Pete Prisco weighs in on Stews signing.

[MrPickles]

Stewart is a huge part of the passing game. Both blocking and receiving. People don't seem to understand this.

[panther4life]

Seriously when you say things like this you essentially are saying you think that you are smarter than Chud and know better what we should be doing than he is doing. Otherwise why do you think we drafted a road grader like Silatolu in the second. You think Chud had nothing to do with that. We have a great offensive coordinator who is getting the players he thinks he needs to run his offense. Unless you are going to act like you know more about offense than he does, it is hard to take your opinion very seriously.

Our line was ranked 5th in run blocking and 20th in pass blocking last year but the pass blocking numbers were totally based on sacks which are going to be high because like Ben for Pittsburgh, Cam tends to hold the ball too long always thinking he can run his way out of trouble.

I wish CRA had an opportunity to interview Hurney, Rivera, and Chud... I'd love to hear him question their motives and then get schooled.

[Upper Deck West End Zone]

We'll see what happens but let's be realistic.

With our poor defensive line, anemic pass rush, and generally shoddy secondary, it's possible the score could be 21-7 quickly...in several games. That's when you need receivers, not running backs.

Prisco says he respects Hurney but then disses him for this move.

[ShutDwn]

Butbutbutbut... If teams are all suiting up to the play the pass with smaller safeties, linebackers and pass rushers then shouldn't the Panthers attack be sitting pretty?

Jeeze Pete, the absence of a running game was why they were successful? You're sure it wasn't Peyton Manning, Eli, Brady, or Kurt Warner? fugin' moron. You know what all those QBs really like? A runningback that can catch well and pound the clock at the end of games. Teams make runs and get to the SB sometimes because they have hot QBs, not because they don't have a dominant run game.

It's not like this Panthers offense is similar to any other offense. It's just not possible. Our runningbacks are extremely active in the passing game.

Not to mention Stewart will be restructured. We all know it's coming, and if I had to guess when, I'd say it'll happen in around two years when we extend Cam's contract. How many times have you heard: "Player X restructured and it helped sign Player Y"

Tolbert already took a paycut to play with Cam, I'm sure we'll get lots of discounts.

[CRA]

Seriously when you say things like this you essentially are saying you think that you are smarter than Chud and know better what we should be doing than he is doing. Otherwise why do you think we drafted a road grader like Silatolu in the second. You think Chud had nothing to do with that. We have a great offensive coordinator who is getting the players he thinks he needs to run his offense. Unless you are going to act like you know more about offense than he does, it is hard to take your opinion very seriously.

Our line was ranked 5th in run blocking and 20th in pass blocking last year but the pass blocking numbers were totally based on sacks which are going to be high because like Ben for Pittsburgh, Cam tends to hold the ball too long always thinking he can run his way out of trouble.

I am not the one claiming Chud is going to run the wishbone and become a run oriented OC. Those arguing suddenly we are going to go back to the days off being a RB focused team are the ones contradicting what Chud/Norv have always been about.

We took a big step last year in getting away from being RB driven and being QB driven. I agreed 100% with that....and expect Chud to CONTINUE to do so. We will run. It is part of his offense functioning. The days of this offense being about Double Trouble ended when Cam AND Chud arrived IMO.

I think Silalotu has a diverse and high upside....and Hurney/Rivers likely drafted him for that reason. Not some idea that Chud is thinking screw these rules that setup my passing offense....we are going old school smash mouth.

[CRA]

I wish CRA had an opportunity to interview Hurney, Rivera, and Chud... I'd love to hear him question their motives and then get schooled.

Yeah, they made the offense all about Newton last year....which is what I love. Which a reasonable person could assume it will be again this year. Why wouldn't the offense be built around and through the guy with a ceiling potentially higher than any QB in NFL history. I wouldn't be the knucklehead asking Chud if he was going to run the wishbone 80 times this year bc I think it would be unstoppable and that we should unlike last year focus on run, run, run the RBs.

I would assume though that Rivera/Chud dont have much to assume with the contracts. Hurney has been overpaying guys long before they arrived.

You guys are predicting things that contradict what we saw last year....not me.

[panthers55]

We'll see what happens but let's be realistic.

With our poor defensive line, anemic pass rush, and generally shoddy secondary, it's possible the score could be 21-7 quickly...in several games. That's when you need receivers, not running backs.

Prisco says he respects Hurney but then disses him for this move.

The issue that Prisco ignores is that we can pass as well as run. It isn't like we ran for 2400 yards and only passed for 2500 more. We had the thirteenth most passing yards to go along with our 3rd most rushing yards. It wasn't as if our offense didn't work or needed to be revamped. Why would we change anything when we had the 7th best offense in the league with a rookie at the helm. And when you look at yards per play we were 4th in the league.

[panthers55]

I am not the one claiming Chud is going to run the wishbone and become a run oriented OC. Those arguing suddenly we are going to go back to the days off being a RB focused team are the ones contradicting what Chud/Norv have always been about.

