BrianS

3 hours ago, Panthering said:

He can be used in Deebo ways but he's not the twitchiness of Deebo at all just quite fast. He's much smaller than DK too so that's a bad comparison. I'm worried he's going to be this tweener-ish dude in the NFL if he can't get very, very good at something. But he's raw and has a proven work ethic so I'm stoked for him. 

I'm sorry, what?  Much smaller?  At draft, DK Metcalf was 6' 3", 228.  XL is 6' 1", 221.  The both ran 4.3 40's.  Both had a 40" vertical jump.  Both had a combined next gen score of 79.  If you read their draft profiles, they have a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses.  How much closer could they be and not be the exact same player?

Of course I'm not saying that XL is the next DK Metcalf.  Only production and performance can determine that.  But as prospects, they are incredibly similar.

So, I don't like the Deebo comparisons after watching that.  XL is not great at or behind the line of scrimmage.  Far more failures than successes with those type plays.

Maybe he is DK Metcalf.  I hope so.

19 hours ago, Jon Snow said:

If only. But it's not required to be short to have the heart and desire to play like Sam.

Moose for example.  Morgan.  Thomas Davis.  Lots of guys really.  We definitely used to be that team that played harder than everyone else.

7 hours ago, SmittysLawnGuy said:

Brooks would have been there at our next pick. Let's not laugh at the mirror 

I don't think so.  Dallas really liked him.  Even if the Joneses didn't take him, the Cardinals likely would have as well, given they picked up the second best back in the draft at 66.

10 hours ago, amcoolio said:

Panthers.com posted this? David Tepper is gonna take this down. I mean did they even read it? 

 

If that was - at one point - part of the post, it's gone now.

Based solely on who we drafted and where, I gave it a B. We picked players who can compete for playing time this year, and largely got them where we should have.  The tipping point for me was taking Wallace at 72.  Most boards had him between 150 and 200.  A better choice in that round and I would have given it an A.

Getting a second rounder for next year should probably make it a B+ draft tbh.

I hope he lives up to his potential.  I hope we are smart in how we use him.  He could be a mainstay of our backfield for the next seven or eight years.

31 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

AT is old. He will need breathers. 

I could make a pretty strong argument that AT will be a better player with fewer snaps, largely due to his age.  He tailed off significantly toward the end of last year, and yes, some of that was defensive adjustment.  Some of it was also that he was just worn out.

I would love to see AT turn into this years Ricky Proehl or Jerico Cotchery.

If this guy winds up giving us 30-40 quality reps per game as a rotational piece, it's a well spent draft pick.

You give him all 17 games.  If he leads the team to a top 10 draft pick, he's done and we draft his replacement.

NONE.  I want NO TARGETS.  I want us taking BPA the rest of the way.  The team needs to hit on draft picks and get players in who can challenge to play NOW.  

There is absolutely no defending the Wallace pick.  None.  It was an INCREDIBLE reach based solely on athletic traits.  Most boards had him between 150 and 234.  We took him at 72!  SEVENTY TWO!!!

Depending on which board you follow, there were at least six or more LB'ers rated higher than Wallace on the board when we drafted:  Payton Wilson, Trotter Jr, Cedric Gray, Jordan Magee, Nathaniel Watson and Curtis Jacobs.

So we totally misread the board again.  We are on the clock again in the third, and we are the only team to pick a RB, while passing on other great players in positions of need.  So Panthers.

10 minutes ago, CRA said:

I think CMC devalued Debo in SF

I agree with this.  Deebo became excess to requirements when CMC proved he doesn't really have an injury problem.  This is Deebo's last year in SF, which is why SF is trying to trade him now.  No way they let it go all the way to 2025 with the salary that year.

34 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

We also need a back that can pass block.  Chubba sucks in that area, and his hands are suspect.  So aside from toting the rock, he is a liability--especially when we become one-dimensional as you describe.

Stop it.  The dude caught 39 of 44 targets last year.  He had a higher catch percentage than CMC did.  You gotta be willing to process and evaluate new information.  Players improve areas of their game.

I dunno if I like it.  Brooks and Benson are the two top backs this year, both still on the board, but Brooks had a mid to late second grade on him AT BEST and Benson was even lower.

