Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED HARDIN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: ROCK HILL, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
The Carolina backfield will be filled with fullbacks Sunday when the Panthers play the St.Louis Rams. And the Carolina sideline will be lined with tailbacks - inexperienced, injured and in-between tailbacks who either don't know the plays or can't stand without crutches.
``I'm very concerned,'' coach Dom Capers said Wednesday after spending another day with another set of running backs. ``You're always concerned when you have changes. It's always concerning when you feel like you start to get a pretty good rhythm going. The last four games we've been able to establish the run better.''
Derrick Moore was injured Sunday after gaining 576 yards in eight games. Before that, the Panthers went through a long period of searching for runners who were willing and able to run Carolina's system.
Barry Foster came to camp with the starting job, a job he lost to Tony Smith after a series of injuries and missed workouts. Foster was cut.
Smith broke a leg and is on the injured reserve list.
Smith was followed, in no particular order, by Randy Baldwin and Derrick Lassic, who kept coming up lame and was finally cut. In the meantime, the likes of Eddie Fuller and Dewell Brewer took their shots at the job. Somewhere along the way, along about the time Vernon Turner appeared and disappeared from the Panthers' backfield, a billboard went up near uptown Charlotte.
``A New Set of Wheels,'' the signs says. Pictured were Foster, Lassic and Baldwin. The Panthers have added - and lost - a lot of wheels since that sign went up.
On Tuesday, Baldwin was cut along with Vince Workman, another runner whose time came and went without notice in Charlotte. In their place, the Panthers invited Blair Thomas, who has been out of football since Atlanta cut him in the preseason, Anthony Johnson, who was waived by the Chicago Bears, and Dino Philyaw, a practice-squad acquisition from the New England Patriots.
The latest round of cuts and additions was prompted only in part by the injury to Moore, who sprained a knee and is out for an indefinite amount of time. Capers said Johnson could play the role of Workman and Baldwin if need be.
Thomas will fill in at tailback while Moore is out.
``I'm thinking long-term,'' Thomas said.
``I'll be playing in three weeks,'' Moore said. ``Mark that down.''
A lot could happen between now and then, and Moore knows it. Sunday will be hard on the Panthers' leading rusher. ``Standing on the sideline will be the biggest frustration,'' Moore said with a hint of bitterness. ``We have not sustained an injury that will have any impact on what kind of player I am. That doesn't change, no matter who they bring in here.''
Moore will stand and watch Sunday as Capers runs through his playbook, a playbook that doesn't include a lot of running plays for fullbacks. But as of now, Capers has only two runners who know the playbook - fullbacks Howard Griffith and Bob Christian.
The depth chart behind those two is not as clear cut. Baldwin and Workman were released to make room for Johnson, perceived as a better special-teams player than Baldwin and a better third-down receiver than Workman. Thomas was brought in as insurance in case Moore's injury doesn't respond quickly to rehabilitation. Nate Turner, who has not carried the ball since signing with the Panthers, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Butler By'not'e, a running back brought in to back up Baldwin and Moore, decided to become a cornerback.
Capers has no plans to force By'not'e to learn the offensive playbook, and when it became apparent the team needed runners there was no attempt to locate Foster or Lassic or Brewer or Fuller or Vernon Turner. The Panthers had experience looking for replacement backs. It took only one day to locate Thomas and Johnson.
While the two newcomers learn the playbook and the Carolina system, Capers will turn over his offense to the fullbacks.
That might mean a lot of dives into the line and more passing than usual. But it also could mean confusion for either the Panthers or the Rams between now and Sunday.
``We're not certain what players the Carolina offense will use,'' said Rich Brooks, St.Louis' coach. ``It's making us work overtime here. It extended our evening by about three hours [Tuesday] night.''
by CNB