| Brandon Helton. 12th February, 2009 - 4:55 pm
 With each passing day, Carolina Panthers fans put the playoff embarrassment of their loss to the Arizona Cardinals further and further behind them. Optimism is slowly returning in hopes of a strong 2009 season that results in another NFC South Division title and playoff berth.
As with the other 31 teams in the league, management is focused on how to get next year’s version to be a Super Bowl contender. One would think a team that just finished 12-4, in maybe the NFL’s toughest division, would not have far to go but the Panthers are a different story. In fact the team is going to have at least three new defensive coaches by the time training camp begins. One is new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks, who spent the past seven seasons in Indianapolis running the Colts' system. Meeks’ time in Indy includes the Super Bowl season of 2006 and the 2007 unit that was the #1 scoring defense in the NFL. Players and fans are hoping Meeks brings a scheme that will get the men flying around the ball and making plays, as the Panthers gave up 30 or more points in six of the final seven games they played.
The first area the Panthers must concentrate on is the defensive line. In previous years the d-line was the biggest strength of this team, not anymore. After the retirement of Mike Rucker and the trade of Kris Jenkins last off-season, Marty Hurney and John Fox made a few small acquisitions in hopes of better production that didn’t require spending a fortune on free agents or high draft picks. We can look back now and see Julius Peppers played much better, but the rest of the rotation made very little difference in games.
As if there is not already much work to be done, news broke a short time ago that Peppers is no longer happy being a member of the only NFL franchise he has ever known. His agent has even gone as far to say that Peppers will never sign another contract to play in Charlotte. Now the team must figure out how to replace his 51 tackles, 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles before it can concentrate on how to increase the unit’s numbers as a whole. Hurney and Fox are in hopes they can franchise the star player and either convince him to stay (which would not be popular to players or fans) or sign and trade him to a team that can compensate the Panthers with something of value.
The second area in need of some help is the team’s starting secondary. After starting the season with respectable play, the back four ended the year giving up passing yards by the handful. This was most evident during the nationally televised playoff game at Bank of America Stadium where Kurt Warner threw for 220 yards and two scores in a very easy win.
Midseason, Chris Gamble signed a new six year contract that makes him one of the highest paid defensive backs in the league, so he is safe. Ken Lucas, 2008’s other starting corner back, is 30-years-old and rumors already have him on his way out the door. Based on his high salary cap figure and lousy production to end the 2008 season, who could blame the Panthers for parting ways? Richard Marshall, the teams nickel back, is expected to get first shot if Lucas is released, but his play last season was up and down as well. The safeties, Chris Harris and Charles Godfrey, are expected to remain in the current positions.
Maybe the biggest reason the Panthers need to review their defensive backs every off-season is the fact that Matt Ryan and Drew Brees are division foes. These two quarterbacks pick apart the best defenses and make small weaknesses gaping holes.
Finally, the Panthers must start to think where the team is headed when Jake Delhomme has played his last game in Charlotte. Fans of the team are already skeptical that he is capable of leading the Panthers to a Super Bowl victory. The 2008 season was nothing to write home about for Delhomme. His QB Rating was in the NFL’s bottom half and he committed six turnovers against the Cardinals in the playoff loss. In fact, some fans (rightfully so) feel that Delhomme’s production would have been even worse if not for Steve Smith and his acrobatic catches that made him a Pro Bowler yet again. Looking past last season, Delhomme just turned 34 years old and has one year left on his current contract at a salary of $11,000,000. This is obviously a lot to pay for a man not named Brady or Manning.
There is hope Panthers fans. The team will return one of the best offensive lines around (assuming All-Pro Jordan Gross signs a new deal) and a running back tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Rising superstar Jon Beason also returns to his middle linebacker position and we should expect nothing less than another All-Pro season from him.
The Panthers finished last season tied for the second best record in the NFL, so they have a better foundation than most. But if the NFL shows us one thing year in and year out, it’s that last year was last year and everyone needs to improve somewhere. |
