What positions have we upgraded this year over last year?

I don't think you can say DE just yet nor RB for that matter. Granted the potential for an upgrade is there.

Bottom line, somebody tell me why they think we are going to be better this year than last year.

 

We are faster. Morgan is faster than Towns, and Fields can outright fly. Both Navies and Withspoon can move. I will include Peppers, I can say with complete confidence that Peppers is better than Williams at least. How much better, wait and see. It's not like Jay made a lot of plays vs the run for us, and certainly he wasn't much of a pass rusher.

Does faster = more production? No. But I'm not sure I know any good slow teams.

Even taking Foster out of the equation, Smith is better than Huntley. Plus, we have a philisiphy that is more inclined to run.

 

Coaching staff. I prefer involvement & energy, rather than whatever it was we had last season.

QB - Peete over Craig and Fasini over Lytle.

LDE - Agreed with Piper than Peppers is better than Williams.

RB - Also agreed that Smith is better than Huntley, and Foster is better than Timmy Of course, so are my dogs.

I think we've added "bodies" at CB - not sure we can be much worse than last season. I hate the lax coverage we used to play - I'd rather get burnt deep than "nickle and dimed" right down the field.

Not sure about WR - Hayes had his moments, but if Jeffers can come back, I'd prefer Patrick. More packages to involve Smith and/or Byrd would be nice. Ones that actually have a chance of success would be most excellent.

We still have an awesome P and K...

 

yep. DE is an upgrade. Depth is no better, though, as of yet.

QB depth is better.
RB is better, RB depth is better.

LB speed and depth are better. Starting talent may or may not have really increased much.

DT is no better, safety was static, corner's definately much worse.

 

George Seifert is not here.


All of the above is also true. Morgan to MLB is an upgrade. He should have been there last year. Peppers & Foster are both upgrades. I also think bringing Bates back is an upgrade on ST, and added depth. I really don't think our team was that bad talent wise last year. It's hard to win when the team doesn't believe in the HC. With Fox, they will be motivated, so in a sense, every player still here from last year is an upgrade because they will be better players than they were last year.

 

The only real improvement this team needed for starters was in attitude and approach to the game. I think we've achieved that at this point with a new staff and new offensive/defensive direction.
The product on the field will be better as a result, IMO.
It's hard to say specifically where we have improved at this point, however I would agree with what has been said above.

 

DE - much improved with Peppers; Ruckers will continue to get better and better; legit pass rush for the first time since Greene and Lathon

DT - improved as I expect Jenks to really come on in his second year; Gilbert has looked better each season he's been here and I expect him to continue to improve (if they don't cut him)

LB - much improved; Morgan will be more at home, in second-year and will be great MLB; Fields and Navies will provide much more speed; depth improved with FA pickup and draftee, Weatherspoon, (whom I'm told that the Steelers really wanted); expect Del Rio to really energize this group

Safeties - improved as Grant is in his second-year and was coming on strong late last year

Corners - can't be much worse than last year; Hitchcock and Anderson were simply awful

ST - improved with addition of Bates; Smith and Cooper in their second year -- Smith will hang on to ball better and Coop will control his temper (at least after the play is over)

OL - improved with a year to jell and some legit running backs to block for and a QB with a year's experience

TE - may improve as Weinke forgives Walls for being in Lewis's camp last preseason and actually throws him a couple of balls (please throw him the ball so we don't have to listen to his whining again this year); actually Walls could get cut

WR - got to improve; Moose can't play any worse than he did last year (plus sources say he's found better weed); Jeffers will be at least as productive as Hayes (which ain't saying much); Smith will be utilized which will cause concerns for opposing defenses; the rookie FA could be a great find; hoping that Fox brings in another receiver in next couple of weeks

QB - big improvement if Weinke is 100%; backups much better than last year's sorry excuses

RB - day vs night; Foster looks awesome, Smith provides solid insurance and Montgomery will be a good one

Fans - continue to embarrass the franchise as they continue to stay at the golf courses and in the malls in droves on Sundays; many will jump trains and trade their season tickets in for Canes tickets; a few curiousity seekers will show up for the first couple of games to get a look at Peppers and the new coaches but will quickly find other interests if Panthers lose a couple of games; expect fans to swarm to the stadium to see the the new division rivals, the Bucs -- not

Coaches - will benefit from the energy and enthusiasm generated from the changing of the guard; young players will be supportive and give extra effort so as not be the butt of ESPN jokes; unfortunately, Moose will be Moose -- most overrated player in the NFL (or maybe all sports) and Walls will continue to whine (if he's here)

Expect Panthers to at least double or even triple the number of wins over last season (kidding, think they have a good chance to be decent)


luv
pollyanna

 

Improvements:

Generally speaking, Seifert and his aloof manner are gone. Our new coach gets enthused and fires up the players. He'll wear a headset. He won't pass the ball when we're up two TDs and its the fourth quarter. He likes to run the ball. Our offensive linemen like it when we run the ball. Our QB is better suited to a running oriented, non-WCO, with play-action, and *gasp* perhaps the shotgun a time or two since he was successful with it at FSU. Maybe our coach is smart and uses the strength of his personnel. We have a kick-ass DC. ST is always there. OC seems to know a few things, sure helped with the Jets.

Specifically, on Defense I hope that Peppers can provide some pressure on other QBs. Honest question: how much adjustment do you think he'll need to adapt to the pro game?
Our cornerback situation is bothering me. Yes, Hitch and Evans were horrible last year, but all I see back there now are a bunch of question marks. Peppers and Rucker better put lots of pressure on QBs or it'll get ugly. Moving Morgan to his natural postion, hopefully he can stay healthy and really show is stuff. The addition of Fields has to help. Our LBs will be a good unit this year.

Offense: Simply chucking the WCO will help Weinke. Run-based offense should lighten his load. Wonder about his arm though. Rehab going ok? Lamar Smith and Deshaun Foster - right now nobody knows for sure but the future looks a hell of a lot brighter at RB than it has for the last few years. I can't help but get the feeling that the offensive line is drooling right now and that they can't wait to get out there and push some dudes out of the way rather than constantly pass-block. That makes me feel good. WR bothers me. Moose, yes, then ???? Smith? Byrd? What about Jeffers (I have a bad feeling about his knees). How much longer can Walls be superman? We might be a ball-control, somewhat boring offense this season. Dont care as long as we win games.

Easy to say we'll be better than last year, and I'm trying not to get too 'feel-good', but I'm psyched and thinking postive thoughts. As far as predicting our record, I'll wait till later when all the posts for that start to come out

 

He’ll need to learn some more technique before he will get consistent. It’s reasonable to expect playmaking from him, and lapses, in his first year. Plus, the season is longer, and rookies often wear down as the season progresses. But if he can make TE start chipping him, all the better.


>>Moving Morgan to his natural postion, hopefully he can stay healthy and really show is stuff.

This still concerns me some, moving him to the middle. we don't have the DT to protect him, as he has some troule in traffic. Better than putting him strong side though. Fields should be an upgrade there.

 

I hope Fox was truly responsible for Strahan's development, and can impart his wisdom (and work ethic) on Julius. Good thing Denver didn't draft him, or he'd have been "Orange Julius"...

I'd like to see what blitz packages Del Rio brings to the table. True that the Goose & SamAdams did a great job protecting Ray Lewis - would like to think Jenkins & Buckner can help in that regard.

I thought the Witherspoon the Steelers were after was "Reese", not Wil...