Icege

This is why scheme is so important to understand along with the personnel available. Shaq was playing next to Tahir Whitehead last season. Chinn was being lined up all over the defense. One was put next to a cavernous hole on the defense and the other was put in positions to make a play on the ball. Shaq's rookie season? Ron Rivera demanded that he be the buffalo nickel. Luke was the leader of this defense and... well... there's no shame in being second fiddle to him. I see a lot of comparisons to Kuechly as if it shows that Shaq isn't that good when in actuality that attests to how solid he is. The fact that the coaches are now finally starting to get more out of Shaq's versatility rather than forcing him to be the buffalo nickel is a welcome sight.

I mean... was he supposed to go on the field and point their assignments out for them after the snap? The expectations of some folks... yeesh. Love seeing this fire on the sidelines. Just need it to be shown on the field as well.

How was he supposed to get playing time when Luke and TD were on the field? When he finally did get a chance to regularly start, he had to line up next to Luke behind one of the worst defensive line performances we've seen on the field. Follow that up with a new staff and it's no surprise that casual observers are just now starting to appreciate what Shaq brings to the table.

Can deny @Captain Morganwas sharing training camp tweets that were made 5min before David Newton tweeted from his Jitterbug phone

Shoot... stick this dude and Christensen on the left side and let them rock-paper-scissors to see who goes where

THE EDIT BUTTON I NEED IT

Ever since @beo pointed him out I've been eager to get to watch him play outside of the insane clips. @Verge Have you seen this monster Matt Araiza kick the absolute sin out of the ball? Any teams' draft boards that you could see him creeping up on?

Thank you. We saw a lot of folks pounding the table during the offseason and claiming that we needed to cut Shaq because he was a "a JAG that was getting paid to be elite while being a liability in coverage" while Carter Jr was a "mini-Luke" in the making because he talked about film. JCJr is an incredible back-up LB that can play ST and get your team through the season should your starter(s) go down, but he should not be the incumbent starter.

Hopefully@Mr. Scot gets the availability to do a proper one of these.

