PantherPaul
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Panthers defensive tackle Brentson Buckner is the elder statesman of what may be the best front four in the NFL. He will tell you without any hesitation why the Panthers have faced so many play-action passes and three-step drops this season.
"Five offensive linemen are not going to block the four of us," Buckner said. "That's just not possible. I don't care who you are. Five-on-four with a straight drop-back -- that's just not going to happen."
That's what the Panthers hope, anyway. They have invested a staggering $127.5 million in contracts for defensive end Julius Peppers, defensive end Mike Rucker, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and Buckner, all of whom are signed through at least the 2007 season. It was that front four that helped push the Panthers to the Super Bowl last season, but that front four also has had a mixed-bag start for Carolina so far in 2004.
Taking on Green Bay in the Monday-night opener, Carolina's defense faltered. Green Bay's Ahman Green ran for 119 yards and scored three touchdowns to send the Panthers to a 24-14 loss in front of a national TV audience. The following week, however, the front four showed up again. Peppers posted a pair of sacks, Jenkins wreaked havoc inside and the Panthers held the explosive Chiefs to 10 offensive points in a 28-17 win.
Carolina's D-line features two Pro Bowlers.
Jenkins strained his shoulder in the win, and that sent chills down the collective spine of a Panthers team that already has lost wide receiver Steve Smith for at least half the season to a broken leg and running back Stephen Davis for a couple of weeks due to knee surgery. Even with the injury hampering him, Jenkins kept putting himself back into the game until defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac ordered him to take a seat on the bench.
"(Football) just means so much to Kris," said Trgovac. "It really means so much to all four of those guys up front. It's a very prideful unit."
Peppers ranks as the unit's most well-known player thanks to his status as the second overall selection in the 2002 draft and his widely publicized, multisport career in college at North Carolina. His No. 90 jersey -- along with quarterback Jake Delhomme's No 17 -- dominates the stands at Bank of America Stadium.
But for all the hype that heads Peppers' way, Carolina's defensive front four really begins with Jenkins. The Panthers' defensive right tackle is considered by many to be one of the NFL's top two or three defensive tackles -- he has earned a trip to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons -- but for Jenkins, there is no argument.
"I'll go ahead and say I'm the best," Jenkins said. "But I'm not saying it in a Warren Sapp kind of way. I'm not over here smelling myself, you know what I mean? I'm going to keep working every day to try and be the best, because just when you get sure of yourself in this league, it all goes away."
The 6-foot-4, 335-pound Jenkins has the bulk to clog the middle in the running game, but he also has the athleticism and the quickness to be an effective pass rusher.
"He's a monster, basically," Buckner said. "Usually a guy that big is going to be a Ted Washington type and just stop the run. But Jenkins is quick enough to get to the quarterback, too."
Playing beside Jenkins at defensive right end is Rucker, who also earned a trip to Honolulu in 2003 after leading Carolina with 12 sacks. Rucker is a relentless worker who prides himself on getting more sacks in the second half of games than in the first.
"Not to diminish his athleticism, but Mike doesn't have the physical gifts of Julius," Trgovac said. "If you're going to block him, though, bring your lunch pail."
Rucker also is known as the Panthers' biggest trash talker -- he once had to come out of a game because he hyperventilated from talking so much. He knows how to take the art form to the extreme. But Rucker has a few trash-talking ground rules that are somewhat unique in the NFL: He never curses, and he never talks about anyone's mama.
Peppers, the left defensive end, is the closest thing the Panthers have to an athletic freak. He is powerful, he's fast and he knows all about the pressure of the big stage, having played in both the Final Four and the Super Bowl.
"He can run with defensive backs and is stronger than offensive tackles," Buckner said.
Trgovac makes it a point to say that opponents pay so much attention to Peppers that it gets frustrating for the 24-year-old. Peppers' sack total dropped from 12 in 12 games in 2002 to seven in 16 games in 2003.
Considering Peppers' suspension during his rookie year in which he sat out four games for violating the league's banned-substance policy, there was talk that Peppers' stellar rookie season may have been about more than just his skills. But Trgovac dismisses that kind of nonsense.
"There are always going be a lot of people around him," Trgovac said. "So with Julius, we keep working on how to beat double-teams."
Buckner, in his 11th season, is the coach on the field. He's a thinker and a film watcher, always alert for tendencies he can exploit. Buckner believes it is a blue-collar, hardworking approach that has allowed the Panthers to turn the franchise around from a 1-15 team three years ago to NFC champs in 2003.
