Tag: Panthers defense

Panthers DE Brian Burns describes his old-school workouts during quarantine

Burns told reporters he kept getting booted from parks so he had to resort to creative weightlifting sessions like carrying buckets filled with dirt.

Panthers defensive end Brian Burns told reporters in a Zoom call yesterday that he’s put on 15 pounds this offseason. We’re going out on a limb and assuming it’s not because he was binging on pizza. For professional athletes, that’s all about resistance training, which is mostly what Burns got up to during his quarantine in Florida.

Burns told reporters he kept getting booted from parks so he had to resort to creative weightlifting sessions like carrying buckets filled with dirt. Here’s how he described it, per Joe Person at the Athletic.

“Aww, man, it was bad. . . We were finding any way to get some work in. We did a lot of bodyweight stuff, bands, resistance. At the end of the day, we got some work. We got something done.”

Burns plans to play at around 255 pounds this year. That’s about 10 pounds heavier than his rookie season.

Adding that extra muscle and recovering from his wrist injury should give Burns a better chance to go one-on-one against quality offensive tackles like those of the Packers, who were effectively able to shut him down during their Week 10 matchup.

This year, the Panthers get a rematch with Green Bay Week 15. Assuming the NFL hasn’t screwed up the season by failing to take the pandemic seirously and both are healthy, we’ll get to see round two of Burns vs. David Bakhtiari, one of the top tackles in the league.

More power will help him.

Eventually, Burns will have to add more pass-rushing moves to his repertoire if he’s going to become an elite sack producer. If defensive line coach Mike Phair can teach Burns some new tricks, look out.

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Panthers DE Brian Burns says he put on about 15 pounds this offseason

Panthers DE Brian Burns says he put on about 15 pounds this offseason.

One of the countless things that will change for the Carolina Panthers this year is their defensive scheme. Last season, former coach Ron Rivera switched to a 3-4 base defense. While it helped the pass rush, he didn’t really have the personnel to pull it off and this eventually became the worst run-defending unit in the entire league.

This year, coach Matt Rhule and defensive coordinator Phil Snow are switching the team back to a 4-3 scheme. While it should fit who they have on the roster better in general, some guys will have to adjust. One key name is Brian Burns.

During his rookie year, Burns showed exceptional burst, speed and leverage off the edge. At times he was shut down by more powerful offensive tackles, though. Good news on that front: Burns told reporters in a Zoom call today that he put on about 15 pounds this offseason and plans to play around 255.

The wrist injury was an underrated factor in Burns’ less-impressive second half of the 2019 season. He still finished the year with 7.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits, though. Adding more muscle should help Burns compete with the likes of Terron Armstead and Jake Matthews.

Burns’ improvement in his second season is one of the best reasons for Panthers fans to feel excited about this year. It’s unclear who will be starting on the other side of the defensive line, though.

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Do the Panthers have the worst defense in the NFL right now?

According to an analysis by Mike Clay at ESPN, Carolina does indeed have the worst defensive unit in the league at the moment.

Last week, we wrote the Panthers might have the weakest defense in the NFL right now, at least on paper. It wasn’t meant to be a definitive statement. However, it seems some people agree with the idea.

According to an analysis by Mike Clay at ESPN, Carolina does indeed have the worst defensive unit in the league at the moment. Here’s how he has all 32 teams graded based on current rosters.

This wasn’t hard to see coming.

To recap, the offseason began with the retirement of Luke Kuechly. Then, the team lost Mario Addison, Bruce Irvin, Gerald McCoy, Vernon Butler, Dontari Poe and James Bradberry in free agency. They also released Eric Reid for some reason, making the secondary even thinner. If you’re counting, that’s seven starters lost.

The defense wasn’t that great to begin with, either. Remember, this was already the worst run defense in the league by a big margin last year.

Signing linebacker Tahir Whitehead and defensive tackle Zach Kerr will help some, but clearly there’s a lot of work yet to do.

The good news is the offseason isn’t even half over yet (under normal circumstances) so there’s plenty of time to improve before next season.

A strong defense-heavy draft class is the prescription, here. Landing a blue-chip defensive prospect like Isaiah Simmons or Jeffrey Okudah would help a great deal. If nothing else, the team has to add a lot more talent and a lot more depth at cornerback. Fortunately, it’s a deep draft class at the position. Doubling up there and hitting both picks could be critical.

