SCO96

Perhaps I should have said make the team "better at their position". Sanders, TMaC, Mason, Hunter, or Carter would be an immediate upgrade (talentwise) for the team and would start immediately...unless they're busts...which could happen.

That really is the foundation in the modern NFL Good point. Most athletes aren't afraid of competition. I think what me and and the other poster was saying is that Sanders' chances at post-season success is going to be a little bit more difficult because of the teams he has to beat just to make it the playoff out his own division To make matters worse he'd be playing for the Raiders. When I grew up they were literally the "bad boys of the NFL". There truly was "Raider Mystique". Now, the Raiders are an irrelevant franchise. I can't remember a year since 2001 where I went into a season thinking "You'd better watch out for the Raiders this season". Something is amiss with that franchise from the top down with the ownership and front office. Having a guy like Brady coming in from NE could be just what they need. But, they have to get the right HC and GM before they can turn things around.

Look at our own Greg Olsen. He goes to Chicago. His HC, Mike Martz, has little interest in throwing to TE's in his offense. The GM trades Olsen to Carolina for a 3rd round pick. You can make a strong argument that Olsen is a HOF caliber TE. He'd possibly be a forgotten player had he stayed with Bears, who haven't had a true threat at that position since Mike Ditka played there in the 1960's.

Sanders and Brock Bowers aren't enough to get the Raiders past the Chiefs, Chargers, or even the Broncos. The Chiefs have been to the AFC title game the past 6 seasons. They've only failed to get to the SB in two of those seasons (2019 & 2022). Unless they get upset in the Divisional Round they're be there for 7 straight seasons...with homefield advantage yet again. Harbaugh wins everywhere he goes...college...pros...back to college...back to pros. Payton's teams are always going to score points, even when the defense is subpar, so they are never an easy out. The Raiders are can't seem to get the HC position right and overall they aren't very good at drafting players. Things could change with Tom Brady in the building. But unless some drastic changes occur they will continue to flounder at the bottom of the AFC West for the next foreseeable future.

I'm never a fan of "tanking". I can see maybe not going all out in the last game of the season, but I'd never try to lose games on the back end of a season to get a top 5 pick 1) The guy you want could be a bust. 2) He could get hurt. 3) The lack of talent or poor coaching could hinder his development 4) Or, he could just be a bad fit for the team and would do better elsewhere I remember the years where some people on this board were in favor of "tanking for Tua" or "tanking for Trevor". I don't think either of those guys has shown proven to be elite QBs. Tua was looking like a bust until Flores moved on and the Dolphins hired a coach who could maximize Tua's ability. Lawrence is still young and could improve, but we are all waiting to see him live up to the hype that he was the next great QB in the NFL. Where a player goes is much more important than where he is chosen in the draft.

That division is brutal. They may end up sending 3 teams to the playoffs this season. You can make an argument that Mahomes isn't' even in the prime of his career age-wise. Herbert and Nix are younger than Mahomes. And as you pointed out, there a 3 VERY COMPETENT coaches in the AFC West. I would not want to play the Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos 2x a year as a rookie. Then again, it may make any QB better almost immediately having to face those teams out of the gate.

Morgan, Beason, Kuechly,.....TBD

I was thinking the same thing. I understand his reasoning, but if he comes out and says that SS won't play for so-and-so franchise I wouldn't be surprised to see SS drop in the draft. I'm looking for the Raiders to make a deal (either overtly or covertly) to draft S. Sanders. He's already got a relationship with Tom Brady, who is a minority owner with the team. The Raiders DESPARATELY need a franchise QB. I think the Sanders family and the NFL would be glad to see him end up in Las Vegas.

I agree that you have more versatility with the 3-4. But, unless you have a mountain playing NT and a couple of studs playing on each side at OLB you are going to have a hard time stopping the run. You also need some bigger ILB to take on those blockers at the guard position. I honestly thing they should go with the 4-3. I'm ok with the 3-4 if you can find the right players to run the scheme. I don't think our defenses have been nearly as good since we converted in to the 3-4 in 2019, and that's largely b/c we've never got the right talent to fill the front 7.

