Second-Year Leap Scenarios: DT's Terrell McClain and Sione Fua Must Bring It

Head coach Ron Rivera and general manager Marty Hurney spent two of the Carolina Panthers’ first three picks of the 2011 NFL draft on defensive tackles: Terrell McClain in the third round at pick No. 65 and Sione Fua in the third round at pick No. 97.

Neither lived up to expectations for the rookie season.

McClain had 19 tackles and a sack in 12 games, while Fua played in just 11 games and recorded nine tackles.

Even though he admitted the Panthers weren’t good enough at defensive tackle in 2011, Rivera said that time is what’s needed.

"Everybody needs to relax and give us an opportunity to develop our players and see what we have," he said.

Rivera is so sure of that statement that he didn’t draft a defensive tackle in the 2012 NFL draft, even though top-notch players like Mississippi State’s Fletcher Cox and LSU’s Michael Brockers were available when Carolina picked in the first round.

What’s Rivera’s vision for fixing the issues that plagued the Panthers last year?

He eluded to it when he told everyone to relax. It’s time that’s going to fix things at defensive tackle. Well, time and development. And Rivera has numbers to back up his decision to avoid a defensive tackle in the 2012 draft.

"People can miss the point," Rivera said. "They say, 'We were so bad against the run.' When were we bad? Early in the year, when we threw a bunch of young guys to the wolves. It seems like some people don't want to believe in what our guys are doing."

Carolina finished the season with the 25th-ranked run defense in the league after giving up 130.8 yards per game. Bryan Strickland did some research of the Panthers’ game logs and found that there was vast improvement late in the season.

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The Panthers lost eight of their first 10 games in Rivera's first season on the sideline but won four of their final six to raise expectations for this season.

Along the same lines, the Panthers allowed 146.8 rushing yards per game over the first 10 games, but even counting a dud of a finale at New Orleans, they allowed an average of 114.3 yards in the final six. Remove the 208 yards the Saints piled up while salting away a blowout victory, and the average dips to 95.6 yards per game.

Just two NFL teams allowed less than 95.6 rushing yards per game for the season.

Also over that five-game stretch, the defensive tackle group produced four sacks after recording a total of 2.5 in the first 10 games.

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That trend of improvement is what allowed Rivera and Hurney to look at other positions in last month’s draft instead of defensive tackle. But McClain and Fua must improve in 2012.

If the duo doesn’t show an upward swing towards the “breakout” label this year, the Panthers will be forced to consider their decision to avoid a defensive back in the 2012 draft a mistake. And the team will likely address the issue in the 2013 draft.

That wouldn’t bode well for McClain or Fua.