First, thanks to Rick "Master" Bates for volunteering to serve as commissioner for the league.

The CSR 2 Fantasy League held it's live draft this past Sunday. We had a pretty good turn out, i believe 11 of the 12 owners were present for the draft.

Not surprisingly, the Carolina Panthers were the team with the most players drafted. DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith, Matt Moore, Dwayne Jarrett, Brandon LaFell, Kenny Moore, Jeff King, John Kasay, and the Panthers D/ST were all drafted. (Footnote: Dwayne Jarrett and Kenny Moore have both already been dropped on the waiver wire. A sign of things to come for the real team?)

We have a very interesting matchup right off the bat in week 1. Flowing's Zombies play The Flogging Dolphins. Flowing Willow is starting DeAngelo Williams and ERL is starting Jonathan Stewart.

Here's the results of the draft, in the draft order 1-12, after the jump, with a picture of the first round selection for each team. (Note: Players at each position not necessarily in the order they were drafted)

If you'll notice, each team has a link after the players. The link sends you to a great site for fantasy football players that rates your team, makes suggestions for improvement, shows matchups, predictions, etc. The site is at footballguys.com and if you want to use the site, here is the link to get to a blank form where you can enter your team if you are in a league as well. 

http://subscribers.footballguys.com/rate-my-team/form.php

Owners, go check out the link for your team. It's worth the read.

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Thought we may need a place to post anything related to day 5.

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There's electricity in the air in Charlotte and all across Panther fandom.

For the first time, the Panthers have another playmaker and game changer at WR besides Steve Smith.

But, unfortunately there's a couple of problems.

First, even though AE threw for over 10,000 yards and rushed for over 4000 yards, and showcased a natural talent as good as any college player in the 2010 draft while a QB at App. St., he hasn't actually caught a pass in a game in like 5 years.

So far though, and albeit only through OTA's, he's getting rave reviews about his transition from QB to WR from the media and his fellow teammates. He's got too much football savy and football intelligence for this to be a problem.

Second, AE got drafted by a team that traditionally runs one of the most conservative offenses in the NFL and there is a question about how to utilize his talents and get him on the field.

There are a multitude of ways to utilize AE to make the Carolina Panthers a better football team. AE's natural talents can be utilized as a punt returner, kickoff returner, wide receiver and Wilcat QB.

Jeff Davidson and John Fox should be adding plays to the playbook to utilize AE's talents. I think it would be fun for us here at CSR to do their jobs for them. I've come up with a few plays I'd really like to see from the Panthers this year. All utilize AE and get him the ball where he can do some damage.

Let's take a look at what I came up with after the jump, and you can join in as well...

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Well, it's been about a month since the last one of these boredom killers. We've had yet another heated discussion on the state of the defense. Another QB debate. Another WR debate. Another couple of prediction threads. So, while we all think up new and exciting ways to rehash the same old off season topics, let's talk about Literature.

Though I read pretty much everything here on CSR, I do alot of recreational reading as well. Nothing like falling asleep at night to a good book. (Well, there are a few better ways, but let's stay PG-13 RATED)

What I tend to do is go to used book stores and buy a bunch of paperbacks and if I find an author I like, I usually go back and read everything they've written. I especially like series, with a recurring character. The problem I have is finding new authors.

So, if you are a reader, chime on in. If you aren't maybe this thread will make you want to take up recreational reading.

So, pick a topic and let everyone know what you think.

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"Overachieved"

"Inexperienced"

"OK, but nothing special"

"Played well at the end of the year, but...."

"Is Matt Moore really a starting quarterback?"

"18. Carolina Panthers - Questions at the quarterback position..."

These are just some of the comments that are easy to find about our starting QB, Matt Moore. It's very difficult to actually find a national media article where the author praises Moore, or takes the time to analyze just how well he performed, and/or to look at the bigger picture. Actually, it's pretty damn difficult to find a national media article about Matt Moore at all, or a local article for that matter.

