Khyber53

I don't agree, but I'm always interested in your take. I don't think we will trade down. We need a foundational member of the team we are building. We need to make a pick of the litter pick. I still think we take a swing at QB if one falls, if not it's LT or Pitts. Slater --> Sewell --> Pitts barring one of the top four QBs in your list don't fall.

There's a lot to agree with in your post. The truth is, we don't really know what Rhule is planning. He's good at keeping his cards close to the vest. We won't know anything until the draft happens, so we're all just guessing here.

I'm not sure that's necessarily the case. I think what you want in a franchise QB is someone who will outplay, outwork, outstudy, outcompete and outshine whoever is in their way. It's not a place for tender feelings and being unable to compete. Rhule came in and showed Cam the door before that fan favorite ever saw the field again under the new regime. We ate $2 million in dead cap then and if Darnold ends up sitting on the bench for $4.77 million this year, we aren't out anything. The challenge to Darnold is to be THE guy in that scenario. Make the other guy sit on the bench by using everything you've learned in three seasons in the NFL and don't look back. Winners compete and win. History is showing us that Rhule doesn't have time to coddle a QB, no matter how tender the ego is. And he has shown no signs otherwise.

If Jones, Lance or Fields is available at #8 we may take a swing at QB. If Jones somehow makes it past San Francisco and is still there at #8 we will definitely take him. Darnold is being given a shot, but we may want to have a chance to shoot both barrels into this season and see if one hits. The upside is too big to pass up on. Finding THE QB is just that important in winning. And that lack of picking up the option on Darnold yet may mean the offer may look like a back-up QB salary rather than a starter's salary depending on our draft pick.

He got behind the wheel of a car while he was drunk. People other than him were direly injured by him. I have no reason to say he shouldn't receive the maximum level of punishment. I really can't even stir up the slightest sympathy for him. All other extenuating circumstances fall to the wayside when he climbs into the driver's seat that night.

You can learn a lot about a person in just a couple of weeks. Like if the last team left him with any lingering traumas. They may also look at negotiating an entire contract now while his resume` looks less promising, offering incentives rather than guarantees.

Well, we'd just come out of a long-term relationship and went right into a rebound relationship. Seeing that was going nowhere, we dove headfirst into the dating pool and got rejected by a couple of hotties that all our friends thought were great. When none of that worked out, we may have done the smart thing and looked over at the low-mileage one that used to be hot but got treated badly. Sometimes that doesn't work out. Sometimes you end up happily hitched for years and years to come.

There are going to be temptations laid before our team. Best Player Available is almost always the right direction to go... except for right now. We have to avoid the temptations of Pitt and Parsons and go for a LT right away at #8. No effin' around and trading down, no trading up, no toying with the idea of a CB. Pick the danged LT and give the new QB a chance to compete in the system. If we don't take one of the three stud OTs in the draft (and my pick is Slater, then Sewell, then Darrisaw) then we're going to put the young Darnold out there in another situation like he faced with the Jets. He simply won't stand a chance and the gamble on him will never have even a shot at paying out. If we grab a great LT and that guy performs at the expected level, then we can truly evaluate the Darnold move under the best of conditions. We will know if there's hope there or if we swing for QB next time around. If we do anything else, there's too much wiggle room in the results. Too much of a chance that a poor performance by Darnold will be because of bad line play. It seems stupidly simple, but it really is that straightforward.

The only numbers that really matter: 12-4, 13-3, 14-2. Sh!t! 12-5, 13-4, 14-3, 15-2... those numbers will be what matters. Darnold can throw 35 INTs if we can hit the play-offs and make a serious mark there. Okay, he can throw 12 INTs and I won't lose my mind over it. Gotta have some standards I guess. But wins, baby, wins. Many wins. If not, then I think we take a close look at not just him but perhaps our coaching staff.

If it hasn't been said already, Jake frikkin' Delhomme.

That's a good read, thanks for sharing! I hope this all works out well. There's nothing better than a redemption story and hopefully the kid can thrive here. Get him some protection and then all the pieces are in place for success. We're going to learn a lot about our coaches and management this season, based on this trade, draft picks and development of the team. Let's hope a real off-season is in the works and they can produce something championship-worthy and enduring.

