Antonio Garay to become FA

[Actionman0z]

Whoops, sorry I didnt scope out any of the boards before I posted that other thread. Thanks OP. I had just heard an interview on the radio where Garay was all over Rivera's jock. Do Want. Would allow us to use #9 on a football player who can contribute right away, and not reach for any of the DT's this year.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

I would love to have Garay, but those saying that the Panthers wouldn't have to draft or take a look at another defensive tackle might not want to speak to soon.

Garay is another nose tackle and he would most definitely help out the Panthers against the run, but the Panthers could also really use another up-tackle.

Going back to last year, Andre Neblett was our best up-tackle and that just won't cut it in this league. With McClain and Neblett as the only true up-tackles on the roster that have a legitimate shot at making the roster, I wouldn't count out the Panthers on taking a look at an up-tackle in the later rounds of the NFL Draft.

I could see the Panthers taking a look at Brett Roy (5th round talent) from Nevada, Derek Wolfe (6th round talent) from Cincinnati, or Mike Daniels (6th round talent) from Iowa to fill out the defensive tackle position.

[rayzor]

We already have signed our vet NT, we need an undertackle draft choice at this point.

Garay is another nose tackle and he would most definitely help out the Panthers against the run, but the Panthers could also really use another up-tackle.

i'm gonna repost from another thread since it's addressing the same thing...the mis-perception that garay is just another run stuffing/blocker-eating NT.

Garray would be nice...if we didn't already essentially have him in Ron Edwards.

seems like garay is more of a UT in a NT's body. they are pretty different. edwards is more of the run stuffer/lane clogger while garay seems to be the guy who can put pressure on the QB. in fact he was one of the best DTs at getting pressure on the QB the last couple years. he's kind of like a jay ratliff type NT who can get to the QB regularly. not just a run stuffer or a guy that eats up blockers. he penetrates gaps and gets to the QB.

In 2010, Garay finally won a starting job. He played NT for the Chargers for the entire year, racking up 48 tackles and 5.5 sacks. He kept his job in 2011, chipping in 57 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

Our friends at Pro Football Focus graded Garay at +4.0 overall on the 2011 season. He received a +1.5 run defense grade and a +7.3 pass rushing grade. PFF also credited him for three sacks, six QB hits and 20 QB pressures. He missed four tackles on the season and was credited for 23 stops.

link

in 2010 (with rivera) he had an even better year. he had 5.5 sacks and twice as many QB pressures as he had in '11.

of all the DL in '10 that had more than 40 tackles, garay was one of four (along with jared allen, vince wilfork, and sione pouha) with no broken tackles.

btw...i'm thinking we need some of this guy's attitude and flair on D.

[jtnc]

Beast

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

i'm gonna repost from another thread since it's addressing the same thing...the mis-perception that garay is just another run stuffing/blocker-eating NT.

seems like garay is more of a UT in a NT's body. they are pretty different. edwards is more of the run stuffer/lane clogger while garay seems to be the guy who can put pressure on the QB. in fact he was one of the best DTs at getting pressure on the QB the last couple years. he's kind of like a jay ratliff type NT who can get to the QB regularly. not just a run stuffer or a guy that eats up blockers. he penetrates gaps and gets to the QB.

in 2010 (with rivera) he had an even better year. he had 5.5 sacks and twice as many QB pressures as he had in '11.

of all the DL in '10 that had more than 40 tackles, garay was one of four (along with jared allen, vince wilfork, and sione pouha) with no broken tackles.

btw...i'm thinking we need some of this guy's attitude and flair on D.

I would tend to look at last years production over seasons from a few years ago simply because of his age. If he was younger, I would say he just had an off year as a so called "up-tackle." However, he is entering the latter stages of his career and his production most likely won't be the same as it once was. Also since we are on the subject of last years production, and Garay's so-called position of an "up-tackle"; let's compare him to Panthers' defensive tackle Andre Neblett. Neblett recorded the same amount of sacks as Garay did last year in four less games.

