Mr. Scot

That's the big question. Does he play? If so, does he play well? They didn't seem all that inclined to play him before he went on IR so I don't know if that changes now.

I've seen some stuff that suggests Notre Dame is Meyer's dream job but I don't know how true that is.

Is that part of the Appaloosa Model? Cause right now I gotta say the model that's named after a horse is looking more like horse sh-t. Maybe a filter that turns "Appaloosa" to "horse sh-t" would be a good idea for the board

I forget who, but someone previously referred to Rhule as Marty Hurney's final "f--- you" to the Panthers. Starting to sound like an accurate description...

True, but Rhule has been a big Donte fan in the past so who knows?

Oy I mean it's not like he was playing great recently (Rivera really exposed him) but still...

Worth remembering... Funny thing to consider about the draft as it currently stands: the "top ten" actually consists of only seven teams, so just six teams would be picking ahead of us. The Lions (Pick 1) The Texans (Pick 2) The Jaguars (Pick 3) The Jets (Picks 4 and 5) The Giants (Picks 6 and 7) The Eagles (Picks 8 and 9) Of those, it's pretty safe to say that the Jags and Jets aren't likely to take quarterbacks. The Lions? They have Goff and a GM who's a fan of him, but the bigger question to me is do they really think any quarterback available in this draft is worth taking first overall above guys like Thibodeaux and Hutchinson? That seems like a stretch to me. Texans? Yeah, they did take Davis Mills last year though I don't know if that means anything here (kinda doubt it) but Brugler doesn't have them picking a QB here for the same reason as mentioned above. This year's crop just doesn't have anybody worth taking that high. You also have to account for what they do with Watson and other potential offseason activity, of course. Then you come to the Giants. It's conceivable they might or might not go QB depending on what Joe Judge (or his replacement) thinks of Daniel Jones. But again, also whether they think any of this year's guys are potentially better. They could decide to try one more year of Jones and then reexamine things next year. And even if they do use one of their picks on a passer. which one? Eagles at 8 or 9 might seem like the safest bet to take a QB (again, depending on their offseason activity) but then who do they take? Would they want Pickett above guys like Corral, Howell, etc. Hard to say. They've got two picks so using one on a QB is definitely plausible. It just comes down to which one. And then there's us... Bottom Line: If we do end up picking 10th or potentially even higher (definitely possible) it seems like only a couple might be taken. Thus, factoring in that Rhule has a prior connection to Pickett, it's not all that hard to imagine this scenario happening. And again, if we wind up with an even higher pick, all bets are off. No, going QB high in this draft wouldn't be my choice either, but ya know...

Tepper is a guy who wants to do things differently just for the sake of showing everyone he's the smartest guy in the room. The problem is...he's not.

Personal Opinion: A big part (maybe the biggest part) of our protection problem lies with Rhule's concept of how to build an offensive line. The primary trait Rhule wants in an offensive lineman is versatility, the ability to play more than one position so that the line can be shuffled if needed. And when we went looking for linemen in free agency and the draft, that's what we were trying to find. Mind you, versatility is a marvelous thing to have in a backup, but your starters should be guys that can lock down one spot and anchor there. Outside of Taylor Moton, I'm not sure we have anybody who fits that description. As it stands now, almost the whole line is made up of guys who bear the title "jack of all trades, master of none". And the results speak for themselves...

At #10, the Panthers take quarterback Kenny Pickett. 10. Carolina Panthers — Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh Flash back six years ago: Pickett, then a high school junior, committed to play quarterback at Temple for head coach Matt Rhule. Pickett re-opened his recruitment once bigger programs showed interest and chose Pitt, but this time around, Rhule might decide Pickett’s next destination. To fix its hole at quarterback, Carolina has unsuccessfully tried the former first-round pick route with Teddy Bridgewater in 2020 and Sam Darnold and Cam Newton this season. Unless they lure Aaron Rodgers to Charlotte this offseason, using a first-round pick of their own on a promising quarterback like Pickett might be the Panthers’ best option. Obviously this assumes Rhule is still head coach in Carolina (sadly a fair assumption until proven otherwise). Pickett is the first quarterback taken in this scenario. Sam Howell goes to the Steelers at 16 and Matt Corral joins Rivera in Washington at 19. I'd add that the Aaron Rodgers speculation seems dubious, but could be interesting if the Panthers were to dump Rhule for Nathaniel Hackett. Other picks of interest... DE Aidan Hutchinson (Michigan) to the Lions at #1 DE Kayvon Thibodeaux (Oregon) to the Texans at #2 OT Evan Neal (Alabama) to the Jaguars at #3 OT Ikem Ekwonu (NC State) to the Jets at #5 C Tyler Linderbaum (Iowa) to the Giants at #7 DE Travon Walker (Georgia) to the Falcons at #11 WR Garrett Wilson (Ohio State) to the Saints at #13 OT Trevor Penning (Northern Iowa) to the Raiders at #18 OT Charles Cross (Mississippi State) to the Dolphins at #21 OL Kenyon Green (Texas A&M) to the Bills at #22 DL DeMarvin Leal (Texas A&M)to the Buccaneers at #28 WR Chris Olave (Ohio State) to the Patriots at #29 OL Darian Kinnard (Kentucky) to the Packers at #30 OT Daniel Faalele (Minnesota) to the Ravens at #31

Quick thanks to all those who've wished Lady Cowboy Fan and me well. It's appreciated.

One of the reasons I like Hackett so much is that he's got the connections to build a hell of a good staff. As an example, Hackett was previously on a staff with longtime OL coach Juan Castillo. Castillo is currently with the Bears, so pretty good chance he's available next year.

That's the thing folks who think we should've drafted Fields have to remember. It would have meant this staff was in charge of developing him. Nagy and his staff may not be any better but it seems fairly certain they're gone after this season. Rhule's group might be but it's not guaranteed.

Any coach you hire is gonna do that. You just have to pick someone with better buddies.

Still wonder how this year's record is gonna wind up. It's hard to picture us being competitive with the Bucs or the Bills. Atlanta maybe depending on how we're trending, and the Saints have named Taysom Hill their starting QB so there's that.

As I understand the structure of the Panthers front office, the highest ranking members would be Fitterer, Dan Morgan and Pat Stewart. Second tier would be Matt Allen and Samit Suleiman, with Steven Drummond fitting in there somewhere but he's not a football guy. Wrote elsewhere that among the top guys, there's a lot of connection to Brian Daboll. Morgan and Stewart have both worked with him in the past. None of the most talked about candidates have any strong connections to Fitterer that I've seen, but I haven't done a deep dive.

If we were to hire Nathaniel Hackett, you might be looking at a one-year rental on Ryan Fitzpatrick. They crossed paths in Buffalo some years back. And hey, why not? He's played for everybody else

I thought Fisher was retired, but I looked him up and apparently he's serving as an "advisor" to the Tennessee Titans. Probably too old for Tepper, though.

Much as I dislike hyperbole, there's an argument to be made that Rhule might be our worst head coach. Closest competition would be Seifert.

Funny you should say that...

My message: When the time comes to hire a new coach, let somebody else do it because you don't know what you're doing.

As to the topic, I understand. I've said before that if I made it through fifteen seasons of Marty Hurney, I could make it through anything. It's not easy, though.

By his own words, Rhule's philosophy boils down to "run the ball and play defense". Basically, he's no different than the coaches we had under Richardson.

What other choice did he have? He's not in charge. Rhule has final say on everything.

Tepper refused to do that during the last coaching search. He firmly believed that he, Marty Hurney and Steven Drummond could handle it without outside help. That search landed us Matt Rhule.