Charles Johnson, Jon Beason, and Chris Gamble...

[teeray]

Well our offense jumped from last in the league to top 10 with just Cam and two decent TEs. I imagine our top 10 defensive pick along with the return of Beason and hopefully a couple others from injury could easily return our defense to at least average.

Yes. Maybe if we draft a defensive player that has as big an impact on the defense as Cam does on the offense and redefines what it means to be a rookie at his position, then maybe we will see that type improvement with our defense.

Who is that rookie on the defensive side of the ball in this draft that will be available at #8/9??

Some of you guys act like our defense was anything less than terrible this season. If we play nothing but rookie QBs and backups next year maybe we will be fine.

Jon Beason isn't going to magically fix that. Just like Jon Beason didn't keep a pooty Cardinals offense from putting up 21 points on us.

[mav1234]

Our defense was terrible, but it was also littered with injuries. What would our offense have been like without Cam after week 1? That's pretty much what happened to the defense without Beason. Perhaps not quite to that degree, but yeah. Beason is a huge part of that defense.

[bigdog10]

Andersen is a lock for next year.

Godfrey is most likely a lock as well. Don't forget the amount of money paid to him this offseason.

[rayzor]

yeah i can't believe godfrey wouldn't be considered a lock for next year either.

thats just downright silly.

[jtnc]

Beason, CJ, Gamble, Anderson and Godfrey are locks.

[JawnyBlaze]

Yes. Maybe if we draft a defensive player that has as big an impact on the defense as Cam does on the offense and redefines what it means to be a rookie at his position, then maybe we will see that type improvement with our defense.

Who is that rookie on the defensive side of the ball in this draft that will be available at #8/9??

Some of you guys act like our defense was anything less than terrible this season. If we play nothing but rookie QBs and backups next year maybe we will be fine.

Jon Beason isn't going to magically fix that. Just like Jon Beason didn't keep a pooty Cardinals offense from putting up 21 points on us.

I think the return of a healthy Beason will have almost (but not quite) as big an impact on the defense. And we don't need our defense to go from last to top 5 like our offense did, just need it in the top 15 preferably. I'm certainly not trying to act like our defense was anything less than terrible, I think it was worse than it was ranked. The only worse defense I can think of off the top of my head (that I actually saw play) was TB. But I've never seen a worse offense than ours last year.

[NJPanthers12]

Charles Godfrey, James Anderson, and Greg Hardy are all above average starters in this league. Greg Hardy was in his first year starting with a shortened training camp, no mini camp, and he was hurt in the beginning of it. Give this guy time and he will be a very good starter in this league. Right now this team has a few holes to fill along with depth issues. They possibly need to replace Otah, along with getting help at DT, OLB, S, and CB. I can see us possibly going after Jonathan Martin to replace Otah, but I believe we should wait one more year at OT and give Otah one last chance.

We need to find two starters in the first and second round, it is absolutely imperative to find two starters on defense. Right now we are looking at

DE: Charles Johnson

DT: Ron Edwards

DT:

DE: Greg Hardy

Realistically Ron Edwards is going to be given the starting job. He never played a snap for the Panthers and I still heard his name mentioned multiple times by both Ron Rivera and and Marty Hurney. He was given a 3 year contract and will be relied on to come in and help this defense. We have some depth here, but probably need to find more through free agency. I think we can live with a DE rotation of Johnson/Hardy/Applewhite/Keiser.

I don't believe we are going to use a high draft pick on a DT after getting both Fua and McClain. I would be willing to bet the team is interested in giving both of them a whole offseason to work out and practice with the team. I do not believe we will see many changes at DT.

SLB: James Anderson

MLB: Jon Beason

WLB:

James Anderson is an absolute lock to start next year. I am more confident about Beason after watching Thomas today for the Broncos. He had the same injury and has looked great in the Bronco games I caught this year. I am willing to move on from Davis and save the cap room. I see us getting our starting linebacker in the second round.

CB: Chris Gamble

SS: Charles Godfrey

FS:

CB:

Chris Gamble is a lock down corner and in this system I have as much faith in him as I ever have. Charles Godfrey is also a much better fit at SS than he was at FS. He is definitely under appreciated on this board. I am praying for Claiborne to drop, but I think our next CB will be picked in the first round. I believe Martin will be give opportunity to battle a free agent in training camp.

That leaves the following

DE: Johnson

DT: Edwards

DT: McClain

DE: Hardy

SLB: Anderson

MLB: Bason

WLB: 2nd Round Pick

CB: Chris Gamble

SS: Charles Godfrey

FS: Martin or a Reggie Nelson type player

CB: Dre Kirkpatrick or Janoris Jenkins

Captain Munnerlyn in the slot.

[koolkatluke]

i definitely add anderson and maybe munnerlyn. i thought he played very well this year at times.

Capt showed he was no better then a nickle back.

[koolkatluke]

Charles Godfrey, James Anderson, and Greg Hardy are all above average starters in this league. Greg Hardy was in his first year starting with a shortened training camp, no mini camp, and he was hurt in the beginning of it. Give this guy time and he will be a very good starter in this league. Right now this team has a few holes to fill along with depth issues. They possibly need to replace Otah, along with getting help at DT, OLB, S, and CB. I can see us possibly going after Jonathan Martin to replace Otah, but I believe we should wait one more year at OT and give Otah one last chance.

We need to find two starters in the first and second round, it is absolutely imperative to find two starters on defense. Right now we are looking at

DE: Charles Johnson

DT: Ron Edwards

DT:

DE: Greg Hardy

Realistically Ron Edwards is going to be given the starting job. He never played a snap for the Panthers and I still heard his name mentioned multiple times by both Ron Rivera and and Marty Hurney. He was given a 3 year contract and will be relied on to come in and help this defense. We have some depth here, but probably need to find more through free agency. I think we can live with a DE rotation of Johnson/Hardy/Applewhite/Keiser.