My argument is Haloti Ngata gets penetration and records sacks, but that doesn't make him an up-tackle. From the videos I have seen on Garay, he usually lines up across from the center but he does occasionally switch to the up-tackle position. Now with that being said, I would love to have Garay on the Panthers roster because he is a dual threat player and can rotate between both tackle positions and still be effective. Nonetheless, if he is signed the Panthers would have two defensive tackles that are over the age 30, that is reason enough for at least using a late round pick on a defensive tackle. As we saw last year, all it takes is for one thing to go wrong and a players season or even career might be over.

I hope people don't get the assumption that we would be okay just because we have Edwards and Garay, because for all we know McClain and Fua could end up being just adequate depth and never mature into true producers. (Not saying they will be, so don't take my words out of context)

I personally think that you can never have enough depth especially at a position that was a point of concern last year and completely decimated by injuries.

[rayzor]

I would tend to look at last years production over seasons from a few years ago simply because of his age. If he was younger, I would say he just had an off year as a so called "up-tackle." However, he is entering the latter stages of his career and his production most likely won't be the same as it once was. Also since we are on the subject of last years production, and Garay's so-called position of an "up-tackle"; let's compare him to Panthers' defensive tackle Andre Neblett. Neblett recorded the same amount of sacks as Garay did last year in four less games.

are you meaning "under-tackle"?

if you want to look up his stats from a few seasons ago you aren't going to find much because he didn't play much. his only 2 years of significant playtime was in '10 and '11. he bounced around and got very little time prior to that. him having years like the past two have people wondering why he didn't start earlier because the talent is obviously there. the answer is that teams just didn't look closely enough. rivera gave him his chance.

some people look at him as being a "wrong side of 30" DT/NT but i look at him as an very good and experienced/mature player who doesn't have much mileage on him at all. that's a plus right there. his career is essentially just getting started.

i didn't say he was a UT, just that he played more like one than a typical NT. a comparison to jay ratliff style NT is what i'm going with. he's a rare NT that can get after the QB and can get past OL guys in front of him.

in three man fronts him rotating out with edwards (with edwards handling the rushing downs and garay handling passing downs) i think we could have something special, at least for a couple years.

btw...i don't think that edwards is much better than garay at stopping the run. garay is quite good at that as well. i think garay could be used just about anywhere on the DLine much in the same way we're talking brockers, poe, or some of those big tackles we've been talking about can. line him up as the 0 tech, 3 tech, or 5 tech or anywhere in between and he'd do well. despite his size and age, he's very athletic.

[csx]

Having Him and Edwards in the middle would be the best DT combo we have had since the Jenkins-Buckner pairing. This move would immediately upgrade the play of our defensive ends and linebackers.

I'm all for it.

That's sad considering both are very average

[rayzor]

That's sad considering both are very average

garay's not exactly a well known name or high profile player, but his production and performance the last couple years has hardly been average.

as far as edwards...yeah, average (which is still an upgrade).

[MadHatter]

i'm gonna repost from another thread since it's addressing the same thing...the mis-perception that garay is just another run stuffing/blocker-eating NT.

seems like garay is more of a UT in a NT's body. they are pretty different. edwards is more of the run stuffer/lane clogger while garay seems to be the guy who can put pressure on the QB. in fact he was one of the best DTs at getting pressure on the QB the last couple years. he's kind of like a jay ratliff type NT who can get to the QB regularly. not just a run stuffer or a guy that eats up blockers. he penetrates gaps and gets to the QB.

in 2010 (with rivera) he had an even better year. he had 5.5 sacks and twice as many QB pressures as he had in '11.

of all the DL in '10 that had more than 40 tackles, garay was one of four (along with jared allen, vince wilfork, and sione pouha) with no broken tackles.

btw...i'm thinking we need some of this guy's attitude and flair on D.

Now, we will have none of that....no facts, stats, and logic to actually support a rational thought. We prefer knee-jerk and ill-informed garbage.:D

I agree 100% with your assessment of Garay. Watching some clips of him and looking at his stats (especially the QB hits, sacks, and pressures)...he strikes me of more of a Jenkins type of player rather than a Kemo run stuffing DT.

I would love to bring him here for a few years....and see what we have in Fua, McClain, and Neblett before using a top 10 pick on a DT (and one that is not a dominant game changer today).