In order to improve from season to season, players must get better.  Believe it or not rookies can help improve a team more than by performing well.  You constantly hear that Luke Kuechly or Joe Adams had great stats but never how they served as a leader to the team.

Ron Rivera stated earlier this week that once Jon Beason was out for the season, the defense lacked communication.

Even if all of the rookie, which is very unlikely, are not starters, then if the starter were to get injured they must bring that leadership to fill in the void.  While coaches would want to have the void filled statistically, the rest of the defense or offence could suffer without that glue to make them a team.

I look at two rookies who I think will make an impact immediately:  Luke Kuechly and Joe Adams!

If Beason or Davis were to get hurt again, knock on wood, then it is important that Kuechly communicate and keep a struggling defense in tact.  Kuechly is a leader that can still be heard even if Beason is on the field, you could say that he has Beason’s blind side!

Joe Adams not only will bring a dead special teams back to life again, but he will encourage everyone in the process.  Many people that meet Adams refer to the Tennessee game, where he broke nine tackles on a punt return touchdown.  It’s that fight in him to never give up on a play that will really boost the spirits on special teams.

He will also carry a momentum to the offence to help them start closer to the endzone and finish drives more efficiently.

Other rookies like Amini Silatolu and Josh Norman will be two rookies that will give a good competition for there respective positions, but will more than likely extend on being a leader under Chris Gamble and Jordan Gross.

Rookie punter Brad Nortman will have to show that he can handle competition being that he is not the only punter on the team anymore, thanks to Nick Harris.

Frank Alexander will defiantly need to step up if he wants to start.  The opposite end of Charles Johnson needs to apply pressure and the only way I see Alexander showing leadership is that he steps up and plays big like he did in Oklahoma.

DJ Campbell, the last of the draft picks, can really only watch as the position of safety has seven people in the depth chart, with him being last.

It will be interesting to see how the rookies step up from here, but one thing that I do know is that the Carolina Panthers will most likely have improvement to their 6-10 season a year ago.

Dec. 14, 2008; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis (58) celebrates sacking Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler (6) in the Panthers 30-10 victory against the Broncos at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

Earlier in the week, Davis, who is a Georgia native, was asked a few questions at the Athens Country Club in Athens, GA. He was there as a featured guest and speaker on behalf of the Touchdown Club.

From what I gather, it was an interview at the event, conducted by a journalist for the local Athens Banner-Herald and Thomas Davis. (A link is below for the entire question and answer with Thomas Davis)http://onlineathens.com/sports/college-sports/2012-04-10/5-questions-panthers-lb-former-uga-player-thomas-davis

The 29 year old Davis is attempting something that has yet to be seen in the NFL(in regards to coming back from three straight significant ACL injuries), and was asked “How do you think the knee will hold up?”.

Not only did he feel confident enough to say he would play all 19 games, which would include a grueling playoff push, but the Panther Linebacker also Rex Ryan’d us and went with a Super Bowl prediction.

“I am looking forward to playing the full 19 game season and winning the Super Bowl”

Thomas Davis

Really?

Well, Im not going to expand on the rest of the interview but only this one quote because this is the only part being talked about, and will continue to get talked about and even perhaps made bigger than it should be!

Now is this off-season motivation for NFC South and Carolina opponents heading into the season, maybe. More than that, I know it will add to the pressure Thomas Davis alone will feel throughout the season to not only stay healthy, but contribute in a way that sends his Panthers into the Playoffs.

Though, as of now, heading into the season(not including the draft obviously), Carolina’s defense has three key contributing starters coming back from injuries including Davis. The combination of Davis, Jon Beason,  and Ron Edwards, all returning for the start of this upcoming season will only boost the Panthers defense in a positive way. Each coming back is like adding a free agent or even a starter from the Draft, without the negative even of taking up roster space or costing the team extra money.

The more you think about the comment and really dissect the possibilities, the more it starts to sound not so unreasonable. In a few more weeks, Carolina may have a new starter or two, added via the 2012 Draft. And if that is the case, the thought of a run into at least the Playoffs for the 2012 Panthers isn’t so far fetched.

Offensively, Carolina is primed to continue to set records and run all over NFL defenses for as long as Cam Newton will lead. You add a defense that can make plays and get off the field in a timely manor, Thomas Davis won’t be the only one talking about a run to the Super Bowl.

Like this column? Don’t forget to catch my columns on http://keepingitheel.com/ too, covering everything UNC!

Does Carolina need this?

ESPN’s (Extra Sensory Perception Network) Pat Yasinskas respoded to a reader’s comment with this on Feb. 15, in regard to a trade of McNabb-to-Carolina probability.

While trade “talks” of quarterback Kevin Kolb-to-Cleveland mount in Philly, it seems more and more likely that McNabb will stay in the City of Brotherly Love, at least for one more year.

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