Peppers

It's the money paid for what we got that drives a lot of that sentiment.

 

The clap?

 

Yeah, I can certainly agree we didn't get our money's worth and offering a huge contract after this past season is certainly something you get real nervous about.

 

Like I've said. Move him to rush end, and turn him lose. Johnson and McClover are better suited for Strongside DE anyways.

 

you say that as if you have some info. (other than the newsrags articles). What are you holding back?

 

I'm starting to think Brain might have something there.

I've made no secret about my disgust for Peppers' inexplicable lack of production last year, but a new idea came to mind a while back that I've been chewing on, and I'm starting to really believe it.

I think Trgovac is scheming beyond Peppers' ability to comprehend.

Everyone knows how physically talented Julius is, which is why his performance last year doesn't make sense. The rumors have been that an illness has been sabotaging his production, but the more I think about it, the less that makes sense. Why hide a severe (and it would have to be severe to turn one of the most feared DEs in the league into a non-factor for 4 months) illness from the league, the media, and the fans? Is there any really good reason to keep mono off the injury report?

I think Trgo was urged to do some really sexy things with Pep to compensate for our severely compromised defensive backfield, including zone coverage and more complex read-and-react schemes. What if he simply didn't have the mental capacity to make the reads fast enough to make plays?

I could see how the franchise would want to keep that under the rug. "Sorry Panther fans, but well, Julius isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, and he's having a hard time figuring out where he's supposed to be on any given play." If JR wants to make Pep "the face of the franchise" (a la Jason Taylor in MIA), you don't want his image to look like this:

 

Doesn't really explain why a little RB and reserve OTs could stand him up, and why people felt they could quit double teaming him.

I'd be good with him moving over, I think Johnson would be better at LDE to boot.

edit: I am also at odds with the Trogo "creativity", don't mean to discount that. Just don't feel like that's the root cause of the poor play.

 

Actually it does, if he was hesitating on his rush because he was trying to read the offensive backfield. In other words, it wasn't that he was getting overpowered by lesser talent, it was a case of him rendering himself ineffective and vulnerable because of hesitation and confusion. The players assigned to him just took advantage of that.

Agreed.

 

I am all for simplifying Peppers duties and letting him go after the ball every play.

 

Some of that may be true, like if he was trying to read for a screen or whatever and hold his blocker, but there were times (the Tampa game) when he was obviously bullrushing and getting handled.