Did Moore overachieve? Perhaps. He did set a torrid TD/INT ratio at the end of the year that would be hard for any QB in history to pace. No wait, impossible. Is Moore inexperienced? Yes, and no. He's got 3 years of NFL experience but only 8 cumulative starts.

It's what he did with those 8 starts that really counts, and that's what none of the talking heads, or the big time sports writers, or the blogosphere critics, or the "I'd have Jimmy Clausen's baby if I had a uterus" guys wants to address. (I was trying hard not to mention Clausen's name, I'm that sick of hearing it and reading it, but, alas, I could not)

So, let's take an historical comparative look at Matt's first 8 games, after the jump...

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Hello everyone. A visiting Carolina Panthers fan here. You may or may not know, the Panthers just lost linebacker Thomas Davis for the year with his 2nd torn ACL. This has started a huge debate about who should take over the weak side Will backer spot. The Panthers have a Pro Bowl MLB in Jon Beason and a Bednarik Award winner in Dan Connor, and recently acquired Jamar Williams. The starting Mike and Will will most likely come from a combination of those 3 players.

I've scanned youtube and watched the NFL.com Bears/Lions and Bears/Rams highlights but can't really find any highlights that show what Williams brings to the table, so, I decided to come talk to those who know him best, WCG.

What are his strengths and weaknesses? I know he backed up Lance Briggs on the weak side, did he get any playing time in the middle or strong side?

How does WCG feel about the straight up trade to get Chris Harris back after his hiatus with the Panthers?

It's that time again. Not much going on, and the Movie Edition went reasonably well, so here we go again.

This edition it's all about Television. That evil little box that is ruining society.

Pick one, or all, or anything else you can think of to discuss.

What are the best shows of all time?

The worst shows of all time?

Stuff I'm watching now?

I wish they'd bring back _______.

Reality shows, love 'em or hate 'em?

Shows? You mean they show stuff other than sports?

Man, I watch ___ hours of SportsCenter every week.

If someone mentions one of your favorites, feel free to add your favorite episode or some favorite quotes, etc.

I'll get things started after the jump...

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There's always been a trend in the NFL to resign great franchise players for a 1 day contract to allow that player to retire as a member of the team in which he played the majority of his career. Muhsin finally calling it quits after 14 years brought the future of Peppers to mind.

Peppers played the first 8 years of his career here in Carolina, and made the All Decade team as a member of the Panthers. He's now a Chicago Bear, and he didn't leave on the best of terms.

What are your opinions on Peppers future as a Panther? Should he be resigned to retire a Panther? How long would he have to play somewhere else for you to say No? Should he never be resigned, good riddance to him?

What are your thoughts?

Alot of football bloggers use profootballfocus.com for statistical analysis of teams and individual players. It's a rare football related thread here on CSR that doesn't contain some kind of statistics gleened from the site. I've used them myself countless times. For those of you who don't know or use the site, they, meaning a team of evaluators, watch every play of every game and grade the players at all positions.

I recently saw a twitter exchange that has caused me to take a closer look at what the folks at profootballfocus.com are doing. First, I'll share with you all what got this rant started.

Chris Wetterling is a fantasy sports writer for rotoworld.com, he recently co-wrote an article with the other football writers titled Bold Predictions for 2010. The relevant part of the article was Chris' number 3. prediction:

3. Matt Moore will hold off Jimmy Clausen all season long, and Steve Smith will regain his status as a top-five fantasy receiver.

That touched off the following exchange between Wetterling and profootballfocus.com

@ChrisWesseling Can see 2 of your 3, but can't see the Matt Moore thing. #NFL #fantasy

What's not to like about Moore's performance? 4-1, 98.5 rating @ProFootbalFocus Can see 2 of your 3, but can't see the Matt Moore thing.

@ChrisWesseling No kind of arm, didn't do anything beyond taking what was given to him. Don't see it in him.

