DaveThePanther2008

I have been very supportive of Evero because we focused on the offensive line last year. Then Brown went down, followed by Shaq and on and on. I believed that no one could have run a great defense with our 2024 roster and all the injuries. This year we added some really nice pieces to the starting line up and several depth pieces but once the starters came out of the game our defense looked like 2024 all over again. I recently read an article that has him stoking the fire on his hot seat. Has Evero lost his ability to run a defense? Is his scheme not achievable? I want him to succeed but I am getting worried everything we have tried to do this season will go for not if his scheme doesn't work. Thoughts?

Yes, I enjoyed Norwell's time here in Carolina. Also, it is much easier to overlook an offensive lineman than a DB. How Thornton slipped through 7 rounds is unbelievable but it's great DM and Co. got him to come here.

I know it's preseason and just one game but this kid Corey Thornton might just be one of the best UDFAs we've ever had. We've had our share but the CB position is one of the more difficult positions to play in the NFL. I've heard a little about him but he looks to be the real deal. The body slam on the reverse was sweet and he had a couple of pass defended. Good find, DM.

I know it's preseason and just one game but this kid Corey Thornton might just be one of the best UDFAs we've ever had. We've had our share but the CB position is one of the more difficult positions to play in the NFL. I've heard a little about him but he looks to be the real deal. The body slam on the reverse was sweet and he had a couple of pass defended. Good find, DM.

I'm in between on this. I look at the first half as my indicator whether we won or not. This is the majority of the roster. These are the players that are starters and solid backups. The second half are players fighting for a job. Those that win a roster spot will most likely be the type of players @Leeroy Jenkins Ph.D. Is referring to. Sure you want to win the game but how many preseason games are lost in the late 3rd and 4th quarters. Too many to count. One other factor that is being overlooked in this conversation is game planning. Preseason games are designed to work on the chemistry not exploiting the other teams weaknesses. While I do believe the coordinator may see a weakness during the game, they are not watching film and designing an offensive game plan. So take the first half and be happy or sad that's where most of the good stuff is.

You can go back to the New York Knicks somehow getting Patrick Ewing. I saw a story where they place the New York Knick card in the freezer right before the drawing. It was simple. Show everyone the cards are undetectable to the human eye. All they had to do was grab the coldest card. IMO ever since Goodell took over the NFL it has been fishy. Patriots winning the SB after 9/11, New Orleans after Katrina and Peyton Manning's going away gift against us. The terrible calls during that game were blatantly one sided. New England should have been stripped of their first 3 SB when they were caught spying on the other team in their SB wins. I think the evidence against the Patriots was so damning Goodell felt it could ruin football and they brushed it under the table. In the 2004 SB, How did we go from practically no yards in the first Quarter to setting a record in the 3rd Qtr. Dan Henning changes the game plan. IMO probably the greatest half time adjustment of all time.

I think the difference is that this year we are basing our hype over players and not the coaching staff. Especially under Reich. The star-studded coaching staff was going to put us back on top. This year the offense improves with the addition of TMAC and keeping all our O-line assets on the roster plus we added depth at RB and TE. Evero was retained because, IMO, he didn't have any talent to work with outside of a couple of players. This year almost every position was address and IMO better depth. There are a few question marks but the improvement of the D-line may help cover some flaws in the backend. I am more excited about this season, talent wise, than I have been in several years.

I would like to see the Starters in the first 2 preseason games get about 2 series each. The final game should be those that are fighting for a roster spot. Plus I don't expect to see any real difficult plays being run. Very vanilla

I'd rather hear this rumor than some of the crazy ones I've seen over the past month or so. I like the idea of Simmons just because he has history with Evero. Less of a learning curve. AND we could use another veteran safety.

The possible lineups with our WR room is awesome. You can go big with TMAC, XL and Coker, You can go fast with TMac, XL and Horn. Possession with Renfro, Theilan and TMAC. Not to mention Etienne and Hubbard out of the backfied or Tremble and Sanders from the TE spot. So many different combos. As it was said before, at least on paper, this is probably the best and deepest WR room we may have ever had.

Yet the lyrics in their music has a "bad" word every other word.

Richardson availablity is hindering his development. I liked him as well and thought a good QB coach could help him. I am glad they didn't take my advice.

Gettleman rode the coattail of best QB in the league and did nothing to support him. He let Agent 89 walk when we had zero talent at WR. For all his talk about hog mollies he did very little at consistently upgrading the lines. He gambled on questionable talent and put us in the direction we are in now. Focusing on the first season record is a weak argument. Dan fixed our offensive line in one season and was trying to do the same for the defense but that failed miserably because of the injuries we suffered. Everyone knew it was talent not scheme which is why Evero is still our DC. This year we focused on defense and depth and of course a new toy for Bryce. I think we've improved just about every room and have much better depth. I clearly see a much better direction and focus than we've ever had before.

