Mr. Scot

Is he wrong though?

I knew the dude was an a--hole but geez

That's it? There's gotta be more than that. Hell, if I had to answer for stuff I said or did back when I was young and stupid, I suspect I'd have gotten turned down for a job or two myself. (and I doubt I'm the only one who can say that)

That "one" is a damn good one though. Definitely.

I suspect a lot of us have similar stories from his draft day. Likewise, stories of being completely floored when the news broke that he was retiring.

I'm not familiar. Fill me in.

James Campen is now "in the building".

Sam Darnold type questions or Antonio Brown type questions?

The videos of Luke from the NFL Top 100 are a lot of fun to watch. The comments from opponents crack me up Pretty sure all of us have seen some of those moments when Luke went apesh-t before a play started because he saw something he recognized from film.

What do you believe?

I won't be. Despite already making billions on an annual basis, these guys chose to add a 17th game for the regular season, even while saying that player safety extremely important to them. I suspect some of these guys would more readily forgive you for screwing their wife than they would taking their money.

Looking at this... Kuechly: Ron was super relaxed. I remember he had on either a vest or sweater. It was like an argyle sweater, Panthers’ blue, gray and white. And he was as friendly as ever. It was one of the best meetings I had because I walked in there and it went immediately to football. To me, that was easy to talk about. With Luke's attention to detail, it wouldn't have surprised me if he'd said "Ron was also wearing grey socks, a blue belt, a couple of rings and what smelled like Axe cologne. There was just a hint of Dial soap too so I'm guessing that's what he used to shower that morning. I remember he looked left when he first entered the room and then chose to sit in the third chair from the right."

I'd love to have kept Ameer Abdullah.

Cause this time he took their money.

For the curious, the defensive coaching staff that you're consisted of the following: Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott Defensive Line Coach Eric Washington Assistant Defensive Line Coach Sam Mills III Linebacker Coach Warren Belin Defensive Backs Coach Steve Wilks Defensive assistant Bobby Babich Washington would strike me as the most likely candidate to prefer Coples over Kuechly, but since Ricky Proehl said it was "a bunch of guys", he wouldn't be the only one. I suspect Sean McDermott might have been in on that too. Some of his comments just strike me as a little squirrely

Unfortunate consequence of working for a guy like Dan Snyder. But hey, at least his previous owner wasn't a dirty scumbag, right? Oh

I'd call that a logical deduction.

