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.

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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.

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Why The Carolina Panthers Are In Trouble In 2010

This year has not been kind to the Carolina Panthers. When the season ended last year they showed signs of promise as the passing game was appearing to have caught up with or at least moved towards the running game. Things weren’t magnified as much on offense because the defense was just so darn good. Well if the first 3 games in 2010 are any indicator, the Panthers are in trouble.

The Panthers have several reasons to be concerned

• There is no more Julius Peppers. Say what you will about that young man but he was and is a force to be reckoned with. He commands attention on defense and though his stats weren’t dominant every game, you had to account for him on every down he was in the game.
• The offensive line hasn’t been that great. Despite spending so much time and effort on offensive players the offensive line has not lived up to its reputation as a dominant run blocking team. Until they get the running game going and shorten some of these games, the Panthers are in a world of trouble.
• The quarterback play has got to be better. You can’t have a quarterback carousel. I agree with the getting rid of Jake Delhomme was a good idea. Simply because Matt Moore was playing great for you at the end of the year last year and he was showing signs of making things better on offense as he and Steve Smith were connecting on a regular basis. Moore really didn’t do anything to lose his position this year but the coaches felt like Jimmy Clausen gave them a better chance to win games

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AFC EAST: Will The Jets Bust or Boom

For the next few entries, I have decided to spotlight each division in the NFL. We will analyze who will be the champion before the season starts. We will look at coaching, players, front office, and fanfare to determine which team will come out of their division and contend for their conference championship. Today we will start with one of the toughest divisions in football. The AFC East is made up of the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and the newly rejuvenated New York Jets.

The Buffalo Bills show up with a very limited roster. They have many holes on offense and defense. They are clearly the weakest team in the division. They don’t have a solid contributor at the quarterback position and they will be depending on a slew of unproven wide receivers to make a below average quarterback look good.

Key Players for the Bills: Fred Jackson (RB), Marshawn Lynch (RB), Donte Whitner (S), and Lee Evans (WR).

Predicted finish in division LAST

The Miami Dolphins are a helter skelter type of team. From week to week you really don’t know what you are getting. They are obviously coached well and they have talent at a lot of positions. They made many additions that make them intriguing to me this season. I think they can make a serious run at the division title and if they get hot they can make a run at the conference title as well. To do this they will need a lot of luck and almost no injuries.

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