Corner

I'm totally cool with a cornerback at 8/9. I'm guessing its Kirkpatrick unless something changes. Munnerlyn got torched this past season. It has to be addressed.

The whole defensive backfield needs work except Gamble.

The wildcard might be what Philly does with Asante Samuel. I don't expect it but wouldn't be completely shocked if he ended up here. Ties to McDermott and all of that.

Then the 1st round pick gets REAL fun!

 

which is fair, but on the back end he did demote him not long after, in a short camp. Overall Rivera does seem to say a lot of what he wants, but time will have to tell on whether that bears anything long term.

 

I believe they're telling the truth about thinking they're ok at DT (*shudder*), but there are still only three roster-worthy DEs with two not looking like starter-material.

 

Cool vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Q64-QkwWU&feature=relmfu

They might not cover too well, but at least they can jump reel high!

 

Bingo. Can still see a DT taken sometime

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/20/stanford-routt-chooses-the-chiefs/

 

Are they rocking out to MICHAEL MCDONALD in that video???? No wonder we missed the playoffs. I was having flashbacks to the store from 40 yr old virgin.

 

Routt signed for 3 years, $19 million. *sigh* So many solid young corners signed reasonable free agent contracts lately.

 

Hello, Gentlemen. I read this a lot, post rarely. I think it is interesting that there seems to be disagreement (here and on other boards) about the needs on defense. Focusing specifically on the defensive secondary, I see the situation to be similar to the DT/DE argument--which do we need more, CB or S? I know some will say, "both", but we have many needs and, if not big players in free agency, will need to hope some positions improve with what we have. Everyone says we need a CB, but Hogan is just as much of a known quantity as Kirkpatrick or Minnefield. At Safety, however, we have a confused free safety who is athletic but lost, a finesse player who takes bad angles and gets burned deep. His backup is is not better. The SS had a bad year too. We had something like the 25th best pass rush in the NFL, and 2 starting LBs were on IR all year.

Is CB really the problem? Granted, Munnerlyn having 75% of passes completed on him is inexcusable--but I think he is our 4th best CB, so move past that. If Hogan is as good as advertised, Butler/Munnerlyn better as nickel, & Gamble in his prime, is CB really a need?

I know their stats sucked, but how would improvements at LB, DL, and S impact thier play? Were the Safeties bad because they were cleaning up after the CBs, or was it the CBs were bad because the Safeties did not support them?

I really think we will have to pinpoint the problem and fix it, but we cannot practically improve S, CB, DE, DT, WLB, MLB depth (expecting Beason to return to 2010 form?), OL, WR, Backup QB, TE, and add a scat back through the draft and by dabbling in free agency as we have in the past and seem poised to do this year. So, I am guessing we add 1 defensive back. If so, what position will be addressed?

Meeks getting fired suggests that the unit was underperforming because they were not being effectively coached. For the amount of talent we have, they are underperforming.

I think we have bodies at CB that need to be coached up. Hogan is the draft pick we seek. Like DT, we are going to find 4 who are decent and move on. Why does everyone think DT will be addressed? We have been in worse situations and it was not addressed. How was Jenkins replaced?
So, I think we could easily ignore CB and DT in the draft, focusing more on OT, LB (2), DE, WR, scat back, and reserve QB. Should I throw S into that mix? Probably.

This perspective will ruffle feathers because most Panther fans would tell you that CB and DT are our 2 biggest needs. On paper, they are.