d-dave

I'm not as completely down at @mrcompletely11, but I'm also realistic.  OTAs are teaching days and practice days.  It's not even real practice.  It's all in shorts and tee shirts.  Here's my number 1 priority: stay healthy.  Then learn what the coaches want and work on the execution.  That's what has to be done.

Just stay healthy.  I don't care if Ian Thomas looks like the next great thing at TE in shorts and tee shirts.  Show it in September.  It's nice that Bryce threw a 40 yard TD pass to AT.  Now do it when it matters guys.

That's it, put up or shut up.  Though I will enjoy things because that's just kind of where I am   

12 hours ago, CanadianCat said:

So what do you want then?

The vet coach? = Reich

The team builder = Rhule?

 

Im my opinion we picked up a young coach, who has a track record of helping under performing QBs. That EXACTLY what we needed. We have a sunk cost in BY right now so might as well throw everything we have to help his succeed. Given what this team has done with what they had, Im pretty happy with it. 

Great point.  We have tried several options at coaching. Let's see what our own young, hotshot, OC guy does.

As far as his pressers, I'm not a huge fan of the super duper religious people who have to insert God and Jesus into everything.  Despite his faith, I haven't heard that much in his media stuff for the team which I'm fine with.  Just a very personal thing to me.  So for me, that's a good thing.

When we hired Canales, someone in the media sphere said that we hired the right guy a year or two early.  So what that tells me is that we need to be patient with Canales.  Hopefully Tepper is and we can see what he's able to do.  Then again, Tepper has proven himself to be mercurial and will burn cash to get what he wants.

The reality is that the NFL does require a bit of seasoning on new things before you can make a final determination.  Hopefully he's willing to give Canales 3 years to see what we have.

Chris Donnelly made a great point about Bryce being so polarizing.  It sucks, but that's just how it is.  We need to start winning, and Bryce needs to play well.  Otherwise, it doesn't matter.

Just Huddle going Huddle...

This is a good starting point:

https://coveragemap.com/cell-phone-coverage/north-carolina/

So here's the main idea of an NVMO is that you're a 2nd tier customer.  It's not that bad.  So I'm on Spectrum Mobile which is an NVMO for Verizon.  My coverage is all Verizon.  The difference is that a normal Verizon customer is going to get the preferential data versus me.  (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

NVMO buy up extra data from the big carriers (for super cheap) and repackage it to customers at a discount.  I've had no issue with coverage or speeds.  The only down side is Verizon doesn't penetrate buildings and walls well...  Otherwise I'm pretty happy with what I'm paying and the otherwise rock solid coverage.

I don't even need to know anything; we're going 17~0!!!  Right??!!!???!!!  (Hilarious, I know)

Consider this, if we win 4 games, that's a 100% improvement.  Not too shabby for a first year HC.  So I guess we'll probably win 5 or 6 games this year as my best guesstimate.  Why that?  Well, in the NFL, anything can happen.  We'll have some hard fought victories as well as a surprise win.  Not sure where that comes from, but we had all the bad luck last year.  Hopefully we'll get a return to normal.

Most importantly, I want us to know at the end of the season if Bryce Young is the guy or a guy.

The problem that Bryce faces is his lack of prototypical tools.  He's not the tall, strong armed mobile QB that tends to get drafted first overall.  His game is not played in underwear on a practice field.  His best asset are his intangibles.  They aren't sexy like a cannon arm or a fast 40 yard dash.

OK, so we took the lesser athlete.  Bryce put up a pretty bad season with a bad team around him.  The coaching staff, for all it's platitudes, sucked.  They made sure Bryce could run a huddle, but didn't help him get better as a player.  Bad choice.

Compare that to what other teams did to their Rookies:  they put them in position to succeed with better personnel and better play calling.  Sure, there are physical differences which are going to affect the outcomes, but you can't change it.

Am I trying to ride to the defense of Bryce?  Only a little.  He's my favorite team's QB, and I believe in him.  Now, he's got this year to show that he's "the No. 1 for a reason" (Thanks CJ Stroud).  Will he, won't he?  I don't know at all.  That's on the D&D crew to put Bryce is position to play well.  Running the ball is going to make things a lot easier for Bryce.  Does that discount his success if he plays well?  For some of y'all it will.  Some of y'all just don't like Bryce, like he stole you DoorDash or something.

Regardless, let's see what happens in 2024.  If Bryce stinks it up, then we're going back to the QB well again.  