As long as we have Young as our QB the offensive line will have to be a strength. We saw how bad he looked his rookie year. Give Cam Newton this line and we win several Super Bowls.

And our division Foes have the same basic schedule. Win the division. Get into the playoffs and go for it all. If we lose in the playoffs we at least have experience in the playoffs. I'll take the playoff experience over a couple of draft spots. We just have to hope DM and DC can continue to pick studs in the draft.

It benefits us if Miami and Ramsey aren't getting along. They are probably looking for a trade partner and being one of those possible trade partners is a good thing. I wouldn't give up any more than a 3rd rounder, preferably a 4th, but more importantly I would want Miami to absorb as much of his contract as we can get. There have been several trades over the years where the receiving team gets relief from the trading team. I don't believe we should do it unless there is substantial relief from his contract. His familiarity of Evero and his defense really makes sense I just don't want us to have to be straddled with his contract for the next 3 or 4 seasons.

It's not impossible to go from worst to first. We kept Evero because anyone in there right mind knew our defense was destroyed by injuries, not the scheme. Evero has been given a plethora of talent between free agency and the draft, not to mention getting DB back. I fully expect our defense to be very good. I have no reason to think Jones would say something like that unless he truly felt like that.

Couple of IFs. The first IF is pretty easy. If we continue to play offensively like we did the end of the season I believe we are going to stay in games as far as points are concerned. The second IF is the key to the season. Our defense is going to be key this season. We brought is some really good defensive players through free agency. If Evero's defense comes around and plays the way we are designed to I believe we'll be on the upper hand on the scoreboard. If both IFs go in our favor I look for a 9-8 to 11-6 record. If either of the two don't pan out we could be looking at 6-11 to 8-9 mark.

IMO Evero will have no excuses for a bad defense. I believe we have depth at most of our defensive positions.

Well if you are going to take advice from anyone you're not going find anyone better than these two legends.

After their rookie season draft position has nothing to do with playing time. XL is going to have to fight for it. What I hope is XL has trained all off-season to improve his hands. Best thing is XL can only go up.

While I don't expect him to be a featured WR, I do believe there are going to be some plays designed to have him on the field with TMAC and XL. The possibility of stretching the defense is going to help us whether we are running it or passing. I predict he'll make some chunk plays for us.

A rookie with 3 different QBs in one season. (good and bad Young and Dalton). Some terrible drops, I am sure he still envisions the drop against Philly every day. Reduce the drop and more confidence in what he is doing is going to help him. I love AT,JC and TMac in our WR room but XL will be a big part of our offense. No way are we just going to slide a first round pick to the bottom of the pecking order because of a weak rookie season.

He makes a good point about Wallace. In fairness to Wallace it is hard to play your position as freely as you need to when your defensive line is getting pushed around like ragdolls. One of the greatest attributes a defensive line has is sucking up blocks, freeing up your linebackers. Our defensive line couldn't suck up a lollipop more or less blocks. I think Evans, Sanders and Tremble are going to be a really nice TE group. I can see all three getting time on the field. If Sanders can improve as a blocker teams won't be so inclined to believe it is a pass play whenever Sanders is on the field. Ryan Fitzgerald, I think was an awesome pick-up. Hopefully he can fill our kicker void. Luke Kandra many turn out to be our next Norwell. Everything I have heard about him says he's a beast. He needs some refinement, but the good news is he's got Hunt and Lewis (arguably the best guard tandem in the league) to learn from.

Great teams build through the draft and have several young players that start that are on rookie contracts. It's important to hit on players in rounds 4 thru 7. These should be future starters and solid depth. When you hit on most of your picks you free up a lot of cap space for those one- or two-year players to fill spots you are thin at. No GM is going to perfect on all their picks. You're going to whiff every once in a while. That was Hurney problem. He'd nail the first pick but after that it was reach after reach and we couldn't get any depth on this team. I'm excited about Morgan as our GM and hopefully he'll be around a long time. It will be even better if Canales can continue to grow as a head coach, both in the development of young players and play calling. I remember last season after Young came back in the lineup and started to perform well. We saw different plays I had only seen other teams use. If Canales's play design and play calling continue to grow. Morgan and Canales will be linked together for a long time. It would be nice to see a Coach and GM together for a decade or two. Go Panthers