45catfan

So he averages a first down per catch? Pretty solid. Nobody is confusing him with Randy Moss. He's better than he's gets credit for, especially as a Panther. It wasn't so long ago I remember people being excited for him coming here. Now he's just some old, slow, washed up white dude. How the tune has changed.

We will be getting Brown back. I imagine we get another DL in FA. The one area I didn't address was Edge. It wasn't intentional, just the way the board fell. Anyway, until we are sure Evero is back and still running a 3-4, I'm not sure how to address that.

I hate it for the kid, but I'm not penciling in Brooks for the future. If he makes a TD like come back, then great, but there's a real possibility he's never going to be the same. I like Sanders, but calling him a #1 is a stretch at this point. He's promising. I still want to draft a TE or pick up one in FA. Thankfully, the Ian Thomas experiment has finally run it's course (better have). Tremble is a TE3, TE2 is his ceiling and he's not there. I'm in wait and see mode on Wallace. The results have been mixed. I did not want XL with that first pick, let alone move up for him. In a trade back, sure. I was in the McConkey camp. How professional scouts and front office personnel overlook the totality of one-year wonders full resume` is mind blowing to me. XL was so far off the radar until his last season. Yes, he had a good season stats wise, but watching the tape, his rawness was glaring. It's like they saw a twitchy, tall and fast WR and glossed over the terrible route running and routine body catches. It's almost like a badge of honor to mold a raw product. Screw that, save the energy and take the more polished kid that's a little bit less athletically gifted.

Not worrying, just not looking beyond one year at a time. That's half of our problem, just plodding along year to year it seems like without a long term plan mapped out. With that in mind, 2025 is a cross roads for Young, at least for me.

Generally high draft picks have that option picked up going into year 4 if the team is serious about locking them up, if not outright offer them the second contract. That's not something that lingers into that 4th season. It usually tips the hand of where the team stands with that player long term.

Before benching: Now:

A couple? Young's future with the Panthers will be decided next offseason. He's either going to get the 5th year option which signals strongly a second contract or they will be looking for serious competition or an outright replacement.

If he vastly improves, then great. However, I've seen time and time again teams extend mediocre QBs because they were high first round picks just to have that second contract blow up in their face. Does Daniel Jones ring a bell? Produce at a high level or it's time to move on.

Bryce has one last shot. If he doesn't massively improve next year, then no 5th year option and can be traded or ride the bench in 2026 before coming a FA. No moral victories, no more 'he was so close' or ______ isn't helping him/holding up their end. It's a put up or shut up year, zero excuses.

Allen was considered very raw and a complete project QB. Young was considered the most pro ready QB in the class and probably since Trevor Lawrence. The expectations for these two early on couldn't have been any more polar opposites.

I remember wanting to pick up Ertz in FA and everyone said why bother, the dude is washed.

Both are true.

https://www.vikings.com/video/vikings-mob-darnold-in-locker-room-following-win-over-green-bay

I called 6 wins likely, with a ceiling of 8. I figured Young would improve simply because he couldn't have gotten any worse. I thought the defense would be about the same, but they regressed big time. All in all, a slight disappointment from my preseason prediction, but I wasn't expecting anything special either. I don't see a huge step forward next year, though. Depending on the offseason, I may keep my win total at 6 for 2025.

I totally get it. I get bagged on for looking at guys highlight reels to evaluate them, but those same people drool over elite RAS players although they have suspect positional traits and still pound the table to draft them.

To an extent. Given all other things equal (great hands, route running, tree knowledge etc..) I'll take a 6'4" WR that runs a 4.55, but not a 5'11" wideout.

If we miss out on T-Mac, take a look at the other Higgins; kid out of Iowa State in the 2nd round. Same build and everything. Watching highlights, he's the anti-XL...complete hands catcher. Rarely does the ball get to his body. I also like Jalen Royals out of Utah State as an inside/slot type.

^^^This, all day long. It's not enough to be a multi-multi millionaire anymore. if you aren't billionaire, step aside. I agree Tepper was groomed to take over the next available team. The JR scandal just was too convenient of an excuse to get Tepper's foot in the door. Damn, why couldn't some other owner smacked a secretary on the @ss or something first?

Their owner wasn't a pro franchise newbie either. I think he owns the New Jersey Devils too.

Bad drafting sets up for all kinds of failures. It makes you go out in FA and overspend, which leads to huge cap numbers, which limits how many other key pieces can brought in to finish the puzzle. Until we can start drafting better, this team is doomed. One, maybe two hits in each draft isn't going to cut it.

Round 2 for Warren? I see some sites having him ahead of Loveland as TE1. If he does last to round 2, he surely won't be there for our pick.

Semantics, but Hunter is gobbling up both CB1 and WR1. I have yet to see Burden mocked in the top 10. If we trade down several spots, maybe. Reaching in the top 10 is never desired.

WR3 in the top 10, likely top 5 in our case? That's a bit of a reach.

I'm really serious about taking a stab at McCord on day 3.