PFT pre-camp power rankings: Cards at 32

[Dr. Jones]

This is an assertion not in evidence. Vance Joseph took a Denver team that was Top 10 in scoring defense for 5 straight years and turned them into a below-average group almost immediately.

In his one season as Defensive Coordinator in Miami, the Dolphins defense was equally sub-average.

Yeah... he scares the crap out of me more than Kliff's inexperience does.

Stupid Arians cost us our shot at Bowles IMO. Like Colangelo giving us Sarver, that has clouded his legacy in my eyes.

 

[DVontel]

Wasn’t a fan of the hire, but in Vance’s defense, it had to help having Peyton Manning on the other side giving the defense rest instead of garbage QBs having to quickly throw your defense back on the field immediately.

The same might happen here the 1st year, but I’m just saying.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Screw these preseason rankings... can't wait to get this going

 

[Jetstream Green]

Wasn’t a fan of the hire, but in Vance’s defense, it had to help having Peyton Manning on the other side giving the defense rest instead of garbage QBs having to quickly throw your defense back on the field immediately.

The same might happen here the 1st year, but I’m just saying.

Peyton was not that great in his later years and it was the defense which made him a good game manager lol

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

Screw these preseason rankings... can't wait to get this going

I am pretty excited about this season. And I don’t believe in preseason rankings. I read to many Athlon Sports previews to believe that they know what they are doing

 

[DVontel]

Peyton was not that great in his later years and it was the defense which made him a good game manager lol

Well really just his last year.

 

[Vacard]

I predict Murray will become hurt and miss some time this season. How much time is anyone’s guess. I’m now more skeptical of seeing how he could hold up in a 16 game pounding.

 

[Hoodhero]

Screw these preseason rankings... can't wait to get this going

Exactly. Right now imo it's all about making it through camp & preseason with no damn injuries.

 

[Krangodnzr]

You can say that about any contender in the league. The teams that aren't dependent on the health of their QB are, like, the Giants and Washington, who don't have QBs.

The Panthers were 6-2 until someone ripped Cam's arm out of his shoulder in a hit the refs probably didn't even see. Now, he's apparently better.

Details about the Panthers' transition to a 3-4 are pretty sketchy, but they have Gerald McCoy and Kawann Short on DL with Dontari Poe. I think they're going to be fine — even on the outside with Brian Burns, Mario Addison, and Bruce Irvin. Their secondary is a bit of a dumpster fire, though.

Are they truly a contender, Kerouac?

I loosely follow the Panthers, since NC is my home state, and they are never really, truly contenders.

The Panthers have had moments a pretenders, but never really contenders.

Started 6-2 against the easier part of their schedule and then struggled down the stretch when Cam got hurt, winning only one more game against a Saints team resting players for the playoffs.

The question is whether Cam is going to start slowing down since injuries seem to be taking more and more of a toll on him. If he stops running, he's no longer really a great player.

Fun fact: outside of two seasons, Cam Newton has had a sub 90 QB rating for most seasons in his career.

 

[Brak]

I predict Murray will become hurt and miss some time this season. How much time is anyone’s guess. I’m now more skeptical of seeing how he could hold up in a 16 game pounding.

Before I saw any film of him, I didn't think he'd last 2-3 games, given his size. Then I watched a bunch of film, and along with the other impressive stuff, he seems to know how to avoid hits and minimize impact when he does get hit. He'll need that skill to survive at the NFL level. But I'm optimistic now.

 

[Vacard]

Before I saw any film of him, I didn't think he'd last 2-3 games, given his size. Then I watched a bunch of film, and along with the other impressive stuff, he seems to know how to avoid hits and minimize impact when he does get hit. He'll need that skill to survive at the NFL level. But I'm optimistic now.

I’m a Murray optimist but we do have one of the worst lines in the league and he won’t have time to sit back and scan the field like he did in Ok. It all depends on how fast he can get the ball out. He won’t be a statue like Palmer was but the NFL is fast and they will try to intentionally hurt him. I know he’s a smart runner and not like RG3 but 16 games is 16 games and if we don’t protect him, he will get hurt.

 

[Dr. Jones]

WE are GOING TO SHOCK THE LEAGUE!

 

[Adrian]

WE are GOING TO SHOCK THE LEAGUE!

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[Krangodnzr]

WE are GOING TO SHOCK THE LEAGUE!

I'm not predicting it, but I see how the scenario could work.

Offensive line stays relatively healthy.

Murray plays to the top of our expectations (25 passing TDs) and David Johnson gets on track and rushes for 1200 yards. The defense gels and plays well.

 

[Son of RedRage]

Are they truly a contender, Kerouac?

I loosely follow the Panthers, since NC is my home state, and they are never really, truly contenders.

The Panthers have had moments a pretenders, but never really contenders.

Started 6-2 against the easier part of their schedule and then struggled down the stretch when Cam got hurt, winning only one more game against a Saints team resting players for the playoffs.

The question is whether Cam is going to start slowing down since injuries seem to be taking more and more of a toll on him. If he stops running, he's no longer really a great player.

Fun fact: outside of two seasons, Cam Newton has had a sub 90 QB rating for most seasons in his career.