Joe Person goes in depth on the process that led to the drafting of Luke Kuechly. How the Panthers were sold on Luke Kuechly in the 2012 Draft Articles like this are a big reason why I subscribe to The Athletic. Lots of interesting stuff in here, including a revelation that some guys on the defensive staff were upset they didn't draft Quinton Coples instead. Excerpts: Panthers area scout Robert Haines was responsible for checking out prospects in the Northeast for the better part of a decade. In fall 2009, Haines was in a hotel room in a college town — he doesn’t remember exactly where — writing reports before a Saturday night game. But Haines remembers this: He had the noon regional ACC telecast on as background noise while he worked and kept hearing the announcers mentioning the name of a Boston College freshman. Haines: I’m just sitting there and hearing, “Luke Kuechly on the tackle, Luke Kuechly.” Time after time after time to the point where I stopped and said, “Who the hell is this kid?” Then I turn around and see this No. 40 running around and making plays all over the field. That’s how we got him on the radar and started tracking him from there. ... Before returning to Carolina as an assistant coach in 2011, former Panthers wideout Ricky Proehl worked as an analyst for Wake Forest and ISP’s ACC game of the week radio broadcasts. In those roles, Proehl called a couple of Kuechly’s games at Boston College, where Kuechly led the nation in tackles twice during his three-year career (he finished second in the country as a freshman). Proehl’s Kuechly experience was similar to Haines’. Proehl: It was unbelievable. When I was doing the game, it was literally: “Kuechly on the tackle. Kuechly on the tackle. Kuechly on another tackle.” It was like the whole game. It’s like, who the hell is this guy? ... Rivera, a linebacker for nine seasons with Chicago, met Kuechly briefly at the Nagurski Award dinner in Charlotte in December 2011. Around that time, Rivera got a call from former Bears teammate Jim Morrissey, whose son Mike played at BC and was Kuechly’s roommate for away games. Rivera: He said, “Hey, if you’re looking for a linebacker, I’ve got your guy. Luke Kuechly.” I said, “OK.” So January comes around. I get my list and start looking at the list. Obviously, I see Luke. So I called Jim Morrissey up and said, “Hey, can I talk to Michael?” He said, “Absolutely.” So I talked to Michael and (he) told me: “Hey, this guy’s the real deal. He’s a good person. You won’t ever have to worry about him. He’s smart. He gets everybody lined up. He knows how to do it.” ... Because Boston College restricted scouts’ access to underclassmen, the first time the Panthers met Kuechly as a group was in February at their hotel suite at the combine in Indianapolis. Hurney and Rivera led a big contingent that included Haines, defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, linebackers coach Warren Belin, defensive backs coach Steve Wilks, scouting director Don Gregory and personnel official Brandon Beane. Kuechly can still recall vivid details from that meeting, right down to what Rivera was wearing. Kuechly: Ron was super relaxed. I remember he had on either a vest or sweater. It was like an argyle sweater, Panthers’ blue, gray and white. And he was as friendly as ever. It was one of the best meetings I had because I walked in there and it went immediately to football. To me, that was easy to talk about. ... Haines: I put like a 20-play highlight tape (together) on him, that was playing in the background as Ron and Marty and everybody talked to him. About three plays in, it was a game at Clemson, he reads this screen before the ball’s even snapped, hits the flat and makes a great open-field tackle. I remember Marty turning to us and saying: “Turn the tape off. That’s all I need to see.” Kuechly: Some of the other (teams) were talking about like: “How fast are you gonna run? What do you weigh?” All that stuff. I don’t know how fast I’m gonna run. But Ron was like: “All right, we’ll just talk football. What is this look? What are you doing on this play?” I was like, “This, this and this.” He was like, “What is this guy doing?” I’m like, “That, that and that.” Then they show you a bad play. It was all football. And to me that was very relaxing, because going into those rooms, I was nervous. ... Proehl: I’ll never forget the day we drafted him. There were a bunch of guys on the defensive staff who wanted Coples. They’re like, “Who is this small, White linebacker we just (drafted)?” I said: “I’m telling you, this guy’s pretty special. He’s a ball hawk.” It’s so funny to look back now. I laugh. I think about that all the time. ... Gregory: We didn’t think about any Defensive Rookie of the Year or (Defensive) Player of the Year. We just thought we had a really good football player. And from there, let the chips fall after that. ... Rivera: I knew he would be good, but I didn’t know he’d be as good as he was. It’s unfortunate the concussion thing came up. ... McDermott: I kid Luke. We have a good relationship. And so (he would tell him), “Hey, you weren’t our guy, but we just had to take you because you were the only one left.” I can say that when, if I had to do it all over again, I’d take him at 1. ... Proehl: The guy is everything you want a football player to be. And person. He’s a great football player. He’s even a better person. Anybody who crossed paths with Luke Kuechly, you’re blessed to have known him. We should all be as polite — at least off the field. Because he’s a son of a bitch on the field. I tell everybody he’s a true Clark Kent. He literally comes in with his glasses, khakis and plaid shirt. And then he walks between the lines and he turns into just a straight baller.

It happens.

Remember a few posts back when I told you I was talking about general principles and not specifically about Willis?

Stats aren't what determine how good a passer someone is. We've had plenty of arguments about just how deficient stats are when it comes to judging football performance in general, but especially quarterbacks. Vick was not good on that front, and the reasons weren't physical. As to Darnold, the reason I asked that is he's a perfect example of a quarterback who has the physical tools but doesn't have what he really needs. And the answer is no, you can't win with someone who doesn't have those things.

It doesn't matter how much time you can buy to make a throw if you can't throw an accurate pass. And if you aren't reading the defense properly when you do make the throw, chances are you're gonna get a bad result. Again, all the athleticism in the world isn't going to save you from being a bad passer.

As an athlete, no. As a quarterback? Absolutely.

Dude, if you're really gonna try to say that Darnold's could be a better quarterback if he had Willis's athleticism, you're losing this debate. But if that's that you want to stick with, lemme give you another quarterback who was acknowledged to be a superior athlete. Tim Te... I'm not gonna say the rest of his name but you know who I mean. Same question: If things like processing and accuracy aren't that big a deal and all you need is the ability to run and throw it really far, why isn't that guy still in the nfl? And no, the answer doesn't have anything to do with any comparisons you want to make between him and Willis.