The New York Giants are in an oddly similar situation to the Panthers this season. Their second year head coach is trying to navigate a division with a clear favourite and the other three teams are fighting for a possible wildcard spot. After putting up yet another ugly offensive performance, this time on Monday Night Football, the Giants woke up Tuesday of this week and decided that it was time to move on from Jason Garrett (how they ever thought it was time to move on with him we will never understand). With Garrett now unemployed, that leaves Freddie Kitchens to take over play calling and audition for the position going forward. If Matt Rhule were to decide that a similar course of action would be best for the Carolina Panthers, who on this staff could potentially fill in on play calling duties for the remainder of the year? Let's take a look at some of our options currently on staff: Brian Angelichio (TEs Coach) - Our current TE and OL coaches are the most experienced NFL coaches on the staff, and Angelichio is the most experienced offensive coordinator out of all of them with 5yrs of OC experience at Ithaca. Aside from this disturbing fact being a possibility as to why Joe Brady is having such a hard time adjusting (he doesn't have a quality, experienced mentor on staff to help him), this leaves Angelichio as the most likely to take over should we be going off of resume alone. He's also experienced with coaching every position group except for QBs. However, due to the nature of Rhule's staff and the possible "just get the car home" mentality that could seep in towards the end of the season, we should probably keep our eyes on one of his Baylor buddies such as... Jeff Nixon (Senior Offensive Assistant, RBs Coach) - With nearly the same amount of time coaching in the league as Angelichio and Meyer, one major thing that Jeff Nixon has going for him is familiarity with Matt Rhule. Nixon worked with Rhule for 1yr at Temple in 2006, but clearly left an impression as he was promoted from RBs to RBs + WRs coach that same year before joining Andy Reid's coaching staff in Philly for the following three as an Offensive/Special Teams Assistant. He left Philly to take over as the Miami RBs coach for 4yrs before joining Chip Kelly in SF for 1yr as the TEs coach. That first impression with Rhule came back around when he joined the Baylor coaching staff in 2017 as the RBs coach + co-offensive coordinator. If there's anybody familiar with running an offense as dictated by Matt Rhule with pro level and play calling experience, it's Jeff Nixon. Pat Meyer (OL Coach) - The only other coach on staff with play calling experience, albeit for one season in the CFL, Pat Meyer was also the run game coordinator for the Chargers. Seeing as that Joe Brady's resume piqued as a passing game coordinator for LSU, it might be worth keeping an eye on Pat as a possible sacrifice to finish calling plays for the year should the team be turning sour on him due to the issues with the performance of the offensive line. Speaking of, that turns us to a less likely name but one worth mentioning due to the shaky status of Meyer's employment... Tony Sparano Jr (Assistant Offensive Line Coach) - Son of the late NFL coach Tony Sparano, the Jr Sparano was kept after pops was let go by the Jets due to his ability to wear hats for multiple roles. This stuck out while researching because there are a couple of coaches such as Jeff Nixon who have shown the ability to successfully juggle multiple roles while still executing their responsibilities. If the offensive line continues to struggle and the Panthers don't think that Meyer is a good fit for any role on the staff going foward, then don't be surprised to see Tony Sparano Jr slide up (especially if things get worse instead of better, Tepper could see fit to move on from multiple parties on the offensive side of the ball). Speaking of coach's sons, we've got another one on staff that isn't exactly a threat to take over as OC, but could replace the next coach we're about to talk about... Sean Ryan (QBs Coach) - The Panthers current QBs Coach, Sean Ryan, has coached all of the offensive position groups with the exception of TEs. He's also held the role of coordinator before, although it was as the special teams coordinator. He does, however, have NFL play calling experience as he took over duties for a COVID-stricken Darrell Bevell for Matt Patricia's Detroit Lions last year vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (the Bucs murdered the Lions, 47-7). With the declining production of Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Darnold under his watch, don't be surprised to see Sean Ryan marched out back along with Joe Brady and/or Pat Meyer. Sean is in a situation similar to Pat in that his possible replacement is waiting on staff by the name of... Matt Lombardi (Assistant QBs Coach) - The son of well-known executive Mike Lombardi, Matt got his start in Cleveland as a scout in 2013 and has taken on roles as an offensive quality control coach, special teams quality coach, quality control coach, assistant TEs coach, and now most recently assistant QBs coach. Matt Rhule seems to like football bloodlines, especially "young coaching minds" like himself as reflected in coaching assistant Garrett McGuire's hiring and could look to give Lombardi an opportunity at being a full fledged position coach if the offense needs to be retooled. That leaves us with one last candidate that could very well surprise many by winning the role... Frisman Jackson (Offensive Passing Game Coordinator/WRs Coach) - As mentioned earlier, Joe Brady's highest accolade was being the passing game coordinator for LSU. Frisman Jackson has done that same role, but in the NFL. Jackson was also Rhule's passing game coordinator back at Temple before departing for the NFL to coach the Titans' WRs for a year. Rhule then lured him back to the college ranks by bringing him on board as his WRs coach at Baylor and then ultimately bringing Jackson back with him to the NFL. If Nixon gets the nod, I would expect Jackson to slide into his role as senior assistant while retaining his role as the WRs coach. We still have plenty of football left this season to see whether or not this team fights its way into the playoffs, limps its way to the finish line just shy of it, or completely implodes. Are there any coaches with ties to Rhule & Co. that you're expecting them to chase after to bring on board, or do you have a strong feeling about any of the current possibilities?

If this offense was scoring the way that we thought it would, we probably wouldn't be worried about this so much. Now that we're moving towards a ground control offense, this defense that has been designed to fly after the ball and create turnovers can be ran over. It will be interesting to see if the defense evolves or the offense does.

TYLER LINDERBAUM I'm super excited though to go back and watch Brady Christensen at LT to see how he looked. Get this team a real interior and we're dangerous.

On a plus note: QB1 looks like a franchise QB

But hey, thanks for driving DJack's second contract down for us Ron. What a guy.

Donte has been getting killed this game. Oof. Gonna need the defense to step it up. They're playing against a 3rd string center, second string tackle, second string QB, hurt RBs, and Logan Thomas is also hurt.

