SB Nation User Blog: ERL

Hoodies and Scissors by Jack Handy

ERL — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:44:31 -0000

Get the man and orange vest and a bucket and he would complete the look. Probably got the "Air Olden Polynice's" on.

You can coach, but man, Hoody, your whole style is chump. Any man that won't look you in the eye and shake your hand after a ball game is a child...to keep it clean enough for CSR. I need to shower after watching a Belichek press conference. Any man that has a hand in molding a one Eric Mangini cannot be trusted. This is not about SB XXXVIII. You are just not a very likable person as I have seen you...as an NFL fan. What you show us, what we have been allowed to see, is a very poor representation of you as a man to a man. And for crying out loud...At least have your clothes hemmed, you look like an absolute slob.

Man up and shake hands, play nice, no cameras, or its time out for you young man.

How do we get a franchise QB in the offseason?

ERL — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:37:54 -0000

There are a couple ways to go about this. One is to hope that someone falls to us in the draft, (we will pick somewhere between the 38th-45th pick). The other option is to trade away that pick with a player or future picks.

I'm leaning towards the former, because I don't want to be sitting here next year with the same sick feeling, (not having a first-round pick). Maybe Pike, Locker, or even McCoy will fall to us. Mel Kiper thinks McCoy is a second-rounder. Plus I don't think trading anyone away is a good idea. It's going to take a Jonathan Stewart or Julius Peppers to get back into the top 15 picks, and I just don't think its worth it. I think Bradford will go in the top 5, and people I respect think Locker (Washington Huskies) and Clausen (Notre Dame) might too. There is no way we can trade the 39th pick and Stewart for, say, the 3rd overall pick, no one is going to go for that, in real life. Someone probably would go for that if we are asking for the 15th pick, but who is going to be available then that won't be available 20 picks later? So all this "trade Smith, Peppers, Stewart BS needs to stop. This is not how you build a team. Keep your core and build around it.

So what do we do folks?

Who do you think would/should be the next starting QB in Carolina? How do we acquire said player?

Fullback quandry

ERL — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:56:04 -0000

Brad Hoover thinks we might try an offensive lineman at the Fullback spot on Sunday. I love it!

"We're having to go elsewhere in our room, (or) elsewhere with maybe linemen, just trying to find an answer to have an 'F' on the field."

Who? Bernadeau?

Or move Jeff king to FB and let Bernadeau play some TE on run downs? That might become a tell, however. If he is in at TE that might tip the defense that it is a run, but it didn't seem to matter last week.

Should the Panthers run the Wildcat?

ERL — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:49:15 -0000

"Carolina Panthers (3-4): Any reason not to try RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart in a Wildcat formation? It might showcase the team's best players and reduce interceptions."

Again, a case where someone that gets paid to write about football has probably not watched one Panther game this season.

Ok, so we do put DW in the "wildcat" every now and then, but unless I missed something, JS has never been on the field in this package. That would be more like what the Dolphins do with Brown and Williams.

Do you guys think this would be effective for us?...Necessary?

From Realfootball365...

ERL — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:57:46 -0000

This is a "mid-season grade" from an evaluator on the realfootball365 website.

"Next up, Carolina. I can just hear the collective grimace of all Panther fans. This is one enigmatic team. One of the most highly talented teams, although you’d never know it looking at their record, that just can’t seem to get it together this season.

Jake Delhomme is playing like Ryan Leaf, their running game is inconsistent at best and their defense just looks atrocious. Everything is not all bad, though. Steve Smith is still one of, if not the, most unstoppable wide receivers in the game. They have that two headed running attack that can scorch a defense. Coming off a bye week is usually good for a team, but Carolina gets New Orleans. Don’t look for the Panthers to ditch their losing trend just yet. Overall grade: D"

Umm, right. Apparently, in this guy's world, atrocious means:

7th in Total Defense
1st in Passing yards allowed per game
6 turnovers against a Cardinals team that was coming off "their biggest regular season win in franchise history" against the Giants.