There is depth in the line as well.
The Panthers feature a couple of solid reserves on the current squad. Defensive end Al Wallace, who worked as an assistant principal in 2001 when he was out of football entirely, posted five sacks and two interceptions in 2003 as a backup. Kindal Moorehead is the top defensive tackle backup, and his versatility helps keep the Panthers fresh. The defensive line's familiarity with one another keeps the unit stable as well.
"What (head coach) John Fox has done here (on defense) is just the opposite of what so many other teams do," Buckner said. "So much of the offseason in the NFL is about, 'Who's going to get Terrell Owens? Who's going to get this big-name running back?' It's teams looking for skill players, building from the outside-in. Coach Fox is old-fashioned -- he has built us from the inside out."
Buckner is right. Consider that of the starting front four, all but Buckner came through the draft. And certainly, it's not a perfect unit.
Buckner was suspended in 2002 for testing positive for a banned supplement. Rucker started his career slowly, recording only one start and a total of 5½ sacks in his first two NFL seasons. Jenkins was a rookie during the Panthers' horrid 1-15 season of 2001 and played unevenly. He won a starting job, then lost it as he slept through some meetings (in part because of a then-undiagnosed sleep disorder).
But the Panthers' current front four slowly came together. They didn't miss a beat when then-defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio made the move to the head-coaching job in Jacksonville, and Trgovac, the former defensive line coach, was promoted. Under Del Rio and Trogvac's guidance, they have become a whole lot better than the last time Carolina got excited about its D-line.
Only diehard Carolina fans remember the dream-turned-nightmare unit of Chuck Smith, Reggie White, Sean Gilbert and Eric Swann -- all of whom were well on the decline before they ever got to Charlotte.
In fact, the Panthers' current front four might be getting better. A trip to the Super Bowl might leave some squads content with having turned things around, but for Carolina, last season's surprising run may have just been the beginning. The players certainly believe that they have yet to play their best football, and it is the D-line that is expected to be the catalyst for the ballclub.
A trip to the Super Bowl might have been great, but a Vince Lombardi Trophy -- or two or three -- might finally give the boys up front some satisfaction.
"We put a whole lot of pressure on our defensive line," Trgovac said. "But this group is up to it. And it better be."
Best of the
"Five offensive linemen are not going to block the four of us," Buckner said. "That's just not possible. I don't care who you are. Five-on-four with a straight drop-back -- that's just not going to happen."
That's what the Panthers hope, anyway. They have invested a staggering $127.5 million in contracts for defensive end Julius Peppers, defensive end Mike Rucker, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and Buckner, all of whom are signed through at least the 2007 season. It was that front four that helped push the Panthers to the Super Bowl last season, but that front four also has had a mixed-bag start for Carolina so far in 2004.
Taking on Green Bay in the Monday-night opener, Carolina's defense faltered. Green Bay's Ahman Green ran for 119 yards and scored three touchdowns to send the Panthers to a 24-14 loss in front of a national TV audience. The following week, however, the front four showed up again. Peppers posted a pair of sacks, Jenkins wreaked havoc inside and the Panthers held the explosive Chiefs to 10 offensive points in a 28-17 win.
Carolina's D-line features two Pro Bowlers.
Jenkins strained his shoulder in the win, and that sent chills down the collective spine of a Panthers team that already has lost wide receiver Steve Smith for at least half the season to a broken leg and running back Stephen Davis for a couple of weeks due to knee surgery. Even with the injury hampering him, Jenkins kept putting himself back into the game until defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac ordered him to take a seat on the bench.
"(Football) just means so much to Kris," said Trgovac. "It really means so much to all four of those guys up front. It's a very prideful unit."
Peppers ranks as the unit's most well-known player thanks to his status as the second overall selection in the 2002 draft and his widely publicized, multisport career in college at North Carolina. His No. 90 jersey -- along with quarterback Jake Delhomme's No 17 -- dominates the stands at Bank of America Stadium.
But for all the hype that heads Peppers' way, Carolina's defensive front four really begins with Jenkins. The Panthers' defensive right tackle is considered by many to be one of the NFL's top two or three defensive tackles -- he has earned a trip to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons -- but for Jenkins, there is no argument.
"I'll go ahead and say I'm the best," Jenkins said. "But I'm not saying it in a Warren Sapp kind of way. I'm not over here smelling myself, you know what I mean? I'm going to keep working every day to try and be the best, because just when you get sure of yourself in this league, it all goes away."
