Thoughts (from what I've seen so far)

The cone of silence around Smitty is troubling. As incredible as it sounds, I'm starting to wonder if the Panthers really will try to move him after the season.

Jordan Gross looks just fine at LT.

Ryan Kalil looks better than I expected at C. He's not blowing people off the LOS like I hoped, but he seems to be compensating well with angle blocks.

Travelle Wharton has not looked very good in this scheme at G.

DeAngelo looks strong.

Moose looks better than I expected. Now I'm just afraid he'll get too worn down toward the end of the season.

Jake looks a little rusty, but otherwise good. Moore looks very decent for a QB2, and even Basanez looks good. I'm really comfortable with our stable of QBs.

Peppers looks like the beast we always thought he was. I just hope he keeps looking that way, and I think he will. LDE is a concern, though. Brayton seems weak. He's getting blown off the LOS on running plays and taken outside against the pass. Charles Johnson has not looked much better, although I still hope he wins the job.

Godfrey is looking very, very solid. Surprisingly so. If he can keep up the momentum he's built, we've got the FS position locked down for years to come.

DT is another cause for serious concern. I think we're going to find that Jenkins was carrying this line a hell of a lot more than we all wanted to believe.

 

I have not seen enough to tell for sure but the new OL looks better and the change in philosphy to the bigger guys seems to be helping our running game.

I am not as concerned about DT as HB. We have not seen our starters play much yet. We got by without Jenkins for two years while he was out hurt so losing him does not concern me that much. We had a pretty good run D that year when Carstens and Buckner started all year.

 

I agree with your statements above. I do worry about that D-line quite a bit. All it will take is constant double-teams on Pep to overpower the rest of the line. Maybe this Gary Gibson guy will step up and produce.

 

Those were years where we had Buckner and Rucker, now we have unproven (or at least disappointing) players competing in both LE and DT. The line is weaker without Jenkins, that's a fact.

EDIT: There were some decent DTs that we could've taken had we not decided to take Connor. That sucks.

 

He's had some trouble pulling, too, so I don't know if it was just being overpowered or having simply a crappy game. But, he's looked good pass blocking overall. He can block inline, but was better there at LT for it than at guard in 04, so it's a concern he could get overpowered.

Smith will get a ton of receptions after he comes back. I have no worries with Moose. My concern at this point is getting Hackett/Jarrett/Robinson healthy enough to contribute for two games.

uh oh yeah, I have no makor complaints here. We have our 3 and enough to get it done.

CJ's been mistake prone so far. Other than that he looks like he's close to having some rush.

This year he'll put that together, and be that force we need for coverage. Then, next year we might start to get some genuine playmaking.

you could say there's no young, long term prospect there, and I agree, but it's not a big concern (where I've seen some realistic concern for that in the fan community). When Scott went down and we were a little banged up overall, it looked like we have no depth, but I think we're solid. Out of that problem, Gibson went from a PS scrub to legit backup. So that's kinda neat. I guess we can see who of the three vets is good enough to keep, and maybe draft a guy next year, but what we have should develop solidly enough.

 

Good thoughts.


Smith: I can't see him being traded simply because it's just impossible to replace someone like that. The team didn't expect him to become a dynamite receiver, he just did that through sheer force of will, and I hope they wouldn't expect that they can catch lightning in a bottle twice. I wouldn't have a problem with it if they wanted to go in a different direction, but they have to know that he isn't replaceable. They'd have to succeed by doing something else, not just getting a new receiver to fill his spot.

O-line: I haven't noticed Gross yet at LT, which I suppose is a good thing, but it's worth noting that we haven't faced a quality edge rusher yet. I'm still worried about how effectively he'll handle John Abraham and Will Smith. Similarly, the jury is out on Kalil since Indy and Philly both use undersized DTs. If he has even a solid performance in neutralizing Jamal Williams in the Chargers game, then I'll be ecstatic. And as for Wharton, I've been singing that song for a while now. I just never got why people kept calling for him to move to guard.

RB: Still too early to worry about Stewart, but yes, DeAngelo looks good. He's running inside with authority and showing explosiveness through the hole. My one criticism would be knowing the down and distance, in that there are situations on first down where it might be worth it to leave your blocking and cut-back when the opportunity presents itself. Right now he seems more focused on just carrying out the assignment, which is important, but he can do a little more freelancing.

WR/TE: Moose has a lot more left in the tank than I expected. Great to have him back. Jarrett has also given some indications that he can contribute in a limited capacity, while Hackett's continued injury woes are worrisome. King has looked good at tight end, but why isn't Rosario playing? I haven't been following injury news so I assume he's hurt.

QB: Jake still has time to shake off the rust and I'm hoping that he will do so quickly. Moore shows some potential, while I haven't really watched Basanez. This team doesn't need a Manning or Brady to drive the offense, but rather just a guy who makes occasional plays and avoids dumb mistakes. Moore can develop into that guy, although I still wish we had Troy Smith or Andre Woodson.

D-line: I think we all got a little carried away with Peppers' dominating performance against Indianapolis. Philadelphia seemed to handle him pretty easily. The other three spots are a major concern, though. Jenkins was a huge part of the team and we don't really have anyone who can give us even a poor man's version of that. If I had to put money on the position of our first rounder next year, I'd say DT. (shit, I just remembered that we don't have a first rounder next year) We might have enough patchwork pieces there to get by in most games this season, but while our back seven looks really strong, that front four is going to be a problem.

 

I think you guys are going to be surprised by our DTs. Lewis is a better interior pass rusher than Jenkins was, at least the Jenkins of last year. Kemo should be a decent run stuffer. With our linebackers we should be able to stop the run even without stellar DL play. LDE is a bigger concern to me than DT.

 

I have a very low opinion of Kemo as a player. He's been very average for us... Just a fat guy on the DL IMO.

 

It is hard to quantify the play of a DT. They do not generate a lot of stats. He seems pretty solid against the run though.

 

Gross having 2 straight false starts was a little concerning. Probably just an anomaly, but something to keep an eye on.