Icege

I wouldn't mind rolling the dice on Gardner Minshew + Aqeel Glass, but any major QB-moves I want to avoid until after we find out whether or not Rhule will be gone.

Extend DJ. Robby can be cut after next season to save $12M with only $3M in dead cap for 2023. DJ, TMJ, and Shi could be a dirty WR trio for a competent QB/OC/HC.

Luvu's new contract ranks #53 out of all LBs in regards to cap hit for 2022. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/cap-hit/linebacker/ That's an incredible deal. That man Samir holding down the cap.

Let's goooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! Luvu was the most obvious of the upcoming UFAs to retain.

I got to watch them play down here against the Charleston Battery. The fan group that traveled was incredible. Wife and son were both raving that they wanted to go see a game in Charlotte because they made the experience so fun.

I would rather retain Frankie Luvu on a cheaper deal. He did well when given the opportunity last season and gives us a more affordable option at the position. I could maybe see Marquis Haynes fitting the role as well, but it sounds like the staff is going to let him walk. Originally I thought Josh Paschal could fill that role, but he appears to be more along the build of YGM (which means if the team can draft him, they can also move on from Morgan Fox...). Maybe the staff would consider bringing Chinn back up to that role? But if the man is willing to play for well below what he could get on the open market in the first season, sign him and pay him when there's cap space like they did with Moton!

It's not just Kenny Pickett's hand size holding him back. It's also the fact that against quality competition his numbers nose-dived.

NFL Twitter has been dragging Eli Apple and it is fuging glorious

Any QB train in this draft

Creed Humphrey was drafted in the 2nd tho?

I never made the point that a center has to have been a wrestler, that is yet another strawman that you are attempting to set up and knock down. I made the point that OL that are also wrestlers are known to have all of those transferrable skills that I listed. The other problem here is that you're looking for blurbs to further your argument without doing any actual research. You say that Wirfs is big but not an unreal wrestler because you saw him get pinned by the best OL in this year's draft and a guy under 6'. That short guy you showed is Aaron Costello and he was 55-0 as a heavyweight. He was a monster, but all you saw was a short guy that you thought would serve to denigrate Wirfs abilities as a wrestler which he also credits with helping him develop as one of the top OL in the NFL. Tristan was 25-3 and the Iowa high school state champion at heavyweight. Tell any wrestler that somebody was a state champ in Iowa as a wrestler, and there is no question over whether or not that guy is a good wrestler: Go quote where I said that centers are more valuable in QBs. At this point we might have to get you renamed to "strawbugs" because you have yet to respond to (nor counter) any supporting arguments that I've made. I don't get where you're getting that this is personal. Aside from joking around and saying to not Matt Rhule this when you were hyperfocused on a one inch height difference I can't see anything that comes across as personal in this direct back-and-forth. Would you mind pointing out where you got that impression?

No doubt. I just don't trust any of the current crop to be franchise QBs. I'd rather gamble a day 3 pick on Aqeel Glass who looks to have a tremendous amount of upside compared to other QB prospects that'll go on day 2. I'd also like to point out re: HBCU QBs the history of racism in the NFL that extends to today.

