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Mr. Scot

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    Insights from the Pro Day Tour

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    Also from the article...

    Fitterer recounted some lighter moments from the trip, like the night in Tuscaloosa when Morgan was to pick up the Teppers from their hotel. Morgan texted the owners saying he was their Uber driver and he would accept cash or stock tips.

    The Panthers kept bumping into (Josh) McDaniels and Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler at the quarterback dinners. Fitterer said Carolina had the 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. slot with Young, who was to meet the Raiders, who have the No. 7 pick, at 8:30 in a different corner of Evangeline’s.

    “We sent him over there late just to piss them off,” Fitterer said, smiling.

    Fitterer then texted McDaniels: “Where are you picking? You’re never gonna see (him).”

    The next night when the Raiders had the early sitting with Levis at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse in Lexington, it was McDaniels’ turn to fire back. “Hey, too bad,” Fitterer recalled McDaniels texting him. “We’ve got him first.”

    Less impactful, but funny 😀

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    Insights from the Pro Day Tour

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    Excerpts from Joe Person's latest article in The Athletic (personal comments added)
    ____________________________________

    The Panthers’ Week of Quarterbacks began with seven of the team’s coaches and front-office personnel sitting practically shoulder to shoulder in a Wheels Up two-prop plane taking the group from Charlotte to Columbus, Ohio. (Owners Dave and Nicole Tepper were in their own plane for the first leg of the three-city trip.)

    - Insert "rich guy" comment here 😕

    Fitterer said the trip confirmed his pecking order for at least three of the top four quarterbacks in the draft. Florida’s Anthony Richardson’s pro day is Thursday. Based on conversations with sources who attended last week’s pro days, the sense here continues to be that Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud are the Panthers’ top choices.

    But one thing Fitterer did not learn on the QB tour is who Reich’s top choice is — because Fitterer doesn’t want to know.

    - There's a saying about not letting your right hand know what your left hand is doing that applies here. More to the point, if you still questioned the idea that the final decision isn't made yet, I'd say this pretty well confirms it.

    “Frank and I had that conversation in his office. I said, ‘Don’t tell me who you like until we get down to it,’” Fitterer said Monday during a break at the NFL owners’ meetings. “As you go through the process, it gets more and more clear. But we’re still going through that.”

    Fitterer said he’ll probably ask Reich who is his guy is a week or two before the April 27 start to the draft. Until then, Fitterer said everyone can go through the process without feeling any bias based on what other coaches or scouts believe.

    “There’s so much talk about it and things get out. ‘Frank likes this guy. We like this (guy).’ Nobody knows, because I don’t know,” Fitterer added. “I get a sense of where he’s at. But I’m not gonna ask him.”

    - Worth noting that the 49ers did this same sort of thing a few years back. John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan agreed to not discuss their preferences until all the evaluation work was done. When that time came, both of them had settled on Trey Lance as their guy.

    The Panthers’ process will include bringing the four quarterbacks — Young, Stroud, Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis — to Charlotte for top-30 visits during the first two weeks in April. But it will not include any private workouts.

    “We’ve seen all the tape we needed to see,” Fitterer said. “We saw the workouts. We’re not gonna learn a whole lot more working them out again.”

    - Both Fitterer and Reich have stated that when it comes to player evaluation, game tape is king. One of the purposes of The Combine, pro days and visits is to get to know the prospects as people.

    Fitterer believes the sitdowns with the coaches were particularly beneficial to the Teppers.

    “The good part is Dave and Nicole got to hear from the coach’s mouth instead of hearing scouts’ reports, which are always really good,” he said. “You’re hearing this from Nick Saban and Ryan Day about these quarterbacks. So that was really good.”

    The Teppers left Lexington, Ky., after the Thursday night dinner with Levis due to a prior engagement, but Fitterer and other team officials spoke with Wildcats coach Mark Stoops on the field at Kentucky’s indoor facility.

    - Confirming that the Teppers didn't just choose to skip out on Levis 

    Seeing the quarterbacks on successive days allowed Fitterer, Reich and the rest of the contingent — which included offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, senior assistant Jim Caldwell, assistant GM Dan Morgan, VP of football administration Samir Suleiman — to get a clear picture of their skill sets.

