2008 rookie improvement....

[SorthNarolina]

How much do you expect these rookies to improve????

Post your thoughts on the rookies 2008 performances and what you expect for 09'

Jonathan Stewart - the only critiscisms i can level at him are the normal rookie RB woes. Occasionally he looked a little hesitant, drew plays out that shouldn't have been, and didn't hit the hole with the authority of a power back(and i stress "occasionally". I expect him to develop into more of a complete back and get more goaline carries. We are very lucky to have him and deangelo.

Jeff Otah - What more oculd you ask for? Dominating run blocker with small hiccups in pass protection but really just a brilliant season. Thinking about how much he will improve is just scary.

Charles Godfrey - This is where things get interesting. He blew his assignments A LOT. But played realitivley well when he was able to stay on his man. He needs to make decisions and keep his assignments better. Hopefully these problems were attributed to being a rookie at a new position which is a hard thing to do. If these problems are eliminated he will complete one of the best secondaries in the leauge.

Dan Connor - I was really confused why we drafted him and unfortunatley we didn't get to see his rookie campaign. I don't think he fits well with us and i think he will be used mostly on special teams. He's just not a 4-3 guy. If he manages to break into the line-up I will be extremely impressed. My Opinion is diddly but i just don't see it happening here.

Gary Barnidge - I think he rode the bench this year to pick up the playbook and become a better blocker. Hopefully he can contribute in some way. We are a run first team but if he can become a good enough reciever they will find a way to incorperate him into the offense.

Nick Hayden - I don't see him around next year. He played about as well as you would expect a guy in his position to. We need more talent on the interior and unfortunatley that talent might edge him out of the final 53.

Hilee Taylor - he made the team and seems to have great pre-snap instincts. He really gets off the line quick. I also noticed that even if he gets dominated he keeps at it and has a variety of moves. If we keep peppers and bring in another DE i think he will be the odd man out. If peppers leaves he could still stay and may be able to contribute on passing downs.

Geoff Schwartz - I didn't see much of this guy but we need him to step up with so much depth gone.

Mackenzy Bernadeau - Did a great job of making the team. Hoopefully can step up to replace the backups. Has potential. Would write more but very very sleepy.

[ThatGuy]

taylor will be way better as soon as he bulks up... i dont think he is going anywhere

[nitroblast]

Nice writeup, but Dan Connor seems like a classic 4-3 MLB to me. He looked great in the preseason and was doing well on special teams until his injury.

[OneBadassCat]

Stewart is going to be huge next year. Him and Williams are both elite caliber backs imo. Otah will continue to improve. Im not really sure what to expect from Godfrey will just have to see what Meeks can do with him. Taylor will establish himself as a role player similar to Brayton on pass rushing downs, he may become something bigger down the road but that remains to be seen. He is crazy fast and that will be useful to us.

Conner could work himself into the line up but I don't see him being a starter from week 1.

Im hoping we use Barnidge. He is as good as it will get for us as a receiving TE it just depends if Fox chooses to use him.

[Kurb]

Nice writeup, but Dan Connor seems like a classic 4-3 MLB to me. He looked great in the preseason and was doing well on special teams until his injury.

Dunno about great but he was ok for a rookie.

I don't get how he isn't a 4-3 LBer either:crazy:

[Cyberjag]

My take...

Otah is the prize of the crop. People are going to say a lot of nice things about our offensive line this year if people stay healthy.

Stewart will be ok but not great yet. He'll be held back a little by the scheme, just like DeAngelo was in his first couple of years. When it will get interesting is in 2010, when we have a star in Williams and a back who's probably better in Stewart. Not a bad problem to have.

Godfrey earned his number this year. As a rookie starter in a defense that puts as much pressure on the secondary as we do, he did a great job. With a year under his belt he'll only get better.

Go read the descriptions of Connor coming out--a little slow but a great leader and a "Football Player" was the consensus. Then go read the descriptions of Beason when he came out. Then meditate on what Connor did at Linebacker U--the records he broke there. There are a lot of reasons to believe that he's going to be a great pro, and Diggs better not relax or he'll find himself watching the Connor/Davis/Beason trio establish itself as the best group of linebackers in the league.

Barnidge is caught in a numbers game, and if Rosario doesn't pull another disappearing act he may stay there.

Hayden needs to bulk up. He's insanely strong, but isn't cut out to be a pass rusher. If he can back up Kemo then he'll stick, and he may stick just because of the lack of depth at DT.

Taylor will stick, he got too much playing time not to think that. This year we find out if he's McClover II or Taylor the first.