No to all 3. Take a shot on Aqeel Glass tho with a day 3 selection

You do understand that this entire post of your's is one straw man fallacy after another, yes? None of that addressed the transferrable skillsets that exist between wrestling and football, nor does it address the faux-issue being raised in regards to his size. The concerns were based on Linderbaum's size, which simply didn't hold up when we looked at the facts. I listed plenty of NFL centers that are the same size as Linderbaum along with his success as a wrestler to address the misinformed comments regarding the size of NFL centers as well as Linderbaum's ability to deal with larger opponents. Even if those opponents that you mentioned put the weight on, so will he, so I'm not sure why you're insisting that it's an issue here. The round that those centers were drafted in is irrelevant. They were examples of his size not being an issue. However, I am glad that you brought up the "value" of picking a center in the first round as many Huddlers have voiced that the team has just as good of a shot as finding a center on day three as they do days one and two. That too, is misinformed: 1st: Frank Ragnow, Ryan Kelly, Garrett Bradbury, Alex Mack, Cesar Ruiz 2nd: Mitch Morse, Rodney Hudson, Josh Myers, Creed Humphrey, Justin Britt, Ethan Pocic 3rd: Brandon Linder, Quinn Meinerz, Matt Hennessy, Lloyd Cushenberry III, Connor McGovern (DAL), Michael Deiter 4th: J.C. Tretter, Ben Jones, Tyler Biadasz 5th: Corey Linsley, Connor McGovern (NYJ) 6th: Ryan Jensen, Jason Kelce Drafting a center in the first round is not a bad thing. Drafting one at #6, if he's one of the top 6 players in the draft, is also not a bad thing. Would it be nice to play upon people's beliefs regarding positional value and leverage that against them to regain the team a day two pick while still landing Linderbaum? I'm all for it. However, in regards to the specifics of this thread, he's my favourite prospect in the draft and he's on that list of guys to get at #6. None of the QBs, imo, are worth the #6 pick. What Pro Bowl QB do you see in this draft class? Kenny Pickett? I have the ammo for that debate too if you want to venture into it

Not saying that wrestling alone makes him draftable. It's the transferrable skills from being a successful heavyweight wrestler that matters though in regards to addressing how he will compete against larger individuals. Hand fighting is incredibly important in the trenches. Kawann Short made a lot of money because of his quick burst off of the line and violent hands that kept linemen from latching on to him (up until he lost his burst when the lower body injuries started). A person with a wrestling background is going to have that experience with hand placement, hand fighting, leverage, flexibility, and toughness that are vital to being a competent offensive lineman. I would also argue that wrestling is much, much older than football and that "low man wins" is a carryover from wrestling. Quoting former Packers' DT Datone Jones... But yea, definitely not the sole reason he should be drafted. Just part of the story that makes him more intriguing to me when evaluating.

/wrist

What does Linderbaum pinning the best RT in the NFL show? That the handwringing over his size is uninformed at best. For one, he's literally the size of an NFL center with room to build mass. Second, with a 53-10 record as a heavyweight wrestler he clearly has no issue going head-to-head against other large (or larger) individuals. Third, he bullied the best RT in the NFL. Fourth, how can you be concerned about him getting a flag while at the same time possibly talking up trading down for Penning? If Wirfs looked bigger than Linderbaum, which he should since he's 6'5", that attests even more to Linderbaum's ability to out leverage and win vs. bigger opponents. I'm a huge fan because I've been watching him since last season when I had him as a sleeper day 3 pick for the Panthers (search for the earliest post on the Huddle for "Linderbaum." Is me! ). I'm a big fan of the center position and prefer OL to have a wrestling background so that they know how to deal with DL that have great hands (ie: Kawann Short) along with an innate sense for leverage. He rocketed up to the top offensive lineman in the draft. Duke Mayweather called the kid OL1 for this draft (and called Rashawn Slater OL1 for last year's draft). I've watched more Iowa games in the last two years than I have in my entire life to see that the kid is legit. I don't buy into the whole "That's too high to pick a center!!!" nonsense because only one player touches the ball every single play and that's the center. He's has to get that ball to the QB, the control tower of the offense. He has to call blocking assignments while being on the same page of said QB. He's got to be strong enough to be able to deal with nose tackles weighing over 320lbs while also being quick enough to get up to the second level and de-cleat linebackers. There was an article years ago that I am desperately trying to find that showed that, statistically, teams that lost their centers faired worse than teams that lost their starting QB. However, I do recognize that a lot of other folks do subscribe to the idea that it's too high for a center so I'm very much okay with trading down to acquire additional picks and the best OL in the draft. To add, the center is the second most expensive position on the OL after OT. Having a guy on a rookie deal will allow us to have a strong line at a fraction of the cost of what other teams have to pay. He might be taller than one of the listed centers, but he's the same height as five of them and only an inch shorter than the other five. Don't you Matt Rhule this! The only offensive lineman I'm near as excited for is Ikem Ekwonu. He is a friggin monster.