@ChrisWesseling Best case scenario is he's able to ride Stewart and Williams enough to hide his flaws as a passer and keep his job

@ProFootbalFocus That's all he has to do with Stewart/Williams & Steve Smith. Don't forget Fox factor too. Is he really playing a rookie QB?

@ChrisWesseling Not unless he has to, agreed. He's under more pressure than in past though, Moore might force his hand

Smith did produce like a stud with Moore at QB. More of a fantasy angle though @ProFootbalFocus: RE: Moore's flaws

@ChrisWesseling 9 for 157 for Smith vs Minnesota, who a) he always toasts, and b) suck vs the pass. Take that away he's still v iffy

Not into taking games away from players. Not how it works. Take away Finleys 159 yards too @ProFootbalFocus Take that away he's still v iffy

@ChrisWesseling Just saying it's anomalous result when looking at a 5-game stretch and averaging the numbers.

As is any big game for any WR @ProFootbalFocus Just saying it's anomalous result when looking at 5-game stretch and averaging the numbers

@ChrisWesseling Using the mean numbers makes it sound like he was consistenly better, he wasn't, he was the same, with 1 big game.

Take a 5-game stretch from Larry Fitzgerald, Randy Moss Sidney Rice, Miles Austin, Finley, et al. Same phenomenon @ProFootbalFocus

@ChrisWesseling Weeks 2-7: 336 yards, 24 recs. M Moore's 5 games, 355 yards, 20 recs - It's all about which run of 5 games you pick

Smith is same talent, results were better w/ new QB @ProFootbalFocus Using the mean numbers makes it sound like he was consistently better

I think that's wrong. Smith missed last game. 4 games w/ Moore: 94.5 yds, 0.75 TD avg @ProFootbalFocus M Moore's 5 games, 355 yards, 20 rec

So games with Moore = 4.75 recs, 94.5 yds, 0.75 TDs. Games without Moore = 3.8 recs, 43.1 yds, 0.3 TDs. Quite a difference @ProFootbalFocus

@ChrisWesseling Forgot he missed the last game, so it's 350 in 4 games with Moore.

@ChrisWesseling Just not comfortable calling a trend with 45% of that coming in one game against a lousy pass D he routinely owns

Routinely? Played MIN one other time in last 4 yrs. @ProFootbalFocus 45% of that coming in one game against a lousy pass D he routinely owns

@ChrisWesseling 08 he did them for nearly 18 a catch, and '05 he went for a 200 yard game

Even if you take away MIN game (which we shouldn't), he's still 30 yds above pre-Moore avg @ProFootbalFocus one game against a lousy pass D

@ChrisWesseling not comfortable calling a trend in all that, just too small a sample size for us. Now we get to wait and see who's right ;)

The 08 game was just a typical Smith game: 4 recs, 70 yards. You're reaching back 5 years here, not buying it for a second @ProFootbalFocus

@ChrisWesseling For what it's worth, Moore would struggle to be worse than Delhomme, just a matter of is it good enough to stave off Clausen

Can't argue w/ that @ProFootbalFocus FWIW, Moore would struggle to be worse than Delhomme, but question: good enough to stave off Clausen?

Good discussion. Enjoyed it. Not a bad way to pass a slow football news shift on a Friday night. @ProFootbalFocus

So there you have it sports fan, Matt Moore sucks, and Steve Smith's production increase was all a coincidental statistical fluke, according to the.... (what's the word I'm looking for here.... rhymes with boron....oh well, can't think of it right now) guy from profootballfocus.com

@ChrisWesseling No kind of arm, didn't do anything beyond taking what was given to him. Don't see it in him.

This is the comment where I completely lost all respect for the site and it's premise. "No kind of arm". Can't believe that was even considered as a knock. it's obvious he has the arm strength to make any and every throw required. "Didn't do anything beyond what was given to him", calling this a knock on a QB is the MOST ignorant thing I may have EVER seen that is sports related. The absolute BEST quality a QB can have is to take what the defense gives you, and don't force the ball into coverage. 

