Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
With a new recipient likely on the way, let’s look back at the Panthers’ history with the franchise tag.
With no new deal seemingly in sight for two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Brian Burns, the Carolina Panthers are destined to use the franchise tag for the eighth time in their history.
But how did the first seven play out?
Let’s take a look at Carolina’s history with the tag.
Panthers great Ryan Kalil gave former teammate Christian McCaffrey a very special gift to bring into Super Bowl LVIII.
Former Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey has lived his football career through Bruce Lee’s mantra of “Be water, my friend.” And luckily for him, he’s got a friend like Ryan Kalil.
A week before suiting up for Super Bowl LVIII, the San Francisco 49ers superstar received a very special gift from his old Carolina teammate—a pair of Lee’s personal sunglasses. Kalil, the ex-center and current filmmaker, documented the moment:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3OM9vFSbsi/
McCaffrey, especially during his six-year run in Charlotte, has been known to be quite the fan of Lee’s. He recently spoke about the inspiration he draws from the legendary martial artist in an interview with linebacker Brennan Scarlett.
“I’ve always loved combat sports, and my dad used to show me the ‘Enter the Dragon’ Bruce Lee movies back in the day,” he said in an episode of Scarlett’s podcast. “And I just loved ’em. I thought they were cool. I loved the fight scenes. And as I got older, I started looking more into his philosophy and what he represented, and it just stuck with me.
“You think of fighting, you think of angry, tough, ‘I’m fighting.’ And a lot of my buddies are UFC, Bellator guys and getting to know them more and more, you realize that fighting is all about preparation and being calm—but controlled in chaos. And so I always appreciated that ’cause I relate it to football. Being able to be calm, but be extremely explosive at the same time. And that’s really what he represents—being fluid, being formless, shapeless.”
Unfortunately for McCaffrey, he and his Niners did not come out on top in the big game—falling short in a 25-22 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. But his fluid, formless and shapeless performance—one that resulted in a game-high 160 yards from scrimmage—had to have made his friend proud.
[lawrence-related id=650871,591066,691235]
Now that Julius Peppers has officially been named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which fellow franchise greats could be next?
On Thursday night, Carolina Panthers legend Julius Peppers was granted his rightful and well-deserved access into Canton, Ohio—as he was named as one of the seven members for this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
So, who’s next?
With a little help from Pro Football Reference’s Hall of Fame Monitor, here are six fellow franchise greats who could join Pep in football immortality:
Let’s take a look back at every Pro Bowl selection in Panthers franchise history
It took a bit longer than it should’ve, but defensive tackle Derrick Brown rightfully became the latest Pro Bowler in Carolina Panthers history.
So, as we gear up for the rest of the festivities this weekend, let’s look back at Brown and every other Panther who has been selected as an all-star.
Ryan Kalil is scripting a true Hollywood story.
Former USC football great Ryan Kalil has done what a lot of elite athletes fail to do: Figure out the career plan and path after one’s playing days are over.
In this article from Fast Company, Kalil’s foray into Hollywood is documented.
Kalil and NBA star Blake Griffin co-founded the production house Mortal Media several years ago and are turning out one project after another.
From the article:
“In Kalil’s case, the love for film started with Star Wars—more specifically, the ‘behind-the-scenes’ material that appeared on the Star Wars VHS tapes. ‘I remember seeing a lot of the Phil Tippett animation and just being so enamored with it,’ he said.
“Phil Tippett, for the record, is the stop-motion pioneer behind Robocop, Piranha, and, yes, Star Wars. The exact kind of guy, in other words, that only a film geek would name-drop.”
Mortal Media has recently produced programs which have been (or are going to be) distributed to Hulu, Disney, Fox, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Apple TV.
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If the Panthers are inducting two more players into their Hall of Honor this season, here are the 11 likeliest candidates to get the call.
On Thursday, the Carolina Panthers just might’ve opened two spots in their Hall of Honor—teasing the exciting possibility in a 26-second video. But what they didn’t tease is whom those spots will belong to.
So, if they are adding to the esteemed club, here are the 11 likeliest candidates to get fitted for their blue jackets in 2023.
