With the Panthers in dire need of help at DT, particularly experienced help, it's worth noting that the Texans traded former first-round pick Travis Johnson to the Chargers for a sixth-round draft pick, which could conditionally turn into a fifth-round pick. Johnson has been a disappointment for the Texans since his selection in the 2005 draft, and is best remembered for his angry response to Trent Green's low block that not only flipped the unsuspecting Johnson but also gave Green his second severe concussion in as many seasons.

I can't make an argument that Johnson would be a good fit for our defense, nor do I know much about him as a player. But I know as surely as I know that the earth is an oblate spheroid (it is NOT round) that we are desperate for DTs right now, and we have a recent history of taking a former first-round DT bust and turning him into a productive player, ala Damione Lewis.

So, at the low low asking price of a sixth round pick, would this have been a good move for us?

MichaelP made a couple of astute comments (as he always does) that the Panthers' disappointing seasons that followed playoff appearances (the sad sack '04 and '06 seasons) were more the result of major injuries, and less about "hype" and "expectations" and all the attendant hoopla. Specifically, he noted:

Losing Steve Smith and Kris Jenkins along with being down to our 5th-string RB in ’04.

...

Losing Delhomme for the last three games of ’06, when we went 1-2 and came up one game short of the playoffs. Or losing Morgan, Wharton, and Hartwig within the first two weeks of the season?

I might add Mike Rucker's end-of-season ACL tear in '06. Not that I'm piling on. Just sayin', is all.

Sure, we sucked mightily those two years due to big-time injuries at critical positions. So let's spit in the eye of Fate and see who we could lose this year that would produce the same level of horrid results, countdown list style: Top 6 Players For The Love Of God We Had Better Not Lose!

6- Jon Beason - Losing the heart of our defense wouldn't be quite as bad as losing Morgan was in... well, all those (many, many) seasons when he got hurt. We've got Dan Conner as a more-than-capable (we hope) backup, which should otherwise allow the rest of the defense to keep rockin'. When Morgan went down, we had to move Witherspoon inside where he wasn't as effective and our weakside play was severely diminished. While Conner wouldn't be the Pro Bowl/All-Pro type player that Beason is, the hope is that he would at least allow the other LBs to remain focused on their positions.

Continue reading this post »

NFL.com released a list of Pro Bowl ballots by their writers, and there are a surprising (to me, anyway) number of Panthers making appearances.

Here's the full list.

Of the five ballots cast by their writers, I'll list each Panther who makes an appearance, and the number of ballots on which they appear:

• DeAngelo Williams (1)
• Brad Hoover (1)
• Steve Smith (2)
• Jordan Gross (3)
• Travelle Wharton (1)
• Ryan Kalil (1)
• Julius Peppers (4)
• Jon Beason (2)
• Ken Lucas (1)
• Chris Gamble (1)
• Richard Marshall (1)

Winning sure does put peoples eyes on you, even if you're not on national broadcasts.

The biggest misses by the writers, from a Panther perspective, are at RB, WR, ILB and K.

Continue reading this post »