KSpan

Really up to you since you already have a Sam Mills #51. I might lean Pep but Cam, Steve Smith, or TD are the obvious choices. If you want to go deeper a Moose, Gamble, Jenkins, Morgan (particularly applicable now), Beason, Gross, Minter, Rucker, Greene, Lathon, or even #25 Eric Davis would all be cool as well IMO.

Man, that is such an awful picture. Glad he started take his health seriously again.

Panthers greats Reggie White and Eric Swann.

Couldn't find a YT clip but the 4:09 mark of this 'Longest plays that didn't score' video, where Pep is even the thumbnail, has his 99 yd interception return vs Denver in 2004. Wish they had him busting his ass to shove Plummer out at the goal line the play before as well. https://m.facebook.com/NFLThrowback/videos/the-nfls-longest-plays-that-didnt-score/484332435495335/

In all seriousness many of us suspected that Rhule's power was greatly reduced following 2021 as a condition of him staying. There may be some shades of truth to him saying this even if just the overall control aspect, but anyone with a brain and awareness of why he may not have had control knows it doesn't reflect positively in any way. Dude just can't help but run his mouth.

El Oh El

Not like he would've had a clue how to develop him anyway.

Reminds me of when I ran into Mike Vrabel at a local bowling alley in 2010 (he was playing for the Chiefs). We chatted briefly and me being a Panthers fan somehow came up... he laughed and said "Yeah, they suck this year." It's not like other players don't know what's going on.

Even if this is true it is not even a blip on the radar. Kraft busted at a tug parlor, Jerry Jones photos, Irsay with someone literally dead at a house he owns and his drug use... not a blip.

Dawg, you say? ::Dan Morgan intensifies::

Eh, he had Gross, Wharton, and Kalil to go with Chandler (who was sort of OK at guard) and Bell in 2013 and Norwell, Turner as well as Daryl Williams and Tyler Larsen (not great but at least lasted several seasons in the league) in 2017. Overall I'd say those lines were comparable to this year in terms of overall talent. The first 1/2 to 3/4s of 2014 though... Bell at LT, Silatolu at LG, Fernando Velasco at RG, and Chandler at RT was a whole different level of suck. Couple that with rookie Kelvin Benjamin, rookie Philly Brown, and Jerricho Cotchery at receiver and it was IMO the worst offensive lineup Cam ever had from top to bottom. Even with that though Cam put out over 3,000 passing yards and an 18/12 TD/INT ratio. No question though that Cam elevated the offense around him year in and year out. I just don't see Bryce doing anything like that, a la Teddy; he will need superior talent.

I did, yes. Felt like calling out 2014 in particular, as Cam did have a decent line for much of his career. 2014 though... extra bad between both OL and WR.

Cam Newton for much of 2014.

I know I wasn't going to, and didn't, pay money to see the Teddy-led team play last time the team came here to KC. That empty stadium on Christmas Eve was something else.

Nearly all of the people invovled with the ultiamte decision to draft Bryce are gone, and for all we know Morgan wanted someone else. If Bryce flops this year I could very easily see them moving on Rosen-style, though even with the flop it's a low chance of happening.

Agreed, but given how big some of his technical deficiencies were last year around footwrok and things like that I don't know that we'll be fortunate enough for it to play out that way. I think he'll make some incremental improvements and look fairly similar to how he looked last year, but if there is a better team/better coaching around then it will get conflated with him showing more potential and getting another year. To summon the spirit of John Fox, it is what it is at this point.

I feel like he can be an average starter over the long term assuming there are always above-average teams and coaching around him, but in the vein of Teddy and not enough to routinely compete with the best. That said, if that is what happens, a team has to be ready to move on beyond that a la Smith and Mahomes, who of course has been so much better than anyone could have predicted. If he develops beyond that, then everyone wins and I'll be the first to say I was wrong.

I clearly stated the punch was not OK, and regardless of why he missed the camp, he said he would split it and appears to have been an arrogant ass about keeping his word. That $600 was important to his teammate and pocket change for Smith - just pay it back like he said he would, even if only as an investment in team morale. Was a bad situation overall and while (once again) punching a teammate is not acceptable, Geno badly mishandled it. Very poor leadership and maturity, and if he had a do-over I'm sure he'd pay it back instead of doing what he did. With respect to Canales, I haven't read the book but I assume Geno found some humility and empathy over the years like Canales purportedly now has as well.

Geno was, by several accounts, being an arrogant ass about it. One source from the team players: "Brandon Marshall, Jets wide receiver: That was the issue. [Smith] kept putting him off, putting him off. For Geno, what was disrespectful was -- just pay the man his $600. Just fix the situation. But to keep pressing, "I'll get you, I'll get you, I'll get you ..." I think that was the problem. Reilly: We get to training camp and IK is asking him about it. That day, he asks him. I was sitting right there; my locker was next to Geno. Geno just kind of says, "Just chill, man, forget about it. What are you going to do if I don't pay you?" Marshall: I remember looking to my left and seeing Geno kind of like give a look like, "Ha, ha, ha," like laughing a guy off and shrugging him off. All of a sudden ... boom! Geno is in a locker." Doesn't make the punch OK, but paints a certain picture. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29632538/one-punch-two-lives-altered-story-jets-2015-locker-room-fight

I am fully with you on Bryce being nowhere near the player Cam is but 2014 was really the only year the OL was wholly atrocious, and even then they had Norwelll and Turner both come on by the end of the season. That said, I have little doubt that even rookie Cam would have dragged this 2023 team to more wins this season.

For me/someone that perhaps has my same opinion: I don't wholly agree with the first point, particularly not the Atlanta game due to some defensive choices they made, but am not having that discussion again. In my eyes he played about one truly good complete half of football all year, and that was the second half vs Green Bay. Any QB can do that, e.g. Kyle Allen winning his first 5 starts. I don't really care about the second point considering how few yards he threw for and that majority of his throws were at/behind the LOS for a chunk of the season. Guys withh similar rates like Teddy, Alex Smith, Tyrod Taylor, etc, aren't winning Super Bowls. That doesn't mean make stupid throws, but low interception pecentage is only impressive on teams scoring points and consistently driving the ball. I acknowledged the third point as a positive, but like any other player it shouldn't be for Bryce or any other QB. The idea is to not have to test their durability, but it does help. None of this is paticulaly encouraging above replacement level, as I mentioned before. We're going to get another season of Bryce though, so maybe 2024 somehow looks signficiantly different.

Yup. All I can say is that I don't dislike/hate/doubt it right off the bat for very obvious reasons like the past 2 hires. Would be perfectly fine if no one said another public word until the regular season rolls around... sick of drivel and meaningless coach/office-speak.

Because at this time in his current form I saw few positives above replacement level worth noting. A couple of throws late in the season, an ability to take a lot of sacks, and that's about it. We'll see what this coming season holds, but it's not like he's getting taller or getting a new arm. Only being on the field will show if he can go beyond poor-man's Teddy.