Panthers sign OT Jeremy Bridges

[Killakatsfan]

Sounds good to me.

[homestarunner93]

Finally! A living, breathing NFL offensive lineman! I wonder if he will replace not NFL-caliber Byers, or not NFL-caliber Bell? My hope is Byers, with Garry Williams replacing the Rivera love child.

[manbearchef]

I thought his name sounded familiar, so I looked him up. He played for us a few years back. As far as I can tell he's never been much of a starter, hasn't stayed in one place for more than 3 years in his career, and is 32 going on 33. IMO, unless he's an immediate (and significant) upgrade, I see no point in bother to start him.

He's listed as an OG on NFL.com, so I'm betting he plays RG and Bell moves back to RT. Bell hasn't been good at either spot, but IMO he's done better at RT. I know most here hate Bell, but he's honestly not bad depth, plus he's only a 2nd year player. I'd like to see us draft an OT (either in round 1 or 2) and then keep Bell as a backup for another season, then see where he is after that. He's been bad this year, but outside of a few games he's improved from last season.

[homestarunner93]

I thought his name sounded familiar, so I looked him up. He played for us a few years back. As far as I can tell he's never been much of a starter, hasn't stayed in one place for more than 3 years in his career, and is 32 going on 33. IMO, unless he's an immediate (and significant) upgrade, I see no point in bother to start him.

He's listed as an OG on NFL.com, so I'm betting he plays RG and Bell moves back to RT. Bell hasn't been good at either spot, but IMO he's done better at RT. I know most here hate Bell, but he's honestly not bad depth, plus he's only a 2nd year player. I'd like to see us draft an OT (either in round 1 or 2) and then keep Bell as a backup for another season, then see where he is after that. He's been bad this year, but outside of a few games he's improved from last season.

Bridges was with the Panthers for a little while. He was a nice 6th lineman guy here, certainly played well with us. He can't possibly be any worse than Byers or Bell, I know that much.

[Cracka2HI!]

I honestly don't know much about the current lineup but if Bridges is a big upgrade it must really suck.

[manbearchef]

I just read an article saying that he took 1st team reps at RG and is expected to start at RG on Sunday, with Bell starting RT. The article (which was a biased pro-Carolina article) says they think it will help Bell by having a veteran beside him. I don't know if that's actually true, but I thought Bell was doing well (or well enough anyway) in the beginning of the season when he had Piggy beside him. If I recall, Bell was our statistical second best OL in week 1 against TB this season, so who knows, maybe there's something to it. But I guess it makes sense that having two young players side-by-side on the OL would spell trouble.

[N.E.PanthersFan]

Yeah, it's a name I haven't heard in a while, but, like Hangartner, he's a welcome readdition. I'm pretty sure he played OG for us last go-around, will be interesting to see where he fits now.

I'm pretty sure Bell was at RT this past game. I think him at RG was a one-game experiment. I think you're right though -- I think Bridges starts at RG right away, with Bell at RT. It's not that I hate Bell, by the way (I don't know the guy), it's that he's not a very good football player.

[NCBoSoxfan21]

Bell was doing well start of the season, but the line have been all decimated by losing Kalil. Bell is a decent RT don't let Homestar's hater-status convince you.

Bell really struggles because he has garbage on either side of him and no veteran leadership on both sides.

[manbearchef]

Bell was doing well start of the season, but the line have been all decimated by losing Kalil. Bell is a decent RT don't let Homestar's hater-status convince you.

Bell really struggles because he has garbage on either side of him and no veteran leadership on both sides.

Honestly, I kinda think both of you guys are wrong lol. I don't think Bell is good, but I don't think he is bad either. If Kalil were still here Bell would be serviceable. Bell can develop into a good/startable RG or RT, I think. Currently Bell is decent on his own, he just isn't capable of carrying other players, and honestly, the only OL we have currently that can is Gross, and he isn't what he used to be. Silatolu is looking good on run plays, but so far has been very hit and miss (mostly miss) in pass protection. Piggy is good on his own, but I don't think he's above average. Beyers has been crap IMO. I haven't liked anything from him I've seen so far.

Bell is still a 2nd year player, and I think some of us are forgetting that. We're also forgetting that he's playing on an OL with only one or two quality starters. It also probably doesn't help that he's not so good in pass-protection (he's not bad at run blocking) and the OC doesn't know how to call a run play.