The Jets offensive line has been using modern ways to bond outside of practice as they attempt to navigate a summer without a preseason.
While a normal offseason would usually require a lot of face time for a completely revamped offensive line, the Jets have used different methods during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the restrictions on in-person interactions prior to training camp, newcomer Connor McGovern feels the unity on the offensive line is the best he’s ever been a part of since he entered the league in 2016. And they just met in face to face two weeks ago.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know if it’s the group of guys that Joe Douglas brought together or the pandemic or what have you,” McGovern said Friday. “But this is one of the closer groups as a whole I’ve been around.”
For a more intimate connection, members of the Jets offensive line have a group chat in which they often send each other memes. Call of Duty is another tool the group uses for bonding.
While this isn’t the same as gelling during the preseason, Gang Green doesn’t have that luxury. The offensive line is going to have to find unique ways, besides practice, to form relationships with one another while getting the offense down to a tee.
“At the end of the day, football is football,” McGovern said when asked if everyone can come together quickly enough before Week 1.
The Jets dealt with similar issues in 2019, however, it had more so to do with Ryan Kalil joining the unit late in the summer. That won’t be the problem the Jets deal with this season, as everyone is getting accustomed to one another in their own right. Still, the lack of game reps prior to the regular season could be a concern.
For veteran offensive lineman Greg Van Roten, while this is new territory, it’s just making sure that the unit is speaking the same language by the time the regular season rolls around.
“Thankfully, we are all veterans and we’ve all played football before, so it’s not our first time on the field,” Van Roten said via The Associated Press. “It’s just going to be our first time next to each other. So the biggest challenge when you have a new group like that is that we all speak football, but we might call things by different names. So we’ve just got to get on the same page with our communication if we want to be effective and hit the ground running fast.”
With Brian Winters bound for Buffalo, the New York Jets starting offensive line will be completely turned over from the season before.
By releasing Brian Winters on Sunday, the Jets committed to their starting lineup having a 100 percent turnover in 2020.
In 2019, New York’s Week 1 starting offensive line consisted of Kelvin Beachum and Kelechi Osemele on the left side, Ryan Kalil in the middle, and Winters and Brandon Shell filling out the right side.
Behind an offensive line that had little chemistry, the Jets offense sputtered. In Adam Gase’s first season as head coach, New York’s offensive unit ranked 31st in points per game, 32nd in yards per game and 32nd in yards per play.
The Jets averaged just 0.7 rushing yards before contact per attempt, which was dead last in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. Also, New York allowed pressure in 2.5 seconds or less on 27.5 percent of its dropbacks, which was the second-highest in the league.
This was a large part of why Sam Darnold had little to no time to make plays happen. Jets quarterbacks were sacked 52 times in 2019, which was the fourth-highest mark in the league.
Joe Douglas made it his pet project this offseason to rebuild the Jets offensive line. He spent all offseason plugging holes in the trenches to ensure that Darnold and the offense can experience heightened success in 2020 and beyond.
The Jets showed no interest in bringing back members of last year’s starting lineup. Beachum and Shell signed one-year pacts with the Cardinals and Seahawks, respectively. Osemele, who played just three games with Gang Green before he was released due to an injury dispute, signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs. Kalil is likely to choose retirement again after the Jets talked him out of it last year and got poor results.
Douglas’ first order of business was signing swing tackle George Fant to a three-year, $30 million contract. Right now, Fant is penciled in as the opening day starter at right tackle. Staying on the right side, Greg Van Roten signed a three-year, $10.5 million deal and will slide in at right guard in Winters’ absence.
Shaping things up in the middle, Douglas signed Connor McGovern to a three-year, $27 million deal. He will be New York’s starter at center. Alex Lewis, who did an admirable job filling in for Osemele, is now assured a starting spot at left guard with Winters gone. As for left tackle, it’s now stationed by Mekhi Becton, New York’s first-round pick out of Lousiville.
While the Jets offensive line will yet again need to work on its chemistry, a roster turnover was necessary considering how the offense plateaued behind such a lackluster unit in 2019.
Former Bears guard Kyle Long refutes a report that the Jets are trying to get him to come out of retirement for the 2020 season.
