SCO96

I'm old enough to remember the Joe Montana/Steve Young competition from the late 80's. Montana had a 3 year run from 85-87 where the 49ers didn't reach the NFC title game. They were thumped by the Giants in back to back years (85-86). The 2nd game resulted in a back injury that almost ended his career. People thought it may be time to move on from him (which is laughable in hindsight). Bill Walsh brought in Steve Young that off-season. In 87, Montana had arguable the worst playoff game of his career and the the 49ers were upset at home by an unheralded Vikings team. In 88' there was a legitimate competition between him and Young. We know how that turned out. The 49ers repeated in 88-89, and almost pulled off a 3 peat in 1990. Young eventually got the job after Montana was hurt at the end of the 1990 season and missed pretty much all of the 1991 and 1992 seasons. To this day its obvious that there is still some friction between Montana and Young. But, you can't deny that competition made them BOTH BETTER. Montana was playing the best football of his career before he got hurt in the 1990 NFC title game. Young took over and played at a HOF level for the rest of his career. IF the 49ers brought in competition for JOE MONTANA, then the Panther should bring in competition for Bryce Young.

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.

I think we can all agree that one of the most glaring weaknesses on offense is the inability to score TDs once inside the red zone. We’ve outplayed these guys all afternoon and are losing. I’m not gonna cry about losing this game because in the big picture it doesn’t amount to much. We aren’t making the playoffs and a bad record only gives us higher picks in the draft. But, we cannot go into 2025 and expect a significant improvement in the win column if we keep leaving points on the field by settling for FGs. It cost us last week vs the Chiefs and will probably cost us win today because all of the momentum has swung in Tampa’s direction.

No one is saying that Bryce literally can't throw an out route, or even push the ball 40 yards downfield. However, at the NFL level many of passes are lacking the VELOCITY to get the ball to the receiver ahead of good DB. I think we all would agree that BY looked a lot better yesterday. He placement was spot on for most of his down field throws. But, our passing game would be sick if BY could "consistently "connect on a deep post, a deep in-route, or a seam route deep downfield the middle of the field. That said, we're all hoping he builds on his solid performance against the Chiefs. It really would benefit the franchise if he could live up to his draft position and allow us to use the 2025 draft to rebuild the defense.

I wonder how things would have gone for Dalton if he hadn't lost Thielen after the 3rd game of the season. AT may be past his prime in terms of speed, bur he still has his hands and ability to get open. I think his presence was sorely missed after the Raider win. At this stage of his career he is they type of WR QB's like to have as a security blanket. I agree with you on Bryce's arm. As some one pointed out earlier, he still hasn't demonstrated the ability to throw an out route consistently. BY's TD passes tend to come on short passes. Our receiving core this season really hasn't score TD's on explosive plays when he is behind center. I don't know if its possible at this time in his career, but our team would be a lot better if BY could improve his arm strength/throwing power this offseason.

I think they have been ok too, especially when you factor in our anemic pass rush this season. I realize great safetys(sp?) don't grow on trees. But, it sure would be great if we could find a ball-hawking safety to play on the back end. We need the type of player who must be accounted for on every down; the type of guy who make every level of the defense just by being on the field. I feel like Carolina has undervalued the safety position for years. We haven't drafted a safety prior to round 3 since we got Mike Minter in the 2nd round way back in 1997. Take a look at the SB winners since 2000. I 'd say most of the teams have above average to great guys playing at the safety position.

I’m not sold yet, but I was impressed with BY today. He never looked overwhelmed. He could be one of those guys who needs more time than some to adapt to the NFL. If he continues to improve over the season he might just pan out as a competent starter for the Panthers.

I really haven’t watched much NCAA this year. I don’t know how the D-line prospects look for the 2025 draft. After watching this game it’s apparent that we don’t have much in terms of a pass rush despite a couple of sacks today. If the best pass rusher is on the board when we pick we need to grab him.

it seems like no 6'4/260 TE gets tackled as easy in the open field as Ian Thomas. He goes down on first contact LIKE NO OTHER.

I don't believe that this has been posted. If it has I apologize. https://www.derp/2024/11/18/24299579/carolina-panthers-injured-reserve-ian-thomas-amare-barno-caleb-farley The Carolina Panthers have exited the bye week with a handful of roster moves that may have more impact down the stretch than on their Week 12 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. The biggest news it that they have placed tight end Ian Thomas on injured reserve again with another calf injury. This one was suffered during the Week 10 win against the New York Giants in Munich. Thomas started two of the five games he appeared in this season, with three receptions for seven yards on six targets. This may be the end of Thomas’s time in the Carolinas as his contract is up after this season and younger athletes like Tommy Tremble and Ja’Tavion Sanders have taken over the tight end rotation. Thomas started two of the five games he appeared in this season, with three receptions for seven yards on six targets. ---- I know KC is tough, but I was hoping we could at keep the game close...or even pull off an upset...with Bryce leading our dynamic passing attack. All of optimism has vanished with yesterday's news. How can we pull off an upset without our most dangerous receiving option on the field? How will the Panthers replace Ian's production this season and everything else that Ian Thomas brings to the table?