ECHornet

I did. I prefer to see a QB attempt game winning plays in pivotal moments. So the near INT to DJ when we were forced to push the ball down the field doesn’t bother me much. We don’t currently have a QB signed to play for us other than an injured, 2nd year project. Of course mock drafts will show us taking a QB until we fix that room. The entire game last Sunday was a pressure situation. Going into an away game against a rival with the playoffs on the line, Sam performed admirably. No one except posters here (and maybe Jets’ sites) thought Sam had a bad game vs the Bucs.

I don’t hate it here at all. I’m not a Darnold super fan. I do have the ability to recognize when a player may be improving though. Multiple analysts have posted content showing Darnold has had a surprisingly good season. At halftime, the commentators were discussing how Darnold has earned a chance at being the starter moving forward. I guess they’re all delusional and your take, the one that ignores a players improved performance that has been above league average, is the one that’s right. The only people posting that Darnold has been trash this year are fans or haters. I don’t mind calling that out.

I believe Shaq’s deal gets restructured to keep him around the next 2-3 years. Luvu was a great addition and my only wish is we had locked him up longer. I think Brandon Smith could be ready to start by next year, but we’re going to have to sign some LB help. Maybe Cole Holcomb or Germaine Pratt return to NC? In the draft, Dee Winters (TCU) could be a guy to take in the mid rounds. Looking forward to watching him again Monday.

But there are ppl on this very thread who would care if Sam was brought back on a cheap backup contract. That was my point. There are plenty of Sam haters on this board. His play his first four years was deserving of that assessment. His play this year is not. I’m not saying he’ll lead us to the Super Bowl in the next two years, but we could do, and have done, much worse than his 2022 performance. Much worse.

Struggled? Where is this coming from? Sam in games our rushing attack wasn’t cruising: 37/60 566 4 TD / 1 INT

There are posters on this thread claiming he’s not an acceptable backup QB for the Panthers. In spite of him leading our team to 3 wins in 5 games while putting up top 15 QB level stats. That’s a “Sam Hater”

You keep saying this despite stats showing otherwise. I guess we should trust your eye test.

A guy who has shown he can play winning football for our team isn't even worth a backup role? Some of the Huddle posters' hatred runs deep.

That one game gave him a QBR that is good for 12th in the league? I'm not saying I want to commit to a big starter contract, but if he plays well Sunday too, we'd be idiots not to bring him back on a cheap, two year deal to see if it's for real.

This has already been proven wrong before. Nothing went perfect for him vs Steelers or Bucs. No run game support at all. He still played above average.

That's just not what the data shows at all. Of the 5 coaches who showed the worst improvement in winning percentage from pre-to-post interim, 3 of them had top 5 best winning % in future records. Only 1 coach who showed top 5 best improvement from pre-to-post interim had a top 5 winning % in future records: Jason Garrett. The other four coaches who showed the best improvement ended up in the bottom 6 winning % in future records. If anything, you might be better off hiring the interim coach who does the worst with his team.

We have different interpretations of those stats. Best I can tell from looking at it.... If you hire an interim coach, you are going to suck.

I would love it if someone drafted Levis in the top 5 bc then I wouldn't have to worry about us picking him. If Richardson is the move, I hope it's not with #6-9 (whichever we end up with). Either trade back to mid-late 1st or package our two 2nd rounders to snag him in late 1st. A lot will change leading up to the draft, and I still have my fingers crossed one of Young/Stroud drop to our selection.

How bad would it suck if the Colts landed Harbaugh, then signed Darnold, and proceeded to make the playoffs in 2023 while we miss out?

Yikes. If so, then I'd expect he'll drop in the draft like most of the 2022 QBs.

No worries. I’ll lead the RB speculation. When someone makes positive plays at his clip (he averaged 8 yards per carry on rushes) I try to imagine ways to get them the ball more. I’m convinced he could at least be our 3rd down back. Clearly swing passes to RBs are what produce the most YAC per reception according to those leaders (WR were included but they just weren’t in the top 11 other than Shenault). That tells me either we did a FAR better job than anyone in designing our WR screen passes to Shenault, or that Hasta Laviska was just better than all other RBs after receiving the ball around the LOS. I think it may be some of both but more that Laviska is a natural with the ball in his hands and makes guys miss regularly.

That’s fair for his rookie year. Since he showed flashes during his rookie year, I think the expectations of many rose some for his sophomore campaign. I at least expected to see some of the potential, but it was just a rough year all around. Maybe he’ll show something on Sunday. I haven’t given up on him yet and think he should probably make a move to safety this off-season.

This. Compared to expectations going into the season, I don’t know how anyone chooses a different answer. 1. Baker 2. Robbie 3. Keith Taylor 4. Higgins 5. Chinn

IDK, I think the combine will cause someone to pick Washington or Musgrave over Kincaid even though he’s the better TE at this time.

I honestly think the Panthers should make the playoffs next year. I’d be concerned if the new coach doesn’t at least have us in contention for the division late in the year. I mean, we had that this year and would likely be division champs if Darnold weren’t injured most of the year. I don’t see the NFCS being much better next year. Missing the playoffs in the first two years would signal we may have chosen our new HC poorly.

A combo of Kincaid and Flowers/Downs in the 2nd is my hope. Cutting Ian Thomas this coming year doesn’t seem beneficial. We would only save ~1.4mil. He’s an easy cut before 2024 though. I’d keep Kincaid, Tremble, and Thomas and have one of them (Thomas?) double as FB in 2023. Sullivan on practice squad where he should be now.

That would seriously test the perseverance of my fandom. I honestly think his ceiling is around how Darnold performed this year.

Exactly our situation with Corral and maybe bearded Darnold.

Good call on Tucker Kraft. I had not seen him play until your post. Washington, Musgrave, and Kraft seem like guys who will elevate their draft stock at combines/pro days. After rewatching the TE group plus Kraft, here’s where I’d select them (not where I project they’ll go): 1. Mayer (mid to late first) 2. Kincaid (2nd) 3. Washington (2nd) 4. Kraft (late 2nd to 3rd) 5. Laporta (3rd) 6. Musgrave (3rd) We have plenty of opportunity to upgrade our TE room in this draft

He’ll never just walk. We’d use the franchise tag to trade before that happened.