BrianS

Yes. He either improves or he goes. I'm still not sold on the guy. He looked better end of the year, yes. But a great deal of that was simply that he had looked so bad before it would have been difficult to not look better. BY9 was still one of the worst QB's in the league when it comes completion percentage, air yards per attempt, yards, yards per attempt . . . the list goes on. Again, I agree that he looked better toward the end of the year, but he has a lot more ground to make up before he will be looked at as a guy who can go out and win games for us. He seems like a great guy, and maybe we keep him as a backup, but if he doesn't get it done this year the Panthers need actively seek the answer.

No. But he has a chance to get stuck on the practice squad if he looks like he might have a future in the preseason. When you sign a guy like that, it's really all you can hope for.

I actually wouldn't mind drafting S. Sanders. The dude got the message. The last day of the draft is made for taking shots. Yes, I know we have Bryce. What if he regresses? Using a fourth round pick on a guy some thought was a first round talent isn't dumb. What if Bryce works out? The honest answer is it's not about Bryce. Bryce will either work or not, and it's totally in his hands. What about Sanders? Maybe Sanders is never more than a backup. Getting a backup QB in the fourth round is great business. Maybe he shows the ability to be a starter. That's a great problem to have! If you have two starting quality QB's on your roster, you can keep the one you feel fits you the best and flip the other for draft capital.

I will say that I can see Dan Morgan putting his mark on the roster, for sure. It's still a very thin roster in numerous places but you simply can't fix it all, all at once. That said, this is his second offseason. He's quickly running out of excuses . . . which isn't a negative, it's just the truth. If we can get to 8 wins this year, I'll be impressed. Most teams feel like they "win" the offseason . . . but reality in the form of regular season games will kick most of them in the *&@.

What happens this year isn't relevant. All we want is to see improvement this year and verify that what we saw at the end of last season from Bryce is what we really have. Our best opportunity for that is for Moton to remain on the team. If we come out of the season with a clear picture of what Bryce really will be, and 6-8 wins, that's a great season. Next offseason, we can find out if he really wants to be here his entire career or not. If he really does, he can take a friendly deal to help us groom a replacement. If not, we thank him for being one of the best OL we've ever had and move on.

I love, *love* Warren. Unfortunately, it would be criminal roster management to go TE in the first round with so many problems on defense.

I put our ceiling at 8 wins, and that assumes BY continues to develop in a positive fashion. If he stagnates or regresses we'll be lucky to see 5 wins. The defense will be better, but it's a dang long climb from 32 to average, let alone a legit playoff caliber defense.

^^^ This right here.

You're right, it wasn't a bad decision to move on from TB5, it was a DISASTROUS decision to move on. How many draft picks, how much dead cap, how many players did it cost us when we decided to move on? The number of dominos that move set in motion is just now beginning to stop.

All we need is a strong edge player (and of course a healthy Derrick Brown) and our DLine is going to be really, really good. Our LB's should have no excuses. I am a little worried that we don't have a rock star LB. We have a bunch of guys who would be great . . . with Kuechly, Beason or Morgan in with them. Hopefully someone steps up.

We can't take that kind of risk. Our roster is bad. While the upside is there, we cannot afford to get our draft picks wrong if we ever want to win again. Grab whichever of Carter or Walker is still available at 8 and let's get this team pointed in the right direction.

I know you think you're being funny, but seriously, if we didn't have so many problems on defense that guy would absolutely be a candidate at 8. He's a really, really good player and would give us a legit WEAPON at TE. Sanders is great downfield - no doubt - but Warren actually blocks. He's not a GREAT blocker, but he gives excellent effort. And as a receiver . . . man, he just makes plays. I don't see us pulling the trigger, especially with Sanders on the roster and Tremble returning. But Warren is worthy of a top 10 pick.

I saw an interview yesterday with Mike Mayock talking about edge rushers in the draft this year. Mayock is saying that he actually has Walker ranked above Carter. His reasoning was that because of the way Georgia used him, Walker actually had fewer pass rush opportunities. In Mayock's opinion, when Walker got his chance to rush, he was possibly more effective than Carter. I really like the idea of getting a guy like this. If we can get a guy to impact the QB, along with all our other changes, Evero is out of excuses.

Evero honestly has a mountain to climb. As a defensive coordinator, he has NO HISTORY of improving a team. He inherited the #3 scoring defense in Denver . . . and took them to . . . . 14th. In Carolina, he inherited the #19 scoring defense and took them to 29th and then 32nd. If he fails again this year, he'll be out here and not really have any sort of resume to continue with as an NFL DC. I'm sure he's a super guy, but we need a DC who can turn something around. Evero hasn't shown that to this point.

Stops the run. Makes tackles. Available. Sounds good to me.

He did work in the front office that assembled two SB teams. For all Gettleman's bluster, the core of that team was Hurney picks. So yea, until the current regime proves that it can build a winner, Hurney's FO was the best we've ever had. Take that however you like.

I'm wondering if that remains true. We have been historically awful as a 3-4. It's possible we move on from Evero if our defense remains bad this year, which could see us move back to the 4-3. I wouldn't hate it. I know the 3-4 can work . . . but we've never really SEEN it work here with the exception of the Dom Capers years.

Honestly, I wouldn't hate any of those guys at the right price.

Exactly. If other teams see him the same way - valuable backup - we should be able to keep him. If another team sees him as a starter, then we should let him go.

First off, he's not even eligible for a contract yet. You have to play three years. And thank goodness! All we saw last year were glimpses. Yes, those glimpses were enough that I think every fan wants to see him come back next year. But bottom line is that so far, with only a couple games worth of exceptions, he hasn't yet shown that he's a FRANCHISE QB. He hasn't shown the consistent ability to elevate the players around him. He could be the guy. After week two of this year, just saying that much is a massive, massive positive swing. But let's see him put it together for 17 games. Let's see him make the people around him BETTER. Then we can talk about extending him. Let's not lose sight of the fact that thus far in his career, in no season has BY exceeded the rookie stats of MAC JONES. We should be excited for the possibility, but we certainly haven't seen yet what we need to see to declare we have our guy.

Use Beason, TD, Morgan . . . whomever you like. 59 was just the most recent (and likely greatest) in a long line of excellence. The point remains that you cannot draft a guy in the top 10 who you can't really decide what his fit in the NFL will be.

Our weakness last year was run defense. An ILB who excels against the run would not go amiss. I would take a shot on day 2.

Is he Luke Kuechly? If he's not 59, we shouldn't be taking him in the top 10. Yes, he seems like an A+ human being but the real question is "Will he be a difference maker in our scheme?" The answer must be yes to justify the pick. If we have doubts about his position, we shouldn't pick him. Sounds like pundits and insiders are a little uncertain, and that doesn't bode well. We had another outstanding player and A+ human being here with somewhat ambiguous position fit and it just didn't work out with this coordinator and scheme. I don't want to see the second coming of Jeremy Chinn.

We're going to have our own minefield to avoid both next year and the year after. It will be interesting to see how we navigate that.

Marty, is that you? I remember how you love those athletes and were willing to convert them. I just wish it had worked. Once. Ever.