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When the Carolina Panthers get on the clock at next week's draft, they better hope someone like defensive end Derrick Harvey is there.
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| The possible addition of ex-Gator Derrick Harvey would benefit the Panthers' D-line, Judge says. (Getty Images) |
They need results ... and they need them now.
Which is why I'd push for Florida's Harvey -- provided, of course, he's there. Rookie defensive linemen can step in and make immediate impacts, and I call Chicago's Mark Anderson, Denver's Elvis Dumervil and Houston's Amobi Okoye to the witness stand.
But beyond that, the Panthers need a defensive lineman -- OK, a pass-rushing defensive end -- in the worst way, not so much because of what they don't have but because of what they do.
Julius Peppers, would you please step forward?
Once considered the premier player at his position, Peppers inexplicably dropped off the radar last season -- producing the second fewest tackles in his six years of NFL play and plummeting in sacks from a career-best 13 in 2006 to a career-low 2.5.
It used to be that it wasn't unusual for Peppers to produce 2.5 sacks in a game. In fact, he'd done it six times in his career. But then last year happened, and nobody is sure why. What the Panthers do know is that it can't happen again, which is why they better hope someone like Harvey or Ohio State's Vernon Gholston is there at the 13th position.
It's not just that they could anchor a position once held tight by Mike Rucker; they could take some of the heat off Peppers, allow him to become himself again and maybe, just maybe, restore a pass rush that was missing far too often last year when the Panthers ranked 31st in sacks.
They had 23, or 7.5 more than NFL leader Jared Allen and 30 fewer than the New York Giants. That can't happen again, and, frankly, it shouldn't for a couple of reasons: 1) Peppers enters the last year of his contract, and players in that position often produce career results; and 2), guaranteed, the Panthers address a pass rusher early in the draft.
Let's go back to Peppers' situation. The Panthers have been negotiating with him for some time on a long-term contract, but the numbers aren't there. You can figure that Peppers wants something in excess of Dwight Freeney's six-year, $72 million deal, but so far he hasn't seen it.
And if he doesn't? The Panthers can keep Peppers by franchising the guy, but we're way, way ahead of ourselves on that score. For the moment, all Carolina knows is that it needs Julius Peppers to be ... well, Julius Peppers.
"I expect 'Pep' to come back in a big way," Carolina coach John Fox said at the league's winter meetings.
