LaFell Odd Man Out?

[Vagrant]

Laughing at all the chicken little mentalities that think this means anything at all. For all we know, LaFell could have cemented his spot with the coaches and was being held out for that reason. Not likely, but we don't know ANY details as to why he wasn't in that rotation. Just another instance of trying to create a story where none exists. Talking about his trade value already? Please.

Honestly though, nobody knows what is going on with this team until the preseason starts. Rivera hasn't seen any of these players on the field at this point and going by who he "likes" right now is insane. Wait to see who performs and gets the chance to perform in game situations. This is just as ridiculous as the Armanti Edwards hype right now. How quickly people forget about all the stud WR we've had line up for us without pads like camp darlings in the past.

Nothing means anything until the snaps start happening. Everything that happens between now and the weekend is head games.

[woody]

I don't understand why Lafell is a lock on this team.

I will not be completely amazed if he is cut.

[Mr. Scot]

Trade? You'd want to trade a WR, when we need WRs?

Currently on roster...

Steve Smith

David Gettis

Legedu Naanee

Brandon LaFell

David Clowney

Armanti Edwards

Kealoha Pilares

Charly Martin

Wallace Wright

Trent Guy

And two more undrafteds.

The number expected to be kept is five, one of which will likely be a special teamer and another of which will probably be Armanti Edwards for return duties. Smith would seem to be a lock (despite the prior trade talk) and likely so is Gettis.

That leaves a bunch of guys fighting for one spot. Naanee is ahead of LaFell on the charts right now and was brought in because Rivera felt no one else was "stepping up". And Clowney has, by several accounts, been impressive so far (again, assuming he isn't just this year's camp flash).

Again, I think he'll stay, but barring injury to someone else, his starting the season elsewhere is not as farfetched as it might seem when you look at the factors.

[micnificent28]

All of this speculation is far to early. The staff is unfamilar with alot of guys and are just calling the shots like they see them. The team has yet to see any "live bullets" so to say who is in and who is to early. I don't see any of the rookies wrs from last season being cut(my opinion). But ron has no favorites and is not tied to any of those guys. Lets atleast get this weeks preseason game behind us before we start speculating about lafell being cut.

[4Corners]

Kealoha Pilares

Charly Martin

Wallace Wright

Trent Guy

And two more undrafteds.

None of those guys will make the team, Scott you know this!

Pilares is the only guy with a legitimate shot and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to sneak him onto the PS.

[Mr. Scot]

None of those guys will make the team, Scott you know this!

Pilares is the only guy with a legitimate shot and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to sneak him onto the PS.

Who's your special teamer then?

Keep in mind even if there are five on the roster, only four of those are likely active on gameday, so if you keep a special teamer and return specialist they'll have to have active spots.

[Vagrant]

I don't understand why Lafell is a lock on this team.

I will not be completely amazed if he is cut.

You would see Armanti Edwards cut before Brandon LaFell. Twice. LaFell has actually done good things in actual NFL games. LaFell and Gettis are the future of the position in Carolina. They brought in a veteran as incentive to these guys to work harder or lose playing time with a QB they actually like and could get them the ball. Good teams use this mentality to get the most out of their young talent. LaFell and Gettis basically were gifted playing time last year because our organization was being cheap at the time in preparation for the lockout. Rivera is changing the dynamic. He's making players earn their keep and not take anything for granted. What you did under John Fox means nothing to Rivera.

That does not mean, however, that he doesn't know who the future players on this team are and that we need to train them to be ready to contribute. He's calling them out because he KNOWS they have more to give than they do.

[Sword]

lafell won't be cut if hurney makes the personnel decisions. or did we all forget hurney will give the guys he drafted all the chances in the world until their contracts are up.

clowney is going to have to be gangbusters in preseason games to make the team.

[Jai.]

We're actually in a good position, alot of talent right now at the WR position, lets just enjoy the competition!

[Ivan The Awesome]

Currently on roster...

Steve Smith

David Gettis

Legedu Naanee

Brandon LaFell

David Clowney

Armanti Edwards

Kealoha Pilares

Charly Martin

Wallace Wright

Trent Guy

And two more undrafteds.

The number expected to be kept is five, one of which will likely be a special teamer and another of which will probably be Armanti Edwards for return duties. Smith would seem to be a lock (despite the prior trade talk) and likely so is Gettis.

