MasterAwesome

I'm not super optimistic about either of them on their own as individual players. But yeah as a duo, they just seem (on paper) to be a perfect complement to one another. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Johnson has Top 10 numbers this year.

Oh really? Don't make me release my DMs...!!

I'm pretty sure the "Cool" is just a play on words, considering it's a "cooling trailer". Clowney says this is the first time he's had a cooling trailer and he's played for 5 other teams before us, so it's at least somewhat innovative.

It's interesting how a position like "I'm not ready to write off Bryce Young yet" has for months been considered delusional cope by a very vocal and active group of posters on these boards, but with the broader general fanbase that's actually a relatively mild take that >90% would agree with. This just goes to show how incredibly radicalized the Huddle has become. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5644267/2024/07/18/carolina-panthers-fan-survey-results-bryce-young/

We talking about the same posters who call people "Tepper simps" for simply suggesting that people are overreacting to the Wilson firing? These are the super open-minded posters who are tolerant of differing opinions that are getting bullied by the "cope brigade"? Give me a break. People might take you more seriously if you did what you do best and "both sides" things. Pretending like there isn't toxicity from both groups is delusional. Instead, you singularly villainize one side...clearly because you're firmly entrenched in the other. Trust me we all wish you, as a Moderator, would take up the mantle as an impartial arbiter and regulate tensions between the two sides but you continuously just throw gasoline on the fire or even often light the match yourself, taking petty, often unprovoked childish jabs any chance you get. Speaking of mods...it's funny how Icege is just echoing the same exact things Rayzor (the People's Mod ) has been saying for a while now (even in the same snarky tone), and yet you respond to Rayzor with a very neutered, meek, submissive energy. Very sassy and combative when addressing normal posters though...I guess cowardly bullies are more comfortable punching "down" huh? For all the hate Tepper gets in here, you're essentially the David Tepper of Huddle mods. Last thing, cause I know paragraphs trigger you almost as much as my username: that's a weird characterization of Icege considering he put more time, effort, and analysis into just one of his two recent threads than you have put in your last 40,000 posts combined. So what's "rich" is you getting off questioning someone else's contributions and purpose on these boards. https://www.carolinahuddle.com/topic/255029-a-comparison-of-qbs-drafted-1-overall/ https://www.carolinahuddle.com/topic/255565-call-me-crazy-but-we-might-have-improved-the-pass-rush-after-all/

If you really wanna clutch your pearls, you should be joining in with the people you’re selectively criticizing…against your buddies who were treating Wilson like the poor victim/noble martyr of a meanie unfair billionaire. Imagine being assaulted by someone in a prominent position, him getting fired, and people on the internet jumping through hoops to publicly coddle your abuser and propping him up as a hero (“told the truth about Bryce and got fired” lol) or at the very least, just a blameless victim of collateral damage of a dysfunctional organization. Save the phony performative outrage. That was such an embarrassing thing to post.

I really don't understand how you can argue Thielen was overpaid. 36th highest contract for a Wide Receiver and we got a thousand yards out of him in this offense? Thielen isn't sexy but he pairs well with Bryce IMO. There's a reason why Bryce fed Thielen in the passing game...cause he excels in the short-intermediate range where Bryce is most comfortable throwing (hopefully that changes), and he's the only true route runner we had. Diontae Johnson on paper seems to be an upgraded version of Thielen who can excel in that role, but I'm not sure that relegates Thielen to the bench. I think benching the one receiver Bryce has proven rapport with is risky.

Even if we draft a complete bust with the Rams' 2nd next year, we still technically "won" that trade from a value standpoint. It was the "most expensive Day 2 overpay of at least the last six drafts". I think we have a tendency to conflate draft trades together with the players drafted with those picks when they should be evaluated separately IMO. If we do end up drafting a bust with that pick next year, I would still say we won on the trade, but we failed on the selection. Also despite the compensation being minimal, I'd say getting a 6th + 7th for Robbie/Chosen Anderson and a 7th for Greg Little were both absolute steals lol. Kelvin Benjamin for a 3rd + 7th was also a huge W. He almost immediately washed out of the league afterwards.

I do agree in principle with a new coaching staff evaluating each player on the roster with more-or-less a clean slate. God knows we haven't had the stellar kind of coaches to develop players and maximize their skillsets. I won't hold my breath that Thomas will amount to anything though.

Rich Eisen: “How is Bryce Young looking right now after his season, Adam?” You wanted him to deflect and talk about Derrick Brown or roster long-shots? What? Clearly you didn’t click the link in the OP or watch the interview if you think “they” (the Panthers) put this out. It’s an NBCSports article that references an interview Thielen did recently on the Rich Eisen show where he was asked a direct question about Bryce Young. So who exactly is running PR for the Panthers here? NBCSports? Or Rich Eisen?

