A Carolina Panthers Dynasty: Blueprint for Greatness

[HAMMERhead7]

Panthers Off-Season Report



Coaching Staff Status

Head Coach - John Fox - Agreed to a 2 yr deal

Offensive Coordinator - Jeff Davidson - Staying on

Defensive Coordinator - Ron Meeks - FIRED and replaced by ex-Chargers defensive coordinator, Ron Rivera, who was fired by San Diego after the season

Special Teams Coach - Jeff Rodgers - Staying on

Key Retirements

Panthers - John Kasay
Bengals - Terrell Owens
Jets - Jason Taylor
Vikings - Brett Favre
Bears - Jon Runyan

Panthers Progression - 2011 Depth Chart - Regular Offense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
WR	S. Smith - 92 (0)	A. Edwards - 70 (+6)	K. Moore - 64 (+1)
TE	G. Barnidge - 73 (+2)	J. King - 73 (0)	D. Rosario - 71 (+1)
LT	J. Gross - 95 (0)	G. Williams - 63 (0)
LG	T. Wharton - 85 (+2)
C	R. Kalil - 91 (+1)	S. Justice - 68 (-2)
RG	M. Bernadeau - 78 (+2)	D. Robinson - 68 (0)	C. Davis - 63 (-2)
RT	J. otah - 87 (+1)	G. Schwartz - 70 (+1)
WR	B. Lafell - 77 (+6)	D. Jarrett - 64 (0)
QB	M. Moore - 79 (+3)	J. Clausen - 74 (0)	H. Cantwell - 67 (0)	T. Pike - 65 (0)
FB	T. Fiammetta - 73 (+7)
HB	D. Williams - 93 (+1)	J. Stewart - 91 (+3)	T. Sutton - 70 (+5)	M. Goodson - 70 (+5)

Panthers Progression - 2011 Depth Chart - Base 4-3 Defense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
LDE	C. Johnson - 82 (+3)	T. Brayton - 75 (+1)	G. Hardy - 73 (+5)
LDT	T. Tyler - 72 (+2)	E. Johnson - 70 (+1)
RDT	L. Leonard - 70 (+1)	N. Hayden - 67 (-2)
RDE	E. Brown - 80 (+5)
WLB	J. Beason - 97 (0)	J. Williams - 64 (-2)	A. Hall - 60 (-1)
MLB	D. Connor - 75 (+3)	J. Belcher - 71 (+6)	N. Harris - 68 (+6)
SLB	E. Norwood - 72 (+5)	J. Anderson - 71 (+2)	T. Davis - 87 (0)
CB	C. Gamble - 91 (0)	C. Munnerlyn - 78 (+6)	M. Hudson - 56 (-2)
SS	C. Godfrey - 78 (+3)	A. Fransisco - 62 (-1)
FS	S Martin - 81 (+6)	J. Pugh - 74 (+6)
CB	R. Marshall - 85 (+3)	C. Wilson - 62 (-2)

Panthers Progression - 2011 Depth Chart - Special Teams

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
K	J. Kasay - RETIRED
P	J. Baker - 76 (0)
H
PR
KR
LS

OperationSports.com

[hockeyplaya2724]

Just a suggestion, try trading one of your 90 overall HB's. It's not like you need 2 90 overall Running Backs anyways. Maybe get another Receiver, Quarterback, Defensive Tackle, etc.

[HAMMERhead7]