The guy was the best center to ever play for Carolina and was true to the team throughout his career. He played under center with Delhomme, McCown, Moore, Claussen, Cam, Allen, Gilbert, and then Darnold in New York. He understands what to expect from QBs good and bad, he was in the league long enough to know good coaching from bad. He's a smart guy and a football guy. The team didn't make its decision based on what Kalil said, but I am sure they sought out his opinion and considered greatly what he had to say, along with what Josh McCown had to say. That brought the team more real, direct knowledge of Darnold than we could have of any of the top QBs in the draft. Will Darnold pan out? I sure hope so and you should, too. He's a Panther now, so he's our guy. Right?

From what I am seeing, the only knock against him are his arms might be an inch or two shorter than you'd typically want in a tackle. Everything else works out, particularly his mobility, vision and ability to work on an island if necessary. He's capable against all types of rushes and is strong in the run game, devastating when he can get to the second level. Sewell beats him on pure power, but Slater stands out as more polished and experienced. As to playing Guard, he is more than capable of having a fistfight in a phone booth for a whole game, but he ability as a tackle (and he has played both sides of the line) is top notch. Or so they say.

I'm optimistic, there's a lot of activity and it looks like they are actively continuing to try and build a team. But I'm wearing out. Last year was a lousy season. We invested our entire draft on defense and played like a bunch of old ladies -- we couldn't stop any team that wasn't already on the verge of firing their coach. There were games where we never stopped a team from converting a third down. It was the softest I've ever seen a Panthers team play since the organization began. And I saw an offense that couldn't bail us out, even with three players netting over 1,000 yards each. Our offensive play calling seemed, well, amateurish and that was coming from one of the most heralded OCs to come from the college ranks. We looked sad last season. We can't do that again. No one expected an overnight turn around but we've got to see some progress this year. I saw more fight out of the John Fox "making me coach out this stupid contract" Panthers team.

If you have a team that can play defense (and with the exception of against the Lions, we couldn't) and has a decent to good line (which we didn't have), Teddy can work really well for a team. He won out with the Saints when called in to duty, partly because he played solid football and had a team that was built to win. Here, in Carolina, he didn't perform as well and a good part of that was the team around him was not yet built to win. If Carolina carries the guaranteed money, some team can come out of the deal with a solid back-up who can perform well under the right conditions. New England could certainly get him to back up Cam. Tennessee could use him behind Tannehill. San Francisco could easily use him to back up whoever they draft to play QB. He could back up Rodgers or Dalton in the NFC North, Mayfield in Cleveland or even Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh. Because of the way those teams are built, he could come off the bench and thrive. Just because he didn't work out here (and I had hoped he would back in the day), doesn't mean he doesn't have value elsewhere. The Darnold trade didn't just make changes to our QB situation, but it shuffled the riders on the QB carousel that this off-season has been.

Hmmm.

If Bonnafon has healed... the guy can do the job and do it well.

@JetFan Thanks for the good words on Darnold. While many of us think this was a pretty good move, it helps to hear that the fans in NY hated to see him go. Hopefully we can rehab him from the damage done.

Crazy as it sounds... it would work.

The game is, was and will always be about the trenches. Build your wall(s).

Let's not break out the champagne yet. Hoping he is a good one. Hoping Rhule is a good HC. But let's not sound like we expect wedding bells after the first date. I know we're desperate and all, but let's let things play out before we start picking the bridal gown, k?

Let's put a truly optimistic spin on this. Carolina picks up a young QB from the trash heap and rehabilitates him. Darnold reaches the potential that had Daniel Jeremiah pre-draft saying he would be a top 3 draft pick and have a good career. We get a #3 pick quality QB without giving up a first round draft pick, still have our #8 pick to grab an OT with AND still have our first round draft picks for next year and beyond. All for a reasonable salary. If this works out, then we get the value of a #3 pick without having to sit through another lousy losing season. If it plays out well, then we won't pick in the top half of the draft again for years, all for a fairly reasonable trade situation. The best case scenario in all of this is actually pretty darned good. The worst case scenario is we may have a top 3 draft pick next season in the draft and on the roster.

The bar wasn't set very high. The bar might not have even been lifted off the ground.

At this point, either would be good but I think Slater is probably the better choice for us right out of the box. Sewell has massive potential but he needs more coaching and experience. Slater started as a freshman and has effectively played left and right sides. Honestly, I think with Sewell you work up to getting Taylor Moton type work from him. Slater may work up to Jordan Gross level. We'd be sitting pretty if that is the case. If somehow Pitts falls and he's still there at 8, I'm still thinking we take a hard look at snagging a game-changer TE. Then again, who knows who may fall to #8... it's not as far down the list as we sometimes think. Darnold could be the bridge guy and we take a QB. Things sure got a lot harder to predict yesterday.

Well thought out!