Khyber53

I'm thinking you have a problem making comparisons. One is a case of an altercation between brothers that got out of hand, the other is allegations of rape with a potential cover-up by local police and the University, and petty theft that was probably a case of immature entitlement by a king jock, who then made fun of it again on draft night. One guy just about lost it all, found himself and a family and now has a shot, a small chance, to reach the dreams his actions once almost denied him. He has a chance to show the depth of his character and maybe earn a spot for himself on a roster. The other guy has it all, has been shielded from the repercussions of his actions, has been anointed as the savior for a franchise, showered with attention and glory. He's also the one who might be our next Jamarcus Russell. Big difference between the stories. One I hope works out as a great redemption story, the other that I worry may become a cautionary tale.

So, basically, it's Carolina and Denver in the Super Bowl now? I can deal with that.

Well, can't spend the entire off season crying over spilled milk.

Cam has the big arm, he can run like no one else, he is an incredibly gifted athlete with charisma and he shows both football and real world intelligence. He's pretty much everything you want in a franchise quarterback. Except (and here's where everyone goes completely apesh*t), he is just now figuring out the most important aspect of being a franchise QB: leadership. Up until late in last season, if this team was down, Cam was down as well, head held low, hiding under a towel on the sidelines. After the traffic accident last year, he did seem to change, he seemed to commit to that leadership role, and that is a huge step. He's got to continue with that maturation this year, though. And he has to be able to do what good leaders must do, he has to lift those around him, inspire them to better performances. When things get down, he's got to be the one others can look to and see that the game isn't over yet, that if they dig down they can still win. (Here's where I get crucified again), Jake Delhomme had that ability, and that may have been the only thing that made him a good QB. He led the team back time and time again. In practice, he challenged players to keep giving and working. I think Jeremy even noted how he would always get everyone to run up the hill at the end of the summer practice sessions, even though they were all gassed out by that time. It seems like such a simple thing and to Madden players and fantasy football fanatics, it's a pointless thing. In the real world of football, where the good teams are so incredibly close on paper, leadership is the difference between a decent team and a team that competes for championships. We've got that on defense now with Luke and TD, but Cam is the face of the franchise ... he's where everyone is going to look when there's a need. I just hope that the guy who led the last four regular season games last year can carry on and become even better as this year goes by. He's good, he's really good, but he needs to rise to greatness.

His innocence still needs to be proven before I think we should even discuss him as a Panther.

Wasn't one of the knocks on this guy that he didn't work very hard? What's the chance that with all of this, he'd show up at a training camp out of shape and uninspired?

David vs. Goliath. I hope Pac Man beats him like a borrowed mule.

Projected as a guard, experienced as a tackle. Kid looks like a monster right tackle.

Tall but not fast, seems there's a bunch of them... The Forest. Catch, Forest, Catch!

Catch and Release

Run support blocking by our WR corps should be pretty sturdy, like Moose and Smitty levels now.

I hate that I missed reading this in my original pass through the topic. Brilliant explanation and you have me convinced and excited to see Shaq on the field. Great read!

Didn't think he'd be our pick, but you've just got to watch the kid's highlights. He's going to be phenomenal. He'll someday replace TD, but in the meantime, we should have the dominant LB corps in the league. And the idea that he could play RB? Whether you like the pick or not, Shaq's a Panther now, so start cheering for him!

I just completely had a brain fart on that. Sorry.

If you're in Greensboro, hit up the Big Burger Spot. Fantastic, HUGE salads, $6-$8 range. Enough for two or three people.

Just going to have to watch 'em in turn, I guess.

Apparently not in math class. 1995 start would make last year our 20th year of play. My bad. Well, there goes any significance.

Haven't seen the spoiler episodes yet, but I think they are going to have to seriously change the Jon Snow storyline from the books. When I read it, I just kept shaking my head that Martin had painted himself into a corner with that one. I really think that will be one of the big fixes he hinted would come in the show rather than the books. And my bet is that Little Finger doesn't survive the season. Great character and remarkably well cast, but they've gone further in his story now than the books have, and that leaves me feeling that they are going to close down this branch of the tree.

Historic match up for opening game for both teams. Both the Panthers and Jaguars will be beginning their 20th year in the NFL on that day. And hey, I like the idea of starting out against them because, well, they are the Jags...

Atlanta at home to open.

He's not going to be as dynamic as Smitty, but he sure looks like he's going to be in the Muhsin Muhammad class, and that's a mighty good thing. Maybe even better.

Ehh, if he does fine for them, no biggie. If he does badly, sure won't hurt us. Suit him up, make him QB1.

In the end, we will pay Cam whatever it takes to keep him. We just have to hope that he hasn't already hit his ceiling. We could go far with him, or we could have already seen the best, we just don't know. We do know, however, that if he ever gets free from us, we will immediately slip back into the pool of mediocrity and sink back down among the bottom dwellers of the league. How long we stay there will be a function of when we can correctly draft the next big thing in QBs or pick up just the right free agent on the upswing. And neither of those is easy to do. Coaches and general managers leave town over just this problem, again and again. Cam is both our best option and our worst handicap. He's good with the potential to be great, and he has the keys to the vault. I sure hope it pans out right for the long run.

We don't have a good track record with USC receivers. Just sayin'.

Dang, I had somehow missed that Gordon had a case of fumble-itis. It can be cured, but... No, we need to pass on him. One thing about D'Angelo Williams was that he almost never fumbled, I mean, historically good at holding onto the ball. Stewie's been pretty good, too.