Khyber53

I kind of have to tell myself that he's playing against lower level college competition, but there's something about the way he hits those folks that says, "These just happen to be the ones they sent against me."

So, it debuted. Any thoughts? It looks good, very good. On par with WandaVision but in an entirely different manner of storytelling. And it looks like US Agent will be a big part of this, at least in the beginning. Cool to see Georges St. Pierre as Batroc the Leaper making another appearance. And what an action sequence that was!

Hmm, ours has been great.

Yeah, but you'll be cheering next year and relieved we didn't grab one of the trendier picks that ends up flopping. Jones is the Subaru pick. It's not going to win a drag race and it certainly isn't the prettiest on the lot, but it'll get you everywhere you want to go for 20 years including the climb of that so-far impossible mountain. And yes, your friends will chuckle when you buy it. You'll wave at them as you roll by the used car lot they are dumping their picks at in four years.

We got CMC at 8 and Luke was a #9. Some good value at that spot. I still say we stick and take Mac Jones when he comes around. The only exception is if one of the two top tackles is still on the board or maybe, maybe Micah Parsons (who could be close to a replacement for Luke.)

True, but would that include the automatic fifth year option? If so, it could be an excellent buy if he panned out. Edit to add: Always check the news first. Welp, guess that's a big old NO! then.

Well, let's face it -- as it stands now, he's got the starting gig. Not like we had any capability there last year at all. Good luck to him and I hope we seem him just explode like Greg Olsen did here when he arrived.

I've never been for it. I've been even more against it as the trade costs have inflated. I'm even more against it based on the allegations. You never get your own improvements done taking on someone else's troubles.

You've hit the nail on the head here! We seem a number of first year guys, offense and defense, come out and just kill it their rookie season. Then the next, they hit the wall. That wall is tape, loads and loads of tape (or digital files now) that opposing coordinators watch until someone beats your athleticism with strategy. The great ones adjust their game, get smarter and move ahead. No place can you see it better than QB and DE. The Pro game is soooo much more complex than the college one for this reason.

If he can square up on a defender, then it's a de-cleating incident every time. If he has to reach for a defender, he just shoves them into the fourth row. If he latches on to a defender, he just rides them into the sunset. If we don't draft him, I'd be surprised. Maybe he's still there in the 3rd?

Before we declare defensive wizardry... we only shut down Detroit last year and there were games, multiple ones, where we never even forced the other team to punt. Once the other team got the ball, no shutdowns, just whether they'd score a TD or run out of steam and kick a FG. That's not wizardry, that's mumbo jumbo. Maybe it was a lack of personnel, but I saw, more than anything, a lack of aggression. Our defense often had the game dictated to them rather than them imposing their will, or even slight problems, on the other team. I sure hope it gets better, but I'm not sold on Snow yet. He coached like a little old lady last season. I need to see better from him and the players.

I still think Jones is our guy at #8, but if there's a run on QBs beyond what anyone is expecting, we could see ourself with a top OT, CB or TE falling into our laps. I don't see it happening, but if it did, I can certainly see us pulling the trigger on one of those positions and just waiting out the QB situation, perhaps even running with Bridgewater again (that makes me cringe a bit just typing it).

So, now we have the Panthers North in Buffalo. The Panthers Mid-Atlantic in Washington. We barely have the Panthers South here in Carolina it's beginning to seem. We're more like the Temple/Baylor Hospital for the Perpetually Injured.

But if you are in the top 10 picks of the draft, you are guaranteed to be going to a team with a boatload of that adversity!

The two things I look at are processing speed and level of competition. I still think at 8 we look at which QB is left and take Mac Jones. There are strengths and weaknesses to all these guys, but when it comes down to it, he had the toughest competition and you could watch him working through his progressions quickly to get the ball to the right guy. Processing speed, it's just like selecting a new computer -- if the processer isn't up to what you are running, it'll never meet your needs. Still, it's a roll of the dice. Chances are one of these will make it, maybe two. The rest... maybe? But which ones.

Good luck to him! Fair amount of competition to suit up as a RB here. Hope he surprises everyone.

Oh I would. The best defensive line to offer when mocked would me, "Okay, show more your ring." And really, he's one injury away from starting QB of a really well-built team with good coaching and a lot of momentum in a weak, weak, weak division. All in all, not a bad roll of the dice for a guy who never should have been taken as a first rounder in the first place, much less at #2. Had he been a fourth rounder who started at the Bears, we'd have thought he did okay-ish.

If the massive contract implications didn't drive you away from Watson. If the massive cost in draft capital didn't drive you away from Watson. If the massive cost in trading stars didn't drive you away from Watson. If the chance that the new QB would be running the team rather than the head coach didn't drive you away from Watson. If the fact that he's never said he wants to be in Carolina didn't drive you away from Watson. If the potential that he would be facing three civil lawsuits for unwanted sexual advances in this modern climate didn't drive you away from Watson... ... then nothing will change your mind. I would also advise that you should probably stay away from used car lots, get rich quick schemes, multi-level marketing, Nigerian royalty e-mails and time share opportunities. Not that you'd take that advice.

He wasn't getting one with the Bears any time soon. Some say back-up NFL QB is one of the best gigs on the planet.

There's a good shot at a Ring with the Bills right now. Might be pretty nice.

(I know, man. It was a joke.)

Didn't he sing with Hootie and the Blowfish?

So, we're sitting at #8 in a draft that could have five or six good QBs in it, a couple of which would even be available in the second round when our pick came in. We have no real offensive line. We're cheering defensive pick ups that have injury histories or just one decent season of work. Why the hell are we going to give it all away to try and nab a big name QB with a huge contract who will want to run the organization? Either Watson or Wilson will be that guy. Guaranteed if they get here and they will be surrounded by a team hamstrung for salary cap AND draft picks so there's no way to really build around them except for some street-level JAGs. We will have a further disgruntled superstar on a team that's going nowhere and you and I will be stuck watching them. And if this is what the owner wants, he's a dumbass who doesn't understand the sport, and he will have killed the career of the Head Coach he was willing to give anything to to get here. Just scout the college candidates, make a frikkin' pick at #8 or trade for the #1 pick. Quit dickin' around you stupid hedge wizard weasel.

Let's say I'm really intrigued by the defense so far. The play calling is going to have to be more aggressive this season.

One year wonder, and that had me worried, but a one year prove it contract seems like a really good idea. I like this pick up. Hopefully he and Burns can cause havoc.