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Who will the Panthers bring in to help on offense?

jarhead

By jarhead,
in Carolina Panthers

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CRA Grand Master

CRA

Posted
Posted

and we had 2 good backups to fill in.. while this past year our offensive line lost Gross, Wharton, and Otah.. we had the entire OLine filled with new guys except Kalil.. and our right side of the line was horrendous.

not a good comparison..

Gross started all 16 games as well.

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rayzor Grand Master

rayzor

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one thing about that right side...geoff schwartz actually ended up doing pretty good at RG.

from an article at pff...

He performed admirably in those starts, giving up just one sack and three pressures in 90 pass-blocking snaps. His run blocking, however, earned a grade of -3.0, failing to inspire much hope heading into the 2010 season.

Tackling An Opportunity Head On

As can sometimes be the case, a small injury scare can turn into something far more significant. So it proved to be for the Panthers’ franchise right tackle, Jeff Otah, who missed the entire year despite never seeming that far from returning. That development thrust Schwartz into the starting lineup from day one of the 2010 season, a spot he would not relinquish; Schwartz stayed on the field for every Panthers offensive snap.

For the first five weeks, Geoff lined up as the right tackle. He had some struggles, most notably against Tampa Bay where Tim Crowder beat him on far too regular a basis, but he was playing a darnn sight better than Otah had in 2009, and was superb in Carolina’s narrow defeat to New Orleans. Allowing no pressures in that game, Schwartz controlled Alex Brown in every area and even mauled Sedrick Ellis on a couple of plays as he got down the line to best the former first round pick.

Given an opportunity by chance, Schwartz was looking like anything but a problem at the right tackle spot.

On Your Guard

The Panthers did, however, have a problem next to Schwartz. Right guard Mackenzy Bernadeau was finding the going tough and had already given up three sacks through five weeks. So, the backup-turned-starting tackle kicked in to right guard, and Garry Williams moved into the starting lineup.

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of replacing players who are performing badly by shifting those playing well from their preferred positions – you’re risking making both positions worse. Half of that was certainly true in this case as Garry Williams struggled throughout the year.

But the other half? Well that worked out and then some.

Settling In

Schwartz experienced another teething period that began when he faced the 49ers’ 3-4 defense. The Panthers’ new right guard struggled with Takeo Spikes and looked, for the first time in his career, worryingly out of his depth.

Slowly though, he got to grips with the position, highlighted by fine performances near the season’s end where he produced three perfect games in pass protection.

And then there was his run blocking. Though not consistent (he ended the season with his worst performance of the year in Atlanta), he did find some joy against the big teams. In Week 14, also against Atlanta, he had two pull blocks that saw him get to the second level, take out a linebacker and cornerback, and give his running back plenty of room to scamper for big yardage.

Two weeks later, as the Steelers put a beating on Carolina, Schwartz three times laid successful down blocks on Casey Hampton (yes the Casey Hampton) to create running room. This was offset by only one negative run blocking play (again struggling to get out on a linebacker.)

http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/03/08/secret-superstar-geoff-schwartz-carolina-panthers/

if otah comes back healthy then an oline of gross/wharton/kalil/schwartz/otah might be good.

that said, i do want us to address RG and maybe OT in FA. i don't trust our Oline to stay healthy. we have to be stacked there in a big way if our offense is going to do any good. ideally i would like to see us with 9-10 Oline on the roster, just to make sure we have solid depth. i want us to go after marshal yanda (who can do well at RG or RT) and either justin blalock or harvey dahl (both from the falcons).

i would also look into jared gaither and see if he's healthy. the price could be nice for an LT of his caliber. could be good insurance if gross gets knocked out. maybe sean locklear from the seahawks. great in pass protection but sucks at run blocking. aside from yanda could be the best RT in FA.

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rayzor Grand Master

rayzor

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meh...who knows? looks like the role of the FB has changed to look more like a pass catching TE who can run the ball rather than a lead run blocker like hoover...esp. in turner's offense. i know chud used vickers a good bit, but i don't know that he took nearly as many snaps as hoover did in run blocking.

they've talked a lot about being pass heavy. i can see 3 receivers being on the field a lot more than 2 backs. of course having a rookie QB, we're going to have to run a lot as well.

i guess i could see us using a FB a fair amount. if thats the case, then we really should look at upgrading. i'm not loving fiammetta. more interested in someone like le'ron mcclain or marcel reece. of course we could go after vonta leach, but that might be overkill.

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