tukafan21

XL and T-Mac are basically as polar opposite as possible with XL as backwoods southern kid and T-Mac a Hawaii and So Cal kid, but they both have big personalities and neither is remotely shy in front of the camera. The team should have them do some ongoing social media segment together as I think the two of them are going to be a hilarious combo off the field to watch together, it would be gold. If T-Mac is the player I expect him to be and XL can improve, they will make for a very fan friendly WR duo for a while.

Maybe they let some fans do the deal, because it was basically like the type of trades you see the fans do during their mock drafts all the time, just keep adding picks to the deal until the values about balance out, hahaha

The +800 on getting to 10 TD's looks quite tasty, if he plays 17 games I think he gets to double digit TDs. XL was our best Redzone target last year, T-Mac is an insane upgrade in that role next year, he's going to be a target monster in the end zone

For me it's very much situation dependent like I said above, so if anything, I think I'd actually prefer this type of stat line because I think it would bode well for overall team growth and success. Harrison had McBride there to "steal" 111 Rec and 1,146 yards, it's going to be hard for any rookie to put up better stats than he did when that happens, and he was supposed to be the best WR prospect in the last few decades. For me the big stat for T-Mac this year will be TD's, because I can see a scenario where the massive yard totals isn't there because of all the options Bryce will have and he's still a rookie, but he should be the clear top dog in the redzone playbook and hope we use him accordingly.

I'd expect more TD's at a minimum, as I really think he's going to be our go-to redzone option from the first snap of the season. But realistically, if Thielen has 800-1000 yards as a Bryce check down favorite, while Bryce himself has a good season, and XL/Coker both improve because of it, then I don't think that's a bad rookie year if those are the numbers he puts up as that's the type of season that then sets up for him to get 1,200 and 10 the next year once Thielen is gone, which would be a great 2nd season. We're still going to be a run based team with the OL and RBs we have and and Thielen is still going to be a legitimate option this year, so expecting much more than that in the above scenario would be asking for a lot from any rookie. If Thielen only plays 10 games again (or less), our running game can't perform again like last year, and/or XL/Coker don't improve or even take a step back and we then need to rely on T-Mac more and he only puts up those numbers, then yea, I'd say he underperformed on the season.

Well played

Sure, very fair point, but given what this player and draft pick means to me, that rational thinking goes out the window, lol. I obviously don't think he'll be a bust and even if he were and/or we traded him before that 2nd contract, it's still a jersey I'd have to own.

He wanted 11 in high school but it was taken so he went with 4 and then stuck with it in college (actually, his QB he'd played with since 8th grade was 11 at Arizona). And I know he at first said he wanted to go with 11, but seeing as it's an open number and he went with 4 anyways, gotta think he's going to end up sticking with it at this point for at least his rookie year. Especially as it works with both of his nicknames too, as he can do N4LO and T-M4C, which he's done with some of his NIL gear the last couple years. If he changes his number after the season, then I'd still be fine with it, because I need to have his rookie year jersey in my closet

The website says it's still a pre-order and will be shipped 2-4 weeks after the number is officially confirmed, which might not be until the start of the season. But does anyone know if they're already selling these in Charlotte now that he's chosen his number and it's already listed on the team's website? I was going to try and wait and see if they start selling baby/infant stuff with his name/number like they have for other team's top players on fanatics, as if they do, I'm absolutely getting my 1 year old Nephew one, especially as I was hoping to get the blue jersey as most of the ones I have already are black, so was hoping by then you could order his in the other colors. But if they're about to already start shipping them out soon because he's picked his number and I might get it in a few weeks, might have to go and get my order in right now and then just order a blue one later.

I think the "terrible logic" part was about Pittman being a 2nd Rounder. Because yes, I 1,000% expect T-Mac to put up better stats than Pittman has, but where they are drafted is now completely irrelevant and a sunk cost.

It's not about difficulty, it's just not something I'd ever even think about doing or being necessary. And FYI, this is coming from someone with severe OCD issues when it comes to locking things. I'll re-check/re-lock things 5-6 times before leaving sometimes because I can't help it, or even once I've left, turn around and go back to re-confirm (I have a real issue with it lol). But locking my work computer in my own home while I go get something from the kitchen for a few minutes, it has never one time crossed my mind to do that.

So you're saying if you are working at home and decide to go make a sandwich in the kitchen while you have family members are in the house, you lock your computer for those 5 minutes to make sure one of your own family members doesn't go and do something stupid and mess with your job? Unless you work in the highest levels of national security or something, that would just be a bit extreme, as nobody is thinking their own son is going to do something like that (again, unless he's done things in the past to make you think he is that dumb).

Even beyond this place, the entire world was convinced it was Walker. The day of the draft I was listening to a radio show and they were talking about how unpredictable this draft was going to be, that nobody really knew what was going to happen and that anyone betting on the draft was dumb and throwing their money away. At the end of the segment the guy said something like, "well, everything we just talked about is true, but if anyone wants some free money tonight, there is one guaranteed surefire pick, go put your bets in right now, Jalon Walker is 100% going 8th to the Panthers."

