frankw

Well.....that was brief.

You do remember that Bryce Young's own father publicly pounded the table for XL right?

While there is an obvious strong emotional attachment to Muhsin Muhammed as he is a Panthers legend and a terrific man. I've grown used to not getting my hopes up about the feel good story kind of signings with the Panthers because I mean have any of them worked out in our favor in a long time? If he somehow follows in his father's footsteps that would be fantastic. I just see the likelihood of that happening being on the level of an improbable miracle. But I would be thrilled to see it.

Hunt and Lewis were two big swings we hit big on. Credit where it's due. We have Icky on the left and Moton holding down the right and our interior depth is solid. Unfortunately Center looms large. If we are to rewind back to just a few years ago things were pretty damn dicey at that position. While they have improved we are basically hinging the development of the offense this season on Cade Mays because at this point it's only a matter of when not if Corbett misses some time.

He was amusing but revealed himself to be a pretty rabid anti-semite so we're better off.

I don't think we're in a position to be dunking on other QB's yet. I mean Caleb Williams and the Bears took our lunch money and dunked our heads in a toilet then stuffed us in a locker last season and CJ Stroud sophomore slump or not had one of the best rookie seasons for a QB in a long time. Let's see Bryce and this offense at work on the road in their first two games and then maybe we can think about trying to thump our chests at the rest of the NFL if we look the part.

Best X-Files episode? Folie à Deux Pusher Home Any of the above.

The buildup of the Hunter Renfrow hype here is entering kiss of death territory if I'm being realistic.

I do agree. But it's worth noting we tended to think the same thing this time last year when we opened the season with back to back road games. We better be getting all these guys reps in the preseason

The best thing going for the receiving group as a whole right now is the amount of promising young and motivated talent. Now the question is can we actually develop them.

Realistically these rationalizations and justifications being given for poor to mediocre drafts are no different than the discussions through the early Hurney years. And I'm sure there were people then who defended it and insinuated any skeptics were just being miserable and negative.

I'm hoping the Bears implode again this upcoming season because fug them but there's a good chance they trend up with Ben Johnson. There's still a lot of talent on that roster. And let's not forget they obliterated us last season. And that was with a head coach that's since been canned. The "we won the trade" folks might want to wait and see how things shake out.

It shows just how deluded you are by the smell of your own brand and your desire to show everyone else how much better you are in your own mind that you very mistakenly reduce that post to nothing more than a summary of "Winning is bad". That's how fragile your psyche is now regarding anything that challenges the narrative you've built in your mind that the Panthers have actually been good and the decision makers have actually been competent through all these consecutive years of losing.

Right. This seems like such a very basic common sense stance and especially one from fans of the franchise with the worst win percentage in professional sports the last several years. We can agree we are obviously rooting for Horn and Tremble to take the next step because that's good for our franchise. At the same time there's no point in patting one another on the back and doing victory laps yet because maybe that actually ended up being a good draft. It just boils down to people like Icege continually needing to exert their perceived fan superiority over others because they only ever approach their POV from a glass half full mentality. You know hey more power to you. But the shtick is exhausting and played out.

When even the PGA is trolling your sports franchise the last thing you should be worried about is being sensitive. Tepper has earned this and then some.

In relation to tanking. I think you can count on one hand the number of people here who actually want us to lose football games. When accounting for it across the fanbase it amounts to maybe 2% of the entire Panthers fanbase. But you engage with some internet trolls and think haters are coming out of the woodwork and hey look at that it's all a conspiracy that leads to Bryce Young haters. Do you hear yourself sir? If it sounds ridiculous that's because it is. I mean at this point do you see Bryce haters in your dreams? As far as the culture of this franchise goes we seem to be doing better in that department via what we are building right now and with the people we have in place. But we also shouldn't just make assumptions just yet either. The rubber still needs to meet the road. And going back to previous seasons I think we can acknowledge although tanking obviously isn't a thing there were some times where we thought our culture was improving but really it wasn't. Yes I'm looking directly at some of those wins under Wilks. If the culture had truly changed we would not have lost to the Steelers who have been mediocre for years at home the way we did and they were starting Mitch Trubisky ffs. We did not change our culture for the better and we won games that ultimately meant nothing. It was just a brief mirage. We've done this for years now. The harsh truth of the matter is the Panthers have not had a winning season or been to the playoffs in going on 8 years but in those years they've been trying to convince themselves they aren't poo but in the process all they've done throughout most of that time period is squander better draft position and we were still the worst team in the league for our troubles. At the end of the day we should be able to just be adults and reconcile with that. And no that isn't being "pro tank" or any other boogeyman term it's simply recognizing reality.

He's way overrated. $181 million guaranteed... This is what concerns me with the Panthers. If the people remaining here who have the most at stake to end up being "right" about the pick - Morgan/Tepper) see "just enough" () improvement to convince themselves Bryce is a franchise QB going forward we seek to sign him to an early extension and just end up in QB purgatory. Such is why I am hoping for a year of outright elite level QB play from our first overall pick. Slam the door shut and we can all feel relieved.

I think it's important to take into account the POV of someone here being skeptical of this change has as much to do with the fact that we are fans of a franchise that hasn't had a winning season or been to the playoffs since 2017. And our division has weakened substantially in those years since. This could basically make divisions largely irrelevant. It's also important to consider the bulk of the owners wouldn't push something like this through for the direct benefit of bottom feeder teams like ours. Again though. If this actually does pass I'll wait and see how it goes. Nothing I can do anyways.

Or maybe we could avoid potentially trivializing 400 years of barbarism and atrocities and just talk football.

I see this from multiple angles. On the one hand teams like the Patriots made deep playoff runs consistently because they're division was largely putrid at best and they basically had a guaranteed postseason spot every year. There are still teams that accomplish this. But I don't see this helping us at least not in the short term. It will however make the Buccaneers path to the playoffs more complicated. And to that I say splendid.

With the additions we've made to the offensive skill positions and the investments along the OL I certainly hope third year first overall pick Bryce Young's statement game by whatever definition anyone would describe it happens well before week 12. With the way the upcoming QB class is shaping up we don't need glimpses or teases of elite play anymore. That ship has sailed. That was for year 1 and 2. Now we need consistent high level passing ability and decision making early and often.

There are definitely some very winnable games on that list and at the very least we should be competitive. But I think 8-9 is the most realitistic outcome. If we can squeeze out a winning record somehow I would be floored. But I think that's a tall order with all the youth we have on the roster. Regardless. I am honestly happy we are starting out the season with back to back road games. After how we started off last season this will tell us out the gate where this team is at. I am sincerely hoping they come out swinging. If not. They deserve all the criticism they will get. Side note about #4. If you don't like the pick just put it to bed until camp. That should already have been out of your system the week of the draft. Bloviating about it 2 months before camp and before the kid has even put pads on is just unnecessary trolling.

Certainly a really cool fact to consider. Unfortunately it's tempered a bit by the fact that the last time Bryce Young started against the Jaguars in Jacksonville we got taken to the woodshed and they were starting backup QB C.J. Beathard.

This does certainly look interesting. On a side note I've always been a very big fan of Nicolas Cage's work but I was surprised to learn he has a son who he supports that practically beat his own mother to death last summer and all he got was 2 years in a mental health program. I guess that's wealth and fame for you.