Projected Line Up

QB - Cam Newton - rookie with no offseason prep and coming from an offense that is much different than a pro style. Probably going to struggle and try to get by on his athletic ability too much. It would be nice to have an option in case he falters. I do not consider Pickle much of an option.

RB - Stewart - with DW likely gone Stewart becomes the feature back and quickly establishes himself as one of the top backs in the league. Goodson gets some carries to keep him fresh. If he stays health all year we do not miss DW

TE - Shockey - best receiver we have had at TE since Wesley Walls. If he has anything left in the tank then the passing game opens up.

FB - Fiametta - should be better with another year of experience under his belt.

WR - Steve Smith - hopefully we get the guy who tries hard and wants to win and not the sulking guy from last year. He can get it done for sure if he still wants to.

WR - Lafell / Gettis - If Shockey does well then one of these guys is the third option anyway. Hopefully both will show improvement being in their second years.

LT - Gross - We know what we have in him. He is never going to be elite but he is always going to be good.

LG - Wharton - He was looking great for a while at LG. Hopefully he can return to that level.

C - Kalil - one of the better centers in the league. We need to keep him for the long term.

RG - Bernadeau / Schwartz - we could use an upgrade here. This is a good spot for a mid level free agent. Another Kendrick Vincent type would be nice.

RT - Otah - if he is healthy our run blocking should be very good once again. He has been out a long time. If he is not healed by now he is never going to be.

DE - Johnson - our top free agent and best defensive lineman. We must retain him even if we must over pay.

DE - Hardy / Brown - Hardy looked good in stretches he might end up being a solid starter soon.

DT - Landri / Johnson / rookie 3rd rounders - hopefully we can patch something together at DT. We can use an upgrade here as well.

MLB - Beason - one of the best in the league. We need to keep him long term as well. Connor is great depth.

WLB - Davis - I am assuming he will be back. If he is able to stay healthy he is a beast.

SLB - Anderson - I am assuming he is back as well. We have plenty of cap space and he can play.

CB - Gamble - he may be overpaid but he is a solid corner.

CB - Munnerlyn / Hogan/ Free Agent - big question marks here. Marshall is likely gone and no one looks ready to fill his spot.

S - Godfrey and Martin - neither are really great but neither is awful either. Kinda average here. Both of them have played some corner in college so maybe one of them ends up going to back.

For a 2-14 team I do not see a whole lot of glaring weaknesses other than QB if Newton flops.

 

lots of ifs there.

dline needs serious help and not just a collection of "some guys" to play rotation.

the idea of captain starting across from gamble is scary. thats got disaster stamped all over it. especially considering some of the marquee players they will have to shut down this year. our anemic line up front wont do them many favors either. i wonder how many sacks brown will tally this campaign? 1? 2? better pace himself.

 

I think our DEs will be fine. Johnson is good and I think Hardy will step up too. DT is a weakness but at least they have some guys to throw at it. That is all we have had at DT for a long time anyway. The linebackers should help cover up some of that weakness.

Corner is a concern. Marshall kinda sucks so we really need to find a decent veteran corner.

 

will be much easier in a couple weeks. It's impossible to say who will actually go or who replaces them.
Schwartz should be OK at RG, but we need some level of vet depth anyway. I have no idea why Bernadeau plays well only at LG.
there's no way we're not in desperate need at DT and CB. If I had to guess, there may be names we don't know involved, being as how Rivera's never seemed to be a big name guy. Maybe I'm taking too much from SD, but he made a great defense without the names Phillips had.

I'm anticipating that the other WR spot, and RDE, is a platoon/earn it deal. There's enough talent to survive there.

 

We had crap at DT the past few years. We managed to have a decent defense anyway. Even as bad as we were last year our D was not the reason why. I would love to see an upgrade there but if we do not get one we might be able to cover it up.

We are probably going to have to sign a corner. Munnerlyn is a good player for a 7th round pick but he is not starter quality. Hogan is too much of a gamble as a rookie.

 

Ugh. That list is not encouraging. I wish the team had a lot more time to delve into free agency.

 

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