frankw

This reminds me of that game where Byron Bell was by himself in the middle of a play attempting to block an invisible player. Surely we are due something good for a change by now. It has been long enough.

I get that he is wanting Sam for right now to focus on just playing and not worrying about expectations too much but speaking this convincingly about him before camp or anything is a double edged sword. You also don't want a situation in the locker room where there may become a perception of being coddled. It's good to hear Rhule speak in no uncertain terms but now the clock is ticking. Matt and Scott are tied directly to the success or failure of Sam Darnold for better or worse. If all goes well they are heroes but if he struggles the daggers will come out. Do not be fooled by the media praise it changes with the wind.

Happy for Emory. Keep moving up and prospering.

Damn there are some high expectations in here. If he can achieve even half of some of these predictions I would be okay with that. The realist in me says it will likely be in the middle somewhere. Between 3500 and 4000 yards with 25 touchdowns in what will be his bounce back year while learning a new system would seem to be the most realistic ceiling sight unseen. With CMC and the recent additions to the offense plus a new running back and a couple big boys on the line it is likely a safe bet to say there will be a significant emphasis on running the ball to ease the transition for Sam so that could cut down on his numbers. But all of this depends on the offense making gains in redzone efficiency which was not pretty last year for a number of reasons but lack of push from the line was a big factor. Darnold himself is also going to have to protect the ball and fans are going to have to prepare for some turnovers through the process.

If sports discussion stoops this low it's time for cooler heads to prevail.

I get the notion that everyone wants to buy in with this group now that the draft is over and we have moved on to the phase of all the rah rah lets go team stuff. But even the front office talked about how all options were still on the table. Whether they were just blowing smoke or being upfront it is a matter of opinion I suppose. But I support Sam Darnold and want the return to our winning ways the same as anyone else.

I hear you man. In general I share your optimism but after years past of hype that resulted in failure I can't buy in just yet until I see some of this in action. I think now we matchup much better with Tampa though. Anywho if Bruce Arians can redeem himself the way he did last year after his previous postseason stints there is absolutely hope for us to make a quick turnaround.

I don't care about the article or the hack sports journalist who wrote it I'm simply pointing out the fact that we pursued just about every option possible before Darnold so it stands to reason there was certainly a scenario where we could have still taken a qb.

I need to see some wins in our division before I even think about talk of playoff runs and super bowls. No team in the league is going to do much winning one game against their divisional opponents. Stepping our way out of the cellar is the first goal.

Waiting on the fifth year option had to have had some amount of reasoning connected to the possibility of a qb we liked falling. There is no reason to be a homer about this. It is widely known that Sam Darnold was essentially option D. What stone didn't we turn over before relenting and making a trade for him? We brought in Haskins for a look and even offered the 8th pick for Matt Stafford who is older than Cam Newton. I would caution folks to not make the same mistakes this go around that they did with Teddy last year buying the hype and fluff too soon. Let's see how he looks in camp with all these weapons. Ironically Sam is set up much better than Teddy was this time last year. He's definitely not in NY anymore.

There are things I do not have doubts about with Matt Rhule. I believe he is a good hard working guy and a motivated and relatable coach who focuses on the right fundamentals and is willing to adapt. The only question is will these things have any bearing on his ability to both identify and develop a quarterback? There have been a number of quality coaches in the league who just couldn't find that qb and fizzled out. No matter how much we pay him or how many speeches he makes will change this if he fails. I have faith in him and I am very hopeful he can achieve this goal for us but life doesn't always work out the way you want. Beyond that I also need to see a little more from Joe Brady. I cannot lie there were times last year I wondered if Shula was still in the booth. Yes it's trendy to dog on Teddy and he did bring that on himself sometimes but Joe hindered the offense on his own occasionally last year. We certainly cannot see a repeat of that with a reclamation project from the Jets.

Needed a running back. But seven fumbles in two seasons...

ESPN app.

Picked up an extra 5th and a 7th. So two 5ths three 6ths and a 7th.

I am cautiously optimistic about the draft so far especially the offensive additions and we still have additional opportunities today. Still having a looming question mark at left tackle is disappointing however.

Size and speed. I'm good with it.

Whew there's some toxicity in this thread. Business as usual for a Panthers draft. So with four 6th rounders I assume we have something else up our sleeve.

My understanding is it would have been what we have now with Rhule and Fitterer so with that in mind they both came to the personnel decisions that were made last offseason together. Greg Little does very much sound like a Hurney pick so it seems he was given some leeway but qb is the most consequential factor so Rhule and Brady were undoubtedly advised and involved in the process. But now Fits and Rhule are linked to Darnold. I do not want to be right if it means another lost season so I am really hoping it works in our favor.

In a perfect world yes and we will be the only team seeking a quarterback who will fall into our laps. I wish it were that easy. Depends heavily on many factors but I don't think it's a scenario we want to be facing next year. Plenty of teams have found themselves a qb away in recent years only to come to the realization how difficult it is to find the right one. Let us hope Sam pans out.

Going defense heavy in the draft for a second year in a row with a quarterback trying to shed bust status behind a shaky offensive line. What could go wrong right?

Do you honestly believe the owner paid a head coach 100 million dollars whom he personally flew out to his home to convince him to coach the team only to hand the keys to said new head coaches success to... Marty Hurney? I mean hey at one point you me and everyone else bought into the fools gold of Ron Rivera so if you want to act like someone new is infallible that's up to you. I'm giving Rhule time but I'm not burying my head in the sand too.

People here will be blaming Hurney years from now just as they did with Gettleman. Only homers are giving out free passes to the current staff like candy.

They had Ryan Fitzpatrick. We have Will Grier.

With this draft we should have plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball. The void looms largest on the offensive line.

The Panthers drafted a corner higher than Patrick Mahomes with a qb room consisting of Sam Darnold PJ Walker and Will Grier. If we they find themselves again searching high and low for a quarterback in 2022 Jaycee Horn is going to need to become a ballhawk clone of Revis/Ramsey/Peterson all rolled into one.