1of10Charnatives

On 4/24/2023 at 7:10 PM, jayboogieman said:

Won't happen. Disney all but owns Florida and is that state's single biggest source of income. It's just a publicity stunt by some of the state reps along with trying to milk 750000 from the state to "perform a study on the feasibility of getting Disney."

There is another reason Disney would no bs consider the move. If the science says there's a meaningful chance Florida is underwater from climate change down the road, forget all the nonsense political noise from both sides, do you really think a company as big as Disney doesn't take a serious look at relocating their major park to avoid that risk?

If they relocate to the mountains of NC, it would be telling. The cheapest, flatest land best suited for a major theme park by far isn't in the mountains, it's in the eastern part of the state. Compared to large chunks of eastern NC, Asheville is neither flat nor cheap, and building large roads to and from any relocated park would be much more expensive projects than in flat easter NC. But if Disney goes to the mountains, what does that tell you about what they believe might happen?

On 6/21/2023 at 2:22 AM, jfra78 said:

Eastland Mall was a great hangout spot in the late 80s early 90s

In other words, before Captain Carpetbagger moved his arse down here and began criticizing everything he could of about the new place he chose to live.

3 hours ago, Ricky Prickles said:

I often fear basing my hopes on preseason fluff articles but I certainly have high hopes. He seems to be such a mature young man, a potential for a great leader and role model and extremely intelligent. I wont lie that I do worry about his size being an issue but if he can overcome that, he will be a very good NFL QB. Hopefully just growing a year or two older and in with professional trainers he will put on a few pounds to protect him even just a bit more but it isnt like he has not faced NFL caliber players and bigger guys in college at a big time level so I have all the confidence in him in the world. A guy that seems to be genuinely that nice and that humble of a human being, you cant help but worry for, support and get behind.

This.

3 hours ago, Pejorative Miscreant said:

A real fan bitches and moans about everything the team does. He forgets he complained about what worked but reminds everyone about him predicting what would go wrong. Those guys toil and suffer in misery every day “for the team”.  They are the real fans and are to be revered by us mere mortals.  

This guy gets it.

On 6/14/2023 at 2:07 PM, WUnderhill said:

Pumpkin patch Mahomes would be a great nickname.

 I second this motion.

On 6/14/2023 at 9:33 AM, Mr. Scot said:

From the article:

Biggest gamble this offseason: Taking Bryce Young

If Young can withstand the rigors of NFL life, his ability should be enough to make the Panthers a tough out. He has talent around him in veteran receivers Adam Thielen, DJ Chark and Terrace Marshall Jr., along with running back Miles Sanders.

But if Young succumbs to injuries, many will wonder whether Carolina made a mistake by taking him instead of the larger C.J. Stroud out of Ohio State.

Toughest stretch of the season: Weeks 3 to 6

After a pair of division games against the Falcons and Saints to begin the season, the Panthers will head cross-country to take on the Seahawks before coming back to Bank of America Stadium for a date with the Vikings. In Weeks 5 and 6, it’s a pair of road tilts against the Lions and Dolphins, two teams expected to fight for their respective division titles.

If Carolina can go 2–2 in that stretch, it’ll be well positioned.

Breakout player to watch: OT Ickey Ekwonu

After some early-season inconsistency, Ekwonu became one of the league’s best rookies over the course of 2022.

He’s now tasked with handling Young’s blindside. Last year Ekwonu earned praise from Pro Football Focus, being given a grade of 92.1 against the defensively loaded 49ers, the highest grade for any offensive tackle to that point in the campaign.

At 6'4" and 230 pounds, Ekwonu has the size and athleticism to be a top left tackle in the league for the next decade. Don’t be surprised if he pushes for his first Pro Bowl this year.

Position of strength: Secondary play

The Panthers will face some weak quarterbacks in the NFC South this year, and a strong secondary should take full advantage.

Carolina is well stocked with young talent, including 2021 first-round corner Jaycee Horn, alongside veteran Donte Jackson. The duo is one of the NFC’s best and is backed by an excellent safety tandem in free-agent addition Vonn Bell and fourth-year man Jeremy Chinn.

