Admiral Ackbar

Maybe not the burning headline that would excite an ordinary Panthers fan. But when I realized who he was, standing beside his car at a small town gas station, waiting on his wife, I filled with joy. As I stood there I instantly time traveled back some 20 years ago listening to a Panthers game. See for me, listening to the Panthers on the radio meant EVERYTHING. I grew up in a religious household like most in the south. Which meant that church ran late and since my parents were active members it mostly resulted in them staying well after the service ended. Of course we also had to eat lunch as a family, most times away form the house and that meant getting home well after the 1pm kickoff time. I relied on Mick to get me through the 20 minute car ride back home, lunch at the local diner, and a screaming sister beside me in the car. Many times for lunch, I wouldn't eat. I would just set in the car refusing to miss a second of the game, NOT ONE SECOND will be missed! So with me sitting in the car alone, sitting in the church parking lot or wherever my family decided to be on Sunday, besides at home watching the game, Mick was right there with me. It oddly became a friendship for me, one that he knew nothing about. To me, Carolina Panthers football was and started with Mick. His commentary always lifted and excited me. I relied on him to be my eyes until I was able to get home and sit in front of a TV. Mick stood there at the gas station, taking a bite out of his snack with me grinning ear to ear thrilled to see him. He then swallowed his food and asked, "so what is your story?". It startled me as I could tell he genuinely wanted to know. After a 5 second pause that seemed like forever, his wife walked up and hopped in the car. I didn't want to interfere on their time as I could tell they were traveling, so I just told him how huge of a fan I was and thanked him for his time and service with the Panthers. But the truth Mick, is to that 10 year old kid now turned adult, you WERE the Panthers. You were a friend, you were excitement and you were heartbreak. When I think back on that time, Mick solidified my fanship with the Panthers. And for that I will always be thankful!

I could see the Panthers drafting Ekwonu or Neal if they fall and signing Baker. We do have the CAP to have him and Darnold. Then Draft a QB next year

So much of the success of a young QB is situation and luck. "Evaluators" are like Weathermen, they make educated guesses about a outcome that may or may not be true. I do commend the front office this offseason, they have built a offense that does put a talented rookie (which Pickett is) in a position to excel. It'll just be on him or whoever we draft, if we draft a QB at all. Time will tell

PFF's stats are informative, I have not doubt about that. The problem is they are only telling partial truths, yes Darnold might have been the 2nd best "passer" last season on 3 step drop backs. But what happened after those throws, what did they amount too, what other QBs were included in this stat and what does "passer grade" mean to them. If you are clever enough, you can make numbers look however you would like them too

I like them

The race is now ON for the future of the NFC South. For about a decade or more, the NFC South has been one of the most competitive divisions in football (for better or worse). But now in 2022 the Buc's window with Tom Brady is closing (2 years MAX) The Saints have a new coach, cap issues, and no QB The Falcons with the recent trade of Matt Ryan are in a complete rebuild with some talented pieces (AJ Terrell, Kyle Pitts) And then there is the Panthers, young talented team and after a solid FA period which still is on-going is a QB away from truly being competitive. We are the MOST primed for future success in the NFC South but are two huge steps away from being a TRUE solid contender. We need a new coach and a franchise QB. Easier said then done but are future is bright. This next season or two will truly determine the future of the NFC South and I hope that future involves us being leaps and bounds ahead of the pack.

I think regardless of who takes who, both Neal and Ekwonu will be gone at 6.

Regardless of where the Panthers place, I can only see them winning 6-7 games next year. Schedule is tough, we are not beating the Buc's and would be lucky to split with the Saints and Falcons. Thats 2-4 right there, not to mention we still have to play the Broncos, Rams, Ravens, 49ers, Browns, Bengals, 49ers and Cardinals. But, Rhule will be for sure fired. So yay

Does it change anything? Could force a team like Washington to want to trade up to Carolina's spot in order to get in front of Seattle and get "their guy". Then the Panthers could move down, gather additional picks and still be in a nice position for quality talent. Or do the Panthers just sit tight, see how the first 5 picks shake up? Ravens, Vikings and even Saints could want to move up as well. This will be a interesting draft for sure.

