Bear Hands

Thank you - I knew I was forgetting someone. Our rookies are putting in some work. McMillan, Scourton, Princely, Horn, Evans, Fitz, Trevor, Tremaine all had substantial playing time. Ransom still with just like 7 snaps. Hope that starts to change, he ticked back down in playing time this week.

He does indeed sassy pants

He played 58% of our snaps. I suggest you check it back out. The catch was fine, but it's what he's doing in the run game that's helping out in 12 personnel. Him and Tremble did work.

I made him and Lewis a pair because those two are just singing very well and destroying guys the last two weeks. If Icky plays mistake free in the passing game, it's a huge factor in controlling the clock for this team. Ezeiruaku had a few early moments, but that was about it. We had our way with the entire DAL defense.

-Rico is our early season MVP. Stud. -Bryce Young - best game as a pro. See the other threads, very happy with how he played. The first McMillan TD was a good example of what type of rhythm and feel we should expect to see. -Cade Mays had an absolute mother of a game. Absolutely bullied the Cowboys interior. I am getting convinced he’s a potential answer at center. Want to keep seeing it. -Icky & Lewis road grading on the left was top tier today. They’re getting it done the past two weeks. -BC in our stretch zone looks. We finally started diversifying the run game. Looked like we had Brady moving quickly to the perimeter on stretches and tosses. He swung out and killed some Dallas secondary. -Trevin Wallace got himself in position and helped close a few Dallas possessions. Doesn’t go unnoticed. -Mitchell Evans - loving what I’m seeing -Jimmy Horn Jr making noise. He looks NFL quick, not just college quick. -Coaching staff - they’ve have questionable moments this season but this was a really nice, complete game they called. I probably missed some, feel free to chime in

Trevin had some nice moments on 3rd down yesterday. He seems to be trending well the past two weeks.

I will say, we don't have any world beaters but a very complimentary TE room. I've been of the impression Ian Thomas severely skewed how people thought of guys that have been respectable in their time here. For context- 3 of Tremble's first 4 touches in the NFL were TDs. The 1 remaining of 4 was a chunk play. 10 TDs in 4 years as our TE2 is not bad, especially considering the coaching and personnel over that time. And he's made impact plays when called upon. I have never got the hate on him outside of sharing a room with Ian. He never elevated to his high round 3 pick, but he's been good enough for how we've used him. JT looked solid at the end of last year but he's really just a receiving type. But he showed up in that final ATL win. I don't know what to think of him yet but he's an alright option to have even if he doesn't turn out to be a top receiving TE. Mitch can play all 3 TE spots though. He's of the LaPorta and Kraft mold which I love. Sanders more like a Musgrave, Tremble more like a B Strange. We'll see but I'm hopeful. Evans is the type that could free up a roster spot long term and add some disguise-ability to our offense if he can become our TE1.

The idea we could have a winning record heading into week 8 would be a pleasant situation to find ourselves in considering the past 8 years of Panthers football.

I like this guy. Caught him doing more nice things in 12-personnel. Just keeps showing up. Passes the eye test early which historically, rookie TEs don't do...

Just all around felt like one of our best wins in a while. Took more than was given and outplayed the boys. Bryce was great

It was a major factor in most of our D acquisitions. From Scourton to BB3, Moehrig, Ransom, to Brown coming back.

Forgive me, what are trying to say then? In like one sentence. Not asking this snarkily, genuinely don’t understand the take.

The draft investment is even more critical than FAs, so it's misleading to, well say 'its misleading because they didn't work out' and the positional salary allocation matters. You invest highly in a draft with the expectation/timeline of a second contract in the near future. So it directly relates to positional allocation. Unless you're stuck with an imbecile GM. Skill Positions: 2025: R1 WR, R4 RB, R5 TE, R6 WR 2024: R1 WR, R2 RB, R4 TE 2023: R2 WR Since picking him at 1, we've drafted 4 wideouts, 2 RBs, 2 TEs. Also factor in bringing in Coker (UDFA), Dowdle, & Thielen. Not to mention trying Diontae. We've done plenty. Also factor in that FAs kinda-maybe of have a say where they want to go. You can play the game with wishing we drafted someone else, but you can't say the framework wasn't sound. It was, we've just done poorly in choosing the talent to bring together.

Pretty much this. There's a lot of season to let play out. Just have to keep riding things. We're 2-3, gotta just continue to see how things evolve for the squad. Promising rookies, a lot to see develop.

Your comments will be considered for consideration in the consideration bin.

You have no idea who we're warning.

What are you trying to even accomplish with this comment?

Scourton has a lot to like. It's not about sacks (yet) -- he's able to hold his own against the run, good blend of traits, he has his fundamentals down, and there's basically more arsenal development to come. Not many negatives to his game. If he can develop, he has a pretty nice ceiling.

Just keep riding this season's rollercoaster. I would simply implore peeps to accept its a roller coaster -- Mainly because there is no point in benching Bryce when it would be for Andy f*cking Dalton. We've seen both of their full spectrum of play. You saw today progress from Bryce at his worst to him at his above-average. The FO is not going to turn and suddenly try to find some future at the position at this juncture. And we aren't achieving anything with Andy. Ride Bryce out, see what happens.

nice

Gabriel with 3 passing TDs in his first 28 NFL throws. Not too shabby. They're scheming well with the run game leading the way. Screens, TE focused approach. Will see if they open it up and go vertical as this hits the final stretch.

Well that was short lived with Wentz back in

Dillon Gabriel is looking alright, nothing special. Wentz out, rookie Max Brosmer in for Minny. Heavy hitters in Europe.

Minor thing but Mingo was our original 2nd rounder at the 9 slot. The 2nd rounder from CMC was used in the Bryce trade, and Chicago traded it to Jacksonville for Brenton Strange. Our original 2023 3rd was sent the prior year for Corral. So you're right that the 3rd and 4th from the CMC trade were used to get DJJ. The Steelers got Washington (TE) and Herbig (EDGE) out of it. Nonetheless, total mismanagement and poor drafting.

Some general musings after a minute: The run game is dull, glanzlos. Barely any pin & pull, twitchy misdirect, 12 personnel gap, pre-snap motion, Canales is inside/outside zone all day. Maybe 25-30% gap. Whats weird is that this was a super similar issue with Reich who was unflinching in his ecosystem. Passing game was WC, mesh heavy concepts, Running was Split zone and some stretch. Canales is somehow even less creative than Reich in the run game, but he thinks vertically in the pass. There is no focus on getting a guy, to his advantage, in space. It’s just these bland runs, bland passes, some interesting deep looks a few times. I’m honestly leaning in the d-coach direction as HC. A guy to establish culture and tenaciousness. The offense can be just as good as the crap we’ve got used to. Need to find the right guy to create the right environment.