Top 10 Players We Can't Afford To Lose To Injury Next Year.

[panther4life]

Rank the top 10 players we can not afford to lose to injury next year if we want to have the best record possible.My list is based off a combination of what each player brings to the table and the depth behind them.

1. Cam Newton

2. Jordan Gross

3. Chris Gamble

4. Steve Smith

5. Charles Johnson

6. Ryan Kalil

7. Jon Beason

8. Greg Olsen

9. Brandon Lafell

10. Luke Keuchly

Some quick notes on my justification for this list

Outside of the top 6 that list got real tough for me.

-We have no one I am confident in at this point in manning the LT spot if Gross goes down,

-Gamble is a shut down corner who allows versatility in our entire defensive playcalling,

-Smith is Cam's favorite weapon.

-Charles Johnson does a great job at applying pressure and containing the run game on his side.

-Kalil is not only a top 5 center but he also has nobody behind him that I have much faith in.

-Beason is stil the leader of Our D,but I have confidence in Kuechly being able to slide over if need be

-Olsen, was Cam's second favorite target and may see even more snaps if Shockey does not return. Plus tight end position is a vital part of our offensive philisophy

-Lafell's value on this list is inflated some due to that fact that we do not know for sure what we have behind him at the # receiver spot.

-Kuechly makes the list because not matter where he lines up he will be an integral part of our D next year.

-I love our running backs but we are deep there so I left them off this list.

-Hardy is good but having, Keiser, Applewhite and Alexander on the roster will help ease the pain if he goes down

Let me here your top 10 and why.

[Guest Bwood]

"Name our 10 best players"

[thefuzz]

Newton

Gamble

Johnson

Gross

Smith

Keuchly

[DawgzLife]

I don't mean to rain on this parade...really, b/c it is something interesting & Panthers related when few things are interesting or Panthers related. IF we have players that we "can't afford to lose", other than Cam then it will speak volumes about Hurney & Rivera.

Teams can't have 53 starters, but the whole point of the off-season/training camp/etc. is for the teams to stack their roster based on the fact that they will lose players. I have trust in Rivera, but if we have injuries & with only 5-8 wins, then our front office & coaching staff have seriously let us down. Deep run play-off & Championship teams do not fall apart b/c of injuries (even tho last year for us was quite out of the ordinary with many injuries to the same position).

[panther4life]

I don't mean to rain on this parade...really, b/c it is something interesting & Panthers related when few things are interesting or Panthers related. IF we have players that we "can't afford to lose", other than Cam then it will speak volumes about Hurney & Rivera.

Teams can't have 53 starters, but the whole point of the off-season/training camp/etc. is for the teams to stack their roster based on the fact that they will lose players. I have trust in Rivera, but if we have injuries & with only 5-8 wins, then our front office & coaching staff have seriously let us down. Deep run play-off & Championship teams do not fall apart b/c of injuries (even tho last year for us was quite out of the ordinary with many injuries to the same position).

Sorry I created an original thread idea. Your taking it too literal. Just pretend the title said the top 10 players you would hate to see us lose.

[panthers55]

The only player who would tank the season if we lost him would be Newton. We could survive anything else.

The only other player who we couldn't replace with anything even close would be Steve Smith. Kalil anchors the offensive line and is the key to the blocking schemes. The other two guys who would be a huge loss would be Johnson and Gamble. Everyone else we could find a replacement who would be serviceable and could still function particularly if it was not a season ending injury.

My top 5 order would be:

Cam Newton

Steve Smith

Ryan Kalil

Chris Gamble

Charles Johnson

Losing guys like Gross and Olsen would be a set back but we could figure out a way to work around them. As for Beason and Davis we can't count on them being there at all, so anything we get is a bonus. As for Rookies like Kuechly, lets see what he does before we decide how irreplaceable he is.

[Frizzy350]

Cam cam and Cam. He's literally the only completely irreplaceable piece. A couple of injuries we can work around and find short term stop gap solutions. If a large group of guys go down or an entire unit (think the LBs last year) we are gonna have alot of difficulties.

[nctarheel0619]

:cam:

:cam:

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My top 5 in no particular order.

[DawgzLife]

Sorry I created an original thread idea. Your taking it too literal. Just pretend the title said the top 10 players you would hate to see us lose.

Dude, chill. I started my comment by saying: "b/c it is something interesting & Panthers related when few things are interesting or Panthers related"; forums are meant for posting what comes to mind; no offense intended.

[TruCatzFan]

Cam

Smitty

DeAngelo

J-Stew

Olsen

Gamble

C Johnson

Beason

Edwards (again)

Anderson

Didn't include Davis, because mentally I've already scratched him. Anything he gives us next year is a bonus in my book.

Beason is down on my list because we played w/out him last year

I put offense first because without any one of those players, it seriously prohibits us from doing what this team can do to put up points. I honestly believe that this offense will win us a lot of games, even with a mediocre defense this year.

[SN03]

Adi Kunalic, I can't survive another season of Olindo Mare. His level of play was Pickle-Esque.

[La Pantera]

How is Keuchly making the list? He hasn't played a down. There's no telling if/how he will affect this team. You can't miss something you've never had...

Cam

Beason

Smitty

Gross

CJ

Kalil

Gamble

Anderson

Godfrey

Olsen

[Mage]

Is it just me or does this site underrate Charles Johnson too much?

He's been a top ten 4-3 defensive end the past two years. He is great against the run (10 stuffs in 2011 - more than Ngata, Peppers, JPP, Long, etc) and is very effective rushing the passer. Considering he is our only competent defensive lineman, which is a critical unit on a team, and he is a darn good one at that, I think he'd definitely be one of our top three players we'd need to keep healthy. I mean, I love Smith. But if one of them had to get injured (knock on wood), losing Smith wouldn't hurt us nearly as much as losing Johnson would. Wide receiver isn't nearly as impactful as DE is and Johnson is an extremely versatile one - can play 3-4 OLB in our 3-4 looks, plays 4-3 DE, and can play 4-3 UT.

If anyone has NFL Rewind, look back at the first couple of weeks of the season. Johnson was everywhere. He began getting doubled more and more as the season wore on and still was making splash plays. Despite having arguably the worst DT combo beside him in the league and Hardy, who became ineffective as the season wore on (conditioning?), he still finished with 9.5 sacks.

[CRA]

Newton and Smitty would be the most glaring. Then probably Gamble. Probably could work around the others if it is just that one injury. CJ leads that next tier though.