Bernadeau and Schwartz both have enough upside to stay on the practice squad at least. Are they trying out Bernadeau at center? If he learns that then he becomes our next Hangman. The Dude needs to learn Guard, because there's no future at Tackle for him here.

[Ncstatefan]

We all can know about how good Otah/Stew/Godfrey can be but I think we will some some surprise from Barnidge and a healthy Conner. I don't think either will be starting week 1 or even all year but I think they both make a good impact on the team this year.

[mountainpantherfan]

Stewart - Played well for a backup rookie. I'm not convienced that he is anything more than just a nice compliment as of now. While his opportunities were limited, when he was given the chance to carry the load he came up short and didn't seem to be as productive as he was coming in for relief. I also really question this whole buddy/buddy relationship between him and Williams. I didn't really like it when Williams and Foster were like that and I don't like it now. I'm glad they can get along but I want Stewart to want to be the starter and not just settle for being the backup.

Otah - He is a true road grading blocking offensive tackle. In that I cannot find anything really critical to say about him. I will question why the Panthers traded so much for a OT that IMO doesn't seem to have the pass blocking skill set to ever play LT. Of course a lot of us thought the same thing about Gross and he ended up being a pro-bowl/all-pro LT when he got his first chance at starting at LT from the begining of pre-season. I love what Otah brings to the line just not sure if it was worth what we gave up in the long run. As for immediate results it was diffinantly worth it. Just can't help but wonder what could have happened if Gross didn't resign.

Godfrey - This kid impressed me from the time he was drafted up until thanksgiving. Many people talk about how bad he was in coverage, and he did have some lapses during the start of the season, but overall he was very, very solid. Then around thanksgiving it seemed like the kid was on a different planet and his struggles were very apparent. I wonder if this had a lot to do with conditioning and the transition of being a rookie playing in college (their season ends around thanksgiving) to the NFL's 16+ season. It important to note that out of all the rookies, only Godfrey started all 16 games.

Connor - Great football player. That doesn't mean he will translate into a great LB in the pro system and with the injury last season we have no more clue to that as we did last offseason. Even if he can't become a starter on this team at OLB (if it weren't for Beason I think he would be able to start at MLB in this system) then he will be an asset on this team as a backup at MLB and a ST ace.

Barnidge - I know a lot of people are really high on this guy but to me I wasn't that impressed. As badly as Rosario did for much of the season, I still see him as being a better recieving option than Barnidge. I think he remains 3rd on the depth chart at least for this upcoming season.

Hayden - I had a lot of hope for this guy when he was drafted. Guess of was hoping for a new Jordan Carstens. I don't see Hayden making it back. Of course the only reason he even got pulled up off the practice squade was because of all the injuries at DT and when he got his chance he looked absolutely horrible.

Taylor - Stanley McClover Part Dous. He will stay on the team for a couple more seasons as a situational rusher but eventually will be let go. Like McClover, he has his moments but you need more than moments to stick around in the NFL.

Schwarts and Bernadeau - I'm combining these two together. When drafted it looked like each one had a lot of upside and that the Panthers got a steal on them in the 7th round. Not much at all to go by based on their rookie year but as of right now it looks as though unless the starting line goes completely injury-free we will be seeing quiet a bit of these guys this season. Hopefully they will be able to step up and meet some of that potential everyone was talking about last year when they were drafted.

[SorthNarolina]

I probably should have explained better about connor, he could be the right LB in a 4-3 but we have generally required a higher amount of athletiscism from our LBs

morgan, witherspoon, davis, fields were all very athletic, they had a lot of speed

beason is also a tremendous athelete

I just don't see connor excelling here, despite having great intangibles and the best pedigree you could find he is lacking the physical traits to excel in fox's system.

[mountainpantherfan]

I probably should have explained better about connor, he could be the right LB in a 4-3 but we have generally required a higher amount of athletiscism from our LBs

morgan, witherspoon, davis, fields were all very athletic, they had a lot of speed

beason is also a tremendous athelete

I just don't see connor excelling here, despite having great intangibles and the best pedigree you could find he is lacking the physical traits to excel in fox's system.

I respectfully disagree with you. Fox's system, now Meek's cover 2 as well, is one that requires the LB to be very quick and athletic. Connor isn't fast but to say he isn't quick or athletic is selling him short IMO. Note that I'm not sold on him either but I think it's more up in the air than a sure thing either way.

[thefuzz]

We had a very good draft this past season...probably the best overall draft in the past 4 season.

We took Conner because he was BY FAR the best player available at that time...thats it, and I am not upset about that choice at all. He provided very good depth at a very demanding position.

Otah and Stew are really, really good players, and I am very happy to have both of them on our roster.