Position of weakness: Pass rush

Carolina has one of the league’s most explosive pass rushers in Brian Burns, but who is going to be a complement to him?

Looking at the depth chart, it’s a tough answer to figure. This offseason, the Panthers signed Shy Tuttle to play on the interior, but he has just four sacks in as many years. Henry Anderson is another player up front who does little to reach the passer, notching zero sacks last year and only 11 across seven seasons. Yetur Gross-Matos is a 2020 second-round pick, but he’s been a disappointment as well with just 8.5 sacks in three campaigns.

X-factor: How ready is Young?

There’s no other question here. We’ve seen plenty of rookie quarterbacks struggle throughout their first years before becoming perennial Pro Bowlers. We’ve also seen men like Matt Ryan and Lamar Jackson lead their teams to the playoffs right away.

Best bet: Bryce Young will go over 3500.5 passing yards

The Panthers’ run game will open things up for the young passer, who could often be playing in a negative game script. Chark, Thielen, Marshall and Jonathan Mingo have enough talent to help get this done. —Jennifer Piacenti, SI Betting

Final record: 10–7, first in NFC South

Tell me you're covering the Panthers without really covering the Panthers.

On 6/8/2023 at 4:33 PM, Sean Payton's Vicodin said:

Panther fans really love shitty ass BoA for some reason.

I went to a Panthers-Falcons game a few years back and it was crazy how better that stadium is than BoA.

I love football.

I"m a Panthers fan.

But I would happily watch my team play on an old practice field in high school grade bleachers with porta pottys for restrooms if it meant public tax dollars desperately needed for things like our kids schools didn't get spent instead to build stadiums for an absurdly profitable sports league.

5 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

@The Huddler...why in the world did you poo that post?  

Maybe he's doing a 4Corners impersonation?

Honestly, I hope not. 

For two reasons. One while he is wowing everyone atm, it's still not even training camp. Let's let the young man learn and be a rookie for more than five minutes without piling extra responsibilities on him that aren't a requirement.

Two: seperate from Bryce as a person, imo if an NFL team is naming ANY rookie a captain, it suggests a lack of veteran leadership on the team. I think we have enough capable vets on offense (Moton, Bozeman, Hurst, Sanders, Chark, etc) without having to name a rookie captain. Sure, do fans prefer for captains to be longtime players for the team instead of FA's in their first year with the team? Probably. But so what, how much does it really matter?

If Young turns out to be anywhere near as good as we expect him to be and he looks capable of, he'll be a team captain for the next decade. I see no need to rush it.

Worst.

Referee.

Ever. *

*dishonorable mention: Ed "You're not old enough to get that call" Hochuli

fug you Ed.

8 minutes ago, Panthera onca said:

There is a lot more money on the line for prospects and players these days as well. I also think organizations grew weary of playing babysitter for guys as it became a huge drain on energy and resources. This is an example from the NBA, but I will never understand guys like Miles Bridges and Ja Morant behaving in the manner they did with a huge second contract on the line. It is idiotic.

I have a longtime friend who is a paramedic and one of his favorite sayings is "There is no IQ test to be a criminal." I think changes the incentives and disincentives have had a strong positive overall impact on player behavior, but no matter what you do, you're always going to have a minimal baseline level of knucklehead nonsense from guys who just can't figure it out or get out of their own way.

No matter what the league did about player safety, Vontaze Burfict continued to be athletically gifted human garbage long after most guys had accepted the new paradigm. Thankfully that situation resolved itself and he's no longer in the league. The funny thing is, to me all signs point to the new way of doing things as a win for just about everybody but the Burficts and Morants of the world. 

I'm not sure how I might have turned out had I been handed millions of dollars in pay and a high degree of public recognition and adulation at an age where I could barely drink legally, but if I'd been surrounded by a lot of grown men covering for me and making excuses to the world every time I did something boneheaded, I suspect it's entirely possible things might have gone downhill fast. Switching from that to an environment of more personal accountability I suspect has lead to better outcomes for players, teams, and fans who got tired of the nonsense.

22 hours ago, Tbe said:

The issue may be keeping the grass alive and in good condition when MLS and NFL games are being held back to back. 
 