Not sure who I blame most.....Got to be Rhule though right? He wanted Darnold

Donte, no question. He is becoming the heart beat of our defense

I don't want to place all the blame on Darnold. We all knew he had happy feet in New York, pairing that with this "offensive line" was never going to mesh

Maybe thats what it is, but I have seen Chinn in back to back weeks get exposed in the redzone. But maybe its the fact he has no help back there

5 games in, we know what we got at this point: - The Offensive Line is complete Garbage as a unit, some good pieces there but as a unit they SUCK - Brady has shown to have ABSOLUTE LAPSES in playcalling during pivotal parts of games - The Jury is 100% still out on Sam Darnold. Poorly placed balls, flails under pressure, etc. etc. - Jeremy Chinn at safety for whatever reason is NOT WORKING OUT - Without CMC our offensive is not dynamic - For the love of God, PAY DONTE JACKSON! Most growth I have seen in a player since Norman, just coincidence they play the same position

I decided to make a playthrough of the Panthers Franchise on Madden 22 with realistic sliders, auto-subs, play-calling, etc. to make as close of a realistic experience while playing the game (happy with the first games results). I added a twist to it, kind of "spoofing" the NFL coach and making funny comments, interviews, etc. while limiting gameplay time to keep the video entertaining. I'm posting it here to see if you found it enjoyable (no problem if you didn't), and was there areas lacking as viewer, moments I should capitalize on more, etc. I really do appreciate any advice or comments as this is just fun for me and is a hobby. Thanks!

Probably could move some of these to different categories but just my thoughts. Anything else that should be added? Defense is stout, athletic and fast. CMC is back and healthy, but for how long? 3rd downs and REDZONE offense is a issue. And of course, kicker probs THE GOOD 68%, the amount of passes Sam Darnold completed 1, the amount of times Sam Darnold was sacked 6, the amount of times the Carolina defense sacked Wilson 30%, the percentage that the Jets converted 3rd downs (Would've been LAST in the NFL last year). 2.6, the average yards per carry for the Jets Panthers are above .500 for the first time since Oct. 6th 2019 THE BAD 1 Santoso missed XP Rhule’s confidence in Santoso’s leg strength 30, amount of times CMC touched the ball on offense (out of 63 total plays) THE UGLY 1 turnover in the REDZONE 28%, the Panthers 3rd conversion rate (Would’ve been LAST in the NFL last year) Many questionable coaching decisions

If you have a yahoo account and you click the link you should be good

Hey everyone, we have 4 spots available in our custom yahoo fantasy league if anyone wants to join! Would love to have some more people in the league! $35 entry fee. Draft is tonight 8pm EST Prizes: 1st $210 2nd $105 3rd $35 Best Record $35 Most Points $35 Many ways to at least get your money back and more! Link to join: https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/1258166?pspid=782200941&activity=league#:~:text=https%3A//football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/1258166/invitation%3Fkey%3Ddd87203048a4b97d%26soc_trk%3Dlnk%26ikey%3D193ccd81b285f250

Hey everyone, we have 4 spots available in our custom yahoo fantasy league if anyone wants to join! Would love to have some more panthers fans in the league! $35 entry fee. Draft is tonight 8pm EST Prizes: 1st $210 2nd $105 3rd $35 Best Record $35 Most Points $35 Many ways to at least get your money back and more! Link to join: https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/1258166?pspid=782200941&activity=league#:~:text=https%3A//football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/1258166/invitation%3Fkey%3Ddd87203048a4b97d%26soc_trk%3Dlnk%26ikey%3D193ccd81b285f250

I second this. When I was at camp, I was SHOCKED by how "handsy" he is. While being a press corner, that comes with the territory, there is a right and wrong time for that stuff, like within the first 5 yards lol. That HAS to get better.

Is Moton really not the best option at LT? Hard to believe, I hope they are not falling into the "we paid these free agents to start" mentality.

