SCO96

I agree that you shouldn't take a badly injured player before day 3 of the draft. You don't lose much of you took a chance on an injured player on the last day of the draft because a lot of those fail to make an impact in the NFL anyway. It's wrong to say that you should "NEVER" draft a running back before round 3. It all depends on the player and the circumstances on the team that is doing the drafting. The 76' Cowboys were a break-away back from winning a SB. I don't think they had any regrets drafting Tony Dorsett when they won the SB in the 77 season. Do you think the Chicago Bears don't regret taking Walter Payton in the 1st round? Did the Steelers regret taking Franco Harris? If you think those guys played at a different time then I'll give some more modern RBs.Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, Shaquan, Marshawn Lynch all lived up to the 1st round selection. I know you can find good RBs after the 2nd round in just about any round. However, a transcendent RB is worth a 1st round selection. A shrewd GM just has to be able to determine which RBs are run of the mill and which RBs are truly special.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the Panthers way. Trade up or trade down (in any round of the draft, not just the 1st) to get raw prospects that never live up to their draft slot while other teams take our draft choices to select players that would have improved our roster immediately.

XL going to have put in some effort this off-season. As you and others have pointed out he is a rookie, so we expect "some struggles" as first year player. I'm old enough to remember Jerry Rice entering the NFL back in 85'. It seems hard to believe this now but the knock-on Jerry Rice after his rookie season was "He drops to many passes." We know how that turned out. Rice became one of the most sure-handed receivers in NFL history from 1986 until his retirement two almost 2 decades later. That said, Jerry Rice was also one of the hardest working players in the league. He worked his tail off to be the best. XL has got to realize his major flaw and get it corrected headed into the 2025 season.

I don't think he's knocking AT. But he is on the backend of his career at this point. We've drafted two receivers in the 2nd round since 2021 (TMJ and Mingo) and one in the first (XL). None of those guys seem to have the ability (at least so far) to live up to their draft slot or even beat out AT for playing time if a GM had to make a roster decsion between them and AT. A 34 yr old possession receiver should not be the clear-cut best receiver on your team if it has been constructed right. After this game I'd be all in on drafting Tetairoa McMillian if he's on the board when we pick and use the rest of the picks on filling our defensive holes. 025 Scouting Report

...and 6 days week (I'm ok with giving him 1 day off to recuperate )

We definitely need to draft a stud at LB in the 2025 draft...or nab an impact player during free agency.

This is a tight game. We are once again holding our own with a more talented team despite the injuries. How much you want to bet that our lost timeout and/or the missed XP come back to haunt us at the end of another close but losing effort.

Frank Gifford (NY Giants) and Lenny Moore (Baltimore Colts) both ended up in the Hall of Fame. Each guy entered the NFL as a dynamic running back that could catch the football. Each guy ended up being primarily a receiver by the time their career ended. Bobby Mitchell (Browns/Redskins) was a complement to Jim Brown in Cleveland as a HB before becoming a HoF receiver in Washington with Sonny Jurgenson. This talk of CMC becoming a WR is not something to rule out. It would dramatically reduce his touches (and hits absorbed) per game, but allow him to work a lot more in space where he's always been effective. If I had that type of talent and wanted to prolong my career I'd strongly consider it.

Jameis is a true gunslinger! But he's also an INTERCEPTION MACHINE! I like what Aikman said about him after the game. He's like and amusement park ride when you watch him play. You're gonna have extreme highs and extreme lows. On a given Sunday he can light up ANY TEAM in the NFL, but keep them in the game with all of his picks. If Jameis could cut his INTs in half, statistically He'd be a top 5/top 10 QB year-in and year-out.

We won't ever really know for sure. But we do know that Rivera ran a 4-3 from from his first season in Carolina thru the 2018 season. Then we went to a 3-4 in 2019 after hearing Tepper favored that front. We stayed with it ever since. Owners definitely have a major influence. Richardson also admired the Steelers organization. And, just like the Steelers, JR never hired an offensive minded HC in the years he owned the team.

I pretty much agree with what Jon Snow said, but I'd like to go a little more into detail. Wade Phillips was famous for running great defenses. He said that ideally everyone would love to run a 4-3. It allows you to rush 4 and drop 7 for coverage. The front 4 must be able to get constant pressure on passing downs and tie up blockers to allow the LB's to flow to the ball on running plays. 4-3 DE's must be big and strong enough to set the edge to defend the run, but also be quick enough to come off of the edge and rush the passer. Phillips said that the ideal 4-3 DE "is hard to come by" and "hard to pay". The DTs must be strong enough to clog running lanes, and also be able to push the pocket on passing plays. It's hard to find a DT who can do both consistently. I may be in the minority, but I think this is a weakness in Derrick Brown's game. He's a great run defender, but I don't think he affects the passing game "enough" when you look at where he was drafted and how much he's making. I'd rather have Kawann Short or Kris Jenkins in their prime over D. Brown. 3-4 DE's are less relied upon in the passing game because the OLB's in the 3-4 contribute to the rush. It's easier to find these type of players (in terms of size) in the draft than the ideal 4-3 DE. You need a stout NT in a 3-4 that can literally tie up 2 blockers in every play and control both A-gaps on running downs. If you don't have that its too easy for your opponent to run the football. The ILBs also have to be bigger/stronger because they take on more blocks from the interior O-lineman...and they still have to be quick enough to help out in pass coverage. Luke Kuechly was a prototypical 4-3 middle LB. I don't think he would have been "as great" as a 3-4 ILB. The 3-4 does cause some problems because you can bring pressure from anywhere, whereas the pressure in a 4-3 is usually gonna come from the front four. Both defenses can work, but you have to have the right personnel and scheme to be consistently successful in the NFL.

I would also like to go to a 4-3 Defense. But, we've been running a 3-4 for years. I recall Ron Rivera running a 4-3 every year thru 2018, Tepper's first year of ownership. The next year we switched to a 3-4. I seem recall reading that Tepper "encouraged" the change in the defensive alignment. We've run that 3-4 ever since.

I may start a thread on this topic to gauge opinions. I agree with you. The defense needs to get better. If we took the best defensive player on the board with every draft pick I don’t think I’d complain at all.

I’m always disappointed when you lose a game where you outplayed the other team for 75% of the game. The game should have never made it to OT. We get there and still have a chance to win…only to literally fumble the game away. That said, I’m proud of the team. Carolina showed no signs of quitting despite having significant injuries and fielding one of the least talented rosters in the NFL. Bryce Young is IMPROVING. He looked awful at the start of the season. Now he looks like a legit starter since the benching. Our 2024 rookie class is the best we’ve had in years. Another strong class could put us in position to compete for division title by 2026…and possibly sooner since we play in one of the weakest divisions. Bryce has to continue to improve. He’s showing more poise, a willingness to push the ball downfield, and better ball placement. Unfortunately, he can’t consistently throw a fade down the sidelines if his life depended on it. That has got to improve going forward. The defense gets gashed on the game too much in the running game and our pass rush doesn’t seem to show up when we need it most. We got to Mahomes last week 5 times but couldn’t get him on the last drive. Baker was able to put together 2 clutch drives to beat us today down the stretch. We have a lot of work today, but for the first time in years I feel like the Carolina Panthers are trending up.