The Carolina Panthers Are On The Clock

The Carolina Panthers have a ton of needs to address, however the lack of ability to maneuver via free agency has crippled the franchises ability to position itself so that it could make all of the right moves to cater to the new regime. New coach Ron Rivera has many needs to address and it appears he is going to have to make a choice real soon whether or not he is going offensive or defensive.

If you take a look at what the Panthers already have on their team, going defensive makes perfectly good sense. There is a pair of defensive tackles out there that almost every team in the league would love to pair up with speedy defensive ends to get stability on their defensive front. Everyone is enamored with Nick Fairley of Auburn and Marcell Darius of Alabama. Both guys display first overall pick grades but the Panthers have a dilemma to address. Admittedly they haven’t been the runs stopping team since the departure of Kris Jenkins to the Jets. So putting a big guy inside could really help them get better on defense.

The real question looms as to whether the Panthers feel like former Notre Dame Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is that guy. Is he the franchise guy? Is he the guy you are willing to turn over the keys to the franchise to and say lead us to a championship? If the answer to that question is no, then are there any guys on the board that they feel can be that guy. There are only two names up for discussion when it comes to this years quarterback class. All have questions and all have doubts about playing in a pro system.

Click to read more ...

Fixing The Carolina Panthers: Taking On The Role As General Manager

OPEN YOUR EYES: YOU CAN"T HIT WHAT YOU CAN"T SEE

As you can tell, I have been on vacation for the past two weeks and I have spent a lot of time blogging and lets say I have been doing a lot of thinking as well. I kept asking myself if there was one thing I could do for the people of North Carolina for the holidays that can give them hope in the sports world. So I decided that I would hire myself as the manager of football operations for the Carolina Panthers and I would fix all of their problems in one year.

It might sound like a giant task but I am up to it. The Carolina Panthers have a lot to fix on their team and like I stated on twitter a few nights ago it’s easy to fix, they just need to make a few changes. First change: I trade Jimmy Clausen and get the best deal out there for him. It can be a 2^nd round pick, a couple of 3^rd round picks or whatever. I take the best deal on the market for him, but he must go.

Then I trade DeAngelo Williams. I love what he has done for the team but he like gold and the market is good. He is better sold than on my roster. Plus he is in a contract year and I am not going to pay him anyways afterwards so I better get what I can for him. I also like the other two backs with Stewart at the lead. DeAngelo will garner a 2^nd and a 5^th round pick and some teams might even be willing to give away a 1^st for him.

Click to read more ...

The Carolina Panthers Prepare for Life Without Julius Peppers

The Carolina Panthers look poised after their first preseason game and a lot of attention is being placed on the wide receiver position as well as the quarterback position. The Panthers drafted Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike to ease the quarterback situation and also took Brandon LaFell and Armani Edwards to sure up the wide receiver position.

For those wondering about Steve Smith’s situation and his chances of playing in the first game, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Smith caught passes from a JUGS machine Saturday for the first time since breaking his arm twice in the past year. Smith was activated from the Physically Unable to Perform List on Monday and caught live passes for the first time this season. When asked if there were any question whether he'll be able to play the Panthers' regular-season opener against the Giants, Smith responded: "The only question is, 'What time does the game start?' That's the only question. Because I'll be suited up."

In other good news for the Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart practiced Saturday for the first time since undergoing off-season foot surgery. That has a lot of fantasy owners feeling good about the running back situation. For Panther fans worrying about how good Stewart will be, he is a lot like most good running backs, he doesn’t need a lot of practice to be good on Sundays.

Click to read more ...

NFC South: Where Ground and Pound Meet the Air Bound

Day 6 of breaking down the divisions takes us to the ever popular NFC South, where the food is better than the teams and the teams are pretty darn good. The NFC South hosts the best combination of football that you can ask for. You have two teams that line up and play smash mouth football and two teams that spread you out and throw the kitchen sink at you. However they all have one thing in common “defense”. Every team in this division will hit you in the mouth and hit you in the mouth hard.

The Atlanta Falcons are the most revamped team in the division the past few years. They went from a team that just wore you down running the ball to a wide open attack. They have a good mix of speed

Click to read more ...