Kyle Long elected to step away from the game of football this past January citing a need to get his body right after being hampered with injuries for the majority of his career.
On Friday morning, The Daily News’ Manish Mehta reported that the Jets were looking to coax Long out of retirement. Long immediately put a stop to that rumor, though, telling WGN’s Rick Tarsitano that there was no truth to Mehta’s report.
This wouldn’t have been the first time that the Jets have tried to coax a former Pro Bowl offensive lineman out of retirement under Joe Douglas. New York was able to convince Ryan Kalil to be the team’s starting center in 2019, but that experiment ended up hurting the Jets more than benefitting them. However, that won’t be the case for Long, who shut down the rumors before they gained more traction.
While Long enjoyed a successful 10-year career with the Bears, his tenure was marred by injuries. Long played a full 16-game slate only twice (2013 and 2015). Since then, Long hasn’t played in more than 10 games, dealing with injuries to his labrum, triceps, foot, ankle and shoulder. Most recently, Long suffered a hip injury early in the 2019 season, forcing the Bears to place him on season-ending injured reserve.
Long does have multiple meaningful connections to the Jets. During one of his three Pro Bowl seasons in 2015, Adam Gase served as the Bears offensive coordinator while Dowell Loggains was the team’s quarterbacks coach. In addition, Douglas was also Chicago’s Director of College Scouting.
At the end of the day, those connections aren’t trying to get Long out of retirement, though. The Jets may not want to repeat what happened with Kalil and Long appears to have no interest in returning to football, as he’s slimmed down from his past physique as an NFL offensive lineman.
Jets Wire breaks down why New York’s new-look offensive line could be in trouble without the ability to develop chemistry on the field.
If the Jets want to have any shot at contending this upcoming season, they can’t afford to have history repeat itself on the offensive line.
Putrid play in the trenches plagued New York throughout 2019. A lack of quality pass protection severely hampered the offense’s ability to consistently move the ball downfield. Sam Darnold spent half of the year running for his life at the snap of the ball, while Le’Veon Bell seldom had any holes to run through, resulting in one of the worst seasons of his career.
Gang Green’s offensive line struggles can be attributed largely to a lack of cohesion among the unit. A revolving door of starters due to injuries played a major role in the group’s inability to get on the same page, but even when all five starters were healthy and on the field, they lacked the chemistry essential to any good offensive line.
With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping the Jets and other teams around the league away from their facilities and restricted to a virtual offseason program, there is a chance that chemistry, or a lack thereof, could once again factor into the equation.
It goes without saying that the offseason is an essential time for teams to come together and integrate any free agent signings or draft picks. It’s tough to do that when the only sort of integration can be done online and not in person.
This is an issue that is extremely pressing for the Jets considering they are primed to feature an almost entirely new stable of starting offensive linemen in 2020. Alex Lewis is back at guard, but he is the only returner from last year’s offensive line rotation. Brian Winters is still on the roster, but it is only a matter of time before he becomes a salary cap casualty.
First-round pick Mekhi Becton and free agent acquisitions Connor McGovern, George Fant and Greg Van Roten are New York’s four new starters on the line. None of these players have ever played together. They have not even had the chance to meet each other in person yet and training camp is only a little over two months away.
Succeeding in the trenches is about more than just manhandling opposing defensive linemen. A unit’s ability to succeed comes down to its quality of communication. If the entire starting offensive line is not comfortable playing together, there are going to be issues.
The Jets saw this firsthand last offseason when Ryan Kalil signed with the team in August and did not play at all in the preseason. New York’s offensive linemen prepared all offseason with Jonotthan Harrison as the starting center, only to have an outsider with no knowledge of Adam Gase’s offensive scheme come in with less than a month before the beginning of the regular season. Kalil never got on the same page with his fellow linemen and it was abundantly clear on a weekly basis.
If the Jets want to have any shot at contending this upcoming season, they can’t afford to have communication and chemistry issues in the trenches again. Darnold will not have the chance to develop if he spends half the year on his back. Bell will be rendered useless if he has nowhere to run.
At least last year’s group had the chance to work out the kinks in person. The 2020 edition of New York’s offensive line won’t even have that luxury until the regular season nears.
