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For this to be the year of development, Princely really didn't get many snaps. And yes, I would hate to be a ten sack college player and ride the pine while QBs sat in the pocket all day to carve up my team. That's just competitiveness. I get the frustration.

Panthers aren’t going to moonwalk into another losing record and first round loss at home with Bryce Ball next season. Everything is just as likely to go wrong as everything went right this season. Even a simple regression to the mean costs this team games. Panthers finished their last five games with as many losses as bryce had shitty passes on his final drive. He and Canales whimpered into the off-season. Low info fans can cloak themselves and narratives and instagram hype videos from 1000 follower accounts all offseason. This isn’t a team built to compete this season in dogshit division and they’ve already committed to the thing holding them back the most. I’m sure when they go 5-12 next year it’ll be everyone’s fault except the two most obvious culprits. Evero has to be kept just so dumb low information fans can blame the best coach on the team.

Oh, you don't ask him to be the backup. He is just a warm body until you make your move for your QB. If it's a draft pick, you go sign a legit experienced vet to coach him up in the QB room. Maybe you ask him to start a couple games.

...Starting to believe it. Think Harbaugh will fix that.

No way we keep him on the roster if he's not the long-term starter. He's either the guy or he's gone. I know Bryce is a 'team guy', but asking him to backup as our former #1 pick because we are taking another 1st round QB is well beyond awkward.

Brady would NEVER go for it.

You're prolly right... I'd hate to get stuck with another bum like Matt Kalil thru FA.

Luckily, the Raiders have a long history of doing stupid things.

I mean, there is no way to know if that is what Carolina is doing or not without them acknowledging it... but it's not really laughable to suggest something we know happens in the NFL could be happening here. Bryce does have a habit of killing plays early. There is a stat that backs him killing more plays bailing on them than virtually everyone else in the league. Which would support the suggestion that he largely has his throw he is supposed to take.

Young should be the bridge qb. They should be looking for the future guy right now.

No, the most Panthers outcome would be a Murray/Tua-like extension after a completely mediocre year 4

Some bonedick sht repped me for saying it looks like the defense is getting soft again...Not sure what he was watching. That D philosophy has to get better.

Depends how the draft shakes out but I think a second round tackle is probably the better decision. I doubt they're gonna roll out a rookie LT starter in what could be a playoff caliber team next season. I expect Nijman and Christensen to battle for the starting LT spot with a rookie in the mix.

Coker needs to be signed long term ASAP but he might wait a year when he has a true breakout season, but he's rolling the dice on his injury history as well. Panthers should go sign some speed at WR behind him.

I said yesterday that I suspect that our pass rush would look a helluva lot better if we went back to a 4-3. The reason why I don't think Evero is some amazing defensive coordinator is because he doesn't put his players in the best position to succeed. He is slow to adapt, if he adapts at all (the same issue that I think Canales has on the offensive side of the ball). We just have to legitimately invest in the defense with some draft capital (like we did last year) and let this play out. Tepper will get tired of it eventually. I hate that we didn't just try to snatch Saleh when we had the chance. Some things are just too obvious.

Agree

Aho

Let’s get 5 in a row!

Like the coordinator, hate the scheme. I want to go back to 4-3 so bad therefore I fine with him leaving if that can happen.

The Panthers like their young talent on defense, but this would be about finding more significant solutions for some of their veterans on short-term, low-cost contracts. Ironically, two are former Rams in safety Nick Scott and linebacker Christian Rozeboom, both of whom were targeted by L.A. in coverage Sunday. No Carolina defender managed more than five sacks, so finding a veteran (or a first-round pick) on the edge who can create more pass pressure alongside Scourton and Princely Umanmielen would be a welcome addition. It's important to be realistic about where the Panthers are and what they've shown. This team finished 25th in DVOA and ESPN's Football Power Index. It was 8-9 against one of the league's easier schedules, the same performance that led the Falcons to fire Raheem Morris after two seasons in Atlanta. And after no-showing a win-and-in game against the Buccaneers last week, the Panthers needed Morris and his Falcons to beat the Saints, something Carolina wasn't able to do with two chances, to push coach Dave Canales' team into the postseason. And yet, there are meaningful signs of growth. The Panthers finished 21st in weighted DVOA, and while that's not going to push Canales into the Hall of Fame, it's a sign that they were improving as the season went along. They beat the Packers and Rams and came within a defensive stop of beating what might be the league's best team a second time. If they can stack a second effective offseason in a row, the Panthers might be in position to take over Tampa Bay's spot as the presumptive favorite in the NFC South in the years to come.

This

My bad again I was sure he was fired as well for that horrible down the stretch record. Him and Arron glenn for sure should have been fired. More so than raheem morris.