2011 Off-Season Review


Re-Signing Period - Players who have expired contracts

28 players

HB DeAngelo Williams - RESIGNED 4 YEARS, 38.4 MILLION, 11.2 BONUS

C Ryan Kalil - RESIGNED 5 YEARS, 39.1 MILLION, 15.6 BONUS

OLB Thomas Davis - RESIGNED 3 YEARS, 18.5 MILLION, 7.4 BONUS

CB Richard Marshall - RESIGNED 4 YEARS, 45.5 MILLION, 12.7 BONUS

DE Charles Johnson - RESIGNED 5 YEARS, 47.1 MILLION, 12.0 BONUS

QB Matt Moore - RESIGNED 2 YEARS, 13.0 MILLION, 5.2 BONUS

SS Charles Godfrey - RESIGNED 4 YEARS, 18.2 MILLION, 7.2 BONUS

MLB Dan Connor - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

TE Jeff King - RESIGNED 2 YEARS, 1.9 MILLION, 320K BONUS

TE Gary Barnidge - RESIGNED 3 YEARS, 2.9 MILLION, 480K BONUS

DT Tank Tyler - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

MLB Jovan Belcher - RESIGNED 1 YEAR, 1.3 MILLION, 530K BONUS

OLB James Anderson - RESIGNED 3 YEARS, 3.9 MILLION, 1.5 BONUS

TE Dante Rosario - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

RT Geoff Schwartz - RESIGNED 2 YEARS, 2.6 MILLION, 1.0 BONUS

HB Tyrell Sutton - RESIGNED 3 YEARS, 3.5 MILLION, 1.4 BONUS

DT Louis Leonard - RESIGNED 2 YEARS, 2.4 MILLION, 980K BONUS

C Steve Justice - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

QB Hunter Cantwell - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

DT Nick Hayden - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

OLB Jamar Williams - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

WR Dwayne Jarrett - RESIGNED 1 YEAR, 950K, 110K BONUS

WR Kenny Moore - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

LT Garry Williams - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

SS Aaron Fransisco - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

CB C.J Wilson - RESIGNED 1 YEAR, 900K, 110K BONUS

OLB Alex Hall - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT

CB Marcus Hudson - NOT TENDERED CONTRACT


Top Free Agents

Former Team......................Player.................. .........New Team
Bengals....................HB Cedric Benson (89).................Texans
Brown......................LB D'Qwell Jackson (87)...............resigned with Browns
Bengals....................RG Davin Joseph (86)..................Redskins
Cardinals..................WR Early Doucet (84)..................Chargers
Saints......................K Garrett Hartley (84).................Jets
Colts.......................WR Pierre Garcon (83).................Chargers
Bengals....................LT Anthony Collins (82)...............Chargers
Seahawks.................LB Kevin Ellison (82)...................Chargers
Cardinals..................RT Brandon Keith (81).................Chiefs
Giants......................WR Mario Manningham (81)..........Ravens
Dolphins...................WR Devon Bess (80)...................Falcons
49ers.......................WR Josh Morgan (80)..................Falcons
Bengals....................WR Andre Caldwell (80)...............Bills
Giants.....................CB Bruce Johnson (80).................Bears
Buccaneers..............SS Sean Jones (80).................... Falcons
Bears......................CB Zachary Bowman (80).............resigned with Bears
Raiders....................HB Darren McFadden (79)............ Patriots
Raiders....................HB Michael Bush (79)...................Broncos
Bears......................WR Earl Bennet (79)....................Chargers
Chiefs.....................T Ryan O'Callaghan (79)...............Raiders
Cowboys.................CB Orlando Scandrick (79).............Bills
Cowboys.................TE Anthony Fasano (79)...............Unsigned
49ers......................QB Alex Smith (79)......................Titans
Bengals...................DT Pat Sims (79).........................Chiefs
Raiders....................C Samson Satele (79)..................Redskins
Chargers..................WR Malcom Floyd (79)..................Ravens
Steelers...................T Willie Colon (79).......................Buccaneers

