Mr. Scot

He might be. Though to be fair whenever they're asked about their injury status, the average NFL player is about as realistic as the Black Knight.

It's definitely possible.

Any judgment of Brown and Christensen at this point is severely premature. We know precious little about them still. And on the topic of how they will perform as pros, pretty much zero.

I'm not a big fan of Cowherd, but I was in my car a little bit ago and got to hear him talk to Greg Olsen for a while about the Panthers and others. Was a good segment...

Makes sense given that we're a little thin at that spot right now.

You're not actually watching the games, are you?

Again, wow Tell you what, dude. I'm willing to give you one final breakdown just to be nice but after that I don't really plan to revisit this discussion because frankly I think it's kinda silly. Plus, as mentioned, there are way more interesting things to talk about at the moment. Take a look at where the Panthers are right now. - They have a quarterback they believe in - Said quarterback is only 24 years old - Their protection of that young quarterback they believe in is lacking because of subpar offensive line personnel - On the other side of the ball, while they're good up front, on the outside and on the edges, there are some questions in the middle of the defense - But even so, the team believes they can win with what they have Got all that? Good Now, most football minds aren't going to look at the combination of factors listed here and come away saying to themselves "Well clearly, the first thing they need to prioritize is drafting a franchise quarterback of the future" But that's where you are... Oy Again, I get it. You don't believe in Darnold. I'm guessing you probably wanted Justin Fields. The Panthers didn't. Let It go. Right now, Darnold is the guy. Heck, per Jeff Howe the team has already given some thought to extending him as long as he continues to play like he has so far. So no, drafting a young guy to compete with him doesn't look to be on the table. Nor should it be. As discussed above, there are way bigger needs. If something happens and Darnold declines massively over the rest of the season, then this might be a viable topic. As of right now though, it's just not. And in reality, whether you like it or not, it might not be anytime soon. That's just how it is. Complain about it if you want but it's not gonna change anything. The better choice would be to enjoy the ride like the rest of us are. But hey, you be you.

Or a "fug em" thread...

From our buddy Ellis...

A little follow up...

For what it's worth, The Athletic's Sheil Kapadia actually predicts the Eagles win this game based on their pass rush getting going in the second half.

That makes sense. Do you get good benefits with that?

I get the feeling a lot of people are going to be running into a lot of other people on this board for a while

This game is a "should win", not a "must win".

Reasonable.

I'm on board with that idea. Wish the NFL was

There's a game this week?

See, the other stories I can buy, but shouldn't he be in DC right now?

Took the opportunity to listen to Scott Fitterer's interview on WFNZ this morning (available here). Naturally, a good portion of the segment was about the Gilmore deal, but Mac did mention that fans had questions about the offensive line. Fitterer's response included some of the things that we've already heard, but a few additional details as well. - Obviously, there aren't a lot of guys available right now that would be of much help - Part of the reason for the above point is that teams don't let good offensive linemen go - If there is even a decent free agent out there, great; but you're probably going to wind up overpaying for him - Thus, when it comes to offensive line in general, Fitterer describes the NFL as a "draft and develop" league And finally, he summed it all up by saying "we may just have to draft and develop these guys", even though he acknowledged there are challenges involved in that process as well. Oy Bottom line? It certainly sounds like that's the plan. I said previously that I believe the Panthers signed stopgap free agents this offseason with a view toward building the O-line over time via the draft. I'm now more convinced than ever that this is what's happening here. Fitterer's responses make it pretty clearly that the Panthers path to building a dominant line is going to be heavily draft focused. He did admit that can be a tough task in itself because the college game has become very different from the pro game on that front, so it takes guys a couple of years to really get up to speed. Two things that are going to be key to this effort will be college scouting and coaching. You have to pick the right guys, and then you have to coach them up the right way. Can we do that? I sure hope so. The bad news? Well, if you're looking for quick fixes, you're probably gonna be disappointed. Our best shot at improvement this year is likely getting some of our rookies up to speed sooner rather than later. That may not be splashy, but it does seem the wise way to go. But the good news is that there does seem to be a plan. It's one that can work, but it's gonna take time. In the meantime, here's hoping for the best.

I do recall someone yesterday (forget who) saying he wanted to go to the Packers, in part because they were a contender. Don't know how much truth there was to that, but obviously it didn't pan out that way.

I mean hey, he took a little dig at Tepper during his initial interview and still wound up with the job, so

Jeff Howe and Joe Person confirmed that the Panthers want to keep Gilmore beyond just this season. All indications are that they also want to keep Donte Jackson. How?

Don't know if you're an Athletic subscriber, but they do an annual thing where they talk to player agents and ask them about front office personnel from every team. Fitterer was mentioned a couple of times in this year's article, described by agents as trustworthy, a stand up guy, a good negotiator and someone easy to talk to.

Honestly, one of the more interesting parts of this article to me was the stuff regarding his future. Referenced it above, but here's the full excerpt: Second, the Panthers’ intention is to sign Gilmore to a contract extension, but there’s no rush to do so. They know it won’t be cheap, so they want to make sure Gilmore looks like himself upon his return. His debut against the Giants would be 10 months removed from his last game. The Panthers also have a few extensions to handle in the meantime. But Gilmore will report to the Panthers and won’t demand a new contract before suiting up. Before signing an extension, he also wants to make sure the defensive fit is as strong as it appears on paper, and that takes time, too. It’s conceivable the extension discussions don’t occur until after the season, even though the Panthers hope to keep him for the long term. The last line of that first paragraph is noteworthy too.

You have to write something worth responding to. Especially considering there's way more interesting discussions going on right now.