The idea that Tyler Linderbaum is "undersized" is incredibly uninformed. He's listed at 6'3" 291lbs fresh out of college without an NFL offseason. Now look at the following starting centers: Rodney Hudson (ARI) 6'2" 300 lbs Corey Linsley (LAC) 6'3" 301 lbs J.C. Tretter (CLE) 6'4" 307 lbs Jason Kelce (PHI) 6'3" 295 lbs Ben Jones (TEN) 6'3" 308 lbs Ryan Kelly (IND) 6'4" 309 lbs Matt Hennessy (ATL) 6'4" 295 lbs Garrett Bradbury (MIN) 6'3" 306 lbs Connor McGovern (NYJ) 6'4" 306 lbs Austin Corbett (LAR) 6'4" 306 lbs Matt Paradis (CAR) 6'3" 300 lbs People are really out here trying to get folks to believe that the kid can't put on 10 lbs of muscles under an NFL strength & conditioning program when Creed Humphrey weighed 302 lbs at the combine and is now listed at 320 lbs? I guess he's going to get pushed around by NFL DL just like Tristan Wirfs pushed him around when they... wayminit... Ok.

1. Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa 2. Ikem Ekwonu, OL, NC State 3. Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State 4. Evan Neal, OT, Alabama 5. Kayvon Thibodeaux, EDGE, Oregon 6. Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan Honourable Mention: Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame

Lemme flex thooo!! Grabbed 3 rookie QBs (because I'm heavily targeting Aqeel Glass as my first UDFA (followed by P Matt Araiza and FB Jakobi Buchanon as my second and third UDFAs)). Trying to see if I can at least get a high-end QB2 out of it, hopefully a true QB1. I'm also looking at an RGKnee/CptKirk situation because of Strong's knee. Plan is to have Christensen play LT, Linderbaum start on the interior, and then let the other two inside spots go to the best two out of Elflein/Brown/Parham/Lindstrom. Pierre Strong Jr is more competition for the RB room that is already loaded with CMC/Chuba/Ameer. At this point, I figure at the very least we can still make our strengths stronger in order to not miss a beat should a player be a part of a transaction or injury. The team is set to lose Reddick + Haynes, so we need to replenish the pass rush. YGM has made me eat crow and Brian Burns is Brian Burns, so let's go grab Josh Paschal and Eyioma Uwazurike to provide depth + develop. I'm a big Tommy Tremble fan, but we need a competent TE2. Jelani Woods is a former QB turned TE (an increasing trend after the success of Logan Thomas) as well as Jake Ferguson. Both are a bit more in the line of receiving tight ends, but Tremble is such a good blocker that I don't mind the TE2 being a better receiving threat than they are run blocker. Decobie Durant is filthy value in round 6. That man is GOOD. Put him under Wilks' tutelage alongside Horn, Henderson, STO3, Hartsfield, and whoever else is in that room as the veteran presence. Finally, I was also able to pick up the following 2023 picks while only losing a future seventh-round selection: Washington's second round pick Washington, Indianapolis, and Buffalo's third round picks Baltimore's fifth round pick Linebacker is still a need, as well as safety depth (I tried to fix it all! I swear!). I think this at the very least though gives the team the best chance to compete under its given circumstances while also bringing in quality talent.

Veteran free agent coaching staff additions make the overall staff look much better ngl I'm legit excited to see what Wilks + Campen can do. Especially Wilks w/ Horn + Henderson

Maybe this is because we are gonna spend a pick on The Punt God himself? Is Matt Araiza coming to the Carolinas?

I'm happy for JJ, but irritated even more by the Fletcher selection now.

Pickett at #6 would be the ultimate Rhule move.

Getting through the upcoming 2022 - 2023 NFL cycle is going to be absolutely brutal as a Panthers fan. Unfortunately, as much as some of us might want to be optimistic for the 2023 - 2024 season, it's hard to have faith that we're going to get the right people in place. We know that we have an owner that is going to pay, but will he pick the right people to pay?