That leaves a bunch of guys fighting for one spot. Naanee is ahead of LaFell on the charts right now and was brought in because Rivera felt no one else was "stepping up". And Clowney has, by several accounts, been impressive so far (again, assuming he isn't just this year's camp flash).

Again, I think he'll stay, but barring injury to someone else, his starting the season elsewhere is not as farfetched as it might seem when you look at the factors.

With the exception of Smith, Naanee, Gettis. Who else is at LaFell's level?

Edwards? No, he's improved, but hasn't shown what LaFell did on sunday.

Adams, Wright, Guy, wallace, Pilares, Warren, Martin? Nope.

Clowney? Yes. Agreeing with your "camp flash" theory.

If something happens, and heaven forbid it does, someone gets injured. LaFell is serviceable. I don't see him being traded. WR position isn't as weak as last year, but if you get rid of LaFell, it would become weak with one Injury. What if Smitty would have broken several fingers? Out for weeks and we would only have Gettis and Naanee? I'd feel more comfortable with LaFell in that mix.

[Mr. Scot]

With the exception of Smith, Naanee, Gettis. Who else is at LaFell's level?

Edwards? No, he's improved, but hasn't shown what LaFell did on sunday.

Adams, Wright, Guy, wallace, Pilares, Warren, Martin? Nope.

Clowney? Yes. Agreeing with your "camp flash" theory.

If something happens, and heaven forbid it does, someone gets injured. LaFell is serviceable. I don't see him being traded. WR position isn't as weak as last year, but if you get rid of LaFell, it would become weak with one Injury. What if Smitty would have broken several fingers? Out for weeks and we would only have Gettis and Naanee? I'd feel more comfortable with LaFell in that mix.

Level according to whom, us or Rivera?

Per Rivera, LaFell's level of play dictated that we needed to sign Legedu Naanee despite the fact we already had a decent number of receivers in camp.

Again, I think he sticks. Heck, when we were talking about Smith being traded, I had him as a starter. But that was before the more recent stuff. At this point, I'm just not sold that he's an absolute lock.

[DickolausJ]

I've heard Legedu Naanee is developing a nice chemistry with Newton. Plus he already knows the system, the other guys are behind on that because of a later training camp, and No OTAs. Smith started talking about other guys stepping up only after Naanne showed up.

Smith is a definite lock and I think the huddler fan club is higher on Gettis then it is LaFell. I dunno about our administration and that is all that matters.

The Wild cards for me are Clowney and Armanti. I know Clowney absolutely sucked at special teams for the Jets and a lack of effort was a big part of that.

But as far as Armanti, everyone is suddenly saying good things about him including Big Cat. If he wins the PR or KR spot then that could leave Lafell inactive on gameday.

I say no way he gets cut/traded but remember the only reason he and Gettis were given so much playing time last year was because we were absolutely abysmal at the WR spot.

As guys develop and grow LaFell will have to work hard to prove he belongs. Nothing is given to you in the NFL. At least not in the long term.

[KSpan]

I wouldn't expect it, but stranger things have happened.

If your top three are set as Smith, Gettis and Naanee, and if the team thinks Edwards can be what he was drafted to be on special teams, then he'd be the number four guy. That'd likely put LaFell inactive on gameday because if they did activate a fifth receiver it'd likely be someone who's more valuable on special teams like Charley Martin or Wallace Wright. And again, what about Clowney?

Unless LaFell has more value on special teams than I think he does, it's at least conceivable.

Prior to Naanee being acquired I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Now though?

What's to say Naanee isn't the fifth receiver/special teamer? No rule requiring the fifth receiver to be a scrub.

[Razeyfingers]

Cut the rookie who put up a paltry 30 catches! Cut the dead weight!

Nah, I am genuinely concerned that LaFell might become DJ 2.0, but really :lol: you guys are gonna sit there and say to cut a WR in his second year after he did pretty well in a lame duck coach's year? Wow, you do know that we gave him a decent signing bonus and he is under contract right?

LaFell isnt a smart guy, it would seem, so shouldnt it take him longer to learn the system? I hope thats the case and not the lack of determination. Been waiting to have that answered since he was drafted. Still too early too answer, but pretty funny to think about how it's even possible to think about cutting him after last year.

I have a feeling that Gettis put in more work than LaFell did in the offseason and much of that may be due to him working with Jimmeh. . . who had the playbook. Take it easy on the rookies and sophomores guys, dont lose your head.