NanuqoftheNorth

Being a high profile face of a franchise requires better judgement than what Watson has displayed over the course of the last year. He has created a huge distraction for a team that just signed him to a record contract less than a year ago. When you hire a clown, expect a circus. For that reason alone, the Carolina Panthers should pass on Watson.

Regardless of what happens with the "Watson Affair" the Carolina Panthers should keep doin' what their doin', stick with the plan, stay the course. TLDR: Trust the process.

I could see where some draft analysis might indicate we should have gone for a LT rather than DB. However, saying the Panthers should have selected another QB at 8 when the Panthers management just traded for one makes little sense. Of course you could say Darnold will never be a starting caliber QB, but at this point, that's just like your opinion man.

Darnold's last boss was fired. Sam deserves the benefit of the doubt and time to present his case for being our franchise QB. I'm an old NFL fan who watched a shell shocked Jim Plunkett turn his career around and win two Super Bowls for the Raiders. Most teams thought Jim was a lost cause, they were wrong.

All good questions. Nothing I've read about Darnold has indicated that he has a learning issue. Clearly Rhule and his people believe Sam can be coached up or they wouldn't have traded for him. Still, I'm keeping a closer eye on Rhule after the Teddy fiasco. If Rhule is right about Darnold, he'll will look like a genius. If not, chances are Matt will have at least one more shot at finding his franchise QB in Carolina before the axe falls. Meanwhile, Carolina will be younger and more athletic on both sides of the ball thanks to a record number of draft picks. So, whether Sam turns out to be our next franchise QB or not, the Panthers will be much closer to building a championship organization in Carolina than they were a year ago. Bottom line/TLDR: Stay the course, it's a process.

Darnold may very well be the answer at QB for the Panthers. Sam can make all the throws and isn't afraid to take chances. What he lacks is consistency and that will be up to the coaches to address. There wasn't another QB available at 8 that any of us can definitively say would result in a better outcome for the Panthers. Give the guy a chance with a decent offense before drawing any conclusions about his capabilities. Football is still a team sport. Horn could be a game changer. Last season our defense was simply horrible at 3 and outs and rarely could get off the field when the game was on the line. While the D line looks like it could be dominant, they need another moment or so to get to the opponents QB. Carolina has to put an end to the nearly uncontested completions our opponents were accustom to last season. Horn may very well be the missing piece of that puzzle. If he is the D could be feasting on QBs this season. Bottom line: Players do not exist in a vacuum, football is still a team sport.

After watching Teddy for a year, he gave me the impression that he was more worried about throwing an interception than he was losing the game. And that is likely why he's gone.

Sam will light them up and our receivers are gonna smoke 'em.

This article presumes the Panthers don't already have their franchise QB. Also, if Horn enables Carolina's defense to get off the field after third down that will be a massive improvement over 2020. A Game Changer.

Darnold in the huddle at game time: Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Bonus!

Or, maybe it was the QB that was 0-8 in game winning drives?

Playoffs? We're talking playoffs? Yes!!!!

Breaking News: Employee that was let go by former employer has less than kind things to say.

Did a quick search and it appears the city could be on the hook for about 855 million in land development costs. It also appears that staying in Oakland is still the teams preferred outcome, but if they have to leave Las Vegas is likely their destination.

Wow, that's a bit different, a team that wants to pay for their own ballpark. What is the city's reason for not supporting the A's chosen location?

Of course this is one of the oldest tricks in the book: The "Threaten to move your sports team to another city if you don't get a new stadium." ploy. Oakland has faced this situation on multiple occasions in the past. Let's see if they handle it any better this time.

How far afield from these two metro centers are we expected to go in order to justify our positions for MLB? The larger the geographic area required, the weaker the case for a team becomes. Population density is important. Per capita the Charlotte MSA has gained more people during the last decade than the Raleigh MSA according to the folks at Chapel Hill (2020). Having said that, I believe either area could be attractive to a MLB team. I might even favor RD due to the lack of professional competition beyond hockey. On the other hand, there are a ton of collegiate sports in the area that they'd have to compete with for consumer dollars.

It's close, but Charlotte metro pop still tops the other two areas combined. Though I'd suspect any team moving to either area would consider more than simply population. The competition for entertainment dollars, especially when it comes to sports would be taken into consideration. Between collegiate and pro sports there is a lot of competition for entertainment dollars in both metro areas. While I'd like to see NC finally get a MLB team, Las Vegas provides a compelling proposition. Though, having said that, MLB has a checkered past when it comes to gambling, so who knows?

Yeah, Las Vegas metro population is similar to Charlotte's, but can also draw on the tourist crowds to fill the stands. It really gives Vegas a leg up on the competition.

This seems like a good bet.

I don't doubt it, however the the metro area of Raleigh would've had to have grown by over a million people during the last 18 months to even approach the metro area of Charlotte. I know Raleigh metro is growing somewhat faster than Charlotte metro, but even gaining 100,000 more people a year than Charlotte, it would take more than a decade for Raleigh to catch up.

Has anyone found any quotes from Don Beaver or Jerry Reese about this? Always felt Charlotte was short sighted in building an uptown stadium that isn't suitable for pro expansion. https://businessnc.com/don-beaver/ Charlotte metro area is almost twice that of Raleigh https://www.statista.com/statistics/183600/population-of-metropolitan-areas-in-the-us/

No worries Huddler. You are setting a great example for others to emulate, hopefully they do.

Sorry to hear that. Yeah, medical authorities are learning more all the time about the virus and its long term impact on individuals. There is such a wide spectrum of responses, but by now, after more than 550,000 deaths, you'd hope people would appreciate that this virus is no joke. It is constantly mutating and the longer that happens the more risk we run of it becoming more lethal and harder to contain.