1 hour ago, mrcompletely11 said:

Kindof sounds like it though,  I mean they literally had the next pick.  Sounds eerily similar to fitt on dj johnson

Regardless of what he said, the real reason is because they wanted the 5th year option.

Makes sense.  Either he stays healthy for the next two years and becomes an elite CB, or he continues his injury history and no one pays him.

Three of the top six CB's are still on the board.  There will definitely be a CB with first round talent still on the board at 39.  It's a position that we do have some significant need for.

20 minutes ago, X-Clown said:

Let's put it this way - if the Falcons are planning ahead to get out of a contract that they just signed a month and a half ago, it probably wasn't a good plan. Especially if they did this thinking he was the missing piece to win a championship

Good plan?  That's not for me or you to decide.

If they believe he's the missing piece, great.  Maybe he even is.  If so, they'll know for sure by the end of 2025.  In fact, they probably will have won it by then if he was what they hope.  If they have, they can keep him for 2026 and cut him after THAT year for only 12 million dead while still having a couple years of Penix on a rookie deal.

Not every team gets a clear cut franchise QB.  Honestly, there are only 10 or 15 of those at any time in the league.  There's probably another 10 or so who can win with the right things around them.  Then there's another 10-12 teams who just don't have anything at all worth talking about.

If you can't have a true franchise guy, I'd rather be in that second group than in the last.  The Falcons have graduated to the second group with Cousins, and are hoping maybe to graduate to the first group with Penix.

Also, the Falcons could trade Cousins as well in a year or two.  What if they get a year or two as a mentor to Penix out of Cousins, and then trade him for a third round pick?

We have so much vitriol here for the Falcons that we want to paint them as buffoons.  They've had their moments for sure, but so have we.  This isn't one of those moments.  This is an astute pick.  You can never, EVER have too many starting QB's on your roster.

5 minutes ago, X-Clown said:

Then why did Atl give Cousins 100 million guaranteed if they only think he would start for 1-2 years? Isn't that really stupid or am I missing something?

It's fairly front loaded.  He'll have earned 75 of the 100 guarantee by the end of 2025.  The Falcons can get rid of him for 25 million dead after 2025, and if they play it right (June designation) they can split that over two years.  It's nothing essentially.

1 minute ago, CRA said:

yeah, anything is possible, I'm laying the odds as of right now on Johnson.  I think he trends more as a one year guy than anything. 

I guess that's my issue on Canales and Bryce and the Panthers overall.  I think if you are just going to do what Canales did in Tampa and insert Bryce? Just call it a wrap.  Bryce is such an anomaly at QB he needs a unique Bryce centric O.  I mean, we saw the insert Bryce into what I do approach last year.  It was a trainwreck. 

I think Bryce will be given every chance to succeed in an offense tailored to him.  But it's still going to be Canales offense.  It's still going to be an NFL offense.

I understand the Penix pick.  The guy is the best passer in the draft.  Better arm and mobility than Cousins, but similar enough that Penix can learn a lot.  Cousins is gone after 2025, and might even be the backup by midseason 2025.  Sucks for him, but that's how I read it.

42 minutes ago, CRA said:

drastically?  I wouldn't say that.  Johnson IMO is a one year rental.   Leggette IMO is now the best long term hopeful. 

But I still think for Bryce Young, RB, TE and the slot trio is the bread and butter pass game for him to succeed and we haven't improved there at all. 

I agree regarding Johnson to an extent.  However, if the offense shows a dramatic turnaround it would be possible to simply resign him.

In looking at Canales offense last year, I don't think TE is an issue.  Their starting TE only caught 45 balls all year.  It's just not a feature of the offense.  RB on the other hand is something that may be an issue, as the Bucs starter caught 64 balls.  In fairness, Chuba caught 39 on only 44 targets, so maybe there is something there after a couple years of struggle.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that our WR room is drastically different this year.  And that's a good thing.  We won't know if it's drastically better until the bullets start flying.

Cousins contract is actually not that difficult to get rid of, by QB standards.  After 2025 they can cut with only 25 million in dead money, assuming they don't restructure before.