CPantherKing

Championship teams don't draft their QB in the top 20 picks unless they have already built a contender. Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, Blake Bortles, Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Mark Sanchez, and Peyton Manning are the only 9 to make it to the championship level on a total rebuild over the past 15 seasons. 5 of them reached the SB, and all of them lost in those 15 years to Stafford, Brady, Manning and Brees. All QBs who beat these top 20 QBs were 30 or older with no less than 8 years of NFL experience when they won (average age of 36 with 14 years of experience). Brady was the only one drafted by his SB team. Peyton Manning (as the OUTLIER) is the only one of these college elite QBs to win a SB with the team that drafted him, and that was almost 20 years ago. And to no surprise, Manning had 8 seasons of experience at the age of 30 when he finally did it. Cam Newton lasted 8 seasons and was tossed at the age of 30. You could argue Cam Newton stepped into a roster with a winning foundation. Care to guess who was the next top 20 pick who won a SB for a fresh rebuild of a consistently losing team with a weak roster? You have to go back to the drafts in the 80s to find them. Aikman, Simms, and McMahon. The next ones are drafts with college players from the 60s in Griese, Bradshaw, and Namath. We all know these teams were built on defense and running. Not their QBs. These media hyped 1st round QBs with teams built around them coming into the NFL will need to last into their 30s to even have a shot at 1 SB championship. These teams with the shiny college QB will not have a chance at a dynasty with QB contracts today. How much clearer does this need to be? Build a defense and an OL with the draft. Only pay your 9 championship leaders. Target 28 to 30 year old QBs with leadership and clutch traits that they have proven with their NFL play. Make the younger QBs compete to prove they deserve a spot as the back up on the roster. Don't ever draft luxury picks like QBs and CBs in the top 20 picks if your roster has no playoff foundation to stand on. (Exception may be a pro sports pedigree QB like Mannings, Luck or Mahomes, but it's a decade long project.) There have only been 2 teams to build a dynasty around a QB from the bottom in this passing league since the 80s. Those young QBs came from the 3rd and 6th rounds. The other dynasties had winning rosters before they plugged in their young luxury pick QBs. (Cowboys 5 years with 2 coaches ended by a 2nd year expansion team does not make a dynasty.) Can we end this hope of a young media hyped 1st round QB to build or turn around a failing franchise? The media is selling you on a mythical unicorn. Do it right. The consistent championship teams from the past 15 years are not doing it without a defense or OL. They are doing it without drafting a top 20 QB.

The front office banking on Clowney lasting half a season is the real disappointment

Looks like Troy Hill was ready to hold his team accountable and a certain DC thought it would make the defense worse. I'm sure Troy Hill was the problem with the defense. Watch him go back to Brandon Staley with the 49ers now.