NFL 2k I think was peak fun football video game for me.  I played Madden a few times on game pass, and I wasn't really enjoying it.  It's just not my cup of tea anymore.  Now give me some techno superbowl!  Four curls, hit the TE, and turbo your way to 90 point games

But as far as gaming goes, they want the super star appeal more than anything  No matter the team, you're probably going to gravitate to similar plays based on how you like to play.  I have some students who are obsessed with Madden, but it seems to me that they don't care about the content of the plays, but the team and players.

The more I hear him talk about football and players, the more excited I am about the season.  It doesn't guarantee anything of courses, but Canales feels like he COULD be the guy we've been looking for.  

Nothing is proven right now, but man, he SEEMS like he COULD be the GUY...

Interesting story.  The NFL draft is a LOT about relationships between the FOs.  If true, any chance to screw over the Pats is fine by me

It's unrealistic to expect Bryce to be 200% better Week 1.  New staff, new system, new players.  We are still a talent deficient team until we show otherwise.  We are just as thin defensively as we were last year, and we're down our most consistent pass rusher (Burns).

So what do I expect from Bryce?  Improvement.    There's not numbers that will show that because "stats can be manipulated/lie."  Instead, I'd like to see Bryce making more plays.  Let's start with running the offense, and then build into the playmaking.

So far, D&D are winless and undefeated.  I don't expect a 180 degree turn around, but I do expect a better offensive game plan.  I expect Bryce to play his best football in November and December, either helping the Panthers make a run or play spoiler.

Well, if we'd sat Bryce then we'd have gone 17~0 on the way to Superb Owl win!  Of course right?

Honestly, it's one of those Schrodinger's Cat situations.  There are an infinite number of possibilities that it could have been between: Worse and Better.  

Dalton would have looked better.  We'd have won more games.  Reich would probably be going into year two with Scott Fitterer at GM.  Would we be a be a better team?

We would have zero idea if Bryce was the dude, kind of where we are now.  Except Bryce would not have had as much adversity.  With QBs in the NFL, you don't have much time to evaluate.  You used to be able to sit guys for a year or two, but now a days, you are up and playing week 1.

I think we'd be in worse shape honestly.  I like how things are going right now under D&D.  I am not sure Fitterer would have done any better in FA or the Draft or if Reich would have shown his coaching acumen any better in 2024.

So instead of changing the past, we have to keep looking forward.  Learn the lessons from the past, but keep moving forward.

They saw something they liked with Austin Corbett.  I'm not sure if that's the answer, but we'll see.

I was hoping they would grab a center, especially the kid out of WVA.  He seemed like a real dawg.

So long as the Panthers are better than last year, I'll be satisfied.  I mean, we had the shortest time in the lead in the league and won two games.  Let's see that improvement!

We live in a society where we expect results immediately.  Like in Idiocracy, when they finally start watering the crops it takes time for them to grow.  Snap judgments aren't productive, but they sure do get the clicks.  From the good "I love the confirmation that my team did awesome!"  Or the outrage "I can't believe they graded us too poorly!"

As I said in another post, for D&D, this is their job on the line.  I don't think any team intentionally tries to fug up their draft.  We'll have to wait and see.  Considering how poor our drafts have been lately, despite getting some good press, let's see what they cooked up.

The Panthers were much more concerned with developing the culture first.  Get their vision of what a Carolina Panther is instead of the cute and sexy draft value picks.  We'll see if it works.

That's a fun little tidbit.  Fun.

I like that he gets the Steve Smith approval, whatever that means.  At the end of the day, it's all about winning.  Can he help the Panthers win? Can he help our offense improve?  If so, YES!  If not, best wishes!

Pulling for him because he's our annual UDFA WR we're all hot and bothered over   And if I need to go balastic defending him to haters...well I won't! =P

I do miss the days of the constant Ryan Kalil.  What a joy that way.

Would it be nice to draft a 10 year center?  A point of contention for drafting an early center is that the average draft position was between 2 and 5.  I don't recall where I saw or heard it, but it seemed to come up a lot.  So take that with a mountain of salt.

That being said, as fans we do not have all the information.  Dan and Dave have all the information.  They did the interviews, have looked at all the tape, and have talked to their guys.  So they have a TON more information than we do.  

Also, it's not our job.  We are passionate about our team, but we're fans.  These guys have to make decisions that will affect their lives, their family's lives, and their reputations.  A fan messed up a mock draft, so what?  When a GM bungles a draft, that could be it for them.  So they are going to be doing the best they can at building a team because that leads them to more success, money and security.