I know the NFL ‘bench’ areas where 100+ people trample through it during a game is in the field of play for a MLS game. Grass just doesn’t bounce back that quickly.
 

Turf condition was the main rationale I heard for going to fake turf.

That's what I was thinking as well.

15 minutes ago, Jesse said:

That’s absolutely crazy that they didn’t teach the tight ends how to convert routes based on leverage, something that’s pretty standard in the NFL. No wonder we looked like a clown show for 3 years. If they didn’t do something as simple as that, just imagine what else the coaching staff didn’t do. 

Off the top of my head?

Win.

Over 20 years ago, a friend gave me this book about criminal behavior in the NFL;

Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL: Benedict, Jeff, Yaeger, Don: 9780446524032: Amazon.com: Books

It was an eye opener. It was well researched and fairly presented. One of the underlying points of the book was about how organizations enabled awful behavior by excusing it. The authors talked about whenever you saw a head coach and a gm at a press conference about some awful thing a player or even coach had done, the phrase was always used that "everybody deserves a second chance, we all make mistakes." But what the research showed was that by the time this was being said publicly about an NFL player, it was almost never their second chance.

It was their ninth, or tenth, or whatever.

The thinking at the time seemed to be that we have so much invested in these players that we have to try to cover for them to protect that investment and keep them playing. I think that was the thinking in the NFL and pro sports in general for a long long time.

But somewhere along the way, NFL teams thinking on this started to evolve imo. Maybe it was forced to because too many players just kept getting into trouble and becoming huge distractions and disruptions, who knows. But there definitely seemed to be a fundamental attitude shift amongst braintrusts that scouting character before drafting or signing a player was as important scouting their on field abilities. Remember when it started to become commonplace when watching draft coverage to hear about such and such a player sliding down because of character concerns?

This started to hit NFL players and prospects that got out of line where it hurt: pocketbooks and prestige. Guys who on talent alone might have been first round picks or second round picks began to slide down by whole rounds of the draft over concerns about their ability to stay out of trouble. Veteran players started facing serious consequences from the league for bad behavior, including hefty fines and suspensions.

Unscientifically, when you look around the league, I think most people who are old enough to remember the NFL 20 years ago would agree that there just seems to be less of this thing of players constantly getting into legal trouble. Drunk driving, SO or child abuse, drug involvement, arrests for insane levels of speeding or reckless driving, all of that nonsense seems to be on long term decline. When I look around the league today, I mostly see professionals increasingly conducting themselves in a professional manner. I don't see nearly as much hooligan behavior.

Anyone who remembers the earliest days of the Panthers remembers Kerry Collins stupid smirk leaving the courthouse after his DUI, but we all also know that eventually he got his act together and matured into a veteran leader. I know that before they ever step in front of a mic at a press conference, most NFL players enter the league a lot more media savy than days gone by. While he obviously appears to be an exceptional young man in many respects, it's refreshing to me that the needle seems to be pointing a lot closer to guys like Bryce Young as typical than guys like that young Kerry Collins.

There's not a lot of X's and O's to discuss this time of year, so I figured I'd share my thoughts and this and see what others think about this sort of thing.

2 hours ago, WarPanthers89 said:

Agree. But, If you were GM do you make that trade? 

Yes, because the team desperately needs a QB, has for longer than most NFL careers last, only two players at the position looked likely to be long term answers at QB and anyone not high on qualudes expected them to go in the first two picks.

The trade is an absolute steal if Young performs as expected and worthy of the top pick in the draft. If he somehow bombs or (more likely) struggles to endure the physical punishment (remember, he's not old enough to get those calls. Yeah, still fug you Ed Hochuli), then it won't look great, but any big trade carries risks, and always will.

Every single GM worth a damn would trade next year's first, the year after that's second, and an outstanding young receiver entering his prime for a franchise QB, even teams that already have one, because it's the rarest and most valuable commodity in the NFL. It matters more to winning than any other single factor, so it's worth giving up a ton for, especially when you finally have assembled an offensive line that looks capable of protecting one.

7 minutes ago, KSpan said:

How would a sauce ever not be wet?

*head asplodes*

9 hours ago, NanuqoftheNorth said:

Would love to compare the numbers between kickoff related injuries and turf related injuries to determine which category is more detrimental to the players health.

