Khyber53

I've said it before and I'll say it again, having a star wide receiver can be more of a problem than a gift. Our two prior Super Bowl runs we didn't go into those seasons with star receivers. In 2003 we had a sturdy Mushin Mohamed who wasn't lighting the league on fire, some slow white dude cast off from the Greatest Show on Turf and some little punk that was a punt returner and a fight risk. They changed the league's opinion pretty fast. In 2015, we lost our "star" receiver Kelvin Benjamin in training camp and our lone "big name" receiver was Ted "Feet of Lightning/Hands of Stone" Ginn, Jr. and a cast of whos? Of course, we could be looking at Moose, Ricky and Smitty v. 2.0 in TMJ, Thielen and Mingo. That sure would be nice!

They're more optimistic in their endorsement than I am, but I can't argue with their logic except for the take on our secondary -- a lot of that is going to depend on if Jaycee Horn can get and stay healthy. Let's face it, though, it has been a looooooong time since there was any real optimism here, from the fanbase to the national coverage. It could take us a while to get used to it. I'm willing to try.

Wouldn't it be amazing for him to just burst onto the scene this year as the sack monster no one predicted for 2023??

We're kinda becoming the Legion of Broken here... c'mon Jaycee, get better and stay healthy!!!

Yep, just my annual gripe about the slow season.

So many rumors, so little real news.

Sure, feel free to buy them one. Let's just not use tax payer dollars on it. Let's have the ultra wealthy actually pay for their own sh!t for a change.

And here's the latest. We really do appreciate the views!

Yanno what? Good luck to him! I had high hopes for him when he got here. I sure don't mind dusting those off and having them again. I hope he does us proud.

A YouTube channel with 542 subscribers is praising one of our free agent pick ups. Okay. I guess that's good, but it's not like the hot story on ESPN's flagship show. Got to start somewhere I guess.

I don't mind not having soccer one bit. But that sport was probably meant to be played on grass, too.

We need to follow the Panthers North team, if they can grow grass up there then we sure as heck can do it down here. The change here was a terrible idea. Football is meant to be played on real grass and dirt.

Well, he'll just have to do it again, or better. But let's face it, we're a small market team that had a dead man walking as a head coach, then an interim head coach and what had been a mushy soft defense for a couple of years. No one was really looking at our defensive players at all. Hopefully this will be a sit up and take notice year for the NFL when it comes to our defense. We need, desperately, to regain the strength and reputation that we've had in the past. And there's only one way to do it and that's with INTs, sacks and giving busted lips and black eyes to our opponents. We, as a team, need to play the whole season like the first hit Thomas Davis would put on Jimmy Graham every time we'd play the Saints. He'd just knock the dogwater out of him and Graham would play scared the rest of the game. You could see him flinch every time Davis would make a quick move in his direction. We've got to be like that every game this season.

True, very true.

He's right, we spend way too much time obsessing over ever single moment of OTAs and practices and stuff. There's just way too much media out there right now and honestly it's ruining the game. Everything is so under the microscope anymore and there are soooo many pundits that it's easy to forget about the game itself. I realized that during the week, I'll spend more time watching football coverage and conversation than I actually spend watching the games. I'm not sure that's healthy for the sport (much less for myself) and for the fanbase. And honestly, I'm getting kinda creeped out by the overly enthusiastic man crushes people develop over players, even newly minted rookies. I think we're losing perspective.

They said Big Ben was a meathead, too and couldn't move up from college and make it. Somehow the big lunk did. (And I still think he's a meathead.)

Honestly, I think he'll be the next Ben Roethlisberger. He's got the build and a similar game. Same kind of love 'em or hate 'em vibe, too.

If your rookie QB doesn't have some really bad days in OTAs and early training camp, you may just have a major problem with your defense.

Man, I wish I was more hopeful for our WR group but let's be real. Every single guy we've got is in a "prove it" position right now and that doesn't bode well. TMJ is right now going into his third season after being a highly touted draftee. His first two seasons were lackluster at best and even with coaching aside, he hasn't even flashed brilliance much. He's really in a make it or take it home situation this year and his career really hangs in the balance. Thielen was just jettisoned from the Vikings for basically being too old, and that's after having a heck of a long career there, as well as being a local legend. He's got a lot to prove that he still has the "it" factor and that he can still make the hard catches and put his excellent route running to good use. He has to somehow prove the Vikings coaching staff wrong in a new town, with a new coach and a brand new rookie QB. That's a mighty tall order to fill. Chark was lt go at the end of the 2022 season by the Lions after being there for a year on a "prove it" deal. He had 502 yards and three touchdowns there and it just wasn't enough to keep him on the roster. He's just 27, so there's still some hope, but were the Lions right about him? He's on the hook here for $5, but is 500 yds and 3 TDs really worth that much? Mingo is a rookie, second rounder with some good stats and a lot of praise for his college game. Same as TMJ when he was drafted here. Still, he's a rookie, so it is a definite "prove it" situation for him, but with some leeway due to how new he will be to the pro game. I'm really hopeful for him, but reality says that he's got a hill to climb this year. Shenault's looking at a prove it year, too. He's got to prove that he can make catches and be something more than just a gadget player whho can moonlight as a running back. It's neat, but can you show us something else, kid? Damiere Byrd. Well. Good luck. We can look at these guys and swoon in the preseason, but truth be told, we need at least two of these guys to prove that they can be starters in this league at this point in their careers. I don't think any of them can be counted on to be superstars, but maybe they can work something up amongst the group. If I were an opposing secondary coach with these guys up next on my schedule, I don't think I'd be losing much sleep over it. Gosh, I hope I am wrong.

Dangit, was hoping it was the other Xavier Woods.

You're very right and I'm going to remove it.

We want to beat the opponents, no their kids. Sorry, too soon?

Chuba has been getting better and better. He's a good back up running back and as long time Panthers fans know, you can never have too many of those.

As my daughter turned 18 this year and my son 15, that has been weighing heavily on me. My great grandfather was in France during WW1 and he had just turned 18. He drove a mule team carrying supplies to the front and I remember him telling me that the mules were more valuable than he was -- in case of a gas attack he had to put the masks on the mules before he could put his own on. At the end of the war, the mules were loaded onto a train and he had to march back to the port. The mules, of course, probably weren't going back to America, but probably to slaughterhouses to feed hungry French people after the war. It was a grim, grim thing we sent his generation and the ones to come into. We should honor them by truly working toward both peace and freedom.

It is so easy to forget the lives lost to give us and others their freedom, lives taken at such young ages that they rarely had time to create their own lives, loves and memories.