Icege

With training camp underway, the battle for one of the precious few NFL roster spots is in full force and it's no different here in Carolina. The Panthers have several match-ups of their own that they're watching with great interest to see who wins a place on the regular season roster. Starting Center (Austin Corbett, Cade Mays) Corbett has gone down in back-to-back seasons with season ending injuries and will be 30 in September. Cade Mays did well in his place and earned himself a 1yr deal with the team after they had originally cut him (and then brought him back off of the Giants' practice squad). Corbett would be the best back-up guard in the league if he loses to Mays who can also play guard if needed. Kicker (Ryan Fitzgerald, Matthew Wright) Fitzgerald seems to be the favorite to take over as the Panthers' kicker after they elected to move on from Eddie Pineiro in the offseason. Fitzgerald has a stronger leg than Pineiro and Wright, but Wright has NFL kicking experience (including with the Panthers). WR6 (Hunter Renfrow, David Moore, Jacolby George) This group also included Dan Chisena until he was placed on the PUP. David Moore has familiarity with Canales, Bryce, and the offense while is also a larger body (listed at 6'0" 220 lbs) with the ability to contribute on special teams. Jacolby George was getting a lot of buzz with Carolina offering him 3yr, $2.9M deal as a UDFA and could provide some extra speed to the offense while also being an option should Jimmy Horn Jr go down. Finally, there's the comeback story that many in the Carolinas are crossing their fingers for and that's Hunter Renfrow. This might ultimately come down between who they think are most likely to clear waivers and land on the practice squad. DL6 (Shy Tuttle, Jaden Crumedy, LaBryan Ray) Shy Tuttle took a pay cut but is a smaller NT that got pushed around in the run game, but he brings more experience than Crumedy and Ray combined. Crumedy, a 2024 6th rounder for the Panthers, spent a majority of last season hurt and did not see the field much. LaBryan Ray, on the other hand, was on the field a lot more than anyone expected last season with the 3rd most snaps on the DL/EDGE with only Clowney and Robinson having more. EDGE5 (DJ Johnson, Amare Barno, Thomas Incoom, Carlos "Boogie" Basham) Evero's "pick" in DJ Johnson can set the edge, no problem. It's his nonexistent pass rush that prevents him from being much more than a rotational edge guy. Amare Barno provides size and speed on special teams, but hasn't really flashed much outside of preseasons. Thomas Incoom got a couple of defensive snaps in limited time, but he saw a lot more on special teams. Don't forget about former Demon Deacon and Buffalo Bills' 2nd round selection Boogie Basham who failed to catch on in New York after a trade that included him and a day three pick swap. LB4 (Jacoby Windmon, Jon Rhattigan, Bam Martin-Scott, Tuasivi Nomura) Windmon saw very limited action in Carolina towards the end of the season as the Panthers got down to the bare bones of the roster and posted some horrendous PFF grades. Jon Rhattigan has three times as many special teams snaps but barely sniffed the field on defense. With Josey Jewell out and the remaining three LB positions likely going to Wallace, Rozeboom, and Cherelus, there might even be room for a fifth ILB. I'm sure rookies Tuasivi Nomura (Fresno St) and Bam Martin-Scott (South Carolina) to beat out Windmon for LB5 or even Rhattigan for LB4. This is all assuming that a veteran like Raekwon McMillan or Kwon Alexander. Don't sleep on Khaleke Hudson less the team decide to go with someone familiar in Chandler Wooten.

incoming videos! Not as many this year but we got a cpl

The stuff being reported about Demani's comfort and communication at the top of the shell is giving me life ngl

Super eager to see this rebooted DL + EDGE group show us some promise during preseason. The LB group is going to need all of the help that they can get.

Gross

Agreed re: injuries. I think that there's been enough done to where the team has starting talent at almost every position group (except LB now), but some of those groups are incredibly top-heavy without much depth (ie: DB + LB imo). I think that the roster has been built out enough to where losing a guy in the trenches isn't going to be as devastating as it has been recently... but maaaan if Jaycee gets hurt right after signing his new deal that's going to suck even worse than it has before. I've heard rumours that Hubbard might have patella-related issues (didn't he have a subluxation last season towards the end?), and if that's true I don't doubt we're going to get a much healthier dose of Dowdle than we did Miles Sanders during his tenure. As much as I want to see the pass game take off, it's got a lot of young and unproven commodities that it's depending on to work. I'm expecting growing pains, but with actual growth rather than just the pain.

merged/duplicate - though credit to both for the info

Not really. Just with you and mrcompletely11. Even though CRA is not a big believer in the team currently, he at least engages in good faith debate regarding them. Trying to have a rational conversation with you where you don't crash out and start being dismissive is outright impossible, so triggering you with poo emojis and pointing out your Bryce hate is the most effort I'm willing to put in until you figure out how to be a person.

Get well Josey

*taps the sign*

The LB and DB rooms have a lot of question marks going into this season... I won't be surprised if the defense is better but not completely turned around. At the same time, this has been almost a total rebuild between this season and last... a group or two had to be the weak spots while other areas get shored up first.

Ah, I see. You're saying he's just a short game guy... but wouldn't the team still have needed a deep threat to keep those safeties from creeping down like they were when Reich/Brown had him dinking and dunking? Who from this list is preventing that from happening last season? David Moore? Then what about this season? Darius Slayton? I'm not saying that weren't better moves to have been made, but I don't think that AT is the half-in, half-out mindset as suggested. He came in under Reich, was a dependable veteran for a rookie HC that has a background with WRs, and is now set to make $2M less than the aforementioned Darius Slayton. What I am saying I guess is that when stepping back and looking at all of the available data points, the Adam Thielen signing was one of the few moves that this team has made that has worked out. Going to be fun seeing if Jimmy Horn Jr can contribute right away as that quick-twitch slot guy the team has been looking for. I don't see Thielen playing the entire season, so the sooner Jimmy picks things up the better.

I'm all for having developed Ladd under AT last season, but that still doesn't address WR1/WR2. Even if we add Diontae to that mix still, who is the other WR? I'd rather give AT the $9M and draft XL than pay DJ Chark (or Diontae Johnson) and draft Ladd, especially when drafting Ladd doesn't give the team a deep threat to take the top off of a defense like XL does.

Kon vs. Sacramento

For a moment I thought you were talking about Michael Jordan the football player and I got so irrationally angry thinking about him starting until I got to Clyde Drexler.

Missed the final 8min but seeing the team up by 32 at one point helped me cope. My favorite comments on the Hornets subreddit following the win last night:

My friend, you are already here.

I'm veeery interested to see how this affects team's draft strategy going forward. Guaranteeing a majority of that second rounder's contract is going to make it even more important for teams to not whiff. Marty Hurney is thanking his stars that he isn't a GM anymore.

It looks like the team agrees with you to some extent: TMac and Jimmy Horn Jr both provide a dynamic X as well as a slot, which allows XL to be the Z which might be a better fit for him. Ja'Tavion Sanders was drafted for his receiving chops as a TE. Jonathon Brooks was one of the better pass catching RBs in his draft class. I don't think Ladd makes any sense because the team had several slot WRs already and he's never going to be a perimeter guy which was what the team had lacked Bryce's rookie year. Adam Thielen was already signed as well. Ladd does make much more sense than throwing away Andy Dalton in the name of "competition" though, I'll give you that.