I have a sneaky suspicion that the category most responsible for player injuries has yet to be addressed by the owners.

Weird.

Overall the situation feels hugely penny wise and pound foolish on the owners part, getting cheap on surfaces when there is data that shows a difference in injury rate to your millionaire players, the ones your customers pay to see. 

As you imply, it seems especially weird when you look at Tepper in particular, a billionaire who clearly wants to win and was willing to shell out an absurd contract to get Rhule, then eat sunk costs on said contract when it was obvious he wasn't the answer. Who does that but then refuses to switch to grass when the money is all trivial to you anyway? Can having real grass instead of turf possibly cost him anywhere near as much as that one mistake? Tepper, is winning more important to you than the money or not? You're already set for life when it comes to money, why not use the surface that has the best chance to keep your best players on the field, or even just, you know, keep said players happy?

I don't get it.

1 hour ago, MasterAwesome said:

You realize that in the scenario you’re alluding to where Dalton is playing this year, he’ll be playing with the starters…right? Whether we’re talking about him being the Week 1 starter, or coming in if Bryce gets injured, he would be playing with the starting receivers in the regular season. So your point that he needs to be prepared and build chemistry with the new FA receivers, you’re talking about the 1st team offense…in which case you’re advocating for him to take snaps away from Bryce, not from Corral who is playing with the 2nd and 3rd team offenses. And I could’ve sworn just a second ago you were against taking snaps away from Bryce.  “Every snap that goes to Corral is a snap of preparation Young will not have”. Just because you’re giving them to Dalton instead of Corral, you’re still taking “snaps of preparation” away from Young in preparing Dalton.

Even all that aside: if you want to argue there’s like a 5% chance that Corral will amount to anything on this team…I’ll argue that there’s a 3% chance we look back regrettably at the conclusion of the season like “Dammit, if only we gave Andy Dalton more snaps in training camp!!!”. 
 

Also last thing: if you don’t want us wasting any snaps on Corral in training camp, then I’m guessing you’re in favor of outright cutting him right (otherwise why waste a roster spot on him)? And you want us to carry exactly two QBs on this 90 man roster? Is there a single other team in the league doing that? You want Bryce and Dalton to split the entire preseason between the two of them? You’re acting like you are the one with the common sense position here and the rest of us are crazy for wanting to give our 3rd string QB snaps in training camp, when your position is the one that defies all league norms.

Let me clarify:

Forget the 90 man roster, it's irrelevant because 53 is what you can carry in the regular season. What I'm advocating is that Young and Dalton are almost guaranteed to take all the snaps in a non train derailment this looks like the Rhule era season. Virtually all snaps, regardless of 1st, 2nd or 3rd team (which are not btw whole clear cut units the way you're implying. Divide 50 in half, 25 roster spots for offense, how many ways does 11 divide into that number? Right.) should be taken by the 2 QB's on the roster expected to actually play, with Young getting the vast majority of 1st team snaps

Now let's go back to your 90 man roster before you go on about preseason, training camp etc. 37 is the difference between 90 and 53. 37 guys go through camp who will not be on the active roster. Half that number is 18 or 19, take your pick. This is what I'll grant: If you want Corral to go scrimmage with those not quite 20 guys who won't be on the team on opening day, knock yourself out, I'm fine with it. We know who they are. How many guys never expected to make the roster show out and win a spot each year? Maybe one, in a crazy year two, but often zero. These guys are Corral's practice buddies. He can have all the snaps with them he wants. But as far as players who might actually see the field on game day, I want Young and Dalton taking all the snaps with those groups, never mind your shell game of trying to convince me Dalton would be the one stealing snaps from Young. How that ratio breaks down isn't the point. The point is Corral is a long shot, we've known this since watching him flail around last season.  He belongs with the other long shots.

I'm not buying into the notion that because a guy was drafted in the third round in a year when our team had nothing worth looking at in the QB room, that investing in developing him with finite resources should be any sort of priority for the team when we just traded up to the top pick to get the guy expected to be our rock for the next decade.

