SCO96

Just curious, how did you hear (or read) about Wallace studying with TD and Luke? For him to do that in year 1 shows a real dedication to his craft and could really take his game to a new level over the next couple of years.

I understand the reasoning, but it was a very risky move and hindsight proves that. We were 2-15 in 2023. We needed help at almost every position on the team. When a team is bad, you can't afford to miss out on your Day 1 and Day 2 draft choices. "IF" I were a GM in our 2024 draft situation, I'm not investing a 2nd round pick on a RB coming off of an ACL tear in NOVEMBER unless I know I don't have to use him his rookie season. As has been pointed out, it's not uncommon for a setback to occur w/in a year of the initial surgery. If I had to have a starting back I would have taken the safest/surest draft choice at a position of need in round 2 and then taken the best available back in round 3 or round 4. In 2025 I would put him on the field along with the 2024 2nd rounder who should be starting at another position on the field.

If we were a solid winning organization most of us would have no problems with this selection. We would have had a capable starter in place to allow him to be eased into the rotation. If were told prior to the draft that he had been completely cleared health wise, we "probably" wouldn't have a ton of reservations about this selection. If we had picked this young man on Day 3 of the draft most of us would have no problems with this selection because we wouldn't have had to use draft capital to move up and get him. Unfortunately, none of the above were true 1) We were a terrible team in 2023 and needed an immediate impact player. 2) He was hurt near the the end of the 2023 NCAA season. We traded up to get him even though we knew he wasn't medically cleared to play in 2024. 3) When training camp started we were hearing stories that the knee wasn't ready. That alone should have raised some red flags. I personally would have red-shirted him in 2024 in order to have him ready for 2025. We had Chubba as our lead back and other guys to fill the #2 and #3 spots on the depth chart. There was no need to rush Brooks unto the field in 2024. Here's our draft history in the 2nd round between 2021 and 2024 2021 TMJ 2022 No draft choice. We picked Matt Corall in round 3 (#94) as our only Day 2 pick. 2023 Jonathan Mingo 2024 Jonathon Brooks. We have taken 4 skill players on Day 2 of the draft for the past 4 years who have contributed absolutely nothing to the offensive side of the football. 3 are no longer on the team. Two of them are no longer in the NFL. One could possibly never start a game due to a knee injury. This type of poor drafting is why this team has been so bad for the entire decade.

This reminds me of the 2021 draft when we traded down twice in the 2nd round and passed on several quality o-lineman. We ended up with Terrace Marshall Jr at 58, only to see Creed Humphrey (a future Pro Bowl center) come off the board to KC a couple of picks later. TMJ was a wasted pick...and we will never be able to chalk that up to an unfortunate injury. He was just an over rated player and bad draft decision

I think the highlighted portion of your post is a reasonable expectation. The above stat would average out to just over 1 TD pass per game and twice as many TD's as INT's. This team is built to run the football, so I'm not expecting Bryce to light up the stat sheet each week. If can complete 60% of his passes, make 2-3 big time passing plays a week, reach the 3,400-3,500 yard mark, and finish the season with your stat line, then we should be competitive week in and week out.

I think we all agree with you on that. That said, The NFC South Division on paper isn't that good. When you play in a crappy division you don't have to be good to make the playoffs. You just need to finish ahead of the other 3 teams in your division.

You are talking about the Carolina Panthers. This isn't the Philly, Pittsburgh, or KC front office. We've never had back to back winning seasons in our 30 yr history and we haven't had a winning season since 2017. We are perennially bad at drafting. No one on this forum can dispute that. Why do you think Carolina could trade away a viable solid at RT for a 4th round pick and come out better for it? I never have confidence in the Panthers to "nail a draft pick". Besides we have Brady C, who can literally play every position on the line. If Moton does have an issue this season, we have someone to step up to the plate. I have no problem drafting a OT on day 3, but we need to focus on adding talent at the skill positions, LB, DB, and D-lines this off-season.

