davos

Dear David, [prolonged sigh] bad owner, bad! Signed, Panther Nation

I think we will need to accept Christensen as a swing backup under this regime. A nice one at that that can start but this staff clearly doesn’t have a clear picture in mind for him.

Exhibit A being Elijah Mitchell being an absolute force outplaying Sermon (beyond his injuries). Early vs late rounders taken in the same draft. Which is also why I’m a huge fan of using late rounders this year on WR and RB. OL 1-4, 5-7 BPA

Wonder if Denver will take him for a 6th lol

OC coming in predicates the offensive scheme which predicates the blocking scheme which predicates the best suited positional coaches. If we’re doing this thing again of hiring people and just telling them to work together (IE Rhule, Brady & Fit) it will fail. Get an OC that brings a staff with a complete offense in mind.

It seems the Phoenix Redbirds really may let him go. Plz stay away but it will Also show and remind that coaches get the ax after playoff years. Still mind blowing we’re rolling with Thule after two 5 win seasons and absolutely no offense or QB in sight.

Cardinals were not that good of team this year. They had an east front end schedule and a few great games but then fell back to earth.

Intangible wise, Corral has an edge over Pickett in the draft. Also has an edge with athleticism. Thing is, people are really into Pickett's processing speed and ball placement. Burrow had the intangibles, processing, arm, pre-snap awareness, placement, & pocket awareness. He just had virtually every category you want checked, well, checked.

Madison, WI/Chi-town here...this makes me miss worrying about just this type of weather lol

Being a bit tied to certain league circles—Word is they have a trust developed more than he had with LaFleur. They’re also part of the new gen coaching tree stemming from the Shanahan/Kubiak disciples (eventually McVay’s blossomed tree) that I find to have many studs. DEN, WAS and TEN being the origin with a lot of these guys that are all super tight partying in Nashville & Chicago on off weeks. Being McVay, Arthur Smith, LaFleurs, Shan, McD, there’s a whole clique of a younger NFL inner circle these days. They also have the affection of the ownership/old GM boys club. Old school has ESPN in their pockets, new is more NFLN and podcasts but that group of dudes are tied with the “search committees” and the next few may not be spoken of much, but will eventually when they’re hired out of nowhere instead of Bienemy, Daboll, etc. Although Polian may be leaning to Daboll For the Bears and that’s a clear example of the old v new guard divide.

Of all ex HCs..this one? Lol 80s ski resort movie villain with a streak of simply not being very good at anything. Nice.

And has a very sensible natural progression going on career wise. Starting as an intern in Denver for Mike Shanahan back in the day. Worked his way up from the assistant roles into a WR coach. Followed Kubiak to HOU, t Mike & Kyle back in WAS. Now in the playcalling world. He’s a dude I am very high on.

He’s always best buds with the actor/comedian who plays Mafee in Billions which is a pretty cool factoid. Ups him in my book haha.

Well then, was a bit premature this week haha.

Yup. I mean, I see no QB that could get us to even flirt with .500 (that would come here) and judging by the last attempt to build an OL, I'm not confident they'll make the right calls even if we land on R1. And if they trade away DJ or one of our few assets for picks, could very well happen being bottom barrel. I may be looking too much into it but Scott seemed open to move a player, not just shuffling picks. CMC somehow making it through a full season would be about the only way we are respectable this coming year. Otherwise, it's a 1-5 win situation yet again.

A new potential HC name I think we could miss out on this year is Mike McDaniel in SF. Not just saying it coming off yesterday's win either. The way that team hasn't needed to fully commit to a RB or QB, or heck really anyone outside Dabo and Kittle has been impressive. And even when you don't think they'll make noise, they somehow stick in contention, grind it out, and have rather stellar games. Great defense but an offense that just figures out a way to win. Using guys like Elijah Mitchell, Kyle J, Jauan Jennings, all at different moments this year, they just seem to always pack a punch without even a good QB at the helm. From a great coaching tree, 38, awesome adaptive scheming. That's a guy I'd like to see just brought in. Pipe Dreaming for an OC who we could promote to HC: Shane Day, Passing Game Coord & QB coach in LAC. Though these are examples of two fine candidates who will stay far away from Rhule. We'll probably get some chump like Doug Marrone, Anthony Lynn, etc. (If we're even lucky) Or if no one hires Jim Caldwell, he may be the ticket for Rhule. He's apparently over the health issues and his could be a top OC candidate if no one hires him as HC. He's landed some interviews.

This is what I've accepted. But do have a few rushes of optimism that are fleeting.

I truly wonder what NFL circles would still be open to Rhule. If he can only pluck conversations & interviews through secondary connections that aren't all that special, he's really going to be cornered. He's going to have to sell hard to Tepper. Maybe that's where Tepper's silence is. This is a few week process of a sh*t or get off the pot moment with Matt.

Prefacing this with the PSA it is a bit speculative but I find things kind of interesting right now. Panthers.com initially had a few posts about potential OCs, some articles, with pretty hilarious reactions by the fans on IG, their site, and here. Mainly, no one cares and it was all basically “Fire Rhule” Today, there is no sign we’ve talked to anyone but some pretty poor candidates a week ago. Hearing no rumors, nothing about new interviews. Panthers.com has nothing outside of a player personnel article on an offensive renovation by Gant. Midst the backlash to his WFNZ appearance and the bitterness in the fandom, and media backlash, is this search going poorly, are they waiting for playoff teams, or is there something else afoot? I get that no real signings have happened (which is interesting) but to have such little noise makes me feel Matt could really just being doing this on his own with Snow or maybe he is still being considered for the boot. Basically, things still seem shaky to me and I’m unsure he’s still safe for next year. There could be credence to Jay Glazer’s report the other week.

I think the Cards are a bit of a mirage. They can be very good at times but I just never really see Kyler take over games or them truly take care of an opponent (even when they win) That being said, the Cards DL against the Rams OL is the matchup. If Stafford has time, Kupp is going to go ham and they’re going to win. Not to mention Michel tearing it up late season.

The Colts and Chargers screwed it up. Think both of them would’ve put up better fights than against the Bengals and Chiefs. Taylor and Pittman were cruising with the Indy offense with Eferblus really coaching up that D. And then Herbert/Ekeler/Allen/Williams would’ve definitely been a finer matchup for KC than Big Ben’s deflating send off. Steelers really backed into the playoffs due to scheduling and better teams beating each other.

Jimmy G is essentially what we thought we’d be getting with Teddy. The time for that type of QB has passed for this regime. I honestly don’t know what to put alongside Darnold but if it’s a game manager type, they’ll need to step TF up with the OL and skill position players. Need a OL, legit TE, game breaker at WR, and a better CMC backup to make life easier for a Jimmy G and that’s not happening. Someone like him would flutter out here.

Fair

I like only 1 team getting the bye though. If anything, they should’ve had the lowest two seeds play into the playoffs.

I hope a lesson learned for Tepper is go for a guy with an extensive network that can attract players and quality coaches. Rhule doesn't seem to have much pull at all in NFL circles. The Bengals ownership had a big press release after deciding to keep Zach Taylor after year 2. Wish Tepper could at least do the same and explain his decisions. It would help shed some light if he's being stubborn, incompetent, overly-patient, or whatever with Rhule. Could help keep the fanbase from deteriorating into a madness of apathy and disgust. If I bought a company, I don't want my handpicked manager firing all the guys he brought in and trying to save face with the same guy just bringing in a bunch of new subbordinates. It's bullsh*t.