The second instalment of The Option Route series now takes a closer look at New York Giants wide receiver, Sterling Shepard. If you’re not familiar with the purpose of this series, it is to focus on a chosen wide receiver and illustrate what he does well. I’ll be demonstrating his traits, including athletic ability, route-running,…
Welcome to a new series here at Inside the Pylon called The Option Route. This one has a primary focus on the wide receiver position. The idea for this series stems from another great series you may be familiar with here at ITP, the Under the Microscope series from my ITP colleague Brandon Thorn who…
Series Introduction: A scheme fit is when a player’s traits and abilities line up with a certain coach’s style and scheme. Imagine if every NFL team could draft a player that fit perfectly into their scheme. That would benefit both the teams and the players simultaneously, as general managers and coaches wouldn’t be putting a…
The start of the NFL season is upon us (finally!) and before the Week 1 action concludes, it is important to look at all the rosters to see which teams currently have holes and which teams are stacked. Jeff Feyerer used his roster evaluation system to break down each team’s roster and see which teams are primed…
The San Francisco 49ers should improve over last year’s debacle of a season, where they finished 5-11. Beyond addressing regular team needs, new coach Chip Kelly is probably facing his last chance to try his no-huddle offense in the NFL. Much-criticized for not managing the clock properly, the style does provide some unique and interesting…
Although the Carolina Panthers lost Superbowl 50 and then, late in the offseason, cut ties with their best defensive back, the future looks bright. The offense is sure to be dynamic and their linebacking corp is as skilled as ever. Brett Casella, however, thinks that the Panthers secondary will be better than many believe, which bodes…
The first round saw some talented defensive backs selected early by teams hoping to slow opposing offenses down. But more talent is still on the board in the secondary. After tirelessly watching tape and writing profiles this draft season, Dave Archibald has some thoughts on who might hear their name called in the remaining rounds. The first round of the NFL…
From time to time NFL GMs must make difficult moves in order to preserve cap space or set their team up for a Super Bowl run. Last week GM Dave Gettleman made a move that saw the Carolina Panthers pull a Bill Belichick. Dave Archibald explains how Gettleman’s move is reminiscent of a move the…
Super Bowl 50 features the Carolina Panthers against the Denver Broncos. Ted Nguyen looks at the Broncos offense versus the Panthers defense, and what will happen when Denver has the ball, in part 2 of his game preview. Though the Carolina offense often outshines their defensive counterparts, the Panthers defense has played well themselves this season, finishing the…
How do NFL teams allocate resources? Dave Archibald has looked at the real price of contract extensions and draft picks on quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, offensive linemen, the trends on offense in general and cornerbacks. In this installment, he looks at Super Bowl investment how the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos were built. The divergent approaches of the…
In preparation for the Super Bowl, Inside the Pylon’s editors have compiled everything we have on the Carolina Panthers defense. Rolling Coverage From: NFL Preview Week 3: NFC South Rivals Carolina And New Orleans by Dave Archibald The Panthers had a solid pass defense in 2014, ranking 12th in the NFL in opponent yards per attempt, but…
The Carolina Panthers defense heads into the the NFC Championship Game riding high, led by the best linebacker in the NFL, and cornerback Josh Norman. Daniel Syed breaks down Norman’s amazing field awareness which led to a sack of the Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. With 1:51 left in the 3rd quarter of the Divisional Round,…
Inside the Pylon wants to provide quality, educational and engaging content to our readers. Got a question about football? We will answer it, either here in a future edition of the ITP mailbag or in a longer article. Thanks for reading! Do the OSR/DSR statistics featured on your homepage have predictive value? Mike Backherms: In…
How do NFL teams allocate resources? Dave Archibald has looked at the real price of contract extensions and draft picks on quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, offensive linemen, and the trends on offense in general. In this installment, he looks at how teams evaluate cornerback investment. The New York Jets finished a disappointing 4-12 in 2014, and while a sputtering offense…
Inside The Pylon works to deliver quality football content to our readers. This Week in Football Writing collects some of our favorite pieces from friends and colleagues last week and shares them with you. Purdue Fires a Champion of Athletes’ Rights Joe Nocera asks whether Purdue University fired their offensive coordinator for being too supportive of the rights of student-athletes in…
Two weeks into the 2015 NFL season, the Carolina Panthers have met or exceeded expectations, while NFC South rivals the New Orleans Saints have fallen far short. Dave Archibald looks at the Panthers stout defense and Saints faltering offense. The Panthers have ridden a swarming, blitz-heavy zone scheme to one of the stingiest pass defenses…