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Maybe it doesn’t matter how it is billed. But I know there are about a billion reasons named for why Bryce Young has stunk. The simplistic answer is probably the right one. It’s Bryce. A unicorn NFL QB in terms of the tools he works with. Frank Reich wasn’t Rhule. It was that bad because of Bryce. whatever scenario Bryce is in, I just think his tools aren’t strong enough and brings things down. Where you want the opposite effect to occur. What was last year a little better than the first year? Most expensive OL in the NFL. the cute random scrambles don’t make up for the lack of arm at this level. He can’t scare a D if he isn’t set…arm can’t make those throws. Even when set it’s iffy if he can actually make teams pay with certain throws. Just a very low ceiling QB in terms of his arm. I think there is enough play where that’s not a hot take.

They traded away their 1st next year also to get James Pearce Jr. Really hope this blows up in the Falcons face. I don't care how it happens, I just want to win the division this year. Zero sympathy for other team's issues. And our pass rush looks like it needs all the help it can get.

I would have released him this season, tbh and worked with Christensen out there.

10/10. We're due for some good luck, and I think this team is much better than what we've had the last 2 seasons. Defensive injuries could derail us b/c our depth there is still questionable. Still worried about the pass rush getting pressure without blitzing. Pleasantly surprised by the secondary and run defense. Dan Morgan has done a lot to resurrect this roster from the deplorable position Fitterer left it in by showing some scouting chops with hitting on these guys drafted in the later rounds or UDFAs. Lathan Ransom & Corey Thornton both look like they fit this scheme and the NFL isn't too big for them. I'm as excited for the rookie trifecta of T-Mac, Scourton, and Princely as I can remember. On paper, this offense is the most talented since 2021, maybe 2017, and maybe 2015. None of that means this team will produce any better, but this team has offensive talent & depth like we have rarely had in team history. If you don't believe me, go Google it. We've had some awful offensive collections overall in many years, to varying degrees mitigated by superstar talents like Steve Smith, Christian Mccaffrey, or Cam Newton. I honestly think the collective offensive talent in 2025 may be better, but Cam was so otherworldly in 2015 & 2017 that he covered any flaws. Seriously, though, Cam doesnt get enough love for 2017. I think that may have been his best season. In general, Cam doesn't get enough respect IMHO. Both in college and in the NFL, Cam took teams that without him would have had no chance and won. True definition of a guy who elevated his team. To be clear, I am in no way am I saying this team will be better than 2017 or 2015. My point is that the offensive talent is there on offense if Bryce can unlock it. I've been a Bryce supporter, but there are no excuses not to perform with this group. This isn't the disaster we gave him in 2023 or a new scheme like in 2024 where I think he hadn't mentally removed from his rookie season to start. I dont know how you couldnt be excited about that. And we still compete in a division that isn't insurmountable. I got got in 2023 like most of us in buying into the team propaganda, but in general, I think I'm pretty realistic about the team. I knew in my heart we would be bad last year. I wasnt expecting the defense to be that bad or Bryce to start off that poorly, but I had no expectations whatsoever for making the playoffs. And I genuinely think we will be competitive all year this season. I think we win 8-9 games and compete for the division. I think the ceiling is 11 wins, and the floor is 7. The good news is after next week, we will all be proven right or proven wrong. Keep Pounding!

Fact is he’s 35. Is in his final year. Get something now while you can. Chances are, he’s retiring or going back to Minnesota on a 1 year deal at the end of the season anyways.

Bingo

That’s no good, especially looking at Penix’s injury history in college. They have to keep him upright.

If his knees continue to decline, what's your plant at RT with Moton eating up a ton of cap? All we had to do was see how his knees hold up this year and then move forward accordingly, but noooooo....

Their GM has done a good job building that roster no doubt. I’m a little confused to this offseason’s approach of letting the OL get broken up with such a young promising QB on a rookie deal.

Doesn’t matter how it was billed. Bryce was billed as the most NFL and that turned out to be false too. Chark can’t find a team, Mingo did nothing with the Cowboys, Hurst is pretty much retired, and our OGs allowed instant pressure. So you have a rookie QB with multiple voices in his head trying to run a NFL offense with no protection and AT as the only weapon. Would Stroud have played better? Probably because Stroud is the better QB, but he still would have struggled. Stroud came down a little this past year as his OL had some injuries and his weapons got hurt. You can look at Stroud vs the Ravens to see how he operates with instant pressure. No QB is thriving in that environment and I’m a pretty big Stroud Stan.

In your opinion. What do you think Moton's true value in contract, dollars and guarantees? If we had not extended him, what is your plan for RT in 27 and 28? How important are good offensive linemen for our current offense? How much value do you put on protecting Bryce at this stage of his career? How difficult in general do you think finding above average tackles in the NFL is?