    “They’re all very different,” Fitterer said. “Will Levis probably had the strongest arm of the group. C.J. is very fluid in his motion. Bryce, the accuracy was just on point. He had a little bit better arm than we thought.”

    Better in terms of strength or accuracy?

    “Both,” Fitterer said. “His arm strength was good. The ball was jumping off his hands. The accuracy was really good. C.J. (had a) great deep ball. He’s really strong at all levels. He showed good touch.”

    - Again, they're being very thorough on all these guys, and there's more...

    Fitterer said Young, who had a huge game against Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinals, has a “swagger” about him. The GM also said Young’s 5-foot-10 frame doesn’t seem to affect him, noting his production on short passes over the middle of the field.

    “(That) is usually a hard throw because, one, you have to get the ball up. And two, you can’t see it and you don’t know what’s going on in there,” Fitterer said. “But he has no problem moving and sliding in the pocket and finding windows. I think that’s probably because he’s been short his whole life, and you learn to compensate. You learn the little tricks of the trade.”

    Fitterer said the 6-3 Stroud doesn’t have any problems moving in the pocket and seeing the field. “He’s big,” Fitterer added. “He’s strong, durable, all those things.”

    - "Probably because he's been short all his life" is a great quote 😄

    After the owners’ meetings, the Panthers will head to Gainesville, Fla., before returning to Charlotte for the pre-draft visits. They’ll have learned a lot about the QBs over the steaks and skull sessions with Saban, Day, et al, but they’ll also know more about each other.

    “It’s fun because you start to bond over this. You’re away from the office. You’re having dinner. The player leaves. You sit there another hour and discuss,” Fitterer said. “There’s a camaraderie that’s being built, as well as trying to find a quarterback.”

    - Person mentions in another part of the article that this trip was an opportunity to build camaraderie between Fitterer / the scouts and Reich / the coaching staff.

    ____________________________________

    Link: The Panthers QB Tour

    Overall, lots of good info in this piece. Nice to know the coaches and the personnel guys are doing a little team building. Also explains why the final QB decision isn't made yet, and it makes sense.

    Bottom line though?

    Feels really good to be optimistic again 😁

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    Lamar Jackson requests trade

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted · Edited by Mr. Scot

    5 minutes ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

    You basically telling me you don't care what players accomplished in the past.

    What you think players get signed for in FA?

    You think we signed Thelien for his upside?

    You sound crazy my guy in the most respectful way possible.

    He's correct.

    Players aren't signed for what they've done, but for what it's believed they will do. Past success can be used as a gauge but NFL executives know the phrase "past performance does not guarantee of future success" very well.

    New contracts aren't a reward, they're an investment.

    Quick: Tepper not pulling the strings

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    44 minutes ago, MrBubba said:

    I would imagine if Reich and Fitt are on same page, Tepper agrees.  However if they split on choice Tepper might get involved.  

    I'm not sure they'd need him to.

    They've got Morgan, Caldwell, Brown, Capers and several other voices on staff more qualified to offer input than Tepper.

    Breer's latest: Two QB tiers

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Carolina Disaster said:

    He definitely is no Vick but he is a better athlete than he gets credit for.  He wasn't asked to run at OSU.  He didn't need to until the Georgia game.  He isn't going to blow the doors off like Vick, Lamar, etc but he is able to extend plays when needed.  

    To be fair, that describes a pretty good number of quarterbacks in the league right now.

    • Beer 1

    Breer's latest: Two QB tiers

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    Just now, Jackie Lee said:

    I think that was when we were picking at 9 and it was potentially AR vs Levis. I'm guessing most of the AR guys are Stroud guys now that we've moved up. 

    Is Stroud really that great an athlete though?

    Based on what I've seen, I don't really think anybody is mistaking him for Michael Vick 😕

    Breer's latest: Two QB tiers

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

    I think it's just that there are two really good, much more polished QBs available. Stroud and Young aren't Gabbert and Locker.

    There is a certain physical element to that debate, but it's not about athleticism. It's about durability.

    Young is as good a quarterback as I've seen in a long time. Stroud has the intelligence, accuracy and processing ability that I look for too, though.

    The difference id I don't feel like I'd be holding my breath every time Stroud took a hit.