The 6-foot-4, 335-pound Jenkins has the bulk to clog the middle in the running game, but he also has the athleticism and the quickness to be an effective pass rusher.
"He's a monster, basically," Buckner said. "Usually a guy that big is going to be a Ted Washington type and just stop the run. But Jenkins is quick enough to get to the quarterback, too."
Playing beside Jenkins at defensive right end is Rucker, who also earned a trip to Honolulu in 2003 after leading Carolina with 12 sacks. Rucker is a relentless worker who prides himself on getting more sacks in the second half of games than in the first.
"Not to diminish his athleticism, but Mike doesn't have the physical gifts of Julius," Trgovac said. "If you're going to block him, though, bring your lunch pail."
Rucker also is known as the Panthers' biggest trash talker -- he once had to come out of a game because he hyperventilated from talking so much. He knows how to take the art form to the extreme. But Rucker has a few trash-talking ground rules that are somewhat unique in the NFL: He never curses, and he never talks about anyone's mama.
Peppers, the left defensive end, is the closest thing the Panthers have to an athletic freak. He is powerful, he's fast and he knows all about the pressure of the big stage, having played in both the Final Four and the Super Bowl.
"He can run with defensive backs and is stronger than offensive tackles," Buckner said.
Trgovac makes it a point to say that opponents pay so much attention to Peppers that it gets frustrating for the 24-year-old. Peppers' sack total dropped from 12 in 12 games in 2002 to seven in 16 games in 2003.
Considering Peppers' suspension during his rookie year in which he sat out four games for violating the league's banned-substance policy, there was talk that Peppers' stellar rookie season may have been about more than just his skills. But Trgovac dismisses that kind of nonsense.
"There are always going be a lot of people around him," Trgovac said. "So with Julius, we keep working on how to beat double-teams."
Buckner, in his 11th season, is the coach on the field. He's a thinker and a film watcher, always alert for tendencies he can exploit. Buckner believes it is a blue-collar, hardworking approach that has allowed the Panthers to turn the franchise around from a 1-15 team three years ago to NFC champs in 2003.
There is depth in the line as well.
The Panthers feature a couple of solid reserves on the current squad. Defensive end Al Wallace, who worked as an assistant principal in 2001 when he was out of football entirely, posted five sacks and two interceptions in 2003 as a backup. Kindal Moorehead is the top defensive tackle backup, and his versatility helps keep the Panthers fresh. The defensive line's familiarity with one another keeps the unit stable as well.
"What (head coach) John Fox has done here (on defense) is just the opposite of what so many other teams do," Buckner said. "So much of the offseason in the NFL is about, 'Who's going to get Terrell Owens? Who's going to get this big-name running back?' It's teams looking for skill players, building from the outside-in. Coach Fox is old-fashioned -- he has built us from the inside out."
Buckner is right. Consider that of the starting front four, all but Buckner came through the draft. And certainly, it's not a perfect unit.
Buckner was suspended in 2002 for testing positive for a banned supplement. Rucker started his career slowly, recording only one start and a total of 5½ sacks in his first two NFL seasons. Jenkins was a rookie during the Panthers' horrid 1-15 season of 2001 and played unevenly. He won a starting job, then lost it as he slept through some meetings (in part because of a then-undiagnosed sleep disorder).
But the Panthers' current front four slowly came together. They didn't miss a beat when then-defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio made the move to the head-coaching job in Jacksonville, and Trgovac, the former defensive line coach, was promoted. Under Del Rio and Trogvac's guidance, they have become a whole lot better than the last time Carolina got excited about its D-line.
Only diehard Carolina fans remember the dream-turned-nightmare unit of Chuck Smith, Reggie White, Sean Gilbert and Eric Swann -- all of whom were well on the decline before they ever got to Charlotte.
In fact, the Panthers' current front four might be getting better. A trip to the Super Bowl might leave some squads content with having turned things around, but for Carolina, last season's surprising run may have just been the beginning. The players certainly believe that they have yet to play their best football, and it is the D-line that is expected to be the catalyst for the ballclub.
A trip to the Super Bowl might have been great, but a Vince Lombardi Trophy -- or two or three -- might finally give the boys up front some satisfaction.
"We put a whole lot of pressure on our defensive line," Trgovac said. "But this group is up to it. And it better be."
Best of the
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