Where are WFT fans getting the idea that they have a stellar defense still? Don't get me wrong, their secondary is strong and their LBs are doing great even though they lost Bostic for the year (Davis + Holcomb are better, so no biggie). Their DL is incredible, but they've lost Chase Young for the year and Montez Sweat's jaw is still being put back together on the IR. So who's going to rush the passer? Allen, Payne, and Ioannidis are a nasty DL, but they're going to get tired of a run-first team led by Cam Newton coming at them downhill all game. Oh... looks like their only healthy starting CB is Corn Elder? Then of course, there's the offense which is trying to find a TE with Logan Thomas out and relying on Heinicke at QB.

I think we're in a really good spot, potentially. We have a lot of "what-ifs" to look to have answered this season including but not limited to: QB, LT, LG, C, RG, TE2, FB?, LB, S, and KR/PR. Some of those can have surprising answers (QB) while others have band aids that at least put us in position to fill in other areas (OL). Hell... the team might even be in a position to trade down if they play deep into the postseason. Fitterer has already stated that he sees there being 25 really good players, and then from there there isn't much difference between 25 - 100. I could see him trading back in the 1st to reclaim a 2nd and/or 3rd rd pick, or parlaying a couple of those day three picks to slide up a couple of spots to grab a player that unexpectedly slid into range. As much as I want Tyler Linderbaum on this team, I'll trade that for having a healthy Cam any day of the week. Even if it means another year of Pat Elflein.

For any of you that are fortunate enough to be able to attend the game on Sunday, would y'all mind taking whatever video(s) you can and posting them here? All of the pie for video from the crowd of when the team does the announcements for the starters. If they announce the defense and not the offense, I'ma need y'all to riot pls kthx

Might be worth reading the thread before making an already disproven claim. If you need to see where teams have traded up for iOL, I got you there as well.

The narrative here was that he was "just a guy" that was a "luxury pick" and a "liability in coverage." When he got paid, it was all of those things plus his contract. I'm super happy though to see folks finally giving Shaq the credit he's due.

You'd be surprised! Take these day 1 trades from recent drafts, for example: [2021] Dallas traded its first-round selection (10th overall) to Philadelphia in exchange for first- and third-round selections (12th and 84th overall). I know this is a 3rd rounder that we don't have, but worth mentioning here as #84 was enough to move up from #12 to #10. [2021] Minnesota traded first- and fourth-round selections (14th and 143rd overall) to the N.Y. Jets in exchange for their first- and two third-round selections (23rd, 66th, and 86th overall). Again, not exactly a day 3 pick but they essentially took the same trade from earlier, but instead of going from 12 -> 10 for #84, they're going from 23 -> 14 for #86 and swapping a 3rd for a 4th. Perhaps trading a future 3rd could help sweeten the deal? [2020] San Francisco traded first- and seventh-round selections (13th and 245th) to Tampa Bay in exchange for first- and fourth-round selections (14th and 117th). [2020] Minnesota traded a first-round selection (25th) to San Francisco in exchange for San Francisco's first-, fourth-, and fifth-round selections (31st, 117th, and 176th). [2019] Seattle traded a first-round selection (21st) to Green Bay in exchange for Green Bay's first- and two fourth-round selections (30th, 114th and 118th). [2019] Baltimore traded a first-round selection (22nd) to Philadelphia in exchange for Philadelphia's first-, fourth- and sixth-round selections (25th, 127th and 197th). [2019] New Orleans traded a first-round selection (30th), as well as 2018 first- and fifth-round selections (27th and 147th) to Green Bay in exchange for Green Bay's 2018 first round selection (14th). [2018] Green Bay traded a first-round selection (14th) to New Orleans in exchange for New Orleans's first- and fifth-round selections (27th and 147th) and a first-round selection in 2019. [2018] Baltimore traded first- and sixth-round selections (22nd and 215th) to Tennessee in exchange for Tennessee's first- and fourth-round selections (25th and 125th).

Panthers are going to the playoffs. Trade a day 3 pick to slide up a spot or two to grab Linderbaum if he somehow slips due to people not wanting to draft the #1 OL in the draft because "muh poshitshowanal valuuuuuuue!!!!!"

Hence the proposing that the Panthers cover part of his contract like they did with Teddy if they want to try and turn him into a draft pick.

We got a 7th for Greg Little. Never underestimate somebody else's ability to make a mistake.