    • Pie 2
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    Breer's latest: Two QB tiers

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    16 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

    Richardson's talent level is off the charts but drafting him ahead of Young or Stroud would take gigantic balls and there's a good chance it goes wrong. Then again, if he has what it takes and develops... oh wee mayne. You could be passing on a great one.

    I'm honestly glad it's not my call. I can fully understand the arguments for and against all of these guys. I think Young is the best QB right now. I think Stroud is probably the safest pick. Richardson is the grand slam or embarrassing strikeout. I honestly can't see that one going any other way.

    In the past, we've had a fairly vocal crowd supporting the idea of "take the superior athlete and teach him how to quarterback" (maybe because people were big fans of Cam Newton) but it feels like that crowd has either lost some members or simply grown silent.

    I've always been in the "take the guy with the superior quarterbacking skills regardless of whether he's the best athlete" camp myself. Most signs seem to point to the Panthers going that route with their QB pick, so I'm certainly not complaining.

    There are definitely some sports fans who'd rather lose an exciting game than win a slow and steady one. That's the bunch that continuously calls on the team to make big moves and swing for the fences every time. And yes, that might be a lot of fun to watch...

    ...but it's not always the smart play.

    • Pie 4
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    Quick: Tepper not pulling the strings

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Soul Rebel said:

    It's so crazy to imagine it any other way. 

    Owner - pays the bills and has input in decisions, but does not decide per se

    GM - key decision maker. walks the tightrope between coaching/players/personnel (Reich, coordinators, players), the directors and behind the scenes guys (Morgan, Suleimann, etc.) and the Owner

    HC - runs the on-field product and runs up to the GM his vision/requests/design needs. Works hand-in-hand with GM and has input into decisions.

    In the vast majority of successful NFL franchises, this is exactly how it works.

    And yeah, it does sound like Tepper wound up eating a healthy dose of humble pie after his first few years in the league.

    Peter King: Panthers have no interest in trading #1 pick

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

    Even if we know who we want there's zero competitive advantage to letting that be known right now and the NFL would greatly prefer to keep some intrigue to the #1 overall pick for viewership.

    I honestly think they're telling the truth.

    This is an extremely careful bunch. They're not going to jump to conclusions. The eise thing is to wring every ounce of information they can out of the process before coming down on a final decision.

    I'd guess they have leanings (Breer mentioned that) but the final decision is yet to come.

    And I've got no issue with that. It's a smart way to go.

    • Pie 2

    Breer's latest: Two QB tiers

    in Carolina Panthers

    Posted

    From the latest MMQB (Link)

    The Panthers’ traveling party does have one more stop on its quarterbacking tour, and that’ll happen with owners David and Nicole Tepper leading a group from Phoenix to Gainesvlle on Wednesday. I’d expect, like they did for the other three pro days, for the Teppers, GM Scott Fitterer, coach Frank Reich, and the rest of them to have dinner with Richardson on Wednesday night ahead of his throwing session Friday at UF.

    And, honestly, I think this is part of the benefit you get in doing the deal to move up early if you’re the Panthers. There’s no hiding your intentions. You just send everyone and get everyone’s opinion on each of the quarterbacks—with the Teppers bringing a different perspective to the conversation than, say, Fitterer or Reich would.

    This is a massive decision for the franchise, the kind where a GM and coach get their job security tethered to the fortunes of a single player. So this, in my mind, is how it should look. All hands on deck.

    While we’re here, I would say the consensus I’ve gotten from teams, and guys who were on the ground at the pro days, is it looks like Young and Stroud are, for now, on one tier, with Levis and Richardson, who don’t have the tape that the other two do and need more work mechanically, on another.

    “In my opinion, it’s a real tough choice between Bryce and C.J.,” says one coach who was at all three pro days. “They’re both outstanding. If you’re concerned about size, C.J.’s probably a safer pick? And Will looked fine, [but] I think he’s a notch or two below the others. … The other two are more natural throwers and have put better stuff on tape.”

    “Stroud’s personality came out more interacting with his teammates, and his natural arm strength was tremendous,” says another coach. “Young’s performance was as good as it gets, and he’s such a natural in front of everyone. His accuracy, anticipation, along with throwing catchable balls, as good as it gets.”

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