So I decided to take a closer look at some of the QB's and their ratings from the site after the Jump...

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Our defensive line...

[In this corner, weighing in at 183 optimist points, from Spartanburg, SC, the reigning Champ, Steven785. And in this corner, the pessimistic challenger, weighing in with 191 pessimist points, from somewhere in the world, Elbacano. (With James vs. Flowing Willow on the undercard), was pretty fun to watch for awhile to see who would get in the next jab.]

, our #2 WR spot, and who will survive on the roster, our QB debate, (still can't believe Carolina is in a QB controversy, which is a good thing), and Florio's stupidity are pretty much all we have to discuss at this time of year.

So, I thought I'd start an off topic thread to alleviate the boredom.

In this edition, (if you wish to participate), let's discuss movies:

Top 5 best movies of all time

Top 5 favorite movies of all time

Top 5 best comedies of all time

Top 5 war movies of all time

Top 5 __________ of all time

whatever you would like to discuss.

If you like the idea, and it goes well, I'll follow up with Books, Songs, Hot Women, etc. when this one peters out.

I'll get the ball rolling after the jump...

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Let's take a look at the defensive side of the ball.

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Death, taxes, and instability in the NFC South are some of life’s eternal truths. Since the NFL realignment in 2002, every year, the team that finishes last in the division has made the playoffs the following year. Even more bizarre is the fact that the last place team has actually won the division 7 of the last 8 years. And in that same time span, no team has made back-to-back appearances in the playoffs.

A quick recap:

Carolina finished last in 2002 and won the division in 2003.

Atlanta finished last in 2003 and won the division in 2004.

Tampa Bay finished last in 2004 and won the division in 2005.

New Orleans finished last in 2005 and won the division in 2006.

Tampa Bay finished last in 2007 and won the division in 2007.

In 2008, Carolina hit a last-second field goal to defeat New Orleans. If the Saints had won that game, then the Falcons would have won the NFC South after finishing last in 2007

New Orleans finished last in 2008 and won the division, and the Super Bowl in 2009.

Why is there such a disparage in the NFC South?

Injuries to key personnel? Coaching changes, with the associated change of philosophy, resulting in personnel problems? Loss of key personnel to free agency? Gaining talent through free agency? Jake Delhomme? These are all legitimate arguments.

Personally, I feel that the NFC South is in such yearly turmoil because the teams, for the most part, have consistently been pretty fairly matched in the talent department. I decided to take a position by position look at the NFC South for the coming year to see where our Carolina Panthers rank. Granted, there is always the possibility of further Free Agent signings, but if so, it most likely will be done by the other teams in the division. I also am not an expert on the Panthers, and certainly not on the Saints, Falcons and Bucs, so I did my best to anticipate the depth chart of all the teams. Edit: These are not subjective rankings and my opinion, I used ProFootballFocus.com and Footballoutsiders.com for overall rankings to determine the order, with a few corrections made for objectivity (Edit: QB position) and intelligent interpretation of statistics (Edit: RB Position).

So buckle up, and away we go…..

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Posted this on another thread, but decided to FanPost it so everybody gets to see the challenge. 

Chris Harris:

@KennyMoore81 what up boi. They working yall out there

Kenny Moore:

RT @ChrisHarrisNFL @KennyMoore81 what up boi. They working yall out there “miss my homie already! Yea we working… How r u?”

Chris Harris:

@KennyMoore81 Man I’m good. Yea I’m out here gettin it in. We work mon-thurs. Keep ur head on a swivel when we play lol! I miss yall boyz

First play in Week 5 when DeAngelo or Jonathon gets to the second level, Kenny, Smitty, Dwayne, Brandon, Armanti, David, Jeff, or Tony needs to bust his ass!!! The gauntlet has been thrown down now!! All bets are off!! LOL

This is my take on how the Depth Chart exists as of now, without any UDFA's listed.  

You can draw your own conclusions about where/if we improved.  

