Jason Avant is Gone: What It Could Mean
Jason Avant was cut yesterday by the Carolina Panthers. The move has that double edged feeling to it. On one hand, wide receiver Avant came out and criticized the play calling that led to the Panthers’ loss versus Atlanta. On the other hand, Avant was a third wide receiver on a team looking for answers. Avant is a big dude, but he is not lightning fast.
More from Carolina Panthers
- Carolina Panthers: Secondary battles to watch in training camp 2020
- Carolina Panthers: 2020 training camp kicks off on Tuesday
- Carolina Panthers: Familiarity should help offense in 2020
- Carolina Panthers: Better or worse at running back in 2020?
- Carolina Panthers: Ranking the NFC South quarterback rooms
So which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did Avant know he was likely to be cut and therefore went ahead with criticizing the gameplan? Or did Avant just lose it for a moment after a ‘must win’ game and now is paying the price for criticizing the leadership?
Either way, Avant was dead on in his comments reported by Panthers writer Joseph Person. Avant said, “I’ve been in the league a long time. I know two things. You never want to give a team a chance to win a game, with how much time was left on the clock. And asking a kicker to make a 50-yard field goal with the game on the line is rough sledding.”
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/11/16/5321076/person-ron-riveras-sense-of-urgency.html#.VG0eisliP53#storylink=cpy
Which is right on. Your options on that drive were to turtle for a long field goal, or go for a touchdown and kick a field goal if you failed at that. Turtling ultimately gave the Falcons the ball in good position to win the game. If Gano misses a 25 yard field goal, maybe the Panthers can do something with that next possession at worst. We needed Riverboat Ron, and he was nowhere to be found. Could be up a creek.
Live Feed
BuffaLowDown
The other commentary on Avant was made by David Newton of ESPN who pointed out that the Panthers are facing a lot of man defenses that are okay staying in man. This is because they either do not fear the current Panther receivers getting behind them, or they believe their pass rush will disrupt enough that it will not matter.
In this case, Avant was cut to make way for Brenton Bersin or Philly Brown to see more time on the field. He might have been benched anyway, but his comments gave the personnel people enough reason to just let him go.