Panthers Free Agent Acquisitions

K Matt Prater (78) - 2 YEARS, 1.64 MILLION, 400K BONUS - Signed from Broncos

SS Kareem Moore (70 ) - 2 YEARS, 3.38 MILLION, 940K BONUS - Signed from Redskins

LG Ramon Foster (70) - 1 YEAR, 1.16 MILLION, 290K BONUS - Signed from Steelers

C Kory Lichtensteiger (70) - 1 YEAR, 830K, 260K BONUS - Signed from Jets

T Zach Strief (69) - 1 Year, 1.14 MILLION, 460K BONUS - Signed from Saints

Panthers Cuts

RG C.J Davis - Penalty: 50K in 2012

Draft Order

1. Buffalo Bills - LT T. Hargrett - Georgia
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - HB C. Daniels - Minnesota
3. Detroit Lions - DE S. Rogers - USF
4. Oakland Raiders - QB J. Powell - NC Central
5. Tennessee Titans - DE C. Canyon - Arizona
6. Jacksonville Jaguars - DE S. Robinson - Mississippi St.
7. Seattle Seahawks - DE J. Jones - Tulane
8. St. Louis Rams - DT M. Lynn - USC
9. New York Giants - LT R. Graham - East Carolina
10. Philadelphia Eagles - QB Ryan Parker - USC
11. San Fransisco 49ers - CB A. Grammi - Miami
12. Cleveland Browns - FS J. Hamidah - Iowa
13. Baltimore Ravens - HB N. Wynn - USC
14. Houston Texans - RT J. Nunley - Washington
15. Kansas City Chiefs - TE C. Henderson - Texas
16. Cincinatti Bengals - MLB M. Byler - Texas
17. New York Jets - DT D. Chiesa - USF
18. Chicago Bears - LG B. Odoemena - Rutgers
19. New Orleans Saints - OLB R. Unsell - Louisville
20. Atlanta Falcons - CB Chrishon Easley - Wisconson
21. Green Bay Packers - WR B. Hubbard - Virgina
22. Denver Broncos - DT M. Fletcher - South Carolina
23. Arizona Cardinals - WR M. Lonas - Wake Forest
24. Miami Dolphins - LT B. Alleyne - Clemson
25. Pittsburgh Steelers - RT R. Shrock - Kansas
26. Washington Redskins - SS B. Henderson - Michigan
27. San Diego Chargers - CB V. Smith - Ohio State
28. Carolina Panthers - CB D. Buchanon - Kansas
29. Dallas Cowboys - HB A. Sarimento - Wisconson
30. Indianapolis Colts - CB A Knowlton - San Jose St.
31. New England Patriots - DE B. Brassell - Boise State
32. Minnesota Vikings - FS L. Richardson - California


Panthers Draft Picks - DRAFT GRADE: C+

1. (28) CB D. Buchanon - Ovr/Pot -

Spoiler

83/A

2. (60) DT I. Afo - Ovr/Pot -

Spoiler

70/C

3. (92) DT. R. Hemphill - Ovr/Pot -

Spoiler

72/A

4. (124) WR K. Dansby - Ovr/Pot -

Spoiler

71/A

5. (156) TE T. Bonner - Ovr/Pot -

Spoiler

75/A

6. (188) MLB R. Gadell - Ovr/Pot -

Spoiler

69/B

7 (220) RG J. Nix - Ovr/Pot -

Spoiler

44/F

[HAMMERhead7]

Quote: Originally Posted by hockeyplaya2724

Just a suggestion, try trading one of your 90 overall HB's. It's not like you need 2 90 overall Running Backs anyways. Maybe get another Receiver, Quarterback, Defensive Tackle, etc.

I thought about it, but with the ridiculous amount of injuries in the game I love having two guys like that. I plan on maybe franchising Stewart when his contract is up and trading him, without taking a cap hit.

[HAMMERhead7]

Panthers Off-Season Reaction

When Panthers brass decided to resign John Fox, first thing he emphasized was his commitment to building through the draft. Fox and GM Marty Hurney have made stuck to it for the most part throughout their tenure, and this off-season wasn't any different.

They allowed some players they like to walk away for varying reasons. here is Fox's reaction to some of the departue this offseason.

MLB Dan Connor - "Dan is an intelligent player, but he just wasn't on the field enough with the injuries and all for us to match his price. We wish Dan the best of luck in Seattle"

DT Tank Tyler - "It was a position we felt we needed to get a little more athletic in, Tank's a great guy and I'm sure he'll have a productive career elsewhere"

TE Dante Rosario - "Dante's a guy we've loved since he got here, but sitting begind Barnidge, who we want to see in a bigger role this year and Jeff King, we just felt he deserved a shot to catch on somewhere else"

Coach Fox feels this years draft brough in a good haul. He thinks they drafted a future #1 corner in Buchanon, as well as some other rookies he has been impresed with thus far in the OTA's.

Training camp is around the corner, and Fox hopes his team has progressed enough to take it to the next level.

[HAMMERhead7]

2011 Hall Of Fame Inductions
QB Brett Favre
K Matt Stover
DE Jason Taylor

Panthers Training Camp Review

Preseason Schedule and Results


Week 1 - vs. Seahawks - Won 35-14 (Injuries - TE Barnidge out one week)

Week 2 - vs. Colts - Lost 24-10 (Injuries - None)

Week 3 - at Chargers - Tied 14-14 - (Injuries - None)

Week 4 - at Broncos - Lost 19-3 (Injuries - None)

Position Battles

3rd Running Back - Tyrell Sutton vs. Mike Goodson:

Fox Says "Neither of them stood out this preseason, but Sutton is the guy. We're confident that if needed, he's capable of doing the job"

#'s 3, 4 and 5 Wideout - Armanti Edwards vs. Dwayne Jarrett vs. Khamari Dansby (R):

Fox Says "I'll be honest, I didn't think this was a three man race before training camp, but the rookie Dansby wowed us from the start to make us think twice. With that said, We're going to go with Armanti Edwards in the slot. When we drafted him in 2010 we envisioned him as our slot guy, and he's shown great improvement over last year. Dwayne will be our four with Dansby as our fifth and he'll return punts"

