Bobcat’s Post-Draft Clean Up… I Mean Wrap Up
June 29, 2008
For a player, draft night is the night when your emotions are either at an all-time high or an all-time low. For Raymond Felton I’ll assume that he chose the latter. Maybe not you say, maybe Ray is up to the task, maybe he wants to fend off the young gun that wants to come in and take his place. Maybe, just maybe, he is ready to exorcise those demons who call themselves Chris and Deron. I don’t buy it. Read more
First Panther’s Hall of Famer: Julius Peppers?
June 28, 2008
In wrapping up our three part series on the Hall of Fame potential of the Carolina Panthers Players, we’re going to take a look at the chance Julius Peppers has of getting into Canton.
Excluding last season, Julius Peppers has been a beast in Carolina, racking up 54.5 sacks in five seasons, putting Peppers up there with the league’s elite, but for whatever reason Peppers fell apart last season, collecting only 2.5 sacks. I’m not going to dive into all of the possible reasons why Peppers played so bad, that’s a whole other story, I’m simply going to look at his chances of having Hall of Fame numbers by the end of his career.
Right now there are 14 defensive ends in the Hall of Fame, but the thing is, the NFL did not record sacks until 1982, which means that there really isn’t a bar for how many sacks Julius Peppers needs to shoot for. If Peppers rebounds next season and the seasons following, Peppers would need to keep up the same pace he had in his first five seasons, for the next 10 seasons, for him to have any type of numbers close to hall of fame worthy. Peppers will need to put up some pretty impressive seasons, I’m talking 18 or 20 sacks, if he wants to be considered for the Hall of Fame. I’m not saying he can’t do it, with his power years still to come, Peppers might be able to, but with the chance of injuries, poor play by your teammates (means Peppers is double teamed), or a mystery bug, it just isn’t likely.
Another thing hindering Peppers is the number of players in front of him to be selected, Bruce Smith (all time sack leader) and Michael Strahan to name a few, have yet to be inducted, as well as quite a few others. If Peppers was to end up with l50 sacks, there would still be a long list of players in front of him that are Hall of Fame worthy. The bottom line is that Peppers chances really dropped because of last season, and he needs to have some phenomenal seasons in order to have any shot at getting into Canton.
Hall of Fame Chance: 15%
The Scoop on Peppers
June 28, 2008
Julius Peppers is one of the big question marks on the minds of many Panthers’ fans. Many rumors of illness and lack of motivation have surrounded this twenty eight year old defensive end, but no one knows the true reason for his mediocre 2007 season. 
Peppers has been with the Carolina Panthers for seven years (since the 2002 season) and shows no sign of dissatisfaction with his current location. Peppers has been one of the Panthers’ best defensive ends, up until last season in which he recorded only two and a half sacks. If the rumors of illness are false then Peppers should show some improvement in this coming season because he has a contract renewal coming up this year. Julius has also been moved to the right side of the defensive line, a familiar position for Peppers because he played that position in college.
With the recent retirement of Mike Rucker, Julius will be required to step up as one of the veteran players on the defensive line. If Julius Peppers can step up into his new position, and get his sack average back up to par (he averages about twelve sacks per season) then he will be a major asset to his team, he will also be greatly appreciated by fans. Although we saw several bright spots from Peppers this past season, it is consistancy that the Panthers need, and hopefully we will see that consistancy in the 2008-2009 season.
The Word On Wide Receivers
June 28, 2008
This past season, the Carolina Panthers only had one established wide receiver. Who other than Steve Smith. Having only one receiver made the passing game very hard for Carolina because most teams would constantly double or even triple team Smith. The Panthers only had a few more options that included rookie, Dwayne Jarrett, Keary Colbert, Drew Carter, and Ryne Robinson, who emerged later in the season after mostly returning kicks during the first half of the season. None of those players have a strong background in the NFL like Smith. This year things appear to be much different. Read more
Top Three Sleepers
June 27, 2008
With a number of roster slots up for grabs this coming training camp, I going to go through the Panthers top three sleepers that could end up having a big impact for the Panthers this season.
1. Toniu Fonoti- Although Carolina’s FA guard pickup, Kydrick Vincent, was brought in to be the probable starter at right guard, it may turn out the the Panthers other FA guard pickup, Toniu Fonoti, will win the starting job. The reason Fonoti is my number one sleeper pick for the Panthers is because it appears that Fonoti has done an excellent job of overcoming some weight issues he’s had the past few seasons, and it looks like he is resurrecting his career.