Run Defense: Cause for Concern?

ERL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:05:41 -0000

New Defensive Coordinator Ron Meeks employs a unique, pressure defense. It is not known how keen Fox is on implementing this kind of defense. The scheme involves the front four rushing the passer on virtually every down, and tackling the running back on the way (if a run play happens to be called).

With Meeks' defense, much of the run-stopping responsibility rests on the shoulders of the linebackers and defensive backs. The scheme is Cover 2 zone (Tampa 2), with the corners playing short zones. Because the corners are closer to the line of scrimmage, they are more involved in playing the run. In this defense, the linebackers have to be rangy, and exeptional at coverage. This is why the Colts had smaller, faster linebackers.

This defense is geared more towards putting pressure on the Quarterback, and limiting big plays in the passing game. Under Meeks, the Colts defense was great against the pass, but so-so (at best) against the run. It has been well documented that during their Super Bowl run, the Colts were dead last against the run during the regular season. Of course Bob Sanders came back from injury for the Playoffs and they became a solid run-defense. With this scheme, however, the Colts were always in the top-half of scoring defense (points allowed).

Fox prefers a more traditional, conservative 4-3 Zone defense. Much of the time he will run a Cover 4, where both the corners and safeties will drop 15-20 yards downfield. Many fans find this frustrating, as it allows teams to dink and dunk, but limits the number of 20+ yard pass plays. Like Meeks' system, the front four must get pressure on the QB, but they are also much more involved in stopping or at least containing/funneling the run.

With this safer approach against the pass, the Panthers have routinely been in the bottom-half of the league in defending runs up the middle. In 2008, Carolina finished 31st in this category. Some of the blame for this low ranking can be attributed to the loss of Maake late in the year, and Jon Beason and Chris Harris playing with one shoulder for most of the season. These three players will have to be instrumental in defending the run this season. Chris Harris should challenge Thomas Davis for the runner-up (to Beason) spot in total tackles. Also look for both Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall to be in the top 6 in tackles, if in fact Fox allows more Cover 2 zone.

With the defense being in the bottom half in runs up the middle prior to Meeks' arrival, should Panther Nation be even more concerned about our ability to stop the run now that Meeks is here? Will Fox allow Meeks any freedom with the defense, or will he continue to demand that his D-coordinator do things his way? Either way, there may be cause for concern. Meeks has said that he will not blitz very often. This includes run-blitzes. There may also be very little "man" assignments for the linebacking corp, as they are proned to dropping back to cover the pass in a Cover 2 zone.

With Fox being rather set in his ways, Meeks may not get the opportunity to control the defense much like he did in Indy. As a Panter fan, would you like Fox to continue to run the ol' tried and true, or should he let Meeks employ his system?

Steve Smith: Negligently Underutilized?

ERL — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:58:35 -0000

Steve Smith is obviously the best offensive player, arguably the best player regardless of position, on the current roster. If we delve into his statistics from last season, we see that he had 83 total touches, in the form of 78 receptions and Five carries. This workload, divided by the 14 games in which he played, is only 5.9 touches per game.

Steve must touch the ball at least 150 times in a season if the Panthers are to be consistent winners. MINIMUM. How you ask? Well, being the offensive coordinator, it is Jeff Davidson's job to devise and call plays with a high success rate. This idea, of short, safe, high percentage throws that allow the receiver to gain yards after the catch is something almost foreign to the Panthers since Fox has taken the reigns. It is quite obvious that Fox prefers to take his shots down-field. And to his credit, this is a proven commodity when combined with a run-heavy, run-first offense. Do not confuse me with someone who does not understand the importance of the run-game.

But seriously, when you have an athlete like Steve Smith, I think it is your responsibility to get him the ball more than 83 times in 14 games. They no doubt tried, since many of Jake Delhomme's interceptions and incompletions were targeted for Smith. Ok, he needs more touches, but how does he get them smart guy?

