Fuck drafting to build we need to win NAO!

[mountainpantherfan]

for the sake of saying "this is the best way to keep your expectations low", then I'll agree.. but one successful offseason could put us back into the playoffs easily..

now obviously, if it takes us 2-4 years to find our next QB, that will be our biggest delay..

this is just a scenario.. a very possible one though.. we could bring in Cofield, bring in a lower tier DT, draft one in the 3rd. Sign Marshall. And find a way to bring in Orton.

I feel very confident in saying Rivera can get the most out of Gamble and Marshall. they are very physical and can play bump and run rather well. Munnerlyn is a solid nickel..

And if we somehow pulled an Orton out of our ass.. we have solid QB play who protects the ball well and has proven to be a solid distributor of the ball.. no, he's not a Tom Brady. just in case I needed to point out the obvious..

but just to show people a very possible scenario, we aren't that far off from being a very competitive team..

however, that QB part is the biggest question.. DT not so much, as FA is possible. Marshall is the only key why we may be down a CB.. but I feel confident in saying Rivera will get the most out of him if he did somehow sign for a decent contract.. (how likely that is, up in the air)

until then, I think DT and CB will be fixed this year and next... and depth will be found as well, while being coached up..

and also, no where am I saying "HEY EVERYBODY! WE'LL BE BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS NEXT YEAR!"..

I see a lot more problems with this team than just QB and DT.

TE is a really big question mark with three guys who have had every chance to break out and haven't. King and Rosario are FA and Barnidge may have a ton of poteniel but that's all we've ever seen. I'm not buying any of these guys at this point.

LT is an issue that has to be looked at. Gross is probably good for a couple more years but its very possible that by the time the team gets back to being a championship contender, Gross is going down hill fast. He's a consistent player but has never been that great LT. This is the year you draft a LT in the first to replace Gross down the line but other needs are higher priority.

Wharton is done. He is no longer the player he once was and that downhill spiral happened pretty quickly.

We don't have a starting quality RG currently on the roster.

Otah is a beast at RT but this year's injury throws up a bunch of red flags.

We have two very talented but young WRs. The one vet, and very talented WR on the team is at this point a cancer. He's overbearing towards the younger WR and he's quickly looking like a QB killer. Love Smitty but at this point the team is inbetween a rock in a hard place with him.

And on top of all of that Fiametta is quickly getting the injury bug too.

On to the defense, I love Charles Johnson but he had his very impressive year at LDE. Something not too many are talking about and should be noted when evaluating him. Still need a RDE and Brayton is not that guy. Neither is Brown. Hardy could be but the same was being said about the Predator when he was drafted late out of Aubrun.

LBer is pretty good with Conner, Beason and Anderson (Thomas Davis is the next Dan Morgan, stay away!) But there is no depth behind them at all worth mentioning.

Marshall is a great nickle back. So is Munnerlyn. Gamble is a great #2.

Both Safeties are just okay.

Basicly the seconday is built to go with a pass rushing defensive line and the defensive line is anything but.

With what Jerry Richardson is saying he is wanting to do, which is build a consistent winning team, you can't do that in one good offseason. Could it happen, sure, but realistic expectations is that it won't.

[panthers55]

We are 2 years removed from going 12-4 and many of the same pieces on offense are comparable with the exception of a QB. We fixed the right guard position by bringing in a bunch of guys and sifting through the trash to find Vincent and we can do the same thing again. A true franchise Qb could go a long way to fix the offense and is our top priority according to Hurney.

As for defense, fixing the defensive line will again go a long way to solving the defensive problems. A few good guys through the draft and free agency won't necessarily make us a playoff team given the division we play in, but we are not 3 years away from being an 8-8 or 9-7 team and at least being in the mix. There are many teams who have gone from doormats to contenders in a few years most notable Atlanta in 2008 and New Orleans in 2006. In both cases they found their franchise quarterback who transformed their team in a year or two into a playoff contender. I don't think we are necessarily 2 or 3 years away from finding a franchise QB either as long as we don't hang onto the Clausen train.

[rayzor]

We are 2 years removed from going 12-4 and many of the same pieces on offense are comparable with the exception of a QB. We fixed the right guard position by bringing in a bunch of guys and sifting through the trash to find Vincent and we can do the same thing again. A true franchise Qb could go a long way to fix the offense and is our top priority according to Hurney.

