ImfromClayton

We won't know the answer to this for a long time. Reality is, Caleb has been the consensus #1 in that draft for years. Bryce was a similar situation, but mostly the same. He was not the clear and obvious #1 that Caleb was, but most teams had Bryce at QB1. The Panthers were always going to be terrible Bryce's rookie year. I don't think DJ Moore's presence would have changed anything about that offense, as our guards, center, and left tackle were getting demolished on nearly every snap. It's clear Caleb's dad was trying to do everything possible to ensure Caleb didn't end up in Chicago with Eberflus. It's hard to imagine that he wouldn't have done the same, but probably more publicly with our situation, considering Carolina is an easier target for the media than Chicago. We can all speculate, but it's impossible to tell who is going to have the better career on May 16, 2025. If either QB doesn't pan out, we have an easy answer. If both flame out, the bears clearly won the trade, but it wouldn't have really mattered anyway. We all know how we win the trade. Candidly, even if one of the other picks we gave up ends up being a hall of fame player, we don't know if the panthers would have taken that player anyway. All you can do is make the best decision you can in the moment with the information you have. I really like Bryce Young, and I'm glad he's a Carolina Panther. The only way to win in the modern NFL is to have an absolute dude at QB. I personally am happy that our franchise recognizes this, as I remember times when they did not.

The biggest things I look for are things like West > East travel, and short weeks. As far as those things go, we got about as favorable a draw as one could have hoped for. This is a great schedule for a young team. I still don't think were quite there yet, but this is a great year to take a big step forward. Similar to last year, more important than the record is how we get there in my opinion. I don't think we can win it all yet. 9-7 but Bryce stinks (I don't see how this is possible) is a worse result for our immediate future than 7-9 but Bryce plays well throughout.

Yes, but he's a run stuffing edge. Which is something we've been lacking for while. I'm just saying the combo of him and derrick brown is going to be a lot for offenses to account for in the run game.

The combo of scourton and derrick brown is going to be difficult for defenses to account for. We should have a lot of free running linebackers able to make plays in the run game.

Steelers know they can't win a super bowl. They are reloading. Very smart, goal oriented franchise. 2nd isn't good enough in title town.

This is one story without a happy ending

While I think we will be a lot better this year, we are not a super bowl contender. Whatever he needs to do to get healthy for the long term, he needs to do.

I love it. Good for him. Seems like a great dude.

I also think there's a locker room element here. Shaq is and was an excellent person and leader. He's pretty much been the face of the franchise in the post Cam/Luke/Greg/TD era. I'm not saying Shaq is similar to 89, but Cam didn't come into his own as a leader until 89 was gone, and I love Steve Smith. I'm not sure Shaq can stick around long enough to be part of the next good run. We lacked leadership on defense last year in his absence. Need someone to step up into that role. Even on a team friendly deal, I'm not sure we bring him back, and I mean that in the most complimentary way I can say it.

I actually like that we made the decision early. Production is more valuable than the underwear olympics in my humble opinion. Use that pre-draft time to determine things like character and work ethic.

You are absolutely correct. We were speculating at the time. The UC news dropped yesterday (to my knowledge). That's great news. That said, he did have a devastating concussion that derailed his 2022 season, which is why we were speculating.

When the panthers are bad, we sell a shockingly low number of jerseys, and options become limited. In the good years, we had a lot of different options. I think T-Mac is going to have to play well on the field for his jersey to get produced in the FUSE template.

I know every jersey thread goes in this direction, but I feel the need to say it. The Chinese knockoffs are not your friend. Not only does the money not go to the panthers, but you don't control where it does go. The athletic did an excellent podcast on the business of counterfeit shirts not too long ago. I could care less about the legality of it, but the morality of it is no bueno. Now I need to wash off the "defends billionaire class" off myself, but like don't give your money to those people. If you can't afford a jersey, just go to ebay, or a thrift store, or wear a t shirt.

Only way fanatics improves the current product is if you don't buy it. The current FUSE jerseys are a rip off gents. Just being honest. (I still love the panthers and am excited for T-Mac though)

I fully agree with this, but there's no curing CTE. It's irreversible, and progressive. But also keep in mind his timeline went from John Gruden (and the organization's 2nd playoff season since 2002) to Josh McDaniels. McDaniels has been an abject failure as a head coach everywhere he's been.

Weird time in the league. I think Hunter had some concussion issues and things like that. I think he took 2024 off, and realized how much he missed ball, which is very relatable. He also, given his lack of size, needed to get fully healthy to get a good honest shot at the league again. He's a typical coach's kid. Elite route runner. Excellent hands. Oakland and Clemson fans were known for saying "3rd and Renfrow." I love how many guys the panthers have added that are known for their hands. If he still has the juice, he makes the roster easily. If he does not, he's likely a very easy camp casualty. Low risk, high reward. Keep cooking Dan Morgan.

It's going to be tough to make this roster at WR. Our emphasis on the position is interesting. That said, I love the guy as a prospect. He had some dominant games. Coming out of 2022 he was a highly coveted prospect. A&M did not have a very good passer in his tenure there. I also think he fit what Jimbo wanted to do a lot better than Elko. Hopefully, that's a good thing, as Jimbo runs a much more pro-style system. Potential high ceiling UDFA is what it's all about this time of year.

It took me a minute to get over the shock of the pick, but I agree. before T-Mac, we had 4 WR on the roster. AT is going to hang it up at some point, and David Moore, though he had some success last year, I'm not sure is a quality NFL player. What I like is, I've never seen us screen a pick the way we did. We always telegraph our picks. I also think this is a sign that David Tepper is getting out of the way. As others have said, when your roster is in the shape ours is, you can't miss. T-Mac seems like the type of player that has a relatively high floor. The ceiling is obviously a Michael Thomas/Mike Evans type of player, which have terrorized us for years. I do think the bulk of our draft will be spent on defense from this point on. That said, with only 5 WR, I could see a late round pick being another WR. A lot of TE projects in this draft as well.

If we trade for him, I can defend him for all that. If we don't trade for him, I can't believe the Lions would let him play with all that going on!

How will the uptown practice space compare to what we could have had in rock mill / fort hill?

I just flat out don't believe in taking a tight end that early. That may be the hardest position to project in football. We've seen countless "can't miss" tight ends be very average players. I just don't see the value.

I don't hate it for the right haul. We need more talented players and this accomplishes that. 1, 3, 5 and 6 and a future 1 and 3 is massive. I don't see how you turn that down. It's my opinion that the uber talented players of this draft are mason graham, travis hunter, abdul carter and ashton jeanty. The only one of those that I anticipate being on the board when we pick is jeanty, and I don't see us taking him. In that regard, a trade back hurts very little. There are some good players that will be available at our positions of need in the mid/late first.

I would like them to try to get Nick Nash late in the draft. Small school guy but high level production.

I sure hope not. We were historically awful on Defense last year. We need a lot more bodies on that side of the ball that are NFL quality players. Not sure our roster is in any sort of shape to be selling the farm for one player (again)

I love our traditional looks. Silver Helmet, Black Jersey, Silver Pants/Silver Helmet, White Jersey,White Pants. The problem with the silver pants, is Nike doesn't do the shiny silver fabric anymore, so our pants are now grey, and it does not look as good. That said, I HATE all these weird combos we've started doing. The white jersey looks terrible with everything but white pants. I do like some of the blue and black mix and match, especially with the black helmet. That said, if were going to screw around with the uniforms every week like it's madden, I don't understand why we don't just do a full redesign to something that would look better with weekly tinkering. All that said, I'm an old head who prefers the classic looks with some of the wilder stuff for special occasions.