I would have rather heard this from scourton if it was going to come from a rookie. Dan better get us a pass rusher or two this off-season

I think Barnwell is one of the best NFL analysts and clearly knows his stuff. Here's what he had to say after the wildcard game, shared in its entirety. Thought Bryce played really well under a lot of pressure (but acknowledges his general limitations) and wasn't so flattering to Nijman. Also says with a good offseason, the Panthers can be the NFC south favorites for years to come. Carolina Panthers Lost 34-31 vs. Rams There are no moral victories in the playoffs, but for the Panthers, this might have been the closest thing to one imaginable. They were massive underdogs at home even after beating the Rams in Carolina this season, and expectations of repeating that feat in the rematch were low. When the Panthers quickly went down 14-0 after a failed fourth-down conversion and a Bryce Young interception handed the Rams a pair of short fields, a blowout victory for Los Angeles coach Sean McVay appeared to be on the horizon. Instead, the Panthers came all the way back to take the lead with 2:39 to go before the defense allowed a winning touchdown drive to Matthew Stafford. The veteran quarterback reportedly told receiver Davante Adams he was going to "snatch [the Panthers'] hearts'" on the final drive. A cold line, no doubt, but one you save for the Super Bowl when you know the NFL Films microphones are on the sideline, right? Stafford had to pull out his best material late in the wild-card round, both on and off the field, to get the Rams to the next round. I'm weirdly more optimistic about the Panthers after the playoff loss than I was after the regular-season win. The November win was obviously more satisfying, but the factors that led to it were unsustainable. The Panthers converted all three of their fourth-down tries, including two for long touchdown passes. With a Mike Jackson pick-six leading the way, the Panthers posted a plus-three turnover margin in the win; the last time that happened was in the Matt Rhule era with Baker Mayfield at quarterback, more than three years ago. Those plays matter and are meaningful, of course, but I'm not sure they're particularly sustainable as a formula for beating the Rams. And in those same spots Sunday, the Panthers' timing wasn't quite as impeccable. They went 0-for-3 on fourth down. Young threw an early pick to the Rams on a play in which Panthers receiver Jalen Coker, who otherwise had a breakout game, seemed to be on the wrong page after some pre-snap adjustments and stopped his route. Carolina rookie Trevor Etienne muffed a punt to give the Rams another short field, and while the Panthers got another Jackson interception and blocked a punt in the fourth quarter, the turnover margin for this game went down in Los Angeles' favor. (Should blocked punts count as turnovers?) Instead, this Panthers performance shined through the full 60 minutes, as they went toe-to-toe with the Rams on a down-by-down basis. They struggled early on defense, with Rams receiver Puka Nacua moving around the formation and flummoxing Carolina's zone coverage looks, but defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and his cornerbacks held up against Nacua and Adams and forced Stafford into what seemed like an endless run of contested throws to either sideline. They rode their luck a bit when Nacua dropped a would-be touchdown just before halftime, but the Panthers were able to limit explosive rushing plays and didn't allow a single drive over 50 yards before the fourth quarter. And on a day when Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle combined for 55 yards on 18 carries and the Panthers trailed by 14 points midway through the first quarter, so much of the game fell on Young's shoulders. His offensive line was a mess. Guard Robert Hunt tried to return early from a pectoral injury and clearly wasn't his usual self. The third-year pro lost left tackle Ikem Ekwonu to a ruptured patellar tendon early in the game, and replacement Yosh Nijman allowed four of the 14 quick pressures generated by the Rams, per NFL Next Gen Stats. That's tied for the fifth-most quick pressures by any defense in any game all season. Under the circumstances, I thought Young was excellent. The raw numbers aren't going to wow anyone, with the 2023 No. 1 draft pick completing 52.5% of his passes and averaging 6.6 yards per attempt, but Young's 74.4 Total QBR attests to how well he played given the pressure rate. He was repeatedly able to buy time and create out of structure, looking almost Tony Romo-esque as he spun his way out of interior pressure and got out of the pocket to find receivers. When Young wasn't pressured, he went 17-of-24 for 223 yards with a touchdown and that pick. He threw with anticipation to set up two chunk plays to Coker, who finished with nine catches for 134 yards and the touchdown that gave the Panthers their fourth-quarter lead. Young is never going to have the strongest arm, so he needs to anticipate voids before they come open, throw accurate passes to create YAC and alternately create out of structure. He did all three Saturday. I'm not suggesting that Young's fifth-year option was on the line in this game, because the indications were already that the Panthers were going to pick up the $26.5 million guarantee for Young to be on the roster in 2027. If Young had suffered through a disastrous game (think Sam Darnold's final start with the Vikings), though, that pickup might have come through gritted teeth. This was Young's most important start in a Panthers uniform, and he came through impressively. This is the first offseason in many years in which the Panthers won't have to make fixing the offense their primary focus. Acquiring a quarterback was problem No. 1, of course, and they've spent the past two offseasons desperately trying to get the right players around Young. Some of those moves haven't hit, but enough have to leave the offense in solid shape. Coker and presumptive Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan are the two young wideouts the Panthers have been hoping to find. They'll also have Jonathon Brooks as the second back alongside Hubbard to replace Dowdle next season. There's still work to be done, of course. Ekwonu is likely out six to 12 months, and the Panthers are on the hook for his $17.6 million fifth-year option in 2026. Nijman, a pending free agent, was a turnstile when forced into the lineup at left tackle. The Panthers probably need a short-term stopgap at left tackle if Ekwonu is not ready to go. Adding a tight end might also be on the docket if the Panthers weren't impressed by Ja'Tavion Sanders' second season. But really, this should be an offseason finally devoted toward adding defense. The Panthers signed Tershawn Wharton and Tre'von Moehrig in free agency, but when they used a second-round pick on edge Nic Scourton, it was the first time Carolina had used a first- or second-round pick on a defensive player since selecting Jaycee Horn in 2021.

You have to have sound footing to call out the DC. As Umanmielen routinely ran himself out of plays he's not the guy to throw those stones.