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After suffering through 7 season's of the mediocre Jake Delhomme, I was so happy to see Matt Moore finally get his shot. He was  a QB who didn't get drafted, played 3rd fiddle to two QB's who he was clearly better than: Jake Delhomme and Josh McCown; bided his time, and finally got on the field.

It took a Tommy John surgery, broken finger and a hurt ankle to get there, but he was finally on the field. 

He did alot with his opportunity.

He went 4-1, had 8 TD's with only 1 INT, had half the yardage in 5 games that his starter did in 11, and had the true fans of the Carolina Panthers believing he was the QB of the future. 

Then the story took a turn for the worse....

The Pro-ready QB Jimmy Clausen fell to the 48th pick. Being the Panthers, the organization stuck to their guns and drafted the best player available. He just happened to be a QB. So Hurney and Fox got a lap dance (you cant complain when the hot blonde falls in your lap).

So now, with a good QB (the sexy brunette) Matt Moore, and the lap dance on the roster, we now have what I feel is the last thing we need. A QB controversy.

You may feel that competition is the key to making players better, but there is an equal arguement. Making a player feel comfortable and that "he is the man" can be equally effective.

So now we have a sexy brunette and a sexy blonde fighting it out. If, for once, Hurney et al would have drafted by need, we wouldn't be concerned about one position, we could have been praising how great Everson Griffen, Golden Tate, Terrance Cody, Cam Thomas, (fill in 4 or 5 others here) would have helped the Panthers succeed, not only this year but for years to come.

So, there's the lap dance.

Let's look at the girl we kinda wanted to go home with: Brandon LaFell.

I think we got a younger, better version of Mushin with this pick. He can catch, run a route so that his QB knows where he will be, and most importantly, push a CB or S off the play when DeAngelo or Jonathon turns the corner and can see daylight. LaFell is that little hottie sitting with 3 fat friends who you want to go home with at 10pm. A good 3rd round pick.

It's now 11:30pm. You want to find that girl with the double jointed legs and a fat tongue.

But instead, the bar is clearing out a little bit and you spy that really cute girl sitting by the dart boards. Man, she is attractive. I think I'll make a play for her. That is Armanti Edwards.

He got some publicity as being the best "small school" player in the draft, but Jesus H Christ, you don't trade a sure bet next week (Everson Griffen, Cam Thomas, (fill in 4 or 5 others here)) to go home with a girl at 2am.

That's my take on Day 2 of the draft.

I hope Matt or Jimbo Clampett has a QB rating of 121.3, 29 TD's and 3 INT's. I hope Brandon has 71/1034/8 and Armanti has.... 156.9 QB rating (7 passes, 7 TD's, 480 yards), 1654 return yards, 48/560/6.

I hope that happens but I feel we could have done a hell of a lot better with those 3 picks, AND, not had to make a move on the 2am girl at 11:30.

My state of mind right now leading up to the draft is sorta like "The Gambler" in that Kenny Rogers song.

"...boredom overtook him, and he began to speak."

We've got 4 days left until the 2010 draft. Here's one more chance to rant and rave and possibly stimulate some conversation leading up to the draft.

So, fill in the blank with your worst fear that the Panthers organization might do in the upcoming draft.

In the 2010 draft, if the Panthers ____________, I swear I'll lose my mind!!

If the Panthers stepped onto the field today, to have a successful season, which player or players on the current roster would most need to "step up"? Why do you think this particular player? And, if applicable, how can they improve?

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I posted this in another thread, but it's kinda buried, and I thought it interesting enough to share again. I don't know how many saw this when they were trying to determine an accurate time for Taylor Mays at the NFL Combine, but it's very interesting to me and shows just how fast, fast is.

This is a video that shows the fastest player from 6 different positions at the Combine.

Jaoby Ford  WR  4.27

Taylor Mays FS  4.2?-4.3?

Trinden Holliday KRS  4.33

Dorin Dickerson  TE  4.40

And two guys who I cant tell who they are.

