Given the choice next season, do you...

[CRA]

A) Bring in players to shore up the defensive line

or

B) Acquire players to solidify the right side of the offensive line

If you can only do one or the other, which is more important?

Defense....easily.

Schwartz and Otah could also be back and healthy. Yes, Otah is a gamble but we have real talent on the OL and it is a matter of them being on the field.

We don't have the same type talent at some of our defensive holes.

[rayzor]

we've got otah for another year. it's his last chance. if he can't pull it off then we go with the guy that started next year and see if he improves.

the following year we can get the best OT prospect in the daft.

Dline is more urgent.

[Pox 08]

did he get killed last year?

the oline will be better next year.

I watch the Pats play, I watch their Oline give Brady enough time to make a sammich almost every play. . I want that for Newton and the Panthers. A strong, pass protecting Oline would basically ensure that our great offense stays great for years to come.

I have more faith in Rivera finding a few dregs during the offseason, to patch up our Dline. More faith in him doing that, than finding dregs to patch up our Oline.

[Catweisers]

Hope we work to fix the defense. Looked to me that offense was light years ahead of

the D. If we could get every one healthy and they stay that way would make it a lot easier.

At the 8th pick hope we go with BPA tho.

Go Panthers

[bleys]

I refuse to answer this question.. ;)

I don't think there is a DT or DE worth grabbing at #8 or 9.. however, I do think we can pick up a solid (future) LT at that spot and then focus on the D throughout the draft and FA..

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

We have to go defensive in the draft for the most part.

Our defense as a whole needs help.

The defensive end position is pretty solid with Johnson, Hardy, Applewhite and Keiser but it wouldn't hurt to pick up defensive end late in the draft (rounds 6 or 7) to provide depth. Maybe Cordarro Law from Southern Mississippi or Frank Alexander from Oklahoma.

The defensive tackle position is up in the air. Ron Edwards is coming off an injury. Sione Fua and Terrell McClain are also coming off injuries and neither of them did anything overly impressive to merit a starting position. Frank Kearse and Jason Shirley played decent in spells but neither are starter material and McClain and Fua can easily produce the same results as those two did. Ogemdi Nwagbuo and DeMario Pressley are just set to be depth players on teams that have depleted players due to injury. Andre Neblett is the only defensive tackle that played worth anything on the team this year. So with Devon Still possibly sitting there when it comes time for our pick, I think you have to go with the defensive line (I'm not a fan of Brockers).

We could really sure of the defensive line with Still and Alexander or Law.

Here is just a picture at what it would look like...

DE- Hardy, Keiser

DT- Edwards, Neblett, Fua

DT- Still, McClain

DE- Johnson, Applewhite, Alexander

That's not to shabby.

[rayzor]

I watch the Pats play, I watch their Oline give Brady enough time to make a sammich almost every play. . I want that for Newton and the Panthers. A strong, pass protecting Oline would basically ensure that our great offense stays great for years to come.

I have more faith in Rivera finding a few dregs during the offseason, to patch up our Dline. More faith in him doing that, than finding dregs to patch up our Oline.

i want us to get better on the line, but defense is the bigger priority. it's going to make it easier to win games and less work for newton and the offense.

we lost games last year because we couldn't stop offenses from coming back after we had taken the lead, many times a significant lead. the most improtant thing this offseason is to stop that from happening and i don't want to trust anyone to find "dregs" as a solution. if we are serious about winning next season then we have to take serious steps to correct what went wrong.

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

I don't think either of these areas are going to be a great concern going into the offseason.

Our O-Line will hopefully be healthy and strong, even if Otah does not return.

the number of bodies competing for the D-Line position should improve it. With Edwards coming back and two rookie 3rd round picks getting a full offseason in the gym, hopefully this unit will be greatly improved.

We built very solid depth at both of these positions due to injuries.

THE PRIMARY CONCERN OF THE OFFSEASON SHOULD BE OUR SECONDARY!! I can not emphasize this enough. Outside of Gamble, the secondary was atrocious! The interesting fact of the offseason is, will the youth we brought in (Hogan + Butler) improve enough to be difference makers? The only position that I feel needs a serious overhaul are the Safeties. Godfrey was mediocre at best and Martin was god awful. You can blame this on a lack of pressure, but, some of their coverage mistakes couldn't be caused by schema or lack of QB pressure.

[Mr. Scot]

You can do both so why phrase it like that?

Discussion purposes.

[rayzor]

THE PRIMARY CONCERN OF THE OFFSEASON SHOULD BE OUR SECONDARY!!

that's why you improve the Dline. if you improve the pass rush you make the secondary better.

plus, as bad as our secondary was, our run D was worse. we've got to find a way to improve the pass D and run D...we do that quickest and more successfully overall by improving the Dline.

btw, godrey was a lot better than you are giving him credit for.

[Mr. Scot]

I don't think either of these areas are going to be a great concern going into the offseason.

I got a feeling you might get some argument on hat statement.

[CRA]

THE PRIMARY CONCERN OF THE OFFSEASON SHOULD BE OUR SECONDARY!! I can not emphasize this enough. Outside of Gamble, the secondary was atrocious! The interesting fact of the offseason is, will the youth we brought in (Hogan + Butler) improve enough to be difference makers? The only position that I feel needs a serious overhaul are the Safeties. Godfrey was mediocre at best and Martin was god awful. You can blame this on a lack of pressure, but, some of their coverage mistakes couldn't be caused by schema or lack of QB pressure.

no such thing as a great defense built w/ a good secondary and weak DL.

We have 1 player that should be starting on the DL actually starting. 2 of you assume R. Edwards is more than a roleplayer meant to aid in developing young talent. We need to upgrade across the defensive line.

Martin and Godfrey have talent oozing out of the ears. Give them a pass rush, age, and good coaching (note that Meeks and his Cover 2 style are gone almost immediately upon the seasons end).

[Mr. Scot]

The Panthers may think they've already taken an important step toward fixing the secondary.

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

no such thing as a great defense built w/ a good secondary and weak DL.

We have 1 player that should be starting on the DL actually starting. 2 of you assume R. Edwards is more than a roleplayer meant to aid in developing young talent. We need to upgrade across the defensive line.

Martin and Godfrey have talent oozing out of the ears. Give them a pass rush, age, and good coaching (note that Meeks and his Cover 2 style are gone almost immediately upon the seasons end).

Hopefully your right and the coaching change will make a difference, but I did not see the talent oozing from Martin this year. Confusion and lack of ability seemed to permeate his every move

In regards to the D-line, we threw two rookies into the game with about a month of an NFL weight program and coaching. We lost the "anchor" of the line in the first practice. We then continued to pull players off the street. Before we go chastising the young DT players, can we give them an actual offseason to prepare before we deem them as worthless?

Martin and Godfrey have 3 and 4 years experience respectively, and played like they were lost in the woods.