SB Nation User Blog: usana_gaines

50 Best Players

usana_gaines — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:41:35 -0000

Pete Prisco of CBSSportsline.com posted a list of the 50 Best Players in the league. Using stats and other intangible factors, the feat isn't too difficult. I can't stand Prisco because he writes some absurd garbage at times, and as a non-journalist, I can say that. However, I wanted to point out a couple things. Steve Smith is ranked #21, behind guys like Champ Bailey, Albert Haynesworth and Charles Woodson. Here is the link: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10877567

Let's look at the list another way. Don't look at stats and try to be unbiased. Who would you actually pick for your team before Steve Smith? I think his list is garbage, but I never like Prisco's work. Peppers isn't on the list, but Freeney is.

Anyway, what I want to know is who are the top five Carolina Panthers. When you understand the difficulty in this exercise, you'll see how talented we really are.

Here's mine

1. Steve Smith

2. Julius Peppers

3. Jon Beason

4. Richard Marshall

5. Jake Delhomme

Let me know what you think about Prisco's list as well.

Training Camp Battles

usana_gaines — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:24:54 -0000

The question is simple, which training camp battle is most exciting and most important? Here are some options and possible outcomes. First of all, who plays the other DE position: Brayton, Johnson, Taylor, McGlover? Who starts at RG: Fonoti, Vincent, someone else? Who starts at MLB: Beason, with Connor on the outside; Connor with Beason on the outside; Beason, with Johnson on the outside along with T. Davis, or Diggs? Who gets the bulk of carries, Stewart or Williams? Who gets the call in the red zone, King or Barnidge? Who starts at safety: Holt or Godfrey? Who are the top two corners between Lucas, Gamble and Marshall? We have a lot of competition this year going in, and that's good for the team. Very few people have guaranteed starting spots on the roster this year except for 4 OL, Peppers, Jake, Hoover, Kemo, Smitty and Harris. Other guys will definitely be on the field like Moose and Beason, but they can't half do it in practice because there are young guys drafted in the last two years who play the same position. Let me know what you think.

Smitty not impressed

usana_gaines — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:15:57 -0000

I copied this from ProFootballTalk.com...

PANTHERS’ SMITH NOT IMPRESSED WITH JARRETT?

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 5, 2008, 3:22 p.m.

Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com has an interesting story about Panthers wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, who is coming off a rookie year in which he caught just six passes.

Most of the story is about the way Jarrett is working hard at making the transition to the NFL and becoming the contributor the Panthers thought he’d be when they chose him in the second round of last year’s draft.

But the most interesting part of the story comes from Jarrett’s teammate, Steve Smith. When asked if he’s seen a change in Jarrett’s approach to the game, Reed writes that Smith “dodged the question and bypassed lavishing praise,” instead simply saying, “We’re all here to play football. That’s what we’re here to do.”

That’s just the latest sign that Smith isn’t impressed with Jarrett. Previous signs include Smith saying of Jarrett in April, “You’re here to play football. You do the party scene at your own discretion, but on Sundays, we’re here to play football.” And Smith saying to Jarrett in October, “Why don’t you go watch some film?”

Jarrett might some day be a good enough receiver to justify that second-round draft pick the Panthers spent on him. But Smith won’t hide the fact that he doesn’t think Jarrett is there yet.

Okay, the article is over and now you get my 2 cents worth...We should've traded him and next year's 2nd rounder for Jason Taylor, or a 3rd and 5th and Jarrett. Either way, Jarrett might double last year's total of six catches, but he's barely 4th on the depth chart. We've had some good draft picks like Marshall and Beason, but Jarrett will prove to be no better than Stefan Lefors and Eric Shelton. If I'm wrong, I'll be glad about it. Think about this, Moose is just as good as he ever was and plays three more years, Hackett stabilizes the #3 spot, and we draft a burner next year between rounds 3-5. That guy develops into a solid #3 like a Patrick Crayton or a Donte Stallworth, then where does that leave Jarrett? Out.

Research

usana_gaines — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:18:25 -0000

So I decided to do a little reseacrh on our boys, a little youtubin. I looked at some highlights of J. Stewart. Some called him a faster Emmitt Smith. I could see it. He's fast and strong, but he doesn't have that burst we look for nowadays. Emmitt didn't really have a burst either, he just got it done. Stewart is in the same mold, but faster and stronger. If his work ethic is similar, and his on-field vision, he can be one of the greatest. There is a problem with this scenario, though. It's called D-Will. D-Will is unbelievable. You look at his stats and you're not impressed. I get that. But you have to dig deeper. Everyone on the planet said we needed offensive line help. Our QBs got crushed and our running game was dismal. Did you see the rookie D-Will get the ball on a direct snap on every third down against the Falcons a couple years ago, and he converted every one? He managed to get five yards per carry with the same line that caused Foster to get 3.5. And in 322 career touches, he only lost one fumble. He has the burst that Stewart lacks, and his 217 pounds of muscle are more than Emmitt had as well. His 167 touches last year were good for 892 yards, six TDs and 7 plays of at least 20 yards. This year, he will go for over 1600 all-purpose yards and at least 10 TDs. He and Stewart are going to punish teams so bad, play action to Smith down the sideline should be good for another 1500 yard season. Make no mistake, we will have a dominant offense this year, and our 13 wins will be the numba one stunna of the NFL this year.