5th place looks like about 4.45 range

6th place got smoked. I wish I knew who that was and his time.

This will help when trying to determine how much faster (straight line) one player is than another and what that translates to in either running down a WR or running away from a defender.

After another week of NO Panthers news, no trades, no FA acquisitions, no players caught with purple pee, CSR is slowing down a tad. We might as well have a little fun while we wait. If there is any interest, i'm going to post a couple of "You create the caption" contests. I've got a few good pictures we can use. If you want to try it, just create a photo caption in the header. Rec the good ones, and let's see what we end up with.

On Thursday, the Browns invited their best customers -- holders of season tickets and club suites -- to speak directly to team President Mike Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert by teleconference from their Berea headquarters.

Just call in and ask them anything, fans were told. No topic is off limits. And they did, about the upcoming college draft, about offensive and defensive philosophy, about why veteran quarterback Jake Delhomme?

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/04/browns_team_president_mike_hol.html

We've got a boatload of fans scratching their heads. And we can see from the CSR community, some pissed off fans as well. WTF are you guys thinking? This sure would be a great forum to gain some information and alleviate some concerns for us diehard fans.

What question would you ask the Panthers? 

(Ask your question in the Header, and any thoughts in the comment section. Let's try to keep this on an adult level, "Are you guys smoking crack?" isn't what we are looking for)

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I’m sure by now that all true Panthers fans know about "The Purge of 2010". All is not lost, however, but I feel some activity in Free Agency or trade is needed, and soon.

The Matt Moore vs. Jake Delhomme horse has been beaten down to glue, as has the #2 WR debate, so I’m going to focus on the Defense in this article..

As a quick recap, the Panthers lost Julius Peppers when they decided not to place another franchise tag on him. They released DT’s Damione Lewis and Maake Kemoeatu along with LB’s Na’il Diggs and Landon Johnson. They also have not offered a contract to UFA DT Hollis Thomas and decided to not tender S Quinton Teal.

These moves have freed up much needed cash and disposed of long term contracts to older players, and has opened the door for the younger players on the roster to gain experience and get on the field. What we have to consider is the comparison of what was lost, what remains, and what we can expect to gain from the upcoming draft, and if they balance enough to warrant not getting involved in scavengering from other teams.

In my opinion, the secondary is pretty much set as far as personnel is concerned. If the Panthers address depth in the draft, that will be great, but the core for a very solid secondary is already in place. With that said, I’m going to concentrate on DE, DT and LB.

 Defensive End

What we lost:

Currently on roster:

• Warm bodies: Hilee Taylor, Eric Moore

What we can expect from the draft:

 It’s pretty much a consensus that WR is the Panther’s greatest area of need, so the earliest we could expect to address DE is with pick 78. As the league becomes more pass oriented, the need for DE has grown and will continue to grow. Here’s a recap on the number of DE’s taken each of the last 4 years before pick 78: 2006-4; 2007-8; 2008-9; 2009-11.  It’s difficult to imagine much production from the 10th-12th best DE from the 2010 NFL draft class in his first year.

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It appears fans will have to monitor the Collective Bargaining Agreement next year, assuming the owners and NFLPA can reach an agreement, for how UFA and RFA are handled. Because of the uncapped year in 2010, rule changes won't allow for restructuring of contracts for specific groups of players.

Williams and Kalil are among a group of the league's best young players in a contract limbo, forced to wait on lucrative new deals because of the "30 percent rule," which sets restrictive guidelines for renegotiating existing contracts - and could ultimately cause the Panthers to lose Kalil without compensation.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/02/1350953/williams-kalil-in-payday-limbo.html#ixzz0jwzk61H1

If the new CBA is like the now defunct CBA, Williams could be secured with a franchise tag while a new contract is negotiated, but for Kalil, there appears to be no protection. If he becomes a UFA, he could be gone with the Panthers not even getting any compensation.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but losing any player because of the CBA running out this year shouldn't be allowed to happen.