As for defense, fixing the defensive line will again go a long way to solving the defensive problems. A few good guys through the draft and free agency won't necessarily make us a playoff team given the division we play in, but we are not 3 years away from being an 8-8 or 9-7 team and at least being in the mix. There are many teams who have gone from doormats to contenders in a few years most notable Atlanta in 2008 and New Orleans in 2006. In both cases they found their franchise quarterback who transformed their team in a year or two into a playoff contender. I don't think we are necessarily 2 or 3 years away from finding a franchise QB either as long as we don't hang onto the Clausen train.

i'd like to see us take the same route to fix at least one of the DT spots. go after the best DT in FA and grab a bunch of other ones to compete for the other spot.

[bleys]

I see a lot more problems with this team than just QB and DT.

TE is a really big question mark with three guys who have had every chance to break out and haven't. King and Rosario are FA and Barnidge may have a ton of poteniel but that's all we've ever seen. I'm not buying any of these guys at this point.

LT is an issue that has to be looked at. Gross is probably good for a couple more years but its very possible that by the time the team gets back to being a championship contender, Gross is going down hill fast. He's a consistent player but has never been that great LT. This is the year you draft a LT in the first to replace Gross down the line but other needs are higher priority.

Wharton is done. He is no longer the player he once was and that downhill spiral happened pretty quickly.

We don't have a starting quality RG currently on the roster.

Otah is a beast at RT but this year's injury throws up a bunch of red flags.

We have two very talented but young WRs. The one vet, and very talented WR on the team is at this point a cancer. He's overbearing towards the younger WR and he's quickly looking like a QB killer. Love Smitty but at this point the team is inbetween a rock in a hard place with him.

And on top of all of that Fiametta is quickly getting the injury bug too.

On to the defense, I love Charles Johnson but he had his very impressive year at LDE. Something not too many are talking about and should be noted when evaluating him. Still need a RDE and Brayton is not that guy. Neither is Brown. Hardy could be but the same was being said about the Predator when he was drafted late out of Aubrun.

LBer is pretty good with Conner, Beason and Anderson (Thomas Davis is the next Dan Morgan, stay away!) But there is no depth behind them at all worth mentioning.

Marshall is a great nickle back. So is Munnerlyn. Gamble is a great #2.

Both Safeties are just okay.

Basicly the seconday is built to go with a pass rushing defensive line and the defensive line is anything but.

With what Jerry Richardson is saying he is wanting to do, which is build a consistent winning team, you can't do that in one good offseason. Could it happen, sure, but realistic expectations is that it won't.

there are some good points there.. but I think most of your concerns are being over dramatic, and some were Fox problems.. and a few others are issues 3-5 years down the road, and we will have time to rebuild the roster behind our aging vets..

that's just my opinion though..

[mountainpantherfan]

there are some good points there.. but I think most of your concerns are being over dramatic, and some were Fox problems.. and a few others are issues 3-5 years down the road, and we will have time to rebuild the roster behind our aging vets..

that's just my opinion though..

I think there are reasons to be optimistic. There are a lot of young talent on this team that could turn into something special. Rivera and the coaching staff seem to be miles ahead of what we had. We have the #1 pick and a lot of money to spend in FA. But in the end it's all optimistic hope. A 2-14 team isn't expected to turn it around in one or two offseasons. Alanta is an exception to the rule, not the standard.

I'm not wishing that, that's just my expectation. I'll be very happy with a 6-10 record in 2011 (if that many games are played). If in 3 years we're back in the playoffs, that's great. Anything better than that be thankful for.

[frash.exe]

from watching gabbert i would say he's got no more potential than clausen and is just as much or more of a project than clausen. i'd just as soon stick with clausen and try to develop him as waste a pick on gabbert. playing in a spread doesn't bother me as much as other people. as long as i feel like they can handle pressure in the pocket and not panic/make stupid mistakes they'll be fine. i just don't get that with gabbert and it will only get worse in the pros.

i agree with getting the QB more help. i don't have the confidence in our WR corps that others do. i don't see smith being a long term answer and lafell and gettis are one year wonders until they can prove otherwise. i just can't colbert's rookie year vs. all his other years out of my mind. edwards isn't even worth discussion at this point. green's talent is undeniable. i would want to get a real TE in here as well. i have the same confidence in our current TEs as i do in our current WRs in being able to live up to rivera/chud's expectations for an all around stud TE.

having said that and believing that we should be addressing the offense first, i wouldn't throw stuff at the TV if we drafted fairley or peterson first. still think that we can address DT well enough in FA to help out our pass rush significantly.