I don't see any way the Chiefs or Bills have more skill position talent than we do right now. T-Mac and Thielen are both better than any WR on either of those teams right now and yea, Cook is the best RB of the 3 teams, but I'm taking Chuba over Pacheco, and our OL might be the best of the 3 teams too. Sure KC has Kelce and the Bills have their two TEs, but I still just think we're better suited at the skill positions right now and in the near future. And yes, I realize they're GOAT type talents, but the point is if they'd put up MVP type seasons with our offensive players, then if Bryce is a franchise QB, he should be putting up a pretty good season with them this year, if he can't, it's a bad sign, not that he needs to also have an MVP type of season, that would be beyond the wildest expectations for even the biggest Bryce truthers.

Not that I think you said anything wrong here, but also look at it this way. Outside of QB, I think there is a genuine argument to be made that we have a better offensive starting lineup than even teams like the Chiefs or Bills right now. No, Bryce isn't Mahomes or Allen, but those guys would have MVP caliber seasons with our OL and offensive weapons at their disposal. If Bryce can't have a successful 3rd season with that grouping, then it's not a good sign for his long term outlook, even if yes, some of those weapons are on the younger side and need to gain experience.

Again, yes and no. Mine is also set to an auto lock of like 10 minutes, but that's still more than enough time for a stupid college kid to go do what he did while his dad went to grab a drink from the kitchen. Coaches aren't out in public somewhere that having a quick lock is a necessity, they likely are only using their laptop/tablet in one of 2 places, at the team facility or in their own home, so fear of someone doing this in the 2 minutes they're away from their desk is basically 0% outside of something like this happening where it was his son.

Yep, it's one thing to only want to talk up the guy you drafted by saying he was always you guy. But there also wouldn't have been anything wrong with him saying something like "we were just hoping one of the two was going to fall to us and if both did we'd have a decision to make, so when Graham went we just prayed T-Mac would still be there" If they really wanted Graham first or even just either of the 2, I think we'd have heard them say something along those lines at some point. Sure, I'll admit this one is likely me just wanting to think T-Mac was #1 on our board just because, but it's also a fair and reasonable take I think. But at this point that's just all fun discussion points, because all that matters is Tetairoa McMillan is a fuging Carolina Panther!!!!!!!!

YUP! But also for me, remember, this wasn't about me doing research on a player and really wanting him. I'm an Arizona alum and T-Mac is arguably our best player in school history, this was huge for me. I still don't have much of a voice right now from how much I was screaming that night (although part of that is also from all the celebrating Wrexham's big win this weekend for 3 straight promotions).

Just went and checked the presser, the quote was... "The 5th pick was a big moment for us, what was going to happen here that was going to help us get our guy at that point, with Cleveland taking Mason Graham there, the board kinda felt like Tet's gonna make it and we're holding our breath there for a few picks" And the response he had right before they asked the question that got the above quote, he said "unless someone really blew us out of the water, we weren't going to let our guy get pass" I can see how people took this as saying they wanted Graham first and when he was gone it became T-Mac, and sure, maybe they're just talking up the guy they did take in the end, but it very much sounds as if T-Mac might have always been the selection even if Graham was there.

It's coming out that a whole bunch of players got pranked this draft, saw one player got a bunch of prank calls saying he was picked. I wonder if the league did something different this year with how that all works or if these things have always happened and they were just kept under wraps in the past and the Sanders family putting this one out there publicly then made all the other players who got pranked come out and say something too. But it does remind me of a great calling of a draft prospect prank a few years back. A friend of the player, who was at the draft party, called him to mess with him, but since he saw on the ID who it was, he laughed it off right away as a "why would you call me right now" as opposed to trying to prank them as pretending to be a GM.

Eh, not so much, it's not like some random stranger on the street was able to get it from them, that would be concerning. Do you lock your computer at home when you go to the kitchen to get a snack or go to the bathroom? Of course not. This is no different, unless this kid had done something in the past to make his dad think he'd do something like this, he'd have had no reason to think he needs to lock his computer/phone/etc in his own home if he was just in another room.

Maybe in a year or two, but for this year, T-Mac needs to almost exclusively line up on the outside. Yes, T-Mac very much excels in that power slot role, and it would be smart for us to use him that way. But right now we basically have T-Mac and a whole bunch of guys who are probably best suited to line up out of the slot. We need to develop XL and Coker more so they can slide our there when T-Mac slides into the slot for a snap.

I actually put my phone on airplane mode around the 5th pick. While I know my friends, if we took T-Mac, they'd have let me have the moment and would have kept quiet. But if they saw we took someone else on Twitter before it was shown, I don't think they'd have been able to hold back from sending some half cryptic text. In the end, I was right, if they did see it beforehand, nobody texted me, but I'm still glad I did it as it gave me a moment that I'll kinda never forget. And I say kinda, because while I won't forget Thursday night, in a way, I kinda blacked out for the next hour, at one point I looked up and saw they were on like the 12th or 13th pick at that point, I had zero idea what had gone on, my head was still spinning.

You're the first person I've seen mention them say they were excited when Graham got taken, they actually said something like "we thought it meant we'd get our guy" So everyone who was saying things about how it sounded like we wanted Graham but when he was taken, T-Mac was the pick, I'm not so sure, it might have been T-Mac the whole time and they were afraid off him going there at 5 since the Browns need WRs and that's what they really meant in that press conference.