Agreed! He has a burst that I didnt see with the other RBs, excluding CMC of course

Seems to be a mobile issue for some reason.....I can view from a desktop. Sorry everyone, if I can figure it out I will post them here.

Im not sure??? They play for me. Can any mods help?? Im sure I did something wrong

Here are some of my training camp observations from Saturday for what its worth: I was really surprised with the set-up the Panthers had and the amount of people in attendance. I arrived at 5:30pm and yet they were already having to create additional parking on the grass and most of the bleachers were already filled. Luckily I was able to shuffle down and get some great seats along with capturing some pretty good video's of a few Panthers The crowd was very quite but once CMC came onto the field the energy completely changed. There is no doubt that CMC currently, is the leader of the Panthers. I was fortunate enough to see the RB drills from up close and CMC's footwork is unmatched, and quite honestly ridiculous. His cuts, the way he moves in and out of cones, ladder drills, his center of gravity, is on another level and there is not a close second. His ankle and body seemed great and I noticed no hitch or half speed reps. He was 100%. Chubba was built NOT AT ALL like I thought. He is taller, slimmer than CMC but made a few good runs and catches out of the backfield. IMO he seems primed to take the RB2 spot. Cant wait to see what he looks like after he builds more muscle and fills out. Hubbard Catch.mp4 Hubbard Run.mp4 Taylor Moton is HUGGGEEEEE! No doubt built like you would want your LT to be built and surprisingly enough Christensen passed the eye test as well. Both of these dudes "towered" over the others and when watching O-Line drills both immediately stood out to me. Moton is seemed to be the leader of that group being first off the line to do drills and was just "smoother" than everyone else. DJ Moore from last night is Darnold's favorite target. Of course you would think Robby would be his go-to-guy but DJ is a DOG! His routes are crisp, he was one of the only receivers last night that I saw, who didn't drop a ball and his energy and smile is infectious. Robby looked ok, he had that great catch that everyone posted but also dropped a easy throw by Darnold that would've been 20 yard completion. Kirkwood looked great and caught a ball thrown behind him. But Terrance Marshall is surprising.....his physique really surprised me, I was thinking a build like Robby's but he is every bit of Muhammad 2.0. He is already the biggest WR on the team. He almost made a great snag from a ball thrown behind him... Kirkwood snag.mp4 Marshall Drop.mp4 Terrance Marshall .mp4 Darnold made more good throws than bad, with the bad being few and far between. He seemed to really go throw his progressions lighting quick, and dumped the ball down quite a lot. I was really hoping to see him air it out more but never really got to see it. CMC and DJ got a lot of touches from Darnold with the first group as they should. CMC Snag.mp4 darnold check down to cmc.mp4 Defense was hard to judge outside of the Corner group. Hard to tell with the lineman and LBs so Burns, Shaq, etc. really never flashed for me since the contact for them was relatively light. But I do think I got some really great looks a Jaycee Horn, who I was most excited to see. Unfortunately last night he seemed REALLY HANDSY. You can see in the two videos he was beat both times and I could see both of those being called for DPI. Of course take it with a grain of salt, its one practice, among many more. He is LONG, aggressive and much bigger than DJACK and Bouye and I love that. Jaycee Horn 1.mp4 Jaycee Horn 2.mp4 AJ had a chance to pick Darnold and if you watch the video below you can see he took a terrible route to the ball that could have easily been picked off. AJ Bouye bad route.mp4 Overall I really liked what I saw from some of our younger guys. Jaycee, Marshall, Christensen, Hubbard I think are going to be starters or vital role guys before long. Tremble dropped one pass thrown by him and didn't see much out of him afterwards. PJ is MILES ahead of Grier, at this point I don't see Grier making the roster. His reads were slow and he never made much happen. PJ just opens up the offense and is more apt to make something happen, good or bad, he will stretch the field, run around, its fun watching him play. Arnold made a few good catches out of the TE group was relatively quiet most of the night. Arnold.mp4 KEEP POUNDING!!