Some of you need to understand that these types of articles/"fluff" pieces aren't catering to the types of fans who are going scorched earth rage-posting online about "clown show" this and "dumpster fire" that and getting ticked off at the sight of a few seconds of David Tepper in a 45-minute video. Y'all are a particularly niche subset of the fanbase to get irrationally upset over these things and are far beyond placating. There's zero reason from a business perspective (which is what this is at the end of the day) to waste a second thinking about a portion of the fanbase who has zero excitement around the team, won't go to a single game this year, won't buy any merch, etc. If you're the type of person who acknowledges there's nothing the team could do or say in the offseason to sway you in any way, then have the awareness to recognize that you're not the target audience. Yes, a lot of people (myself included) are numb to these types of articles and are in a "just show me" mindset...but getting upset at an incredibly milquetoast piece of praise like "Bryce looks more comfortable" is honestly pretty unhinged. Thielen is even explicitly acknowledging a similar sentiment as you in the last paragraph of the article: He's basically saying "yeah this is the offseason so take all of this with a grain of salt". I don't even think this rises to the level of "fluff".

I understand why your brain translates "cool, calm, and collected" into a pejorative like "boring milquetoast" since you're genuinely the polar opposite of cool calm and collected, as someone who awkwardly escalates every innocuous statement into multi-paragraph performative rants as if someone just slapped your mother. I assure you that well-adjusted people do not consider that to be an insult in the real world...not ass-backwards Internet Land where it's cool and trendy to be a Debbie Downer and being "too positive" is thrown around as a slur. I remember you bragging about taking two days away from these boards as if that was a big accomplishment for you, which was eye-opening to say the least. I genuinely hope this is just some internet character you're playing, because the way you act on these boards would be objectively so off-putting in the real world. I've known a couple people like this and it's always incredibly socially awkward and sucks the energy out of the room; these are the people who don't get invited out to social events. But instead of properly absorbing and learning from these social cues in person, you're being enabled by your fellow gloomy weird internet friends here which only encourages you to spend more and more of your time online to get the approval you crave. Just some life advice, my friend...since I'm assuming you are very young. Don't spend all of your time in here. There's a whole world out there with real people and meaningful connections. And despite what the internet has taught you, being pleasant is a good thing. Btw it's really interesting how you ignored this part and instead honed in on a singular 2-second moment that I referenced and saying that I "summed him up" that way. But hey, this is ass-backwards Internet Land after all.

Are you truly a "dawg" if you need negative bulletin board material to bring out the best in your game? I would think a dawg is someone who consistently puts in the work regardless of external factors. Otherwise that would suggest that they're not playing up to their potential without that extra motivation. On a bit of a side note: Cam obviously brought a huge amount of energy and hype on and off the field and we loved him for that, but one of his most badass moments IMO was that Giants shootout game where they had just scored and the camera panned to him off the field where he just calmly nodded his head, put on his helmet, and knew it was time to go out there and respond to win the game. It seems like that kind of cool, calm, collected demeanor is looked down upon here in favor of the more fiery archetype. I haven't seen evidence to suggest that there's a correlation between a player's temperament and their performance. I think we tend to see players struggle on the field and then assign reasons for their failures largely based on assumptions combined with our own preconceived opinions on what the recipe for success entails.

Lol. I asked you to show me where Frank said Dalton presented a much greater threat than Bryce Young (your words) and you give me your interpretation of something completely different that he said. Most normal people would listen to Reich there and see that as standard coachspeak conveying confidence in his back-up QB and your brain translates that into Reich calling out Bryce’s limitations. No poo he’s gonna say Andy can do more than one thing…why the hell would Reich say to everyone “hey if you see Andy coming in on 4th and short, IT MEANS QB SNEAK!”. If your interpretation is correct, then you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think that’d be a headline in multiple articles across multiple publications. Yet not a single site reported on it or even referenced anything he said here…that’s why you had to dig deep to find the source material rather than a single reference to it from an outside source. There’s a reason why The Huddle was the only place talking about it lol we are totally known for our rational levelheaded takes and NOT sensationalizing everything like it’s a damn soap opera (cue the pic of Nicole Tepper hugging Bryce). I guess I could claim “CRA says he thinks Bryce Young is trash and a huge bust” and if anyone asks me to source you saying that, I’ll just give my own multiple paragraph interpretation breaking down one of your posts. Btw having a difference of opinion is not being “wildly dishonest”…what a crazy suggestion for a mod of a discussion board to make. Claiming someone said something that they didn’t say? Yeah that’s being objectively dishonest.