I may get flamed for this...and I'm sure Deion doesn't want his kid going to the Jets...but if A-Rod stayed for 1 more year, playing behind a HOF QB for a year and watching the game from the sideline for his rookie season wouldn't be the worst scenario for the SS.

Everyone of those players would make us instantly better.

Agreed. This team is woefully lacking in talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. A shrewd GM should be able to walk away with 3 starters on defense in 2025 just by picking the best available defensive player on the board when when our number come up during the the first 2 days of the draft. We could even find a starting center to replace Corbett. A stat I posted a couple of weeks ago showed that 50% of the CENTERS in the NFL are found on day 3 of the draft or are undrafted. Cade Mays has been better than I thought, but you could probably find a better player to play the position in round 4.

This has be the worst defense the Panther have fielded in their 30 yr history. Poor pass rush, poor pass coverage, poor tackling, etc. If Carolina took the best defensive player on the board in every round of the draft I don't see how anyone could be upset.

I love the post. I’d like to add one thing to it. In recent years we have also suck “player development”. We’ve had some talented players come thru Carolina that have failed to impress while they were here, only to flourish in different environments. Two of the best QBs in the NFC this season (Mayfield and Darnold) were on our roster…at the SAME TIME…and we got nothing out of them. Even Teddy Brigewater put a career high in TDs the year after he left us in Denver. Jeremy Chinn almost won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020. The next season they changed the way he was deployed and he seemed to regress every year after that. I hope this new regime will start developing more of the young players that are added to the roster going forward.

Current draft order NYG, NE, JAX, TN, CLE, LV, CAR. We need to ask ourselves "what is the biggest need of those teams heading into the draft"? And, "What positions do we know are not major needs for the teams above?" JAX is terrible, but we know they won't be drafting a QB. The Patriots won't be either. The Raiders and Giants definitely need a QB. The Browns have one under contract, but he's been terrible since they signed him. I could see all 3 of them eyeing QB's. Hunter is a wild card. He could be the first player taken. Or, he could slip because some teams may not want to deal with his insistence on playing both ways. A team with a bad O-line may want to go LT TMAC is going to appeal to a team that needs a playmaker at WR. If CB is major need, I could see Will Thomas (or Hunter) coming off the board prior to our selection at #7. It's possible that Graham could fall into our laps. Then again we haven't factored FA into the equation. A lot of these teams will lure some players just because of the large amount of dollars they afford to play them and fix some needs before the draft. It's going to be an interesting off-season.

You know, that's not the ideal situation given all of our needs. But, if we could pick up a starter on defense in FA and nab 2 or 3 starters after the 1st round in the 2025 draft, I wouldn't be upset with that scenario. If Brown comes back healthy we've already gained 1 starter on the line. Let's say we find a safety or LB in FA. MHS831 had a good break down on who should be available after day 1. If we found a starting DE and DT to add up front we'd be significantly better at every level of the defense.

I missed most of the 3rd quarter. I just saw BY's stat line. It said he had 74 passing yards at end of the 3rd quarter. That's close to what he had when I had to leave the game at the end of the 2nd quarter. We'll never be competitive week in and week out if he can't put up better numbers than this.

JB had a first round grade in the eyes of a lot scouts based on HIS TALENT LEVEL. If not for the injury he would have gone higher in the draft, possibly between the middle and the end of round 1. To get him just before the 50th pick is a steal. He'd be on a 4 year deal. You can't even renegotiate until the end of the season 3. You're basically paying him nothing for 3 seasons. I don't buy into all back are interchangeable. No they're not. You have average backs, good backs, then your great-exceptional backs. The latter category doesn't grow on trees. If a back is special it pays to keep them. The key is knowing the difference between the first two categories and the third one.