Lastly I am neither for nor against cutting him. Let the coaches go through the evaluation process and decide if he belongs on the roster or not. I have nothing in particular against the young man. My argument is about proper priorities for the team given the historical performance of players like Corral in the past. If you're looking for something I'm emotionally invested in, ask for my thoughts on Shakespeare in Love winning Best Picture the year Saving Private Ryan was nominated, you'll get an earful, but Matt Corral himself I neither like nor dislike. It's the situation I have an opinion on, not so much the player.

1 hour ago, rayzor said:

 7 wins is not an improvement over last year. If we only get 7 wins this year, that would be more than a disappointment. That would be a sign that we hired the wrong guy and we probably should have stayed with Wilks because even he would have done better than that last year had he started the season earlier.

Wilks, given a whole season, given this season, would have won between 7-9 games.

Reich and this staff..this team was put together because the expectation is at the very least 9. The expectation is playoffs and winning the division THIS year.

And it's very reasonable and reachable.

I tend to concur, especially in light of the state of the division. If a team can't come out of nowhere with a new coaching staff and a rookie qb, but with a sneaky good oline to win a division this awful, it can't be done. We're by no means a sure thing, but the opportunity is def there.

53 minutes ago, L-TownCat said:

Somebody stole my last 3 band names.

Sometimes your dealer won't sell you any more for a little bit just to get you more hooked, and to show you who's in charge before he jacks up the prices on you.

Not that I would know, I've just been told.

Unrelated: Does anyone know where I could buy some "highlights"?

1 hour ago, Zod said:

Let's say this season is a food item. 

 

What would that food item be and what food items were the previous seasons under Rhule?

2020: poo sandwich

2021: poo sandwich

2022: (Rhule era); poo sandwich with stale moldly bread that puts you in the hospital with food poisoning.

2022: (Wilks era) ethnic food that turns out to be surprisingly edible but does also leave you with the runs.

2023:The entree they bring you at that trendy new restaurant where you don't get to order things, they just bring you a meal and it could be anything and you're kind of scared but kind of excited and somehow you wind up discovering that kangaroo meat marinated for two days in coca cola and served over mashed potatoes and pinto beans tastes amazing.*

*This is a real dish that I served working at a fine dining place in college.

PS- Please god let it be the kangaroo and mashed potatoes. I'm so sick of poo sandwiches.

32 minutes ago, jayboogieman said:

I think Goodell would say that regardless since the TNF games have huge TV and streaming deals behind them.

...

wait

are you

Are you suggesting Goodell is just a corporate shill?

*gasps*

I am shocked.

Shocked I say.

1 hour ago, Krovvy said:

It is what it is, I guess.

Go away John Fox.

1 hour ago, frankw said:

I think you're being really silly about this. Dalton is here to assist in the transition as a veteran presence for a first year rookie and another young QB who may as well developmentally be in his rookie season too considering all he missed after that early injury in preseason. What Andy Dalton is not here to do is start for any meaningful amount of time. In his last start he failed to outduel Sam Darnold for a win in a game where Sam finished with one of the bottom 10 passer ratings of all time. He has zero future here playing meaningful snaps. If we can get anything out of Matt Corral even in a backup role this is the coaching staff to do that and there is no reason to waste opportunities on Dalton over him. This really shouldn't be debatable.

And yet it is. 

I am of the opinion if Young can't play for any reason at any point in the season, the coaching staff is more likely to put Dalton as a 12 year veteran in than Corral as a second year guy showing no discernable promise based on his game snaps to date. No one wants to start Dalton, but if Young goes down, I'm pretty confident Dalton is the one getting the nod.

Let's both hope it doesn't happen, but let's be clear about what I'm saying. There is no scenario in which Corral sees the field this season that isn't awful, and the situation with this franchise having just drafted a QB number one overall wouldn't be a good situation for any developmental prospect like Corral. His best shot would be on a team with an established franchise qb that didn't need it's backup to groom the future face of the franchise, and could afford to take someone like Corral and bring him along over time.

At the end of the day we can throw the "you're being really silly about this" ball back and forth all we want. I think folks who seem invested in the notion Corral has any significant chance of paying off for this team should PM me about some great deals I have on real estate in Sasketchewan. 

Or the winning numbers to next week's lottery. I've got those too.