Good morning sports fans! It's been awhile since the Panther's front office has done something blog worthy, and as I sit here, sipping my morning coffee, getting my nicotine going, I'm just itching to have something to write about.  Unfortunately the front office still hasn't made any off season moves worth mentioning, and I'm so perplexed about what they've done so far, I dare not make any draft predictions. So instead I'll ramble aimlessly about an article I read in the Charlotte Observer.  It's mostly an Interview with Jon Beason,  Panthers MLB #52. 

     I'm not going to rehash the entire article, it's a great piece to be sure, But I'm going to summarize for those few of you who haven't read it yet.  It basically draws comparisons between Jon Beason and DeMeco Ryans of the Houston Texans, and relates to the fact that Ryans just inked a contract extension to the tune of Six years, 48 million dollars, with 21 million or so guaranteed, and that Jon Beason is expecting a similar deal. , But I'm a numbers guy so here goes....

DeMeco Ryans, age 25, 6'1", 250lbs drafted in 2006 by the Texans, second round out of Alabama, 33rd overall.  He was a walk-on starter, and in his short career, already has two Pro-Bowls in four seasons under his belt. He racked up  123 (93 solo) tackles in 2009, and 519 (404 solo) in his career.  He's also extremely durable, having started every game in that span. 

Jon Beason, age 25, 6'0" , 237lbs, drafted in 2007 by the Panthers, first round out of Miami, 25th overall. He was a walk-on starter, and in his short career also has played in two Pro-Bowls (although one as an alternate). He racked up 142 (112 solo) tackles in 2009, and 420 (328 solo) in his career. He's also proven to be a warrior on a Panthers team plagued by injuries having started every game in that span.

   Pretty similar right? The parallels continue, neither player offers much else in the way of defense other than being a couple of tackling machines. In four seasons DeMeco Ryans has had only five forced fumbles, two interceptions, and seven and half sacks and remember Ryans has started in 64 games. Career-wise, Jon Beason has had only one forced fumble, seven interceptions, and three sacks, and he's also started every game since he arrived in the NFL (48 games).  Respectively, the 2009 leaders at the Linebacker position in these stats are Shaun Phillips, LB, San Diego, with seven forced fumbles. Brian Cushing, LB, Houston with four interceptions, and LaMarr Woodley, LB with Pittsburgh, with thirteen and a half sacks.

   Okay, enough number jargon, I give the edge here to Jon Beason, for a couple reasons. One, I'm biased, a rabid Panthers fan, who writes with a noticeable Panthers slant. And the other is a stat that I left out of the above paragraph, consistency. While total tackle numbers are impressive for both players, Ryans had an impressive rookie season with156, he also had an off year in 2008 with 112. Beason's best year was 2009 with 142, while his lowest was in 2008, with 138.

  Jon Beason, is a run stopping machine,  a devastating tackler who has a nose for the play, and punishes receivers on short slant patterns. With great instincts and scary speed, coupled with pre-snap play recognition skills that allows him to be in the right place at the right time, ready and more than willing dole out punishment over the middle. 

What I'd like- I'd love to see Beason get his payday, he does deserve it. He's a young player just coming into the prime of his career, and I think it would be a good move for the Panthers to lock him into a long-term contract on a Salary-cap-free season. Although with a player lockout looming and his current contract not up until 2011, he may have to wait awhile. I'd also like to see him get more involved in the blitzing scheme. To help apply some of the QB pressure that Julius Peppers' departure will leave this defense lacking. Either way, he's a top talent, and I wish him the very best in the future.

 Written by Travis Canter.

Proofread, and edited for both grammatical errors, and Idiocy by Cayce Canter.

Stats Provided by Elias Sports Bureau.

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So, it's March, and free agency is in full swing,  if there's any doubt,  just ask the Chicago Bears. The Panthers have been pretty quiet so far, other than a huge purge of experienced players, and Matt Moore signing his one year tender, and stepping up to the plate as the projected starter.  I'm curious as to how this will play out, It's been a really long time since I've witnessed the off season moves of a team in "non-salary cap" year.  I think Brad Hoover is going to leave a massive hole. This is a player that has played in the same role for the same organization for ten years. Good times and bad, Brad Hoover did his best, and played with heart.  He will be sorely missed. I hope Tony Fiammetta has some big feet, he's got some enormous shoes to fill. 

      Matt Moore, now I'm excited about this move.  Moore stepped in to an offense that was struggling.  I'll admit I was skeptical, but it was one of those situations where, after witnessing Jake throw eighteen interceptions, I figured how bad can it be?  It came on slowly, with the panthers relying mostly on their running game, then Moore drops in a couple passes, short outs. So then I'm like "wow, he's accurate".  Then it gets even better, he can hit Steve Smith in stride.  So then I'm thinking this could work, and then it happens, bang, the kid shows he's got a cannon, with a long TD pass. Then, it seemed to me, the entire team came alive. Players seemed to be trying harder, on both sides of the ball. One thing to remember is that the team didn't struggle defensively in 2009. Statistically they had fewer points scored against them than any team in their division, included the celebrated Saints. On that point...

     Julius Peppers, he's going to missed, maybe not by the fan base as much as Hoover, but statistically, he's a defensive monster. He was the only Panther last year with sacks in the double digits. In fact, 2007 was the only year in the NFL without double digits sacks. And the only defensive touchdown scored last year was on an interception return for a touchdown, and not by a DB, no, it was Peppers again. I'll admit, he didn't  always play with the heart of a lion, but this isn't kindergarten, and there are no A's for effort, people are keeping score. With that in mind I hope the front office has something in mind to reproduce those numbers on defense.

     All in all, it's going to be an interesting year, look for Dante Rosario, and Dwayne Jarrett to have good years, I sense untapped talent there. I just hope with all the changes that the play calling  keeps with the Panthers philosophy,  with the clock controlling ground game, staying out of third and forever, with "must pass" situations. When you have an opponent that you know has to pass, it's easy to drop eight men in coverage, and just look for a pick.. This alone could have huge ramifications on Moores success, or failure.