We took a big step last year in getting away from being RB driven and being QB driven. I agreed 100% with that....and expect Chud to CONTINUE to do so. We will run. It is part of his offense functioning. The days of this offense being about Double Trouble ended when Cam AND Chud arrived IMO.

I think Silalotu has a diverse and high upside....and Hurney/Rivers likely drafted him for that reason. Not some idea that Chud is thinking screw these rules that setup my passing offense....we are going old school smash mouth.

So if this offense is not about double trouble then why did we just sign Stewart yesterday instead of trading him or letting him leave in free agency.

And there were lots of guys we could have drafted if we didn't want a big nasty run blocking guard. Hurney has repeatedly said he likes that Silatolu is nasty and brings an aggressive and tough attitude to the position. Plus Rivera has said he wants the offense to be aggressive and dictate to the defense not the other way around.

That sounds smashmouthed to me. I think you are wrong again.

[CRA]

Our line was ranked 5th in run blocking and 20th in pass blocking last year but the pass blocking numbers were totally based on sacks which are going to be high because like Ben for Pittsburgh, Cam tends to hold the ball too long always thinking he can run his way out of trouble.

And what impact do you think Cam's nontraditional running had on that run blocking ranking? The running that allowed him to convert more 3rd downs than any runner in the NFL, 2nd most TDs in the NFL by any runner, and 30% of our yardage. I fully expect Cam to continue to do what he has always done......no point drafting the kid if you don't. Chud seemed to let Cam be Cam...

[csx]

Oh, and Stewart is a significant weapon in our passing game... but I wouldn't expect Prisco to know that.

He mentioned it in his comments so I think he does know.

[EightyNine]

I don't see why people are getting so upset about his opinion of Stewart's extension. I don't necessarily agree with him, but I definitely thought he brought up an interesting argument. I LOVE Stew and what he brings and the way he plays.

The real question is, does anyone think that investing all of this money in the RB position will hinder us from signing players that we think can improve other weaknesses on our team? (We have needed better D Linemen for awhile now...) We want to build a team that is balanced across the board... and the salary cap plays a part in how you can do that.

I also thought it was interesting how he pointed out that the powerhouses in the league the past few years (Giants, Packers, Patriots, Saints*, etc..) have ranked pretty low in the run game or have put much more emphasis on the pass than the run. Its a good point.

[CRA]

So if this offense is not about double trouble then why did we just sign Stewart yesterday instead of trading him or letting him leave in free agency.

And there were lots of guys we could have drafted if we didn't want a big nasty run blocking guard. Hurney has repeatedly said he likes that Silatolu is nasty and brings an aggressive and tough attitude to the position. Plus Rivera has said he wants the offense to be aggressive and dictate to the defense not the other way around.

That sounds smashmouthed to me. I think you are wrong again.

Why did Hurney help make the Clev backup QB the hight paid QB in the NFL in 2010? Why did Hurney attempt to make Peppers coming off a 2 sack season and clearly not wanting to be here the highest paid defender in the NFL? I don't know why Hurney does what he does...but I assume you do.

and no, the offense wasn't about Double Trouble last year. It was about Cam, the future of our franchise.....yet now we are going to take two steps back? I mean the first year of Williams' big contract he gained 79 more yards than the 2007 season you were laughing at and how little production he had in that other thread.

Nothing Chud has done suggests going back to Foxball logic. The Cam Newton era has begun.....I, for one, love it.

[panthers55]

And what impact do you think Cam's nontraditional running had on that run blocking ranking? The running that allowed him to convert more 3rd downs than any runner in the NFL, 2nd most TDs in the NFL by any runner, and 30% of our yardage. I fully expect Cam to continue to do what he has always done......no point drafting the kid if you don't. Chud seemed to let Cam be Cam...

On run blocking it was positive but on pass blocking it was a mixed bag. His ability to evade the rush likely avoided a number of sacks but he also ran round and held the ball sometimes for forever. If you look at the 2 sacks he took last night, one was due to a blitz that wasn't picked up but the other was due to him holding onto the ball too long.

But I am the one saying we need to run and use double trouble and do what works. You are the one wanting to dismantle the run game and get rid of the run blockers in favor of pass blockers. Or is this another flip flop??

[CRA]

On run blocking it was positive but on pass blocking it was a mixed bag. His ability to evade the rush likely avoided a number of sacks but he also ran round and held the ball sometimes for forever. If you look at the 2 sacks he took last night, one was due to a blitz that wasn't picked up but the other was due to him holding onto the ball too long.

But I am the one saying we need to run and use double trouble and do what works. You are the one wanting to dismantle the run game and get rid of the run blockers in favor or pass blockers. Or is this another flip flop??

How have I suggested we dismantle our run game? by suggesting Newton and half Double Trouble gives us the potential to have the best rushing attack in the NFL?

I have no issues with the OL outside of Bell. They are a good mix. Bell is a run blocking RT. Doesnt have the athletic ability IMO to handle speed on the outside. Our Ts need to be more than run blockers in our new scheme. Our rookie was nasty in the run game in college but has the talent to be more that. I have several times gone on record that this draft class has me more excited than any collective one I can recall.