Mr. Scot

He might not be. But if he is and they don't take him, I'm pretty sure the meltdown by some on here will be biblical.

I've already said it's possible the Panthers draft a quarterback. I just don't believe they should. Either option could work out, or either could be a mistake. Given the choice between whether I hope they do the right thing or do what I want, that's an easy answer.

See again, this is where you have to remember that their evaluation of a player isn't necessarily the same as yours. Remember there were reports that the Panthers didn't really like any of the quarterbacks outside the top two.

I don't tend to rank choices, but I know I'm hoping for Sewell or Slater.

I don't see this one as an "in on every deal" thing because it was months in the making. In the end, we met their terms not so much by upping the deal but by moving some of the desired picks to next year (Fitterer has repeatedly said he didn't want to give up this year's first three picks). Bottom Line: I have no idea whether Darnold will succeed. Ditto any of the draftees (including Lawrence). I do think some of the weeping and wailing over Darnold on here is a tad silly. My ultimate hope is that the Panthers do what's best. I have my ideas on that, but if they do something else then I hope they're the ones that are right rather than me. And appreciated. I like to talk football.

I'd probably still wish them luck personally. At the same time, I'd likely be wishing for the management that chose to replace me to crash and burn.

In actual news, the Lions are also attending Justin Fields second pro day.

Then carefully on this one: Did I say they won't draft a quarterback or did I say I think they shouldn't? Also, the notion that the Niner trade is what made this happen ignores the facts. If you go back and read the stories from Albert Breer, you'll see that

FYI: You're going back and forth with a guy who regularly posts strong opinions for which he has no backup, including game performances where discussion makes it painfully obvious he didn't see the game. Folks have caught him on this before by making up plays that didn't happen. He'll claim to have seen them and say that they support his argument.

Anything that's not offensive line.

On defense, he probably still is. The problem with Rivera was he followed in the footsteps of his mentor Buddy Ryan when it came to offense. Ryan's philosophy was that all the offense (and primarily quarterback Randall Cunningham) needed to do was make two or three plays a game and his defense would take care of the rest. You saw that reflected with Rivera and Newton.

I don't doubt that they saw him that way last offseason because they wouldn't have brought him aboard otherwise. Obviously, they can be wrong. And yes, it's fair to point out that one of the major players in that decision wound up out of work.

To assume that the Panthers look at players the same way you do is fanthink. "I see this guy as bad, so they must see that too." Aaahhh, no. The team has far more, and far better, tools and access for player evaluation than any of us. And as all of us have seen during free agency, not all of the decisions they make are ones we would have expected. Could they be wrong? Sure, but the reality is that Darnold isn't a "just in case". The team sees him as a legitimate starter. Whether or not you and others agree doesn't really matter.

That's what I've seen a lot of Darnold critics say. It's completely off the mark and ignores what's known about the trade. They started exploring Darnold right after they lost out on Stafford. The reason it didn't happen sooner was because Joe Douglas wanted to wait until they'd evaluated all their draft prospects. The final details were actually hammered out at Justin Fields pro day. Add in that both Matt Rhule and Scott Fitterer were high on Darnold already, Rhule from having talked with him previously and Fitterer from having evaluated him the year he was drafted. They also went through the film of his entire career with the Jets back in March before making the decision to trade for him. This wasn't just some last minute, spur of the moment decision. Could they take another quarterback? Sure, but what people need to realize is that their having a low opinion of Darnold doesn't mean that the team does. If the team had the kind of opinion that some fans think they do, they wouldn't have traded for him in the first place.

I like his footwork and his balance for the most part. Did see him get caught reaching a time or two.

You seriously think we'd trade a pick package including a second rounder for someone that we don't think is good enough to be a starter? You're projecting your own feelings about Darnold onto the team because you want somebody else. I'm quoting what they've actually said about him.

No, Teddy shouldn't be happy about it. No competitive person would. As to what I'd say to someone I know being hired to replace me: if they lobbied for my job then I'd be upset. If it was just the company's choice though, I can't put that on them. It's not Darnold's fault.

Both Fitterer and Rhule have said that they see Sam Darnold as a starter quality quarterback. Fitterer deferred to Rhule on the question of whether he would be named the starter right now. Rhule declined to answer because he doesn't like saying those things ahead of time. Yes they could draft another quarterback if they wanted, but it'd be a stupid move to do so with bigger needs, especially a huge need at left tackle.

Would you reach out if one of those employees was somebody you knew? That's the difference for me in this story. Bridgewater and Darnold we're already acquainted from their days together on the Jets. I could understand not reaching out to a stranger who was brought in to replace you, but if it's somebody you know you should at least say good luck, no hard feelings, something.

This close to the draft, all rumors should.

No, they didn't. They told Erving they want him to compete for the left tackle job. They did not tell him that he's the starter.

That's your opinion. The team sees him as a starter and has repeatedly said so.

I can't get behind the idea of a quarterback competition on a team that still has a lot of needs. (and no, quarterback isn't one of them)

Last minute news that the Panthers will be represented at Fields pro day, specifically by Joe Brady and Sean Ryan. The Falcons are sending their quarterback coach as well. The Patriots are sending Josh McDaniels and personnel exec Dave Ziegler. As far as I know, the 49ers are still the only team sending a GM/head coach combo A few other teams also decided to attend at the last minute. I think the Broncos were one of them.

The guy who helped Josh Allen turn into what he is now is Ken Dorsey, Newton's former quarterback coach. While he was here, Rivera had Dorsey be less of a coach and more of a friend because he was too scared Cam might not respond well to anything negative. So in truth, Ron actually did bring in a "real quarterback coach". He just didn't let him do his job.