MasterAwesome

When did I ever imply Darnold is not dog poo? Why can't you ever engage with what I'm actually saying instead of the strawman that is easier for you to argue against? Baker was bigger dog poo than Darnold, who is also dog poo. Is that put simply enough for you or is anything unclear?

I have no clue what you're saying in the bold. You actually did not omit Baker's Cincy work, you very clearly included his 2 TDs from that game otherwise he would be at 4 TDs and 6 INTs. Also he did not even play in the TB game...are you talking about Sam from last year? Your wrong statistics aside...so Baker with an infinitely better o-line performed comparably to Sam? That's the argument you feel good about making? And that's only if you for some reason disregard Sam's actual productive 4-game stretch to open the 2021 season which doesn't count I guess because "teams didn't have film on Sam yet"...which somehow didn't stop Baker from sucking right out the gate with no film on him. This is such a weird and selective comparison. Let's just exclude Baker's first 4 starts this season too where all of his TDs came from, so updated QB A numbers: 0 TDs, 3 INTs. Remember when you argued that Baker's 47 batted passes were because of McAdoo's playcalling? But then PJ and Sam proceeded to not have that issue somehow? Funny how that works out. For the record I agree with you that PJ is probably the best QB on our roster as sad as that is. I think Darnold has been awful, before you go all "DaRnOlD fAnBoY" on me, but Baker gave us the worst QB play we've had in 3 seasons and no amount of selective (and falsified) statistics are going to refute that.

People in here really watched 7 games of Baker Mayfield this season and tried to argue Sam Darnold is worse.

Being a Broncos fan has to be the most miserable experience imaginable. Worst offense in the league coupled with a strong defense equals very boring low-scoring games for the most part.

Deshaun Watson’s return flew completely under the radar for me. Although I guess if you’re the NFL, you might be reluctant to hype up his comeback too much.

Yeah exactly, I even started writing in a section on the lack of parity in college football vs. the NFL (continuing my Madden analogy with some college games between teams being like the top rated Madden player against the computer on Rookie Mode) but I felt like I was dangerously encroaching on TL;DR ranting territory haha.

I’ll be completely transparent in saying that I’ve never actually given college football much of a chance to grow on me. Even as a UNC student ~15 years ago I only went to a few college games already trashed and not actually paying much attention to it. But I just feel like there are so many goofy Madden-esque stats being put up routinely by college offenses, like running backs getting 200+ yards with 10 ypc and QBs putting up 400 yards and 6 TDs. I can see how that’s entertaining and even the NFL seems to be wanting to trend in that direction which is why they’re continuously making it harder for defenses with the changes to some of the rules and becoming more and more trigger-happy with defensive penalties like roughing the passer and pass interference. I dunno, just seems more flash than substance for me with these college games. At the end of the day, college football feels to me in many ways like the JV to the NFL’s varsity, and I just ain’t getting all that excited about JV football. But to each their own…I think finding passion in anything in life is almost always objectively a good thing unless it’s doing harm somehow.

I get that but I also feel like spending a ton of time watching guys we *potentially* could draft and getting caught up in the excitement of seeing them as a Panther will only set you up for disappointment lol. I don’t wanna get emotionally invested in drafting any particular player and would rather just wait to see who we do get and then I’ll invest my time to pull up as many clips and videos as possible to see what we’re working with. But then again, I’m not a college football fan so if you actually are a fan and spend your time watching it as standalone entertainment anyways, rather than as a factory for your favorite NFL team, then it makes sense to just enjoy the college football scene while also keying in on any prospects who you think would be a good fit for the Panthers.

It’s weird knowing that my undergrad and grad school alma maters (UNC/Clemson) are facing off tomorrow and yet I can’t muster up a single ounce of interest to watch any college football. That is, until the NFL draft when I scurry off to YouTube to watch highlight videos of whoever we draft.

No clue what you’re saying….my question is specifically about you calling the team “stupid” if they win enough to drop out of the top 10. That implies that they have control over that outcome and could do something to ensure that they tank their way into that Top 10 pick. And that’s what I’m asking you about - what you would do to ensure the tank. Otherwise it’s like…”ugh the Panthers are such idiots for losing out on the chance at a top 10 pick” ”Oh what would you have done differently to get the outcome you wanted?” ”Beats me, I dunno…but they’re still so stupid for not doing it” Is that actually what’s going on here?