Well, here's a stab at that question: In games like the Oakland debacle (where Jake is having a terrible day), why not put Steve in the backfield and fake a hand off or toss to him, and then throw a screen-pass to him? Shoot, hand if off to him the traditional way. Line him up in the wing and let him run a misdirection type package. Just get him the ball more than 5.9 times a game. This is not a ridiculous request considering the average NFL game has each offense running an average of 60 plays.

Steve Smith needs to be a run/pass threat...If you happened to watch any Florida Gator games during the last couple years, can you not say that Steve Smith would be even better if we had a package for him like the Pistol formation Florida used with Percy Harvin? This formation features a HB/WR position who lines up anywhere in the backfield, on either wing, and also in the slot. A package like this finds high percentage ways to get the ball to your best player(s). This way he is more of a run/pass threat, and defenses have to assign more than one, sometimes more than two defenders to him at all times. This kind of attention will naturally create more field for the rest of the skill players on offense.

Jeff Davidson moves him all over the place, yes, but it's not nearly enough. Personally, I think in 90% of the 3-Wide sets, Steve needs to be in the slot. Not only will he get favorable match-ups, but a drag route across the middle of the field is a shorter, safer, higher percentage throw, and with all that room that is often in the middle of the field, if he can make a Safety or LB miss, umm, bye bye.

In additon, it is clear that he does not get nearly as many WR screen passes thrown at him as he did a few years ago. In 2005, when he won the triple-crown, that was the bread and butter. There was really no run game to speak of. The constant threat of Steve beating a corner deap opens up this play call. It is underutilized at this point, and so is Steve Smith.

What are some other ways (besides punt or kick returns) to get Steve the ball? Please share them.

Preseason Predictions: Gameday 45

ERL — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:08:18 -0000

We know that each week, the 45 players that dress can vary depending on match ups. Lets pretend we don't know who our opponent is. This is my best guess before camp opens in a month.

QB: Jake Delhomme, Josh McCown

HB: DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Mike Goodson

FB: Brad Hoover, Tony Fiametta

WR: Steve Smth, Mushin Muhammad, Dewayne Jarrett, Ryne Robinson

TE: Jeff King, Donte Rosario

OL: Jordan Gross, Travelle Wharton, Ryan Kalil, Kedrick Vincent, Jeff Otah, Duke Robinson, Geoff Schwartz

DE: Julius Peppers, Charles Johnson, Tyler Brayton, Everette Brown

DT: Maake Kemoaatu, Damione Lewis, Corvey Irvin

OLB: Thomas Davis, Nail Diggs, Landon Johnson, James Anderson

MLB: Jon Beason, Dan Connor

CB: Chris Gamble, Richard Marshall, Sherrod Martin, CJ Wilson

FS: Charles Godfrey, Nate Salley

SS: Chris Harris, Quinton Teal

K: Jon Kasay, Rhys Lloyd

P: Jason Baker

LS: JJ Jensen

Analysis

There are no real surprises here. If you are looking for holes in my prediction, start with the FB position. Do you need 2 active Fullbacks? No. But Fiametta is the kind of player Fox loves. He will be an asset on special teams. Ryne Robinson edges out Jason Carter because he did it as a rookie two years ago. Once you've logged snaps for Fox, getting beaten out becomes virtually impossible (see Nail Diggs). Gary Barnidge looses out on a spot because Fiametta's special team capabilities. MacKenzy Barnedeau has a real chance to dress most weeks because he is the only other player that will make the 53 man roster that can play center, but since there are two guards and only one center, Robinson has a greater chance of dressing every week. Schwartz may lose his uniform to Barnedeau on game days if Ryan Kalil becomes injury prone.

Only three D tackles? Well, Tyler Brayton will kick inside on passing downs while Maake waddles off the field (only to waddle back on after Ken Lucas gives up a 3rd and 12), wait.... The addition of Everette Brown leaves Hilee Taylor on the practice squad. The Linebackers are fairly set, unless Mortty Ivy impresses enough on special teams to edge out the fourth safety, Quinton Teal. Who would you take off this list and who is their replacement?