Steve Smith at the Pro Bowl...

[thefuzz]

He may already be that.

Worth remember,Bering he's had his fair share of injuries over the past few seasons. Who knows what toll the next one could take on a body that isn't as young as it once was? :(

Very well could be.

Best draft pics ever for the Panthers will be between Smith and Peppers...IMO.

And best player ever will be between Smith, Peppers, and Kasay.

[rayzor]

Good lord you guys, Scot is just stating the obvious. At some point SS will not be what he once was/is. He has played at a superstar level for 10 seasons in the NFL.

Even the best of the best slow down, and have to hang them up. Could anyone have invisioned how fast Moss would fade, and burn out. For goodness sakes, not too long ago he broke the record for TD's in a season. Also think Torry Holt, one of the best WR"s to ever play the game.

Nobody is saying SS is washed up, but adults can only play this kids game for so long.

:lol: no one is saying he won't slow down.

they just aren't ready to make a big deal about it right now. no reason to. too many other things that need to be addressed earlier.

[Miguel O'Hara]

Very well could be.

Best draft pics ever for the Panthers will be between Smith and Peppers...IMO.

And best player ever will be between Smith, Peppers, and Kasay.

No way. It's between Smith and Cam. Every one else is in a distant 3rd. Cam Newton will eventually be one of the greatest number one picks in history.

[CRA]

No way. It's between Smith and Cam. Every one else is in a distant 3rd. Cam Newton will eventually be one of the greatest number one picks in history.

as of right now.....you are placing everything in Cam on future potential.

As of right now, Peppers simply would have to rank ahead of Cam simply b/c of actual production. Pep was also DROY. If Cam broke his neck in the Pro Bowl....he would NOT be ranked where you claim he is.

Peppers can easily be argued as the best pick. Smitty is but you could argue Peppers.

[thefuzz]

No way. It's between Smith and Cam. Every one else is in a distant 3rd. Cam Newton will eventually be one of the greatest number one picks in history.

You just lost all credibility.

I say Peppers because Joey Harrington was sitting there, and we made the right call, not to mention he will most likely end up in the HOF.

I say Smith because he was expected to do what Edwards was brought in to do, and is one of the best at his position.

[OneBadassCat]

...was doing something I'm not at all used to seeing Steve Smith do.

He was half-assing it, like most of the other veterans were.

That is, except when Cam Newton was throwing to him. On the plays where Cam was in there, Smith had a higher gear. but not for Rodgers, and certainly not for Brees (gotta wonder what it was like between them given that little hello Smitty said to Sean Payton a few weeks back).

Is this a criticism of Smith? Not really. These days about the only guys that actually give much effort in the Pro Bowl are the first timers, and even they tend to catch on fast. But Smitty? He never does anything halfway, right?

(right?) :sosp:

It's more of an acknowledgement, honestly. Even the fastest men on the planet can't outrun Father Time. These days, he looks to be gaining on Smith. And the day we see a Panthers roster without a number 89 is closer now than it's ever been.

My advice: Enjoy every minute you get to watch Smitty run in the years to come. As impossible as it may seem, eventually one of those plays will be his last :(

Of course another Smith is aging lets get all sobby about it. Gimme a break every player half assing it yesterday. The first 2 starters were hardly throwing Smith's way so he probably didn't give a fug anyway.

[Wither]

Good lord you guys, Scot is just stating the obvious. At some point SS will not be what he once was/is. He has played at a superstar level for 10 seasons in the NFL.

We knew that 5 years ago though.

I think it is fairly obvious he doesn't have too many years left and citing the pro bowl performance as the indicator isn't very accurate in my opinion. I think it might have awakened Mr. Scot to the issue a little more though.

[bleys]

Smitty is already one of the greatest Panthers ever, if not THE greatest ever... he's carried this franchise on his back during a tenure that is looked at as the best we've had so far.. and without him, we wouldn't have had the success we have witnessed..

there are players that tug at fans hearts, but as the greatest player? I give that to Smitty.. I consider him one of the greatest WRs to ever play the game...

[Guest]

My advice: Enjoy every minute you get to watch Smitty run in the years to come. As impossible as it may seem, eventually one of those plays will be his last :(

whoa, really? steve smith isn't going to play forever?

i thank god that you were put on earth to spread this vital piece of information

[Cat'sGrowl]

whoa, really? steve smith isn't going to play forever?

i thank god that you were put on earth to spread this vital piece of information

Lol

[SCP]

I disagree with a lot here, I think Smith played pretty hard and had a good showing. Actually on the first catch from Brees when the defense was still playing very soft, Smith turned upfield and knocked down first defender with a nice stiff arm.

Hey it's the captain of the Saints bandwagon.

[Mr. Scot]

We knew that 5 years ago though.

I think it is fairly obvious he doesn't have too many years left and citing the pro bowl performance as the indicator isn't very accurate in my opinion. I think it might have awakened Mr. Scot to the issue a little more though.

Awakened? No. Reminded would be the better word.

Talked about this earlier in the season too when people were bringing up that Smith was drawing more flags than before. It's been on my mind a lot this season. The Pro Bowl just brought it back up.

:lol: no one is saying he won't slow down.

they just aren't ready to make a big deal about it right now. no reason to. too many other things that need to be addressed earlier.

A lot of the offense's effectiveness at this point still relies on the threat of Steve Smith. What happens if that's not there anymore?

Yeah, he had a resurgent year this season, but I've seen a lot of "fountain of youth" years get following up by "hitting the wall" years.

Nobody sees the wall coming. Everyone tends to think "I've got two or three more good years left in me" before they find out otherwise.

This offseason I think we need to find at least a stopgap if not a successor. Much as I like David Gettis, I don't think he's that good, and there's still the injury issue.

[rayzor]

again, unfortunately, we have too many more urgent needs to really tackle the job of finding his replacement or a stop gap.

is it risky? yep.

is it a risk that needs to be taken? absolutely.

we can find one in FA or we can find one from the 4th round on, but if we want to progress further than we did this past year then we need to fix the things that held us back. then we can start dealing with trying to fix things that might hold us back down the road.

fix what needs fixing now then deal with what could break.

[DaCityKats]

did you guys see who was one of the 1st people to congratulate smitty on that td catch?