Khyber53

Really? I've been against him since he arrived (thanks to his police report), but for on-field, I called it that season when he literally did NOTHING after like the fifth week in the season. Dude was pretty much taking naps on the field and doing nothing to help out his team mates. He got his good start because no one thought he was worth covering and he made them pay. They started covering him with a DB2 or a safety and he couldn't compete. Year two he further exposed himself as another poor choice from the Matt Rhule former students pool.

First, we need a defensive concept that wasn't developed by an obscure college in 1953 and last played by the semi-pro Tulsa Cattlemen in the 1970s. Second, we're going to need someone besides Shaq and Jeremy to show some willingness to tackle. Get some grit and stop playing like you don't want to go into free agency with an injury at the end of the season. That team was soft last season. Quit riding the stats from your first three games and thinking you've won the season. We decimated some really bad, or really injured/sick, teams then didn't adjust our defense to play good opponents. Dallas exposed our scheme to every team that had a decent coach and we suffered for it. If the defense is willing to play like they really were defending their house and we show some modern, professional coaching and schemes, we can be really good. There's a lot of talent out there in that group, but it has to be made into something.

Dude, he sucks. He's a moron, plays like a selfish twit and will throw his teammates under the bus to cover up for his failings. I'd pay another team to take him.

Exhibit A: Robby Anderson

We have to base things purely on the play on the field. And in that case, Ian has put his face in the slapping place.

Went back and watched the tape to see how he got so open on those plays. Honestly, he's got one simple move -a lurch to the inside and a smooth arc back up and out. Defenders bit on that again and again. Not sure if linebackers in the NFL will bite on it, but he just has that one move down pat. On the contested throws, he seems to use his size well and has some good hands. Maybe this kid can make some noise at training camp. Good luck to him. He has that Greg Olsen type of speed, really sneaky how he can just glide into the open seams of the defense.

6'6" 255. Hard to over throw to that guy. Some things you can't teach.

Honestly, I think it's the running game angle when it comes to Ickey. If you get good blocking for CMC and Chuba, you're going to have a dominant running game (surely CMC can't keep getting injured, right?). Solid running games take a lot of pressure of QBs, but also off of defenses and head coaches especially. The proper guy at left tackle (and at other spots along the line) can make that happen immediately. And if Icky was the #3 guy at pass blocking among those three candidates, he was still miles ahead of the other choices in that skill set. And he is still trainable, he hasn't hit his ceiling. That practice thing had one other gem that stood out for Icky I think. He was out there just hitting and getting it in the humid June heat of Raleigh. Icky is going to do fine in the same stuff this summer in Charlotte, especially since he's been practicing in it for his whole life. (Yes, the other two are also Southern raised, but I'm on a roll here, bear with me.)

Maybe both of these guys have some of that Jake Delhomme practice boss in them. Sure would be great to have that kind of leadership right now. That, more than anything, can make a team achieve more, if not overachieve a bit. Builds grit, too -- something we've had in short supply for the last couple of years.

I just have a massive feeling that the Browns will regret this entire undertaking before the end of the season. Watson is a landmine waiting to explode, they just pissed off a serviceable QB who can compete in their division AND gave up a ton of draft and cap capital to get where they are. In a world of competitive sports, the Panthers were so lucky to be left on the outside of this looking in. Those poor Browns fans deserve better than this will probably turn out.

*there

You rock, man!

40 mph sustained winds on the field... a smart game plan says you don't pass in this. But hey, yanno, Madden right?

All you need is a QB that works within their coach's system. That's rarer than it sounds. Mac and that system won twice as many games as we did last year. Just sayin'.

Back to Corral... Honestly, all I've seen are highlight reels of the guy. They look good. He has the demeanor and poise to be a QB. Deep balls are always a crap shoot in a way, so it's not as big of a deal as that middle distance accuracy and the ability to dump the ball off quickly. Beyond any kind of arm talent, it's about processor speed nowadays. You can have great talent but no ability to process the game as it goes on and you end up with Jameis Winston. Short to immediate throws from a QB who can think and read a defense faster than it can react will eat an opposing team alive. Joe Montana proved that time and time again. In the end, we won't know what we have in Corral until he gets out on the field and has a couple of games under his belt. We know what bad or weak QBing looks like, I think we'll spot it fast if it's there.

I said we should have taken Zappe as a backup this year (and probably play him some for experience). Just like I said we should have taken Mac Jones. Patriots got both of them. But hell, what does their coach know about QBs?

I'll believe it when I see it in late January or early February. If we're not playing meaningful football at the year's end, Rhule won't be coaching football again.

Yet another long, drawn out, poorly conceived Panthers rebuild.

You'd think, but honestly, it's been a hollow group for the most part. Unable to stop the run, mismanaged, disappointing when it comes down to it. Still, I hope. Somehow.

Yeah, so far it's just okay.

Once there was no pie here. Then, one day, poof there it was, replacing the old system of thumbs up and whatnot. And basically, everything counts as pie except for poo which counts for poo. Wish there was a more concise explanation that made sense, but that's what we've got. And we have pie because the cake turned out to be a lie.

They require stout defenses, too. It's all about time of possession and ball control if you're a running team. We've got our work cut out for us on this. We're going to have to field an NFL- level defense, not something cribbed from college ranks or from the 1973 semi-pro Canton Steamrollers.

Our evaluations of FA linemen going into last season was terrible, as in "Get me new scouts" terrible.

Uh yup. There's always strata in every society.

From the account I've read, Gretzky was one of a bunch of rich kids at the school that treated others badly and waved their parents' money around. I don't like violence, but I might have let Corral get a couple of shots in on Tristan Gretzky before breaking it up.