Free agency isn’t over yet, either. Carolina currently has around $13 million in salary cap room remaining for 2020. That’s not much, but it’s probably enough to go after one more name. Signing Jadeveon Clowney would fill a huge hole opposite Brian Burns. So would dealing for a guy like Yannick Ngakoue, who may be on the trade block.

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Panthers DC Phil Snow on his defensive scheme: ‘We’ll be multiple’

Speaking with reporters in a conference call this morning, new defensive coordinator Phil Snow shed some light on his plans for the defense.

The Panthers have a new coaching staff that will hopefully bring in fresh ideas about how to stay competitive in an always-evolving NFL. They won’t be judged based on how they perform at press conferences or what they say their philosophy is. For what it’s worth, we like everything we have been hearing from Matt Rhule and his coordinators thus far.

Speaking with reporters in a conference call this morning, new defensive coordinator Phil Snow shed some light on his plans for the defense. Mainly, he wants to use what he has.

This echoes the same sentiment we heard from offensive coordinator Joe Brady in his introductory press conference with the Panthers. Brady said the most important thing is to put the players in position to succeed. It sounds like Snow has the same idea.

As for his “multiple” comment, he’s likely referring to different defensive fronts. Former head coach Ron Rivera tried to implement a 3-4 defensive scheme this season. That experiment did not go well. While the team’s pass rush improved, their run defense was excruciatingly bad and ultimately cost them more losses than any other element of the game.

Part of the problem was that Carolina’s players simply weren’t as well-suited for a 3-4 than a 4-3, particularly now-retired inside linebacker Luke Kuechly. While it’s now clear he was playing through some pain, he just wasn’t in position to make plays like he normally was due to the schematic issues.

Rather than adjust course, Rivera stuck with the 3-4 too often and it likely was a factor in his firing. It’s worth mentioning that if defensive tackle Kawann Short hadn’t missed most of the season, things might have gone differently for Rivera and his scheme.

In any case, most teams don’t exclusively run a 4-3 or a 3-4. Multiple means we should see plenty of both depending on the opponent, the situation, the personnel on the field, etc. Snow will obviously have different pieces to work with here, but for what it’s worth he mostly ran a 3-3-5 base during his time at Baylor.

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Report: Panthers rehiring former linebackers coach Al Holcomb

Report: The Panthers are rehiring former linebackers coach Al Holcomb as their new defensive run game coordinator.

The Panthers are undergoing a major rebuild both on the field and in the front office. Not all of the new pieces will be unfamiliar, though. According to a report by Ian Rapoport at NFL Network, the team is bringing back former linebackers coach Al Holcomb to be their new defensive run game coordinator.

Holcomb coached Carolina’s linebackers from 2013-2017 then spent one season as Steve Wilks’ defensive coordinator with the Cardinals. Last year he was the Browns’ linbebackers coach and run game coordinator.

No assistant may face a more difficult task than Holcomb: namely how to turn around what was a historically bad run defense unit.

The Panthers allowed their opponents to average 143.5 rushing yards per game this year. Only three teams gave up more. Worse, they allowed 31 rushing touchdowns – tying the single-season record after the merger. Carolina was ranked last in run defense DVOA for the season.

As for the rest of the defensive staff, Phil Snow is expected to be named the defensive coordinator and Mike Phair will be the defensive line coach.

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4 questions about the Panthers defense in 2020

Here are four questions they will need to answer before the 2020 campaign begins.

The Panthers are hard at work making new head coach Matt Rhule’s staff come in to shape. There’s no official word yet, but all signs point to Phil Snow following Rhule from Baylor and being named the team’s new defensive coordinator.

Whether it’s Snow or somebody else, the front office has some brutal decisions to make about the defense this offseason. Here are four questions they will need to answer before the 2020 campaign begins.

How old is too old for the defensive line?

Mario Addison
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

On paper, the Panthers’ defensive line is their strongest unit. They finished second in the league in sacks this year (53) and have as many weapons up front as any NFL team. However, several key pieces are about to become free agents and most of them are past their prime. Mario Addison, Bruce Irvin and Gerald McCoy are all over 30 years old and need new contracts if Carolina is going to keep them around. Dontari Poe is also 29 and has a huge cap hit. The Panthers have to find the right balance between youth and experience while building for the future around guys like Brian Burns.

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