It's hard to argue with your logic. Ladd seems tailor made to play in a system with a QB like BY; and getting a franchise center in round2 would have given us easily one of the top 10 interior lines...if not top 10 offensive lines...in the NFL.

I didn't say I would have done it. I was just saying that I can see why some in the FO considered it. Everything was done to give Bryce weapons. Solidify the interior line thru FA. Get XL at WR in round 1 and then get the most talented RB in round 2. Take a TE in round 4, etc They were probably "assuming" he'd make a complete recovery during the 2024 season. I'm a skeptical person. I wouldn't have assumed he'd be ok in 2024. I personally would have taken another position in the 2nd for that very reason. But, if I were "influenced" to take him I would've argued to keep him off the field, especially seeing how things were going for us record wise. Conventional Wisdom says most backs don't get back to normal until two years after the ACL surgery. He was injured in Fall 2023. Having him suit up in 2025 would have been almost 2 years since the original injury. You have him for 3 year on low contract. If he balls out, you resign him for a couple of more years b/c he'd only have 3 years of tread on the tires. If he's ok but not great you let him walk.

Chubba had a good season in 2023. He's having a good-great 2024. I understand why Brooks was taken in 2nd round. Getting a back that talented on round 2 is a steal. But, the injury thing couldn't be overlooked. This team had no chance to make the playoffs by the time he was activated. We didn't need JB this season. I would have made 2024 a red-shirt season for him; and wouldn't have had him take a snap until 2025 to give him an entire season to heal. That doesn't mean that he couldn't have hurt reinjured the knee in 2025, but taking the 2024 season off would have given him approximately 18 months off to recover from the original ACL injury.

Luke is only 33. Maybe he can convince him to suit up with him!

This offseason we lost 2 key starters (Burns, Luvu)and were not adequately replace due to the big emphasis on offense in the 2024 draft. Two of our 3 best defensive players (Shaq, DB) were lost for the season in the 1st quarter of the season. No one was on the roster to step up and fill those voids. Those facts alone should give Morgan and Canales another year even if they fail to get 5 wins. If we had scored one more TD or FG in either game we would have beat 3 playoff teams in row (KC, Tampa, Philly) despite our shaky defense and lack of proven weapons at the skill positions. If we don't show any improvement in the win column in 2025 then I'd be inclined to agree with you.

Here's are list of the 2025 draft picks. If they nail this draft things could turn around in a hurry for the Panthers. Here's what I'd consider. You'll notice I'm focusing primarily on one side of the ball. First round pick (DT or DE who can stuff the run AND RUSH the passer, possibly TMC WR) Second-round pick (via LA Rams) (Best DT, DE, LB on board that you can pencil in as Day 1 Starter) Third round pick (Assuming you got 1st 2 rounds right...best defensive player....S, LB, CB, DL, CB) Fourth round pick (Center. Most starting centers in the NFL are chosen on Day 3 of the draft) Fifth round pick (BPA) Fifth Round pick (via Ravens) (BPA) Fifth-round pick (via NY Giants) (BPA) Seventh round pick (BPA) Seventh-round pick (via 49ers) (BPA) I wouldn't be opposed to trading some of those low end picks away to move up higher into the 4th or 5th round. Stats show that undrafted players have a higher likelihood of making the team than a large percentage of players taken in rounds 6 and 7. As bad as our team is, if we don't come away with 3 starters for the first 2 days of the draft I'd count that as a massive failure.

Our talent level is so low, and our defensive needs so vast, that just about any position we take in the first round at DL, LB, S would make us immediately better. I wouldn't even be "upset " if we took Will Johnson or Hunter at CB. Those guys would make us make our pass defense better overnight. My only drawback to to those guys would be the fact that they wouldn't heavily impact our RUN DEFENSE. As some have pointed out, our run defense is historically bad. You won't compete for championships if teams are gashing for 150-200 yards every game. A stud at DT, DE, LB, or even a hard hitting/in the box Safety would help that issue immediately. But, if you did take a shutdown corner, you could use the rest of the draft and FA to solve our other issues.