Some here have it wrong when based on hard numbers that determine a game. Here's a lengthy and deep analysis. Don't continue reading if you are not willing to look at the good and bad of your favorite players. The pass blocking was horrendous in the first half, and Dalton still kept the game competitive. Dalton was obviously directed to throw it to Thomas. Thomas ran his route horribly and didn't come back to the ball. The DB had an easy path to just race in front of Thomas. He's a TE who should be using his body to keep a DB from doing that. Lazy play by Thomas. The throw was good and it was the correct read (delivered 15 yards downfield with 3 to 5 yards to the sideline is where that ball was placed for Thomas). Here's how the drives went for the Falcons game. Drive 1: Ekwonu killed it. Drive 2: Heavy Dalton passing (Johnson & Moore). TD Drive 3: Dalton short passing (J.Sanders & XL). Punt Drive 4: Heavy Hubbard touches. FG Drive 5: Hubbard/M.Sanders touches. Punt (Running game failed and forced Dalton into 2 long passing downs. Got a PI to keep drive alive on one.) Drive 6: Heavy Dalton passing (5 targeted receivers). TD Drive 7: Running & short passing game to open the 2nd half. FG (Hubbard, Mingo, M.Sanders, J.Sanders, Thomas) OL ended the drive with a 2nd and 19. This is the ONLY drive the Panthers had for 3Q. Defensive failure Drive 8: Heavy Hubbard touches with TE targets. INT (Ian Thomas gave up INT with a lazy route and zero awareness of using his body to keep the DB from easily crossing his body. The play was called for Thomas and the play worked perfectly with him cutting through the zone to a wide open pocket. All Thomas had to do was get his body in between the trailing defender and the ball while staying on a line to the sideline. Thomas rounded his break and drifted to 18 yards deep at the end of his route. Gave the advantage to the speed of the trail defender. Pass was on point for a 15 yard crossing route. Play call was good. Receiver execution of a dig route was awful). The defense and Thomas in the 2nd half ended the game. Scoring % is 50% after this INT. That's still good for an offense. [Down 15 points with 5 minutes left. Running game has produced 6 points in 5 of 8 drives lasting 3 to 5 minutes per drive. Dalton has been successful on 2 of the 3 drives he was called on with the 1 failed drive stopped with bad pass blocking and relying on a TE.] Drive 9: All pass with defense protecting a lead. OL pass blocking fails again putting Dalton into a 2nd and 20. Dalton gets it to a 4th & 4 and throws incomplete with Ekwonu (one on one) thrown into him in 2 seconds forcing a high throw. (Canales, Dalton and Johnson were on point for a likely 1st down. Ekwonu pass blocking failed.) Turnover on downs. Drive 10: 2 minutes to go down 18 points. All pass. INT (Dalton didn't anticipate the CB jumping the route after reading a deep zone) The defense only stopped 2 drives from scoring. The OL lacks discipline and is a liability with their pass blocking. No one can excuse Ekwonu for what he does in pass blocking. It continues to cost the Panthers late in games, and on critical 4th down pass plays. The OL is very good at run blocking, but the RBs are not as good as fans want to believe. They are not playmakers to open up a game with a strong run blocking OL. The RBs are only good enough for controlling clock with a lead (and that needs to be more consistent). Too many missed opportunities from the RBs behind this OL. The TEs and Mingo are liabilities in the passing game. Their mistakes plus the lack of discipline on the OL is leading to way too many 3rd & longs. 7 of 12 3rd downs were long. 4 of the 7 were 3rd & 10+. The most efficient part of the team against the Falcons was Dalton, Johnson, Coker and Canales' play calling. XL is close to being in this group. Negative plays that resulted in 3rd & longs, failed 4th downs, INTs, and fumbles lost : Hubbard 3; Ekwonu 4; Thomas 2; J.Sanders 1; M.Sanders 1; Lewis 1; Nijman 1; Dalton 1. 1st downs/TDs converted: Rushing: Hubbard 6; M.Sanders 1; Dalton 1. Passing: Dalton 13 (Johnson 6; M.Sanders 1; Coker 2; J.Sanders 1; Legette 2; Hubbard 1). Top 3 liabilities: 1. Ekwonu 2. Hubbard 3. Thomas. Top 3 strengths: 1. Dalton 2. Hubbard 3. Johnson Anyone with a 1 doesn’t make a list. The goal is to have ZERO players on the liability list and 3 or more players on the strengths list. Then you want the opposite for the opponent to gauge the defense. Only 1 player of the Falcons made the liability list (Algiers with back to back runs for 0 yards on the 10th drive (final) of the game). Not a single Falcons OL with more than 1 critical mistake. Falcons only had 2 legit 3rd and longs all game (4 if you add the final plays of the game for them with the kneel downs). The Falcons converted 25 times in 9 drives. That makes them look better than the 5-0 Chiefs offense. Panthers' conversions by week: 1. 11; 2. 7; 3. 24; 4. 24; 5. 14; 6. 21. Dalton has been the key factor in the offense consistently converting 20+. The Bears game was planned around Hubbard carrying it to keep the Panthers defense off the field, and that failed. That is the only game Dalton has started that there hasn't been a single drive over 4 minutes in the 1st half (Dalton targeted 2 WRs on 2 passes until the 2 minute warning against the Bears). Realize the pass blocking OL and their discipline is a liability. The RBs lack of consistency is a liability. The TEs are a huge problem. The Panthers need a 3rd down back desperately, and Mingo should be converted to that role for now. The run blocking OL is carrying average RBs. Dalton is good enough to win and has done well playing through poor pass blocking. The receivers outside of Mingo are executing well. Canales is getting receivers open and calling plays to beat the defense. That's the state of the offense. Good enough to win, but not on at a level to put up 40 points per game. The offense has to worry about keeping up with their defense rather than simply executing to be good and win games at the end. List Dalton's critical mistakes that have ended a drive. Ekwonu, Mingo & Thomas are responsible for 3 of his 4 interceptions. His 3rd or 4th and short passes have failed how many times without being impacted by a terrible block or dropped pass? 45 drives to look at. I've already told you 3 that are not on Dalton. 10 resulted in TDs & 3 were end of game/half. That leaves 29 drives. Go see how they ended, and who's responsible. I already know, and I don't think some of you are willing to acknowledge who the drive killers are on the offense. It's not Dalton leading the way. Tough truths.

