matter, he’s not afraid to disagree with the head coach. Moore pushing to go for it on fourth and short is one of those moments that your teammates make a mental note of and remember when it comes to crunch time. It says ‘he believes in us, so we’ll push hard for him”. Ditto that moment of jumping around after a deflected pass. There are still things he needs to fix, mind you. He needs to get those high passes down, though for my money I think Steve Smith catches that overthrow that Jarrett didn’t get for a touchdown. Anybody who still thinks there’s even a hint of QB controversy is reaching (big time).

Kudos to Mike Goodson, Brandon LaFell, David Gettis, and wide receiver Armanti Edwards. All made positive strides tonight. Goodson looked positively Smittyish on that long kick return (credit to RJ Stanford for staying with him). Likewise, LaFell showed signs that the light may be coming on. Gettis had some nice catches, but also looked good blocking downfield. That’ll score points with John Fox. And whither Armanti Edwards? Not to the practice squad. Too risky. In my opinion, he’ll still make the 53 man roster, but not the 45 man active roster. Expect him to be inactive for a good portion of the season. Potentially all year, but I do think at some point he’ll see some time (hopefully not due to injury). Let all the screaming about wasted picks begin, but plenty of guys taken with high picks haven’t contributed in their rookie season. Even if he doesn’t play a down this year, it’ll still be too early to say anything definitive about his ultimate value.

Watching this game, I got the impression that the team might be doing more pre-snap shifting around. Several times saw two guys in motion, not something I recall seeing quite as frequently in prior seasons. If we’re going that route, they might need to assign someone to tell Dwayne Jarrett what to do before each play. Speaking of Jarrett, I still think we go into the season with him as the number two, but he shouldn’t get too comfortable (especially if LaFell keeps improving).

And what about Trent Guy? Prior to tonight, I wouldn’t have expected him to make it. Truthfully, he still might not, even though he looked good after some initial foibles. If Wallace Wright can’t come back, Guy’s odds get better. Still, the number game is going to make it tough. You could make a case for keeping Kenny Moore - though I still don’t see him making it - and the team could see some value in Brian Witherspoon as a DB/returner. For the record, what I saw of Witherspoon tonight: one bad play, one very bad one, a couple of good ones, two very good ones, and a decent return that was a step away from being spectacular. At the very least, you’d have to say he’s got a decent shot.

“So what about the defense?” you ask.

Well, I’m trying very hard not to get too excited because I’ve seen good preseason performances turn out to be illusions before. Still, it’s a challenge.

When the team rebuilt their defensive staff after the departure of Mike Trgovac, the Panthers put a heavy emphasis on finding guys who were teachers. Brian Baker, Richard Smith and Ron Milus were brought in, Mike Gillhammer and Sam Mills III were retained, and the job of bringing it all together fell to Ron Meeks. For my part, I was skeptical of the approach I expected from Meeks. Right now, it’s tough to be skeptical of anything. Baker has the line going better than the talent level would make you think it could, Smith has made a jury-rigged LB corps look like they can do the job, and Milus/Gillhammer have the secondary looking up to the task. Hard not to be impressed. Again, it’s far from guaranteed that this kind of success will carry over, but there’s good reason to be an optimist.

As usual, good well thought out and executed post. :cheers2:

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