I may be in the minority, but I'm not convinced that we have no chance of making the playoffs this season. We're not making a Super Bowl in 2025. We can all agree on that. But then again, only 2 teams make it there each season. We only need to win our division to make the playoffs. The NFC South is not the AFC West, the NFC East, or the NFC North. I doubt we'll see 2 teams from the South make the playoffs. If we are able to field a middle of the road defense in 2025...and Bryce continues to show improvement like he did at the end of the year... I think we have just as much of a chance of winning the division as Atlanta, New Orleans, or Tampa Bay. None of the former teams are juggernauts or considered to be a threat to win the NFC this season.

If Emmanwori turns out to be a Troy Palumalu, Ed Reed, or Earl Thomas it would definitely be worth it. I know most teams don't consider Safety to be a premium position. But, when I look back at the the great defenses in the NFL over my lifetime, all of the them tend to have a difference maker at the Safety position, either as an Enforcer or a Ballhawk.

Who in this draft is worth trading up into the #8 slot at the expense of a #2 AND a #3 pick? As Brooklyn 3.0 brought out in his post: "There's no one amazing we'd want at 8, so we trade down. But that means there's no one "amazing" for someone to trade into our spot for." Unless Sanders starts to slide and we get a call on draft night, I'm expecting to draft at #8.

This is how I see it. Too many people assume it's easy to trade down, but in order to do that someone is going to have to be willing to trade up and part with valuable draft capital in the process. If some of those (25) 1st/2nd players start slipping out of their projected rounds/projected slot, then I'd understand trying to trade up and grab someone before the 3rd round.

I've got mixed feelings on this one. If Carolina had a stellar front office that was known for nailing their draft picks in most years, then I'd be down with a move down the draft board to acquire an extra pick. Unfortunately, our draft history this decade leaves a lot to be desired....especially in round 2. If we picked the best player at any position (outside of QB, HB, OL,) it would immediately improve our team. And, dropping down doesn't guarantee we'd pick the right guy in the 1st round or with the extra draft choice acquired in the trade. I can see maybe going from 8 to 12, but no further than 15. Even going to 15 would bother me b/c that means Carolina would miss out on 7 blue chip players before they're on the clock.

I have no problem signing a guy with athletic potential to play TE as a low cost/low risk FA. However, you made a solid point with the Panthers inability to develop (and draft I must add) good football players after the first round. It's one of the reasons why we've never had back to back winning season in our 30 year existence and why we've been among the worst teams in the NFL for all of this decade. There is a potential bright side if the makes the team. He can't be any less productive than Ian Thomas!

Good Point. Back in the 1960's (before my time of course) the Redskins had a Hall of Fame QB (Sonny Jurgensen), 2 Hall of Fame receivers (Bobby Mitchell and Charlie Taylor), and a TE who should arguably be in the Hall of Fame (Jerry Smith). They never came closer to sniffing a title because the team wasn't overly talented at the other positions. I grew up watching the "Air Coryel" Chargers in the late 70's and early 80's. They had a HOF QB (Dan Flouts), HOF WR (Charlie Joiner), HOF TE (Kellen Winslow) and 2 WR's who actually had HOF talent but had fairly short prime years in their career (John Jefferson & Wes Chandler). They could score on anybody, but the defense was the Achilles hill for those squads. They made 2 AFC title games but never made it to the SB. Minnesota had 2 HOF receivers, Chris Carter and Randy Moss, in the 1990's /early 2000's. Same thing. 2 NFC title games, no SB appearance. Even the 49er's history proves you don't need superstar receivers to win championships. People will be quick to point out that Jerry Rice and John Taylor were dominant players on the 88-89 title teams. But, Montana and Walsh had already won 2 SB's prior to their arrival with Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon. Good players but and neither of those guys will ever make the Hall. Look at who Brady was throwing to for his first 3 win between 2001-2004. Outside of Deion Branch I bet most of us couldn't name the other WR's on those teams. Great WR's are always needed. However, their presence alone won't win a title. It takes a complete team.