i'm not worried about us signing all the guys you listed, btw. we have tons of cap room to handle that, sign draft picks, and be active in trades/FA. it might take hurney getting creative in structuring contracts, but the money will be there.

you're probably thinking the same thing i'm thinking. We probably have the same doubts about Clausen but this isn't exactly the greatest QB draft ever. I'm in favor of drafting one if and only if one of these top QBs can prove to the panthers that they're worthy of no.1 overall this year. That will probably have to be proven in game film since the combine is going to sway these guys minimally. If not that we must draft Green. This team's only going to get back to winning as fast as we can fix the passing game, and by drafting the greatest WR prospect in years gives us a very talented young group and Smitty of course. Add a TE and a good Oline and with our backs there's no excuse for Clausen this year. If he fails, any FA option we get isn't going to make us much better. Then assuming we'll have a high pick we take a top QB prospect with our first pick, and no sitting, no riding the pine while we try to underachieve with a vet, he starts as soon as he's a pro. The only kind of vet we bring in is someone that can be a backup to play because of injury or other emergency if need be.

that's how you fix it. Most likely the way it's going to go down is either Clausen looks like an NFL QB next year or we have to pick one 1st round in 2012. If he doesn't, the rookie we'll replace him with will at least inherit an offense loaded with weapons, assuming we take Green. DT is really a simple free agency fix. Keep Landri, rotate him with Mebane, sign a guy that can play 1 tech NT like Cofield, and boom, DT fixed, they're going to have help anyway since we're going to be blitzing more and better. Part of the reason we don't get to the QB is because we don't blitz much and if we do it's simplistic and predictable

[bleys]

you're probably thinking the same thing i'm thinking. We probably have the same doubts about Clausen but this isn't exactly the greatest QB draft ever. I'm in favor of drafting one if and only if one of these top QBs can prove to the panthers that they're worthy of no.1 overall this year. That will probably have to be proven in game film since the combine is going to sway these guys minimally. If not that we must draft Green. This team's only going to get back to winning as fast as we can fix the passing game, and by drafting the greatest WR prospect in years gives us a very talented young group and Smitty of course. Add a TE and a good Oline and with our backs there's no excuse for Clausen this year. If he fails, any FA option we get isn't going to make us much better. Then assuming we'll have a high pick we take a top QB prospect with our first pick, and no sitting, no riding the pine while we try to underachieve with a vet, he starts as soon as he's a pro. The only kind of vet we bring in is someone that can be a backup to play because of injury or other emergency if need be.

that's how you fix it. Most likely the way it's going to go down is either Clausen looks like an NFL QB next year or we have to pick one 1st round in 2012. If he doesn't, the rookie we'll replace him with will at least inherit an offense loaded with weapons, assuming we take Green. DT is really a simple free agency fix. Keep Landri, rotate him with Mebane, sign a guy that can play 1 tech NT like Cofield, and boom, DT fixed, they're going to have help anyway since we're going to be blitzing more and better. Part of the reason we don't get to the QB is because we don't blitz much and if we do it's simplistic and predictable

this post makes the most sense for what I would look forward to this offseason..

[rayzor]

you're probably thinking the same thing i'm thinking. We probably have the same doubts about Clausen but this isn't exactly the greatest QB draft ever. I'm in favor of drafting one if and only if one of these top QBs can prove to the panthers that they're worthy of no.1 overall this year. That will probably have to be proven in game film since the combine is going to sway these guys minimally. If not that we must draft Green. This team's only going to get back to winning as fast as we can fix the passing game, and by drafting the greatest WR prospect in years gives us a very talented young group and Smitty of course. Add a TE and a good Oline and with our backs there's no excuse for Clausen this year. If he fails, any FA option we get isn't going to make us much better. Then assuming we'll have a high pick we take a top QB prospect with our first pick, and no sitting, no riding the pine while we try to underachieve with a vet, he starts as soon as he's a pro. The only kind of vet we bring in is someone that can be a backup to play because of injury or other emergency if need be.

that's how you fix it. Most likely the way it's going to go down is either Clausen looks like an NFL QB next year or we have to pick one 1st round in 2012. If he doesn't, the rookie we'll replace him with will at least inherit an offense loaded with weapons, assuming we take Green. DT is really a simple free agency fix. Keep Landri, rotate him with Mebane, sign a guy that can play 1 tech NT like Cofield, and boom, DT fixed, they're going to have help anyway since we're going to be blitzing more and better. Part of the reason we don't get to the QB is because we don't blitz much and if we do it's simplistic and predictable

sounds like my kind of plan.