Season Review: Defensive Backs
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
panthers.com


The Panthers' first-team defensive backfield was the same at the season's end as it was when training camp began: Chris Harris and Charles Godfrey at the safety spots; Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall at cornerback. But returning to that point was something of an adventure, particularly at safety.

For the first month of the regular season, the Panthers made do without Chris Harris, who aggravated a knee injury in warmups before the season opener against Philadelphia and didn't see his first game action until a month later against Washington, by which time the team had dropped to 0-3.

When Harris returned, the original tandem of him with Godfrey lasted two-plus games, until Godfrey sustained an ankle injury that kept him out four weeks, pushing rookie Sherrod Martin into the starting lineup. By the time the season concluded, the Panthers had utilized three different starting safety combinations, with four safeties -- Harris, Godfrey, Martin and Quinton Teal -- each starting at least three games apiece.

Harris healed and eventually rediscovered his takeaway touch; in a five-week stretch of November and December, he intercepted three passes and forced two fumbles, thus accounting for a takeaway in five consecutive games.

Godfrey played the finest football of his brief career when he returned to the starting lineup following a four-game absence; the time he was able to spend watching the game from a distance helped expand his perspective and turn him into a ballhawk; he forced three fumbles and intercepted a pass in the season's last five weeks.

Martin only started five games but intercepted three passes in that span, allowing him to lead all NFC rookies in picks.

NO POSITION ON OFFENSE OR DEFENSE WAS MORE STABLE THAN CORNERBACK last year, as Gamble and Marshall each started and played in all 16 games, making theirs the only position group so blessed with health. Marshall grappled with an ankle injury throughout December, but it never kept him from a game, even though it prevented him from practicing on numerous occasions.

In some ways, their seasons were quite similar. They stayed fairly healthy, ranked 1-2 on the team in passes defensed, ranked among the team leaders in tackles (Marshall with 81; Harris with 70) and logged four interceptions apiece.

Marshall also finished fourth on the team in special-teams tackles with eight and was the only full-time first-teamer among the Panthers' top seven special-teams stoppers.

Gamble and Marshall's busy seasons were expected, but Captain Munnerlyn's might not have been given his status as a seventh-round pick. By the start of the regular season, the rookie was working as a nickel back, from where he logged 43 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.

C.J. Wilson and Dante Wesley also saw some work in the secondary. Wilson's occasional role was as a more traditional extra defensive back; Wesley, on the other hand, occasionally lined up in a linebacker-type position. This was used often in Week 8 at Arizona, allowing the Panthers to bring speedy coverage to the line of scrimmage and disrupt the Cardinals' quick routes, helping lead to a 34-21 win at University of Phoenix Stadium.


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