[homestarunner93]

Honestly, I kinda think both of you guys are wrong lol. I don't think Bell is good, but I don't think he is bad either. If Kalil were still here Bell would be serviceable. Bell can develop into a good/startable RG or RT, I think. Currently Bell is decent on his own, he just isn't capable of carrying other players, and honestly, the only OL we have currently that can is Gross, and he isn't what he used to be. Silatolu is looking good on run plays, but so far has been very hit and miss (mostly miss) in pass protection. Piggy is good on his own, but I don't think he's above average. Beyers has been crap IMO. I haven't liked anything from him I've seen so far.

Bell is still a 2nd year player, and I think some of us are forgetting that. We're also forgetting that he's playing on an OL with only one or two quality starters. It also probably doesn't help that he's not so good in pass-protection (he's not bad at run blocking) and the OC doesn't know how to call a run play.

This is the problem. Good linemen don't need other linemen to make them good. Byron Bell is terrible. Von Miller made him look like he belonged in pee wee football. Bell will never be a serviceable anything in the NFL.

[NCBoSoxfan21]

This is the problem. Good linemen don't need other linemen to make them good. Byron Bell is terrible. Von Miller made him look like he belonged in pee wee football. Bell will never be a serviceable anything in the NFL.

Tell that to Joe Thomas. The line collapses around Weeden all the time, you think Thomas is crap?

[homestarunner93]

Far from decent. Bell never was and never will be good. He's trash. If you need a good player next to you to be good, then you aren't very good individually.

[N.E.PanthersFan]

I don't think Bell is good, but in his defense, Miller makes a LOT of linemen look like pee wees. I think Bell is an above average backup and will probably be exactly that next year.

I find it interesting that you're so hard on Byers but willing to be supportive of Bell, given that Byers is a backup in his first year in the league, just like Bell was last year. I don't think Byers is good either, but if you're going to apply the argument to one, apply it to both.

[homestarunner93]

I don't think Bell is good, but in his defense, Miller makes a LOT of linemen look like pee wees. I think Bell is an above average backup and will probably be exactly that next year.

I find it interesting that you're so hard on Byers but willing to be supportive of Bell, given that Byers is a backup in his first year in the league, just like Bell was last year. I don't think Byers is good either, but if you're going to apply the argument to one, apply it to both.

You're talking to someone other than me in the second paragraph, correct?

[N.E.PanthersFan]

You're talking to someone other than me in the second paragraph, correct?

Correct. That was directed at manbearchef, who picked up on it.

The reason I like Bell is he has the size to play RT, and from the interviews I've seen with Gross, the OL and coaches like his work ethic. I think if he can develop (he's only 23) his technique (preferably as a backup) he could become a startable RT or RG. Do I think he'll ever be a top lineman in the NFL, or even a top 2 OL on our team? No, but like I said, he could play a similar role that Otah was supposed to play for our team if he could grasp the technique better.

I'm hoping we draft a long-term OT this year so we can have Gross-Silatolu-Kalil-Piggy-Rookie as starters and then let Bell be a backup and see if he can develop into a starter.

I think that's mostly fair, if you're planning on drafting your future LT and having Bell take over at RT when Gross retires. Comparing him to Otah isn't fair to either guy. Ability-wise, Otah is very much Bell's superior. Willingness-to-put-in-the-offseason-work-wise, Bell wins.

I'd love to see Gross-Silatolu-Kalil-Hangartner-rookie for a couple years, then nolongerarookie-Silatolu-Kalil-Hangartner-Gross until Hangartner and Gross retire. You wait a couple years for a couple reasons: let the rookie get some experience before he's guarding the QB's blindside, and let Silatolu have some more time working between Gross and Kalil while the rookie works next to Hangartner. I guess you could completely mirror the line instead, switching the guards in addition to move Gross to RT.

He wasn't thrust into a starting spot. Rivera gave it to him from the start, because he's an incompetent idiot. He knew he hated Jeff Otah and wanted him gone, and yet the team did not pursue another RT to compete for the job. That's is an utter failure by both Hurney and Rivera. I don't think Bell is ever going to "do well" at RT no matter who is playing next to him, because he isn't athletic enough to attempt to deal with anything above an average NFL DE.

Rivera gave him the spot when Otah got injured last year. Rivera gave him the spot this year presumably because Otah wasn't working hard enough and Rivera wanted to push him. Pursuing another RT would have been a great idea (*cough* Hurney *cough*), but can we be sure that they absolutely didn't? I mean, they did get Campbell this off-season, maybe that's the best they could get?


And lastly, this:

If we can build our team's trenches we'd be a lot better off.