Starting Defensive Tackles - Ed Johnson vs. Louis Leonard vs. Raphael Hemphill (R) vs. Ify Afo (R):

Fox Says "The third round pick out of UCF Hemphill did a terrific job for us in camp. He and Louis Leonard will get most of the snaps, with Ed Johnson and Ify Afo getting some snaps as well"

Starting ROLB - James Anderson vs. Eric Norwood:

Fox Says "James played well for us last season, but Eric came on strong in fill-in duty when our linebackers went down. This preseason he's looked amazing out there, he'll be starting alongside some pretty great players in Jon Beason and Thomas Davis, who we're ecstatic to have healthy"

Nickelback - Captain Munnerlyn vs. David Buchanon (R):

Fox Says "We think highly of Buchanon, that's why we took him in the first round. But Captain has been a rock for us since coming in two years ago and earning the nickelback spot out of the 7th round. He hasn't given us any reason whatsoever to demote him"

Carolina Panthers - 2011 Depth Chart - Regular Offense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
WR	Steve Smith	Armanti Edwards	Khamari Dansby (R)
TE	Gary Barnidge	Jeff King	Torri Bonner (R)
LT	Jordan Gross	Zach Strief
LG	Travelle Wharton	Ramon Foster
C	Ryan Kalil	Kory Lichtensteiger
RG	Mackenzy Bernadau	Duke Robinson
RT	Jeff Otah	Geoff Schwartz
WR	Brandon Lafell	Dwayne Jarrett
QB	Matt Moore	Jimmy Clausen	Tony Pike
FB	Tony Fiammetta
HB	DeAngelo Williams	Jonathan Stewart	Tyrell Sutton	Mike Goodson

Carolina Panthers - 2011 Depth Chart - Base 4-3 Defense

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
LDE	Charles Johnson	Greg Hardy
LDT	Louis Leonard	Ed Johnson
RDT	Raphael Hemphill (R)	Ify Afo (R)
RDE	Everette Brown	Tyler Brayton
WLB	Thomas Davis	Randy Gadell (R)
MLB	Jon Beason	Jovan Belcher	Nic Harris
SLB	Eric Norwood	James Anderson
CB	Chris Gamble	Captain Munnerlyn	C.J Wilson
SS	Charles Godfrey	Kareem Moore
FS	Sherrod Martin	Jordan Pugh
CB	Richard Marshall	David Bucannon (R)

Carolina Panthers - 2011 Depth Chart - Special Teams

	Starter	2nd	3rd	4th
K	Matt Prater
P	Jason Baker
H	Jimmy Clausen
PR	Khamari Dansby (R)
KR	Mike Goodson
LS	Ryan Kalil

OperationSports.com

[HAMMERhead7]

Panthers head to Lambeau to face Packers Week One

Turd Furgeson
Roar Senior Writer

Green Bay, WI - In a battle of two playoff teams from 2010, the Panthers (0-0) travel to Green Bay to take on the Packers (0-0) in the opening week of the 2011 season.

The Packers are a dangerous team and the Panthers are well aware. Coach Fox said that "with Rodgers, Grant, Jennings, Driver and Finley on offense, it's frightening. Not to mention they have a talented group on defense that makes it tough on offenses week in and week out"

The Panthers, who bring back 18 or 22 starters from their 11-5 division winning 2010 season, hope to build on last year and make a deeper run in the playoffs in 2011. To do that they need to see major improvement from their defense. The team feels they have a defense capable of finishing in the top 10, but as a unit last year, they struggled to put together many solid performances.

It won't be easy week one for them though, if they can hold down the Packers it'll go a long way to quieting the naysayers.

Injury Report

Panthers -
None

Packers - None

Panthers at Packers - 1:00 PM - FOX
Lambeau Field

[HAMMERhead7]

AT
Week One
37 - 26

Green bay, WI - The Panthers (1-0) beat the Packers 37-26, mostly due to Carolina's special teams.

RB/KR Mike Goodson got the Panthers back in the game after Green Bay scored on a Ryan Grant run in the 1st, putting the Panthers into a 14-0 hole early. Goodson, who took over the kick return duties late last season from Kenny Moore, took a Nick Folk kickoff 92 yards for the Panthers first kick return touchdown since Rod "He Hate Me" Smart in the Super Bowl season of 2003.

The Panthers special teams unit struck again in the 4th when they recovered a Greg Jennings botched punt return, putting Carolina inside the Green Bay 30. With the great field position, and the Panthers leading 28-24, DeAngelo Williams scored on his 2nd touchdown catch of the game, making it a two score game with less than 7:00 minutes left.

