Carolina Panthers Offseason

Carolina Panthers – Panthers coach John Fox has been given the dreaded vote of confidence. I do actually believe he should keep his job. They have been plagued by injury and in turn the ineptitude of some of the players he was saddled with because of those injuries. However I think General Manager Marty Hurney’s seat is getting hot right about now. While some of his problems as well can be linked to injuries, he is the one bringing in the talent. First off that David Carr pickup was a huge whiff. Then when Delhomme gets injured and he resigns himself to Carr’s ineptitude you go out and get Vinny Testaverde. Seriously that is all he could come up with. I mean the reason a GM is valuable is because he can evaluate the talent and make a move the average guy doesn’t jump to. I would say that is the description of the Vinny grab. Simply for the fact he is bringing nothing “outside the box” you have to question his value.
Every cloud has a silver lining, or a silver and teal lining in this case. The cloud; the Panthers wide receiving core all either under performed (Steve Smith) or performed as poorly as expected (everyone else).
After the year Steve Smith had in 2006 it is not hard to understand defensive secondary shifting their focus to him. If you consider the fact that the players they were pulling the focus from were Kearny Colbert and Drew Carter, this seems like a good defensive strategy. Add to that the wheel o’ quarterback game show that Carolina hosted under center all season, and that 7-9 record becomes understandable if not acceptable.
With Colbert and Carter likely headed elsewhere through free agency. It would be a reasonable expectation for Fox and who ever is the GM by the time Draft day comes around to look to the Wide Receiver ranks. If they opt for this safe route it would likely be Malcolm Kelly (WR – Oklahoma).
The Second safe route is to look for a ball hawking safety to compliment Chris Harris who they stole from Chicago prior to this year. The clear number one at safety this year will be Kenny Phillips (S-Miami). He also should still be on the board when Carolina gets up to pick.
The Panthers also need a solid Defensive End to take some of the pressure and attention off of Julius Peppers. While Mike Rucker will likely retire the Panthers will be left with a lot of potential as far as pass rushers go. But that potential is as of yet unproven. Since I can’t really describe it as a need I would be surprised to Carolina to go this route because they would probably be drafting about 7 picks earlier than necessary, and that would be a hard leap to make for a team with so many areas of need.
The final option, which is neither safe nor likely, is that the Panthers go QB. With them getting in before the Bears it is likely that Andre Woodson will still be available to them. He definitely isn’t starter ready for the NFL but the Panthers aren’t done with Delhomme yet and they may give Carr another chance. The biggest obstacle to this pick actually going down will come in the form of how much say John Fox has in this pick. If his vote counts you can bet the coach who will clearly be working for his job next season, has no interest in 2-4 year project at quarterback with the number one pick.

Outside Shot
Terrell Owens says we shouldn't blame Romo's trip to mexico for the teams loss, well I don't but that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with it

Terell Owens New Coors lite spot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRcy7kWfrC4
Don't blame Jessica Blame the Post
http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article_external/72065

Chicago Bears Offseason (Written Jan 12. 2008)

Chicago Bears - No team can be more disappointed with their season than the Chicago
Bears. After a loss in last years Super bowl, the Bears failed to make the playoffs. This continues a seven-year streak of the team losing the Super bowl not making the playoffs the next year. I am sure that company doesn’t make the Bears any happier to join that club.
After a bitter off-season standoff with Lance Briggs, the Bears will lose his services this season as one of the stipulations of his actually opting to play for them in 2007. This, after he had threatened to not play another down for the Bears. The rumor mill has min heading west to join Defensive ROY Patrick Willis in San Francisco. But all that matters to Lovie Smith is that new found hole at Linebacker.
I am all for character, and for standing your ground as a franchise. But that ground became a slippery slope, when they released Tank Johnson. Johnson was stopped for a speeding ticket in Arizona shortly after being released from Jail. He had been sentenced to 120 days for violating probation, in relation to gun charges. His blood was taken because he appeared to be “the slightest bit impaired”, it would come back later as under the legal limit. At that point the Bears had already released him. This is the point where the Bears season began to unravel.
The Bears linebackers are not the biggest core in the league. The success they have had previously had a lot to do with the fact that Johnson was in the middle taking up two blockers. I also think that this has led to trouble on the other side of the ball. With that weak front seven the Bears have gotten behind in several games, which has forced them to be in passing situations more often than they would like. Rex Grossman did not get worse, at least not that much worse than he was. No quarterback though can have success when the other team knows he must pass. Between Grossman not being able to pass successfully and fewer opportunities to play ball control and run the clock out. The running game suffered as well.
I believe that their two largest needs are at qb (yes I know I just said that Grossman didn’t get that much worse, but he wasn’t that good to start with) and a run-stuffing interior D lineman. To replace Johnson. They also have some need at WR with fan favorite Muhsin Muhammed, entering free agency.
The Bears would love to get Andre Woodson at the 14th spot. With Brian Brohm and Matt Ryan going to the Falcons and Ravens, this is very likely. I do however have a hunch that Carolina may take Woodson on, as a project considering what a wheel of misfortune their QB spot was this season. If they can’t get a QB they could consider reaching a few spots for Malcolm Kelly, though I don’t think it would be smart to reach for your third position. It would be ideal if Sedrick Ellis dropped to this spot but that is about 5 spots deeper than the 9 he is being projected right now. If the Bears could trade to get Miami’s pick it would be great to get Dorsey to shore up that D line. They also could trade to deeper spot in the first round to get D line help but there really isn’t much help where they are at in the draft.

Tomorrows team - Carolina Panthers

Outside Shot
Ok when you say, “I’m a true fan” I think we should change it to “I ‘m a 200K fan”I mean it gives new meaning to “never let em question your fanhood”

Houston Texans Offseason

Houston Texans – I have a huge issue with people who are so quick to spout their
opinion, especially a negative opinion. Then when it turns out they are wrong, they are never around to man up about it. I am not that guy. I was a vocal critic of the Mario Williams draft choice. I was wrong. Very, Very, wrong. Reggie Bush isn’t what he was in college(I am an SC fan that is as close as I am getting to saying he’s a bust) Vince Young is decent, and he is a better passer than most people are giving him credit for. Those two aside Mario Williams was the right pick.
The Texans suffered a series of injuries through out the year. No one ever wants to go through all the trouble that Houston did but there is an upside. Between Sage Rosenfels and Matt Schaub along with Ahman Green, Ron Dayne, and Darius Walker, they have found reliable back ups to go along with their starters. The only potential problem facing Gary Kubiak is that with any kind of difficulty on Matt Schaub’s part a QB controversy could arise. Not the worst problem to have. At WR they have Super receiver Andre Johnson who injury got as well. He was replaced nicely by Andre Davis who turned in excellent work as a return man as well towards the end of the season. I do think they responded well to those injuries this year and you can’t help but acknowledge the job Gary Kubiak did with this team.
With the Mario Williams anchored front line their defense has shown very well this year. The injury bug did get them on this side of the ball as well, hitting Dunta Robinson mid season. There secondary still held their own through out the year.
With their skill positions and their defense looking like all they need is to stay off the trainers table. Their real gaping hole is at the left tackle position. They should look at Ryan Clady (OT-Boise St.) who should drop this far and should be their first choice.
With that hole sealed up and consistent QB play the only thing left will be dodging a bullet on the injury front. If that happens the future for this team looks great. They are my sleeper for 2008.

Next team - My Minnesota Vikings