Trade down to get 10 to 12 picks. Draft heavy defense.

A look at all the QBs making championships over the past 35 years says it's not 1st round QB driven. There are only 64 championship QBs, and this includes Jake Delhomme, Kurt Warner, Case Keenum, Tom Brady, Nick Foles, Mark Rypien, Eric Kramer, Brock Purdy, Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson, Russell Wilson and more non 1st round QBs. 5 of these QBs went to a championship in the past 10 seasons. 3 of the 5 won how many of the past 10 SBs? Foles beat Brady. Mahomes and Brady have won 7 of the past 10 SBs. Mahomes walked into a ready made contender. The other 3 are Foles, Manning and Stafford. We know Manning did nothing. It was defense. Stafford managed a defensive game. Foles beat Manning in an offensive shootout. Keep in mind Manning and Stafford were not drafted in the 1st round for the team that won the SB. The Rams have drafted how many 1st round picks in the past 8 years? The Broncos only drafted defense in the 1st round for 5 straight years leading up to their SB, and that's what stopped Cam. Any QB game manager can get you to the playoffs. OL, running game, defense and coaching carry the load during the season. Clutch QBs are needed in the playoffs to get to the championship games, and there is nothing favoring a 1st round QB being clutch over all other QBs. Never draft a QB in the top 20 picks unless they have a professional sports pedigree! If you need a QB it's simple competition and steady flow of a QB type (physicality/talent is not a deciding factor for champions). Sticking to a competitive strategy that filters out QBs who are high TO% and low clutch performance will always work. You're always looking for the one who refuses to give up the starting spot by feeling momentum, showing high situational preparedness, and knowing when to take risks. Top 20 picks should be defense with few exceptions. If you want offense, trade down to get more picks for defense and OL. There should always be a 4 QB rotation (3 roster and 1 practice squad) on the depth chart until 1 has held onto the starting spot for 34 games. Then go to 2 QBs on the roster. Patience in this process is key. There will never be a QB allowed to fail for more than 5 straight games for the myth of long term development. This QB strategy results in hitting on a franchise QB within 3 seasons while building a strong defense and deep OL. The defining factor of success for an NFL Franchise has been the HC/GM combos who have studied, mastered and implemented Bill Walsh's book together. The Panthers franchise appears to be no where near this championship strategy or philosophy. Butting heads over philosophy and mixed/inconsistent strategies have been the constant since Tepper took over.

Anyone else here wanted to draft Frank Gore Jr?

Mark Carrier is still holding strong at 4th best WR, and that was at the start of the franchise. You think a rookie could surpass that in their rookie contract in this pass happy era.

Fitterer is having fun with Washington now. Maybe it's all the Teppers and their hedge fund football data analysts?

Get a new defensive play caller, and maybe a win next week.

Canales has a poor pass blocking OL, RBs who wouldn't start on another team, WR/TE who wouldn't start on another team, and a QB no one wanted as a back up. He's in his first season and showing improvement on offense. Evero shows complete implosion with the same issues on defense. You want to go after the coach improving the team? You want to make excuses only for Evero to get ANOTHER pass? Evero is failing for his 3rd straight season as DC. Canales is improving in year 1. It's very clear. Stop making excuses for Evero.

Right! Evero would be a great HC with all pro players. AKA he wouldn't need to coach. Good DCs don't give up 30+ points a game consistently with a below average defensive roster. They know how to plan and call a game to cover their weaknesses.

Evero with another 30+ point loss soon That's a wrap for Evero as a DC. New play caller on defense immediately

Cousins would be grass stained and feeling it in his ribs with the double A gap blitz

This defense needs to get aggressive and force a turnover

Canales thought Thomas is a weapon. He's not. We know that. Bad match up. Not sure why Canales would believe Thomas would beat Terrell

Terrell with the boosters. That's likely result of poor game planning. Canales and Dalton thought they had a good matchup

BC destroying run blocking at C

Atlanta D tired. OL destroying in run blocking

Isn't it the job of the DC to scheme up for that weakness? Or do they just wait for an all pro 34 DE or OLB?

I think Evero schemes his zone Ds for 7 foot tall defenders

Huge pockets in that zone D

No throws to Mingo or Thomas unless they are wide open and the only option

Don't throw it to stone hands!