We Have No Pass-Rush Or Secondary

[mountainpantherfan]

I guess we see things differently. 2008 Brayton played well so noone cared, but noone wanted Johnson gone, not really. 2009 Majority of board wanted him to start over Brayton.

There were probably 50 threads addressing how Johnson was nothing more than a rotational DE and we needed to trade up and draft Derek Harvey. The tide started to turn in 2009.

I didn't see it that way. It's the way the majority of the board felt.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

i distinctly remember people shitting on james anderson and charles johnson here. also a healthy contingent who didn't like the beason pick because we were supposed to select greg olsen that draft, he was undersized, injury prone, another glassjaw like morgan, etc.

i don't listen or care anymore. i watch the highlight videos and wait for training camp and the subsequent reports.

[xtheronx]

Those people who talk poo about who we draft are morons. Rivera isn't stupid, he's put together great defensive squads in the past with barely any talent! now that the man has the opportunity to fabricate an entire team, let the man do what he does best. If yall really want to draft a Darius Butler 2.0 in the 2nd round then be my guest and go play madden. We already have a Darius butler who has the skills to be good under Rivera

Those that are adept enough see that our defense isn't in that bad of shape

I'm excited as fug about Rivera .. but he's only been through one "real" draft

No one knows how he will be viewed as a coach 10 years from now

that being said .. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now

[carolinanimal]

i could have swore before the draft everyone was screaming that we needed d help especially at dt and cb. most where arguing over who the best dt was. now that we pick a MLB and a OG as our top two picks, did those needs disappear?

i also think it is a little silly to think that just another year of exp will vault the panthers d over the top. if that is the case every d should get better. not just the panthers.

[FirstRoundPick]

In Rivera you trust.

I remember John Fox being treated the same way at one point.

[pantherclaw]

Our secondary isn't as bad as many feel it is.

I've said this for months.

There will be a pass rush.

The picks have addressed two pretty big needs.

No matter how much ya like Davis and beason,

We needed to add a linebacker. We got the best lb in the draft. we got a mauler of a guard that can compete for a starter spot immediately.

For those that felt getting a cb in the first two rounds was a must.....then yes, over reaction is the typical response.

[mountainpantherfan]

na .. we drafted Cam cause we needed a QB .. wouldn't have happened if we had a decent QB

so I would argue we DID draft based on need

They drafted a need, yes but they didn't draft based on need. If that was the case the pick would have been Dareus.

Drafting BPA doesn't mean you draft a position you are set at just because the player is BPA. And on this team there are only three positions that are set (QB, RB and C). After that there are a lot of areas that could use help.

[micnificent28]

Our secondary isn't as bad as many feel it is.

I've said this for months.

There will be a pass rush

Is santa gonna bring it? Because we didn't have much of a pass rush last year and your telling me thats going to change by ignoring it? Seriously...

[mountainpantherfan]

It doesn't surprise me we went with the positions we did...they aren't going to draft over McClain, Fua, and Hogan when theyve had one season (or less in Hogans case) to evaluate them. The position Im surprised we didn't address is pass rusher. We didn't draft anyone for that skill last year and we sucked in that area with only one guy who was any good at pressuring the QB. Now it seems like all of those players who coil be decent pass rushers are gone so we are screwed in that area. But Hogan could be the answer at CB and the two young DTs could still improve enough to rotate in with Edwards.

Great post. The lack of rush last year worries me. I hope that had a lot to do with Hardy and Johnson having to pick up the slack in run defense with the youth and injuries at DT and LB. what also worries me is the lack of depth behind the starters. Applewhite is ok but I'd rather he be the 4th option not the 3rd.

[mountainpantherfan]

Is santa gonna bring it? Because we didn't have much of a pass rush last year and your telling me thats going to change by ignoring it? Seriously...

Watch a Jim Johnson defense highlight reel. Injuries at LB and DT hurt the pass rush in a lot of ways. And if you can find some from when Trotter was the mike you'll see our newest LBer. Very similar IMO. And while Trotter didn't rake up on sacks JJ loved to use him to create pressure and running QB into Jevon Kearse.

[Kuech the Sneak]

Hogan and all the young DTs we have all have a full offseason of learning the defense and being in an NFL training program, along with the rest of the defense returning injured players. The defense will be much improved, I'd like to see them add a CB and a pass rusher with our next two picks though

[SIGCHI222]

No one comes off the IR for 18 months....right?

[grateflday]

World on fire!!!

Rivera and Hurney are IDIOTS!!!

WE know the team BETTER than they do!

Argh!!!!!!!!

I know right.... I came on the boards to read up on the players drafted and its like the sky is falling in here.

[NCstoner420]

People complaining about not drafting a defensive tackle or cornerback do not understand how this defensive scheme is supposed to work. We had so much trouble on defense because we did not have the linebacker core to anchor it. We addressed the problem in the first round as well as the players who are coming back to play this year who all have a year of understanding their role.

Now with the second pick. We had trouble putting teams away in games, why? We couldn't control the clock or in other words we could not run the ball. Drafting a guard who will open holes on the inside or pull and lead a run off tackle is going to help fix this. I for one am not worried about the direction that this team is heading in.