Well, we all need to use our brains too...not just our eyes. Our eyes tell us that Bryce was objectively bad last year. Our brains are what allow us the critical thinking to deduce why Bryce was bad, which is the crux of the disagreement. Perhaps Bryce just doesn't have the tools to be a starting QB in this league and this season will confirm that for us. But you seem to not even be able to fathom or acknowledge the possibility that Bryce's poor play (i.e. bad footwork, bad downfield accuracy, bad decision-making, etc.) could in large part be a product of abysmal circumstances including poor coaching, poor playcalling, poor pass protection, and a poor receiving corps. You call them "excuses", which they are, but how can you not understand that those can very well be inextricably linked? It's like getting punched in the stomach repeatedly during karaoke night and then people complaining that your singing was off pitch. Are you actually a good singer? I don't know, that performance really sucked but I'm willing to give you one more song under better conditions.

Oh my god please post any reference to this. This might be the most wildly dishonest assertion I've seen on these boards in a while. Here is what Reich actually said for anyone who cares about facts: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/panthers-frank-reich-says-using-andy-dalton-in-short-yardage-spots-can-limit-bryce-youngs-exposure/ It was about limiting his exposure because, yes, he's a small QB. And something Reich had a history of doing, even back in Indianapolis. It's funny that you take to heart the decisions and philosophies of a failed ineffective coach. Remember when Ron would choose to punt the ball instead of electing to let Gano kick 50ish yard FGs? Well, it turns out Gano actually had a pretty strong leg and was solid from deep.

If one side talks about how awful Bryce was last year and the other side talks about how Bryce was put in an impossible situation, then it's just going to be a circular unproductive back and forth ad nauseum until we see how this season plays out. And I think that's where most of us are...the roster is what it is, so let's just look ahead to this upcoming season instead of rehashing the same tired conversations over and over again about last season. "Was Bryce bad last year?" is such a boring and juvenile debate to be having halfway into the offseason. For as much as you and others like to talk about how delicate and sensitive the Bryce fans are, y'all get just as triggered towards the people voicing opposing positive sentiments. You're just two sides of the same coin...it's really silly to get on a high horse about how you're the levelheaded ones. I similarly find it ironic how your side of the aisle always prides themselves on being "realists", when I would argue that the realest realists are those who understand that Bryce is our unquestioned starting QB and it is in our best interests for him to succeed. Because that's the reality of the situation. Instead, you guys are complaining that we didn't bring in Nathan Rourke from the Canadian Football League (lol) to compete with Bryce Young. Y'all know damn well that if we signed Nathan Rourke or if we were in the Falcons' position of paying Cousins and then drafting Penix in the Top 10 (both moves that are being praised in here), you would be laughing your asses off at how stupid the Panthers are. "LOLOL Nathan Rourke is who we bring in to push Bryce?? What an insulting farce of a QB competition".

I really doubt Thielen is running these deep routes in a real game (at least I hope not), which is what slightly confuses me about why we're running this in practice. But given that Thielen was the receiver here, then 4 seconds in the air makes sense considering that's legit how long it takes him to run that far.

While I think it'd be silly for anyone to argue that Mahomes wouldn't have done any better here (and is obviously leagues above Bryce), it's worth mentioning...I watched the Raiders/Chiefs game late last year and man did Mahomes and that offense look like absolute trash in a game where Mahomes was continuously running for his life behind an o-line that couldn't block for poo, while trying to throw to receivers getting zero separation, and getting zero help from his run game. You know, the norm for Bryce every week. It really did look like I was watching a Panthers game. That was a game against Aidan O'Connell with a final stat line of 9/21 for 62 yards 0 TDs and yet Mahomes and the Chiefs managed 7 total points up until 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter in arguably garbage time.

Remember when you claimed Bryce never worked privately with his receivers last offseason? Then when you were presented with an article and photos showing just that, you called it a fake photo op? Remember continuously suggesting that Bryce is shorter than his official height taken at the Combine? Remember the report that came out about Nicole Tepper wanting Stroud and you saying that was BS that the team leaked so Nicole Tepper could save face? Most of what we discuss in here is opinion-based, but those are three empirical evidence-based examples that your conspiracy-brain has rejected based on nothing but your feelings…so I think you’ve forfeited your right to invoke “reality”, buddy. Unless we’re just operating in two different dimensions of the Multiverse. But if we’re actually acknowledging reality, you’ve taken coping to new heights. I’ve genuinely never seen anyone work so hard trying to gaslight people into believing that any report you disagree with is automatically fake.

As someone with no swag who has about a 39% dap success rate, I can’t overstate how much anxiety this video gave me. But coach nailed it.

17,000 posts but unwilling to read a single paragraph is actually a pretty remarkable insight into the psyche of some of these posters.

Oopsies

He looks about the same size to me...here's a pic from this time last year for comparison:

I guess you could say he....parroted someone else's opinion