I feel like we’ve already got a ton of young guys getting a good number of snaps. We’re even using Cade Mays at FB to get him on the field haha. So in the case of Cade Mays for example, who would you bench in the finale to squeeze him into the line-up? Like just move a healthy Corbett or Bozeman to the bench and start Mays? I know teams will do that to preserve starters for the playoff if they’ve already secured their playoff seeding going into the season finale, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a losing team deliberately bench a quality starter in favor of a rookie just to get them some snaps. Maybe it happens, and I could entertain the idea that a coach would do something like that. I feel like it’s weird particularly for o-line though cause their job is to protect the quarterback. So knowingly starting a worse o-line just for the sake of getting a young guy reps and consequently putting your QB at heightened risk of getting destroyed seems almost unethical lol.

What would be your proposal to ensure we secure a top 10 pick? Bench Burns, Horn, DJ, etc.? Kneel the ball on 4 straight downs every possession? Cause saying we'd be "idiots" for dropping out of the top 10 would suggest there's some course of action in our power that we should be taking to secure that top 10 pick. I'm just curious what that would be at this point in the season, in your eyes.

Oh I know, I'm not disputing that it's a thing. I'm only questioning the rationale behind it.

I'm not saying this to you specifically, but I see this argument all the time about teams not wanting to trade within their division and I really don't understand it. No team makes a trade they think they are losing out on, within the division or otherwise. Either you think it's fair and balanced or you think you're getting the better end of it. Trades are simply an exchange of assets and if you think you're getting more valuable assets from your trade partner than what you're giving up, then wouldn't you be more inclined to trade within the division and essentially "screw over" a rival? If I'm the Saints, I'd love to take two of the Panthers' 1st round picks off their hands unless I actually think Payton is worth more than that. In which case, I wouldn't trade him to any team for the same reason. Like what is the unique logic applied to trading within your division that doesn't apply to trading outside of the division? Is it something to do with said player/coach having inside knowledge? Cause you could more-or-less get the same thing from signing some Practice Squad guy or some vet FA bum who previously played for that team. Is it because that player/coach is gonna get some kind of motivational boost to try and stick it to their previous team?

Just curious…are we thinking it’s a coincidence that the D has played lights out these last couple games after Donte Jackson’s injury? Maybe too early to say, but worth keeping an eye on.

I wonder what Miss Laura thinks about this lol.

Here's a thread about a mock draft specifically revolving around us moving up to #2 overall to take Zach Wilson, giving up multiple 1sts and 3rds. Many people were on board with it. If you're disputing that people were losing their minds in here over Zach Wilson leading up to the 2021 draft, you're either being dishonest or your memory is quite poor. Lots of Zach Wilson boners.

There you go dumb dumb, that was after 10 seconds of scrolling through the threads he linked. You now gonna ask for video evidence of a table physically being slammed or what?

So if we were 0-12 and on track for the 1st overall pick, then the rest of the league would respect us. Got it…good call.

Love seeing our rookie DE Barno blazing down the field as a ST gunner. Dude is super athletic.

If Darnold starts, I'll take the over. He's guaranteed to put up more points than Baker, or throw enough pick-sixes to run up the scoreboard.

See: Pete Carroll + Geno Smith.

I've yet to see anyone here articulate why Sam shouldn't play. At the very least you have to be able to argue why playing Baker over Darnold is worth downgrading a draft pick.

That's a pretty disingenuous spin...I'm pretty sure that was specifically for the people who wanted us to lose from the start of the season just to facilitate Rhule's firing. They would rather us have lost, because winning would have made it more likely that Rhule would keep his job. Then it just basically boils down to the same "tanking" vs. "rooting for wins" argument that people are having for the draft, i.e. "would you actively root for your team to lose in hopes that it might produce a better long-term outcome down the line"? And that's a reasonable philosophical debate topic right there. Not "if you don't root for Matt Rhule, you're not a true fan!!!" like you're suggesting lol.

I feel like picking high can be a double-edged sword cause you're pressured oftentimes to take the "safe" pick rather than shoot for the stars with a somewhat flawed but uber-talented prospect...and the latter prospects often times can be the ones who end up as superstars. A GM might be terrified to take a "boom or bust" prospect at #1 or #2 overall but picking a little later in the 1st might be that sweet spot where risk meets reward. I do think Cam was somewhat of a bold pick for 1st overall because he did have a lot of question marks as a prospect. He was by no means a "safe" pick...if anything, that might have been Gabbert that year so let's be grateful we did shoot for the stars with Cam.