Ron Rivera’s Impact on the #1 Pick

The coaching carousel is in full swing but it looks like the Panthers are about to jump off.  Former San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera has emerged as a likely candidate for the position.  According to several sources Rivera was brought in for a 2nd interview and only the details of a contract stand in the way.  Rivera is in a interesting position in that he will be potentially taking over a team that has the #1 overall pick in the draft.  He has a unique opportunity to put his touch immediately on this football team.

Last week the Panther’s plans changed when Andrew Luck decided to return to Stanford for another season.  Since Luck’s decision to return there has been a every growing debate on who would be the #1 overall pick. The consensus group of names include Da’Quan Bowers, Nick Fairly, Patrick Peterson, Marcel Dareus, and AJ Green.  The one noticeable thing about that list of names is the majority are defensive players and some fit specific defensive systems better than others.  This is where the hire of Rivera will impact the draft as the decision of defensive scheme will determine the direction the Panthers go in April’s draft.

The unique thing about Rivera is that he has experience running both the 4-3 and 3-4 defenses so there is a lot of speculation on what system he will bring to Carolina.  Rivera was great defensive player for the Chicago Bears while playing under Buddy Ryan, who ran an attacking 4-3 defensive system.  Rivera then spent significant time on the staff of Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson who also employed a blitzing 4-3 defensive scheme.  He then took the position of defensive coordinator in Chicago and ran Lovie Smith’s cover 2 scheme.  After some creative differences Rivera moved to San Diego where he oversaw their 3-4 scheme.  That is a lengthy history of many different schools of thought which makes it tough to get a feel for Rivera’s preference.  The one thing you could determine is that Rivera has the ability to devise a defense to fit any personnel and many feel the Panthers are a good fit for a version of the 4-3 defense.

After looking over Rivera’s history and the current Panthers roster I strongly feel he will go with an aggressive 4-3 defensive scheme which leads me to believe that Da’Quan Bowers and Nick Fairly are the leading candidates for the #1 overall pick.  I will be closely watching the developments of the Rivera hire and continue to look for clues on what system he will run.  Keep checking back as we further discuss and debate the possible directions of the Carolina Panthers.