The reason why the Panthers are not good and have not been for 4 years.

[AceMan]

So we should have taken A.J. Green instead of cam?

Corrected and no

[Guest Tom Cat]

I believe it is because the receivers are terrible. Steve Smith is more of a Wes Welker kind of a player that can wreak havoc if used properly. He is not being used properly at all this year. If you interchanged Welker and Smith the results would be off the charts for Smith. Look at Atlanta, suddenly they have a great passing attack now that they have two great receivers. When Carolina went to the Super Bowl they had Muhammad at an all-pro level and Smith was breaking out.

We also had Ricky Proehl - that guy brought a lot more to the table for that team than a great pair of hands.

[TruCatzFan]

Lets not discount the fact that we let Peppers WALK and got nothing!

I was all about him leaving, but it was dumb to let him walk. We could have used those draft picks

[NanuqoftheNorth]

Lets not discount the fact that we let Peppers WALK and got nothing!

I was all about him leaving, but it was dumb to let him walk. We could have used those draft picks

Hurney underestimated how badly Peppers did not want to be part of this disfunctional organization. Tagging him was not the right answer, it just tied up a million dollars a game in a player that did not want to be here.

I suspect we will see the same scenario played out again in two years if Hurney is allowed to remain in charge of this organization.

[Harris Aballah]

Defense was the #1 issue last year. that was the most explosive panther offense I can remember. Broke multiple records and had a chance to win nearly every game last season. Before that you could have had the best recievers in the league and without a viable qb whats the point. Del hommes declining, matched with carr, testaverde, wienke, clausen and moore. thats a laundry list of bad nfl qbs. And we had them all.

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

yeah...that's not the reason.

And you're not the gospel either

[Udogg]

Lets not discount the fact that we let Peppers WALK and got nothing!

I was all about him leaving, but it was dumb to let him walk. We could have used those draft picks

I'm all good with bashing Hurney, but Peppers forced his way out. Front office tried to keep him, but the way franchise tags work and the amount of money in his last year of the contract it made it impossible to keep him.

[Dilated_chakra]

LMAO.....we have alot of talent at that position. The reason we went to the superbowl that year is we ran the poo out of the ball and that opens up the play action pass...Its that simple. Balanced attack. Seems like we have had the same Oline for years , an oline that used to only be able to run block. Now they can only pass protect. I think they got older and better at pass protection but the more physically demanding task of run blocking has gone downhill. How did this thread go from we need wr's to we let peppers walk? pure comedy.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

peppers sabotaged the entire process from the start by mouthing off to the press about how he had a list of teams he would play for and how he wanted to play a position he had next to zero experience at. then he wouldn't sign his tender after he was franchised which made it so he couldn't be traded. when he finally did, it was near the start of training camp and every other team in the league had made all of the big moves they were going to make.

the only way a trade for a halfway decent pick would have happened would have been if he was mum about whether or not he wanted to sign back with carolina or had even indicated it was a possibility (iirc him and his agent actually hinted at it after 2009 but franchising him again wouldn't have been feasible). that uncertainty would have created leverage for the panthers in negotiations and we may have been able to wrestle a first round pick out of someone.

maybe hurney is at fault in the big picture for being a cog in a shitcan organization but to act like he singlehandedly screwed the pooch in that situation is revisionism.

[PantherPhann89]

I would certainly say that you're on to something. We do now and have needed a true #2 WR. But I would target our biggest problem as being our foundation/identity. In the beginning, we were built on/around defense. Having a solid defense and a very good running game. Year after year, we slowly got away from who we were and we still don't know. And when I say foundation, I mean upper management. We didn't continue to build on who we were. Various added pieces, wether they were players or coaches altered our direction and now we seem to be in limbo. Some teams are known for who they are: Steelers, Ravens for defense. NE, GB for offense with decent defenses. We were more known as a running team with a good defense. Our defense fell off over the years and now that we have a QB our current coaching staff seems lost. We need to determine who we want to become and be it...

[beastson]

Are there any WR worth drafting in the 1st round?

[Who Said What?]

We have to go defense this year in the first. I do wish we would put Steve in the slot and see what Murphy can do on the edge. He has top end speed decent size and good hands. He produced in preseason, and has done well when called on in the regular seaso. Its just too bad that he has only been called on like four times.

[rayzor]

And you're not the gospel either

wat?

[mr beauxjangles]

I don't agree with the premise but I will say this - we had the same wide receivers coach for 15 years from 1995 to 2010. Williamson can cite Moose and Smitty as successes. That's it.