NFL Trade Rumors
Atlanta used a future first-round pick to move back into the first round and grab DE James Pearce Jr. Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich outlined Pearce’s profile and highlighted his wide assortment of pass rush moves and elite combination of size and athleticism.
“His demonstrated win-rate, his demonstrated bag of moves whether its beating you with his 4.4 speed of the edge or his ability to counter, that, and I don’t think he gets enough credit for the amount of power that he has in his body as well,” Ulbrich said, via Tori McElhaney of the team’s website. “He’s got the full arsenal. Can we improve it? There’s no doubt. But the starting point is so much better than most.”
“Evaluating him, you see the speed, you see the explosion, the ability to bend and turn the corner tight — all the things great rushers have — but the movement is so exceptional at times, that speed, that you think he is 6-foot-1, or 6-foot-2. You think he is a smaller man because the movement is fantastic.”
Atlanta OLB coach Jacquies Smith reflected on Pearce’s combine performance, where he had zero doubts his tremendous testing would translate to the field based on his tape.
“With James it was evident at the combine,” Smith said. “I am sure he wowed a lot of people with what he ran, but you always like to see guys like James who do run fast at the combine, does it translate on tape? Do you see that type of speed on tape? With him, you see that juice is real. You see it all the time. So, it isn’t just something where a guy is out there running fast at the combine and then doesn’t show it on tape. He shows it on tape. It’s all over the tape, honestly.”
Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard has been with the team long enough to know that he and his teammates are sick of losing and are ready to turn things around.
“Guys that have been here throughout the years, through the ups and downs, they’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re sick and tired of it,'” Hubbard told Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer. “The new people that we brought in from winning cultures, they’re like, ‘We’re ready. We’re ready to win here.’ So we’re all kind of coming together. Building a good chemistry. The right culture. And it’s all centered around winning.”
“If the goal isn’t to make the playoffs and win a Super Bowl, you’re selling yourself short,” Hubbard added “So that’s always been the goal. That’s the goal this year. And I think we’re the closest we’ve ever been.”
Veteran WR Adam Thielen is also hoping to help turn things around despite not knowing how much more he has left in the tank.
“I think guys are finally sick of being the same ol’, same ol’ Carolina Panthers,” Thielen noted. *“I think we want to get back to what they did here in the...
