kungfoodude

Sure. There is no reason for us to get as personal as we sometimes do. Darnold is doing the best he can. Not everyone is capable of being an elite NFL player. Darnold didn't draft himself.

The issue is that a fair amount of the available older veteran former starters still want at least a shot at starting. I don't think we would even remotely offer that here, although I definitely wouldn't have been against signing someone like Andy Dalton as an insurance for Darnold. That doesn't really seem to fit with what the staff really wants to do. Furthermore, it's harder to find a cheap option for a good journeyman backup QB in the current market. Some of those top tier #2 QB's are getting a hefty chunk of change.

You know, the 4 Man Rush(best Panthers related podcast, IMO) did an episode recently covering some of the issues that players deal with that fans generally gloss over. Highly suggest listening to it. I mention it because although a lot of a us have very legit concerns or questions about a LOT of the players on this roster, as fans we also lean way too heavily into personally attacking or just plain being vicious towards our own players. Hence why I think all the trashing of PJ should get dialed back a little. There is no sense in ripping into him or trashing him(or even Greg Little) in some of the ways that happen here. PJ is just doing what he can to be prepared. We can argue all day about whether he will be successful but there is no reason to just summarily trash a player that isn't being a knucklehead. He is just doing his best.

I guess the question is how much more "legit" do they have to be for them to be an improvement over our current backups. The chances of a high caliber backup being available are slim. More likely it will be a couple of old veterans moving towards being over the hill(doesn't seem to fit the general philosophy of our organization currently) or some young, raw QB's that just didn't stick. In the latter case, how much of an improvement would they be over two guys that have WAY more time in the same playbook and system. Those are some other reasons I don't really think we will be going QB dumpster diving unless one of our current two backups gets injured.

I'm stealing this quote from someone(cannot recall who), "Availability is an ability." If you cannot stay healthy, it doesn't matter how good you are. We have a LOT of guys on the roster that fit that description currently. Unfortunately, a lot of them are in that OL unit.

IMO, it's that they believe in their ability to turn these guys into something they likely aren't. Let's be honest, rare are the stories of journeyman backup OL and busts that go from team to team in the NFL and then suddenly become above average players. Hence my general dislike for the Erving and Elflein signings. Had we signed them as backup OL, I'd have completely different feelings but IMO they were signed to start(or at least compete to start). I feel similarly about Christensen. He's a guy that looks great when you see his RAS but his film isn't exactly outstanding. To that point, our hopes of him becoming our future LT appear to have dimmed a little. Which, in fairness, the "news" coming from the organization leads us to believe they thought more highly of him as an OG anyway. I think they appear to place a very high value on athletic ability and raw potential. I believe that makes a lot of sense if you are a college coach but in the NFL everyone is a great athlete and has potential. That's my general theory on why we make some of the moves that we do(and did). But, perhaps they just have the special sauce like Pete Carroll did and can motivate these guys into being champions. We will see in the next few years.

I kind of disagree. I believe they appear to be all in on Darnold. I really hope they do sign a better quality backup.

I will point out that the likelihood of PJ starting games is probably high. Sam Darnold has never played a full season in his three year career.

I like PJ but if he is better than Darnold in 2021, I would wager that is us on the path to a top 5 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft rather than PJ being our franchise QB.

Your sample starting five includes two backup OL brought in for their supposed versatility. Frankly, Miller is a backup OL, as well. That was generally most of my issue with our offseason. We piled up backup OL when we actually needed at least 3 starters.

That dude was also otherworldly strong. I am not sure Brown is that guy. Good point though.

He is the kind of guard that would have been desirable 15+ years ago. Given what we do offensively, it was an odd choice. But, as a 6th round pick, an excellent gamble.

Almost as amazing as how bad Greg Little looked without defenders in the field.

I don't think many Huddlers had boards that looked like what the actual Panthers board did.

Okay, so basically just getting one in some way. Darnold is our "one" this year, in that case.

I believe the quote(couldn't find it to verify) was that he believed in taking a QB every DRAFT. If that is not what he said, my comment is obviously incorrect.

15 years ago MGP distilled a rye whiskey that was sold to Whistlepig, who finished that rye on casks made from oak trees grown on their Vermont estate. This whiskey would become Whistlepig 15. Today, after somewhere more than halfway through that bottle, you made an all caps, misspelled post of moderate coherence. I salute you, sir.

The decisions seemed to lean towards versatility over ability in the overall offseason. It was quite mind boggling when you consider how that OL was so clearly a limiting factor in 2020. I am hoping they just have some super secret info that makes them look like geniuses. The alternative would be painful for the fans.

I think, quite unfortunately, the staff is hyper fixated on versatility to the detriment of actual ability.

Except for his first year?

I would say having us as a bottom 10 roster in terms of talent is very fair. Lots of young players and unknown entities. Plus, our roster last year was insanely bad. It isn't going to change a huge amount in one offseason. We just want to be heading in the right direction. That is what matters.

Probably not. I think he has been a RG his entire NFL career but he was a LG at Louisville.