The Falcons have 2 significant offensive line injuries to start the 2025 season. Right tackle Kaleb Mcgary (who is the blindside protector for Penix since he is left-handed) is going to miss significant time, and it's looking more like it may be all season. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/falcons-expect-kaleb-mcgary-to-miss-significant-time https://x.com/BKsquared7/status/1959285822236107013. Also, the top backup and swing tackle, Storm Norton (cool name BTW) is having ankle surgery and may miss half the season. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/falcons-ot-storm-norton-out-6-8-weeks-after-ankle-surgery I don't root for injuries, but its also hard to be too sympathetic given how badly injuries have hit us in recent years. We definitely need to get that W in week 3 for our home opener at BOA. Despite our collective frustration at not being able to attend TC and then having boring preseason games, ultimately the most important objective of the preseason is to enter Week1 healthy, and we have at least done that. Hopefully the depth we think we have at Oline either shines through or isn't needed. Many other teams are in a bad spot with their offensive lines before the season even starts. For once, we aren't in that situation.

That roster was billed as a super smart and strong unit for a young QB….until he sucked though. it didn’t have superstars but it had proven vets that checked well all the safe boxes and it was universally agreed the Panthers were putting him into position to succeed. BY just doesn’t fit a traditional O because he isn’t built like a traditional QB. And he still doesn’t. CJ Stroud would have had more success here than Bryce with that cast. CJ just has the tools that fit the NFL more easily. Young can find success but I have always argued it would take a Bryce centric plan (which we have never attempted IMO)

looks like the Lions and Bangles should forget about the playoffs, trade everyone they can, and start over.

Ball game. College football, I have missed you so.

WR: Nico, Woods, Tank (R) TE: Schultz OL: Tunsil/Howard/Deiter/Mason/Fant vs. WR: Chark, Thielen, Mingo (R) TE: Hurst OL: Icky/Zavala (R)/Bozeman/Jensen (R)/Moton Panthers' had the better OL before losing BC week 1 and AC week 4 which is kind of ironic considering how in the following year DB went down in W1 and Shaq in W4 resulting in the defense going all to Hell. CJ has done amazing in Houston, but he also wasn't asked to carry Zavala, Jensen, Mingo, Hurst, and Chark as a rookie. Him and Bryce both got their vets (Woods/Thielen), but their WR1s (Nico vs. Chark) and rookie WRs (Tank vs. Mingo) couldn't have been further apart.

Past 5 seasons, IMO CJ Stroud and Joe Burrow are the 2 best young QBs that have emerged in the league in that window. They also didn’t need vets to be their primary pass catchers. They helped fellow youngsters be great at WR. almost all the other young QBs have been paired up with vets in their top options….and haven’t been as promising. so it isn’t Madden. But the league hasn’t played out as you suggest it does. Good QBs make others around them better.

In 2023 their roster wasn’t stacked. They nailed the poo out of the 2023 draft and since they knew Davis Mills wasn’t the guy, they tanked properly to get pick 2. They also took Cleveland’s ridiculous offer for Watson unlike us with Burns. Houston received enough draft capital to jump up to 3 while picking up the right guys in Anderson and Stroud. The Texans were not stacked or better than us in 2023. They had 11 total wins from 2020 to 2022. They didn’t have a terrible front office so they made sure they got their QB of the future while tanking well and getting more draft picks. They are a textbook study of what we should have done in 2022/2023 offseason even though people in here still think tanking is a bad word and our culture would be bad if we were the Texans. We literally had the chance to be the Texans right now and fuged it up.

Lol. This kills me. If Thielen is our most reliable WR, that’s a problem. We’ve spent two 1sts and found a gem of an UDFA in our last two drafts above and beyond the trading DJ Moore and multiple 1sts and 2nds for Young. Thielen isn’t going to be part of any future we have and if we can’t survive losing him for a 4th, that says more about us needing a new QB and another 2 WRs. After our past 3 drafts, that’s better not be the case. Either we’ve got the young WRs and QB or we don’t. Keeping Thielen at age 35 shouldn’t be a priority unless you are saying Legette, TMac and Young can’t produce without him.

So where would Tank and Nico be on this team's depth chart? At least 1 and 3 with TMac. 1 and 2 if TMac needs a little time to adjust.

"If the Panthers trade Adam Thielen, their top 3 WRs will be a rookie and two second-year guys. All talented, but that's a lot to put on them. Not to mention CAR is trying to build on Bryce Young's strong finish in '24. Dan Morgan shouldn't just hand Thielen back to Minn." Joe Person

Yeah, but we haven't had a Nico or Tank level player here since Smitty. Coker and XL have potential, but they're projects. Hopefully TMac is closer to a good NFL receiver out the gate.

I love the time between preseason and the start of the regular season where the Panthers are not a losing team. We only get it for a short period each season but it is truly a magical time.

Maybe this will help? I dunno I'm headed to work so can't watch yet

It's football. I'll take it!