Coming from someone who currently lives in NC, I can safely say that the Panthers aren't a contender. They had every chance to win out their slate last year, and they blew it. Lions loss? They go for 2 when they can tie the game and go to OT (which honestly, they probably would've won.) The Saints game where the score was 9-12? It's absolutely mindboggling to me how many chances they just absolutely wasted. They had a horrid draft this time around, and they hardly addressed any needs. Drafting trash tier QB Will Grier with a 3rd? Waiting until the 7th rd to draft a WR when your best WR is Chris freaking Hogan? Not drafting a corner??? I assume the Panthers'll probably be a 5-11 team. Their roster, especially on offense, is trash, they have a really difficult schedule, and I do honestly believe they'll be a worse team than us this year. It's absolutely insane to me that for a QB of Cam's caliber, they've never given him a good wide receiver. The fact that the best WR he's had may honestly be Ted Ginn is awful. And somehow, they'll still be 3rd in the NFC South, because Arians or not, you can't fix Famous Jameis.

 

[DVontel]

Are they truly a contender, Kerouac?

I loosely follow the Panthers, since NC is my home state, and they are never really, truly contenders.

The Panthers have had moments a pretenders, but never really contenders.

Started 6-2 against the easier part of their schedule and then struggled down the stretch when Cam got hurt, winning only one more game against a Saints team resting players for the playoffs.

The question is whether Cam is going to start slowing down since injuries seem to be taking more and more of a toll on him. If he stops running, he's no longer really a great player.

Fun fact: outside of two seasons, Cam Newton has had a sub 90 QB rating for most seasons in his career.

It’s a funny coincidence, but they usually are during odd years.

2013 - 12-4
2015 - 15-1
2017 - 11-5

Only exception was Cam’s rookie year.

 

[kerouac9]

Are they truly a contender, Kerouac?

I loosely follow the Panthers, since NC is my home state, and they are never really, truly contenders.

The Panthers have had moments a pretenders, but never really contenders.

Started 6-2 against the easier part of their schedule and then struggled down the stretch when Cam got hurt, winning only one more game against a Saints team resting players for the playoffs.

The question is whether Cam is going to start slowing down since injuries seem to be taking more and more of a toll on him. If he stops running, he's no longer really a great player.

Fun fact: outside of two seasons, Cam Newton has had a sub 90 QB rating for most seasons in his career.

A Super Bowl contender? I don't know; probably not. A playoff contender? I think so. Football Outsiders has their mean projection as 8.1 wins and a 58% probability they'll have 8+ wins.

I guess their 6-2 start featuring wins against easy teams like playoff participants Dallas, Philly and Baltimore was extremely soft?

In their second-half swoon, they lost 5 games by one score or less and overall they were 3-8 in games decided by a touchdown or less. If you're looking for regression, it's more likely their regression will be upward on defense and in the standings.

Cam is 30 years old. His completion percentage last year was 8 points higher than his career average.

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

I still think 6 - 7 wins is where we end up.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Cam is 30 years old. His completion percentage last year was 8 points higher than his career average.

I actually found that shocking; the story out of Carolina is that Cam wasn't right and that he wasn't the same player.

Statistically, it was one of his best seasons.

 

[Krangodnzr]

A Super Bowl contender? I don't know; probably not. A playoff contender? I think so. Football Outsiders has their mean projection as 8.1 wins and a 58% probability they'll have 8+ wins.

I guess their 6-2 start featuring wins against easy teams like playoff participants Dallas, Philly and Baltimore was extremely soft?

In their second-half swoon, they lost 5 games by one score or less and overall they were 3-8 in games decided by a touchdown or less. If you're looking for regression, it's more likely their regression will be upward on defense and in the standings.

A listless Dallas team that didn't play well early in the year (3-5 through 8 games).

A Philly team that was 4-4 through first 8 games and didn't play particularly well.

A Baltimore team featuring the corpse of Joe Flacco (56.8 QB Rating in this game).

Carolina is always good for playing close games, because they are built the way the NY Giants used to build teams. Invest a ton in the defensive front seven and control the line of scrimmage. While that strategy works against a lot of teams, it's not a great strategy to win consistently in the modern NFL.

I'm actually a fan of Cam Newton the player. The handling of the Carolina Panthers of his career is nearly criminal. They haven't given him the weapons and have usually scrimped on providing him good pass protectors as well.

I'm just not drinking the Kool Aid that everything is right with Cam Newton until I see it with my own eyes. Drafting Will Grier is a pretty good sign that the Panthers have their own concerns.

 

[kerouac9]

I actually found that shocking; the story out of Carolina is that Cam wasn't right and that he wasn't the same player.

Statistically, it was one of his best seasons.

He wasn't the same player in the second half of the season as he was in the first. In the first 8 games, Cam had a 100.8 passer rating with 19 TDs against 5 Turnovers (combined fumbles lost and INTs). He came apart after the Tampa game.

 

[New Mexico]

Sure, this kind of stuff is pure drivel, but if I'm a player, my pride doesn't like this stuff one bit. Could this motivate the team? I dunno. Can they really be THAT bad??

Well, we were that bad last year, so yeah, they can really be THAT bad.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...-training-camp-for-most-teams-power-rankings/

 

[MadCardDisease]

I guess the good news is that the Cardinals can only move up.

 

[jmt]

Well we did draft first.

 

[mojorizen7]

Mike Florio sucks at prognostication