I'll say this: let's be patient.  I know it's hard after years of sucking.  Watching other teams find success in a quick turnaround has been frustrating.  Having "your draft" crushes do well while our picks struggle sucks.  Then again, if drafting was easy then why didn't Mike Mayock last as a GM since he was a TV expert?

The reality is that when good prospects go to good teams, they look good.  When good prospects go to dumpster fires, then they look like poo.  There are VERY few players who can truly change the outlook of a team, like Cam did.  Most need help and support from strong organizations with good coaching.

Let's see what happens.  We have to be patient.  

Bryce needs to show improvement.  For that to happen, he needs his OL to play better, the running game to be productive, his WRs and TEs to catch the ball, and a coaching staff that has a plan and vision.

If Bryce doesn't show the ability to play in the NFL then we'll be picking high again and can try to QB lottery again.

The pressure is on him to produce.  

18 minutes ago, frankw said:

Let's get him to camp.

I know!  He'll make a mistake in practice and then he's an all-time bust, by Huddle Logic.

He's going to be fun for interviews with his accent, love it!

Will he be a good play?  Who knows.  It's up to Morgan and Canales to maximize his talent.  I understand picking up the 5th year option, especially looking at the WR contracts hitting $30 million a year.

As fans, we can never know what a team is thinking.  We can only look at it like a fan.  Morgan said XL has the dawg in him.  We'll see if that's the right choice.  There's a lot more to the NFL draft than YouTube cut-up highlights.  The medicals, interviews, and coaching backgrounds go a long way to figuring this out.

Couple of things.  This is the Jordan Palmer flag football game where NFL players (including Bryce Young and DJ Metcalf) play for charity.  Who was Bryce throwing it to?  DK.  Interesting....

Is this my crazy brain connecting the dots?  No.  I just think it's interesting to see.  Just interesting that Steve Smith Sr. said that XL reminded him of DK in a few ways...  Though it was hilarious seeing this giant human being play flag football with weekend warriors.  

Will XL be a hit?  I don't know.  But it's going to be entertaining one way or another.  It's not my job to make the picks, thankfully.  The criticism is very valid after years of poor drafting.  We need to see the improvement on the field.

I hope things go well for the Panthers, and I hope that YOU keep getting better!  Best wishes!

The more I hear from Canales, the more I think we made the right hire, finally.  Could just be hopium, but man, he seems like he's the real deal.  Hopefully Tepper and the fanbase will be patient enough to let him grow into the role.  Allow him to learn from his mistakes.

I'll take a stab here...

I don't know.

For many years, there has been a reliance on the mental aspect of the game.  That's why physically limited guys like Brady and Brees were able to be elite-level QBs.  Despite a lack of incredible physical talent, they made up for it with their brains.

Nowadays, you have teams that are betting on the traits. Patrick Mahomes and John Allen, two of the better QBs around, have a plethora of physical traits.  Dad bods and all.  They were drafted based on how the team thought they could build around them.  The Chiefs were already a playoff team, but Andy Reid needed his ideal QB, which is Mahomes.  The Bills bet that Allen could be a Cam Newton type if they took better care of him.

You can debate on the tools of Williams versus the brains of Bryce, but at the end of the day, I don't think either matter.  What matters is what team the guys go to.  Does that team have a plan for their QB?  Do they actually execute the plan?  Are they patient enough with the QB to let them have their lumps and learn?  Or do they toss the baby out with the bath water?

We'll see.  This should be an interesting football season!

I saw that Arrowhead is thinking of trying to get an xbox port...

I think that's great personally.  Sure, I'd love to play it, but I don't have time right now.  This summer, I'll definitely dive in on PC.

1 hour ago, jayboogieman said:

Haven't watched yet but it's on the list. From what I've read, Bethesda is considering the show as canon for Fallout 5.

Well, Todd Howard has executive producer credits, so there's that

Honestly, this screams draft gamesmanship.  I think the Panthers do like Legette.  He's very interesting.  By broadcasting that they want a guy, their hope is that will allow them to get more for pick 33.

That's what I think.  Wouldn't surprise me if they don't draft him either.  

Man alive!  I do love draft season!  The smoke screens are all out there from players, agents and teams!

Though not much information.

I wouldn't stress about it.  There's a LOT going on between now and Friday...  A lot can change.