I don't believe we are going to use a high draft pick on a DT after getting both Fua and McClain. I would be willing to bet the team is interested in giving both of them a whole offseason to work out and practice with the team. I do not believe we will see many changes at DT.

SLB: James Anderson

MLB: Jon Beason

WLB:

James Anderson is an absolute lock to start next year. I am more confident about Beason after watching Thomas today for the Broncos. He had the same injury and has looked great in the Bronco games I caught this year. I am willing to move on from Davis and save the cap room. I see us getting our starting linebacker in the second round.

CB: Chris Gamble

SS: Charles Godfrey

FS:

CB:

Chris Gamble is a lock down corner and in this system I have as much faith in him as I ever have. Charles Godfrey is also a much better fit at SS than he was at FS. He is definitely under appreciated on this board. I am praying for Claiborne to drop, but I think our next CB will be picked in the first round. I believe Martin will be give opportunity to battle a free agent in training camp.

That leaves the following

DE: Johnson

DT: Edwards

DT: McClain

DE: Hardy

SLB: Anderson

MLB: Bason

WLB: 2nd Round Pick

CB: Chris Gamble

SS: Charles Godfrey

FS: Martin or a Reggie Nelson type player

CB: Dre Kirkpatrick or Janoris Jenkins

Captain Munnerlyn in the slot Or Brandon Hogan

I agree with most of your post with maybe a few changes. TD will get a chance to battle in TC for the WLB and a player will be signed for the Dline.

[JawnyBlaze]

i definitely add anderson and maybe munnerlyn. i thought he played very well this year at times.

Munnerlyn is a lock for nothing but ST. The only game that he wasn't by far the worst CB on the field was the Minnesota one and only because of the forced fumble. It certainly wasn't due to coverage skills.

[pantherclaw]

Those numbers aren't fair because Hardy has started most of his career while Johnson came off the bench. However Hardy is fine. They both look beastly to me.

hardy hasn't started most of his career.

He was nothing but a rotational guy his rookie season, and for good reason.

His last season, while he did start opposite of johnson, hardy was the first off the field in the rotation....with a heavy rotation.

Most people around here won't admit it, but they were calling for johnson to be cut until peppers was gone.

Hardy is a good, talented player...he needs competition, and to continue to get better.

A solid big tackle will also go a long ways towards our defensive ends playing better.

[pantherclaw]

Shocked nobody has mentioned anderson was literally playing every linebacker position on the field, including MLB.

He is more than average at linebacker. Get him back at his best position, and all this bullshit about him being out of position goes away.

[Cyberjag]

The big picture IMO is that is these guys are so good how come we are terrible on defense?? Great you have 145 tackles. Yet every team runs the ball effectively to your side because the DT can't get penetration and the DE is a non-factor in the run game and you also miss a ton of tackles and your safety help is a worse tackler than Deion Sanders.

It isn't surprising that he has 145 tackles.

It's not that these guys are so good, or so bad, it's that they didn't play well as a unit.

Charles Godfrey, James Anderson, and Greg Hardy.....

I agree with most of this post. I won't be surprised if Martin is back as a starter, but I will be surprised if he's back and doesn't improve a lot. He's got a lot of physical talent, but looked out of position so often that everyone just assumes he's a bad player. Granted, a characteristic of bad players is being out of position, but that can be corrected.

Here are a couple of questions that I'm interested in hearing answers for.

If Chris Harris was in the secondary providing some veteran leadership, would Sherrod Martin look better? I'm not suggesting we sign Harris, of course, just curious if it would make a positive impact on Martin's play. If not, how would you explain John Fox's success when he routinely played veterans over more physically talented rookies?

Rivera started Fua and McLain. Did he choose them based on what they showed in practice? If so, doesn't that suggest that in the eyes of the coaching staff they have the most physical talent among the DTs? Later in the year we were starting a couple of JAGs, and they looked better than the two rookies. Was that because you feel they were more talented, or more experienced? And if it was the latter, don't you think that with Edwards in the rotation that the DTs will look a lot better as a unit in 2012?

In 2010, the Houston Texans were one of the worst defenses in the league, ranked 30th in game stats. In 2011, the Texans were second. Aside from a couple of rookies they took in the first two rounds (and one is starting in place of all-pro Mario Williams, who's on IR), they have the same basic personnel that they did in 2010.

Jacksonville went from 28th to 6th, and didn't do a lot, personnel wise, to get there (other than adding Buffalo Bill MLB Paul Posluszny in the offseason). Seattle went from 27th to 9th. These movements happen, and it's usually not about getting the best Free Agents and top draft picks (right Philly?). In most cases, it's about players buying into the scheme and finding that last piece of the puzzle, personnel wise.

I think if we get a good CB in the draft, and if McDermott is as good a DC as a lot of people around here think, then after a full training camp we should be significantly better on defense. Not just a little bit, but significantly. And if we can get to the middle tier of defenses, then our top tier offense should be good for a winning record and a trip to the playoffs.

Like most NFL rosters, we have a lot of talented guys, and a few potential stars. Those stars (Beason, Gamble, Johnson...) are probably the only guys on the roster who are safe by reputation, but the majority of our 2011 starters are going to be safe because of talent. We've got the personnel, they just need to get cohesive and build each other up, rather than expose each others' flaws.

[OneBadassCat]

James Anderson is a hell of a LB and has been one of our most healthy players on defense the past 4-5 years. We would be absolutely stupid to let him go or try to replace him.

I think Sherrod Martin can be salvaged, but it is the Panthers responsibility to upgrade the position if they need to. I think Martin could probably play some CB. But bottom line we need the FS to be a ball hawk in this defense.