BrianS

I agree, I don't think it's a very good place to hitch your wagon. However, Cam does have some cringe-worthy takes at times so he will probably fit right in. I would much prefer he follow in the footsteps of Nate Burleson or his teammate Greg Olsen than chase the Steven A's of the world.

I'm super curious about where you get the idea that he'll match scheme to talent. He's NEVER done that in his career. Look at Jeremy Chinn. Evero inherited him and Chinn hardly played. Chinn leaves us, goes to Washington and matches a career high in tackles for a playoff team. Yes, I get the limitations with Chinn but I also understand the potential there. A creative and talented DC should be able to tailor a role for that dude. In fact, in his career as a DC, Evero has *never* improved a defense. NEVER. At every stop as DC, he's taken over a defense that regressed under his leadership. In 2021, the Broncos are the #3 scoring defense. In 2022, Evero takes over . . . and they fall to 14th. So OBVIOUSLY we hire him! He takes over our 19th ranked scoring defense and we turn into the 29th ranked scoring defense and then the 32nd ranked scoring defense in consecutive years. Frankly, anything short of a top 15 defense should be the end of Evero here. He's had three years now to bed in his system. I acknowledge the injuries, but it's time we also acknowledge that the guy seems utterly incapable of fitting a system to his players or even putting together an average defense. I hope he proves me wrong. But it needs to be more than "Oh, we went from 32nd to 25th - WE IMPROVED!"

I don't see it as pointless fear mongering. It's pretty scary. In the first place it's being genuinely concerned for the health of our rookie who in most years would have been a first round pick. This is a player with tremendous upside and is just beginning his NFL journey. I do not understand how we continue to have what appears to be one of the worst medical departments in the NFL. In our early years Biakabutuka, Beason, Morgan, Otah. Even in our best period . . . Luke, TD, Cam, Olsen, CMC . . . all of them had careers that were heavily interrupted by injury. Recently you've got Shaq, DB, JC . . . we just seem to lose important pieces every year. It's appalling. I can't think of another team that's had such a tremendous run of injuries to players. Maybe Detroit last year? But that's just one year. We are still a thin team, despite the improvements over the last year. Two or three key injuries is all that separates us from another 5 win season. Our curse seems eternal.

If Cam didn't make an appearance for the piece the Observer did, no way he makes an appearance for this. As nice as this may be, it just screams of riding on the coattails of what the Observer did.

If he really wants to be here, that can happen. It's totally up to him. Yes, he'll have to take a hometown discount to do it. He'll have to show that the last two seasons were outliers and he hasn't become an injury risk. It will come down to money and how much of it he wants. If he wants to be paid at the upper end of the scale, it won't and can't happen here. When healthy, he deserves that kind of pay and if he wants it someone else will pay it. It can totally happen. And it's totally in his court.

It's a very floor level ranking, yes. I think the big takeaway is that he believes we need a lot of young players to step up in order to really make any ground up. He's not wrong.

I mean . . . raise your hand if you're surprised so we can all laugh at you . . .

Theilen, at this point in his career, should be that guy who comes in on third and eight and gets you nine yards every time. That kind of player has insane value in the league and it's well within what he is still capable of.

Honestly, that's the worst case scenario. Just good enough to not be obnoxious, not really good enough to carry the team. I want last game of the year Bryce or first game of the year Bryce.

I am not one who gets behind the idea of "unlocking" a player. Did Barry Sanders need much in the way of blocking to "unlock" him? I still maintain that Sanders career was far more impressive than Emmit Smith's. Did Larry Fitzgerald need an elite QB to "unlock" him? Antonio Gates? Etc. Great players play well if you care to watch with an objective eye. Now, some players work better in a given system. I do see that. A player who is playing well can be made to look better by sticking him in a better / more tailored system. I'm not sure Brock Purdy looks like a franchise guy in another system - but I would say the chances are probably 50/50. He's a good player, you could see it in any system, but in THAT system he's great. But for our specific example - and I hate to use TB12 but it's the easiest to see - you need look no further than the NE dynasty. Did Brady need Randy Moss to "unlock" him? No, of course not. Brady was just a great player, in a well designed system. Up until the end of the year last year, we hadn't seen anything resembling greatness from Bryce Young. I hope that he continues to improve. I hope he turns into our next franchise QB. But it's on his shoulders. If TMac is part of that, great. If TMac flops, it should not affect an evaluation of BY. BY doesn't need to be unlocked. He needs to perform.

This is an important point. When you let the offense choose the matchup so easily you are only hurting yourself. At least make them work to get the matchup they want.

I agree, Young is completely out of excuses. I'm not saying we just straight up get rid of him if he doesn't show top 10 potential, but I think we start looking for a QB who does and let BY be the bridge.

Exactly. Please give us Drake London numbers. Right now, the last Panthers receiver to hit 9 TD's? Kelvin Benjamin. The last Panther with 1300 yards? Agent 89.

The heck? How is this even a question? The answer is Mahomes. There is no other answer.

We also signed a guy who made 135 tackles last year in 11 starts during free agency. Yes, it was a career year for the guy who bounced around a lot, but you don't make 135 tackles in the NFL sitting on the bench. We might have more than we think.