Dan Connor

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Dan Conner, LB for Carolina.  He led the Big10 in tackles at Penn State just a few years ago.  Do you think he'll get a shot?  I think, at very least, he's a deep sleeper.  Your thoughts?

I definitely think he's a great sleeper. I currently have him ranked #50 in my redraft rankings. During training camp, the Panthers have been playing Beason on the weak side and having Connor run with the 1st team in the middle. This moves makes sense for Carolina. Beason was projected as a WLB coming out of college and Carolina runs a lot of cover-2 schemes which funnel the plays to the weak side on most occasions.

I think Connor can be a solid LB3. Something about those Penn State linebackers I just love.

- Ryan

I agree.  I think he's a very late round guy in most drafts who is, at the moment, showing up as a starter in Carolina.  He was such a good tackler at PSU.  Think about the possibility of Posluszny-like numbers (except, not quite THAT good with Beason around) for a FRACTION of the cost.

As a follow-up, it looks as though Connor is only going to be a two-down linebacker and will come out in the nickel packages. Beason and James Anderson will stay in on 3rd downs. This puts a slight dent in Connor's overall value for this year, but I still like him as a solid LB4.

With only being a 2 down LB, what kind of tackle numbers should we expect?  

Even though he's only a two-down linebacker, Connor should still be able to put up 75-85 solos, 10-15 assists, and maybe a sack or two. Nothing spectacular, but he will be serviceable nonetheless. I will be using him a matchup-based type IDP.