SCO96

I was watching the game on a tablet in the Publix parking lot when a Canales made the decision to go for it on 4th and 1. I thought RGIII was dead on when he said they should call a sneak instead of a hand-off. 1) It was less than a yard 2) We never run Bryce on a sneak (due to his diminutive size) so it probably would have caught them off guard. He opted to hand off. And to make matters worse handed off to Chuba instead of our power back (Dowdle). I LITERALLY KNEW IN MY GUT THAT THE GAME WAS LOST ON THAT PLAY. The game shouldn't have been that close. When you let a team hand round in games like this, things tend to go south a lot of the times. I'm expecting us to miss out on the playoffs now. A win and today and a split with Tampa would've had practically guaranteed us a playoff birth. Watch us finish up at 8-9 instead of 10-7 because of TWO baffling losses to the Saints.

Only the Panthers can beat 3 of the best offensive teams in the NFC league (Dallas, GB, and LA) and still get swept by Saints with a chance to take control of the division.

I'm glad we're up...but I don't think Rico got that ball across the goal line.

Icky is a good player. He deserves to be resigned. BUT, there is NO WAY any knowledgeable football fan believes that Icky is a top 5 player at his position in the NFL. The point of my post was that a guy who may not even be in the top 10 at his position SHOULD NOT RESET the market for Left Tackles just because he's the next guy up to have a contract extension. If he does, then that puts even more financial stress on a team that may have resign a QB to "record deal" in the next year or two. The NFL salary structure is ridiculous. Merit is what is really meaningless. In some cases you don't even have to be that good in the NFL at the top of the NFL pay scale. You just need to be the next in line to get a new deal.

When I see those figures my stomach gets queasy at the thought of Bryce getting a similar deal. I think it would be a wise for the FO to speak to him and his agent before the deadline for 5th year option. If Bryce expects a similar deal prior to his 4th year...or even after his 4th year...Morgan needs to try to work out a trade deal and move him.

The above scenario would be a nightmare for Carolina. It's tough having to make decisions on who to keep and who to let go. You have to look at which position can I spend less on and still get similar production. In our case I think it would be the quarterback position. For most teams with a legitimate franchise QB, that decision would/should be easy. It's hard to replace a guy like Mahomes, Allen, or Stafford in terms of production. Those guys can make any throw and can carry a team on their backs to compensate for the weaker areas of the roster. However, a starting QB who does not produce at an ELITE level and needs the team to carry them is easier to replace than solid LT. I'm not giving Young a 45+ million deal prior to his 4th year at the expense of a solid left tackle when the said QB isn't even a top 10 QB in his own CONFERENCE.

If we somehow won our division and made the playoffs in 2025, I could understand the reasoning behind picking up the 5th year option on Young. However, I would let him know not to expect any renegotiations until the deal expires (end of 2027). If Bryce became crazy productive in year 4 and Carolina returned to the playoffs in 2026, I could understand the reasoning behind giving him a new deal prior to 2027. Under no circumstances would I make him the highest paid QB in the NFL. There is no way I'm letting BY get a deal that is going or "reset the market"...unless we win the SUPER BOWL. If he wants to "reset the market" you let him play out his final year and acquire or draft a QB prior to the 2027 season with the intent to start that person in 2028.

I think Icky was shown steady improvement and really should be entering the prime years of his career that position. He's a first round draft choice that panned out and I think he needs to be resigned. That said, your above formula is correct, but concerning. Icky is Good player and could potentially become great. But, should a 4 year starter at LT that has never been selected for an 1st or 2nd All-Pro team or been selected to a Pro Bowl become receive a new record setting contract and become the highest paid LT in football? We may have to do as you suggested in your post. If he does get that deal, then the financial situation at QB becomes even more concerning. If Young and his agent insist on a contract in line the "QB Market" and you want to retain him you either have to hope he takes a hometown discount (i.e. below market value contract) or have a guy in the wings to replace him when he decides to hit the open market. We still have crucial holes to fill at EDGE, LB, S. It's fun to pretend to be a GM, but in real life we can only imagine how stressful that job really is.

The Saints game is what really concerned me. We were playing a 1-8 at home and they were starting a rookie QB. Bryce played one of the worst games I've seen him play. Those type of performances (and the one in SF last Monday) are why most of us are not on board with extending him, or even picking up the 5th year option.

Your chart confirms what I noticed yesterday. No real success passing the ball in the middle of the field. Everything is pretty much confined to the area outside the numbers and hashmarks. I didn't realize he only completed 2 passes that were 10 yards beyond the LOS until you mentioned it in an earlier post. BTW, where did you get this chart?

Yes sir. And sometimes they'll even have a graph with a distribution of where the ball was thrown: to the left, to the right or over the middle. I feel that I've noticed a trend with Bryce in terms of how he attacks the field. I want to know if the analytics back me up or if I'm just imaging things.

Sometimes after a game one of the Huddlers will post a picture of Bryce's past distribution chart. Where do you get that data? And has anything been posted for yesterdays game?

Actually, that was all me my man. I looked at the YPA numbers in ESPN. Bryce is 6.4 this year, 6.3 last year, and under 6.0 in 2023. I just typed in the wrong number and forgot to average the 3 seasons.

Oops, thanks for catching that. That's even worse news.