Both teams punters late in the 4th put the ball inside the three, leading to both teams tackling the others running back in the endzone for a safeties. Special teams was clearly the factor in the game, and Panthers special teams coach Jeff Rodgers was proud of his unit "It's nice to see the hard work of the past few months paying off. These guys came together throughout camp and busted their humps, they saw the reward of their labor this afternoon"

Jonathan Stewart was the only bright spot on offense for Carolina, breaking a 76 yard touchdown run and finishing with 145 yards on 20 carries.

On the injury front, Panthers MLB Jon Beason left the game early in the first, and didn't return. Doctors say he'll be ready for week two though. The Packers news wasn't so good, doctors informed coach Mike McCarthy that TE Jermichael Finley will miss the next ten weeks with a Herniated Disk.

NFL Scoreboard - Panthers (1-0) at Packers (0-1)

September 11, 2011 1 2 3 4 F Panthers 7 13 8 9 37 Packers 14 7 3 2 26 Top Performers Panthers - Stats J. Stewart - 20 att, 145 yds, 7.2 avg, 1 TD D. Williams - 18 att, 45 yds, 2.5 avg, 3 rec, 47 yds, 2 TD Packers - Stats A. Rodgers - 105.3 rating, 18/32, 273 yds, 2 TD 0 INT N. Barnett - 10 solo, 2 ast, 3 TFL	Team Stats Comparison CAR GB First Downs 11 12 3rd Down Efficiency 8-17(47%) 5-14(35%) 4th Down Efficiency 0-0 0-1(0%) Total Yards 316 380 Passing Yards 132 268 Rushing Yards 184 112 Penalties-Penalty Yards 2-13 0-0 Turnovers 1 1 Time of Possession 31:33 28:27
Scoring Summary First Quarter CAR GB GB 5:50 G. Jennings 5 yd TD pass from A. Rodgers (N. Folk kick) 0 7 GB 2:49 R. Grant 21 yd TD run (N. Folk kick) 0 14 CAR 2:39 M. Goodson 92 yd kick return TOUCHDOWN (M. Prater kick) 7 14 Second Quarter CAR GB CAR 13:22 M. Prater 28 yd FG 10 14 CAR 7:14 M. Prater 21 yd FG 13 14 GB 3:55 D. Driver 35 yd TD pass from A. Rodgers (N. Folk kick) 13 21 CAR 0:53 D. Williams 15 yd TD pass from M. Moore (M. Prater kick) 20 21 Third Quarter CAR GB CAR 12:29 J. Stewart 76 yd TD run (2PT GOOD) 28 21 GB 5:55 N. Folk 39 yd FG 28 24 CAR 7:06 D. Williams 3 yd TD pass from M. Moore (M. Prater kick) 35 24 Fourth Quarter CAR GB CAR 5:25 R. Hemphill tackles R. Grant in endzone - SAFETY 37 24 GB 1:32 B. Raji tackles D. Williams in endzone - SAFETY 27 26
Panthers Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT M. Moore 10/21 132 2 1 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD J. Stewart 20 145 7.2 1 D. Williams 18 45 2.5 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD G. Barnidge 4 49 12.2 0 D. Williams 3 47 15.6 2 S. Smith 2 31 15.5 0 A. Edwards 1 5 5.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD T. Davis 5 0 0 0 C. Munnerlyn 4 0 0 0 S. Martin 4 0 0 0 R. Hemphill 4 0 0 0 E. Johnson 1 1 0 0 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG M. Goodson 4 165 1 92 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG K. Dansby 4 44 0 16 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG M. Prater 2/2 3/3 9 29 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 J. Baker 5 222 44.4 2 Packers Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT A. Rodgers 18/31 273 2 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD R. Grant 27 105 3.8 1 J. Starks 2 6 3.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD J. Nelson 4 64 16.0 0 G. Jennings 4 27 9.2 1 D. Lee 3 65 21.6 0 D. Driver 3 46 15.3 1 Defense TKL SACK INT TD N. Barnett 10 0 0 0 C. Woodson 4 0 0 0 R. Pickett 4 0 0 0 A. Harris 3 0 1 0 N. Collins 3 0 0 0 Kick Returning NO. YDS TD LONG G. Jennings 1 24 0 24 C. Woodson 1 15 0 15 Punt Returning NO. YDS TD LONG G. Jennings 1 0 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG N. Folk 1/1 3/3 6 39 Punting NO. YDS AVG IN 20 R. Plackemeier 7 302 43.1 1

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