Bear Hands

Both safeties need that in the Fangio-disciple system because of how they play off each other and how we disguise roles snap-to-snap. Both safeties need to be able to take in the call and assignment as we're trying to disguise and interchange when someone drops, runs a delayed blitz, etc. Make a QB think we're in cover 2 when it's 3 post-snap. There's a lot that goes to it on a snap-to-snap basis so I think it's understandable with Scott (to a certain point). To me- This staff doesn't seem stubborn, I think they'll recognize when it is worth putting Ransam in.

Good stuff Tetairoa McMillan looks like the real deal. Legette seems faster. Coker is cemented in. With Thielen, Renfrow, Horn, George -- we could easily keep 7WR. (Not the first time someone on the outside of the org has mentioned Jacolby George) The team views Ja'Tavion Sanders as a difference maker Rico & Etienne have looked good in the offense - provide great depth No question marks on OL. Rare to have in the league. Even our first 2 main depth pieces after the starting 5 are returns. Bryce is fully leading IN the system now - refining what he wants, working with Dave/Brad, and has the respect of the team. Pat Jones & Wonnum should be relied on out of the gate, but Scourton could get a big role sooner than later. Princely is likely to start as a DPR and develop over the course of the season. That's our 4 man edge rotation. The team reportedly likes where we are at corner. CB1-Horn, CB2-Jackson, S-W, Corey Thornton* watch him The team is also very high on Lathan Ransom. Still advises Scott may get a role ahead of him to start the season, but could change fairly quickly.

We got time. Will see how this next preseason game looks for them

I will say, if a combo of Dowdle, Etienne & Renfrow can be our KR/PR, it eliminates the roster clogs/STers that are Moore and Blackshear. Opens up spots to pickup late cuts.

That's obviously not going to be the case. He'll be in rotating inside and out dependent on package but Brown is our NT. No questions there.

All of the yahoo articles being linked are simply pasted PanthersWire (USAToday) material. They credit at the bottom through a link (profile: Jared Feinberg - Writer @ThePanthersWire Contributor. NFL Draft analyst. Autistic. Opinions are fluid. #WNCStrong) So linking to a site that pastes articles produced by another site. It's all just content aggregation on wire platforms I hate media these days so much...flames, on the side of my face

Yeah it felt good to grab him but it’s not sounding good. Could be stuck with Wright for a season.

He’s making the 53

It’s because a lot of the yahoo type stuff is just “yahoo” sponsored garbage. And they just have to run it through grammatical AI correction rather than actual fact checking. a fun edit/add: The CatCrave site mentioned is hosted by Fansided, and it basically does what influencer channels now do on Youtube with their titles. It's an article title that is not properly reflecting reality. Using WAY too active of words to describe benign things to get clicks-- From that site: "Troubling injury update on pivotal veteran has Panthers fans on edge" Translation: Damien Lewis is week-to-week, should be good for week 1. - "Panthers’ crucial summer battle ends in sudden conclusion for one big reason" Translation: Corbett wins the center job as expected

I’m starting to get yahoo’d out

Starters look good, rookies look promising. Depth looks iffy, last year's draft class looks a bit shady. No major injuries. Onto the next warmup.

I mean, he could be. I hear kids can use the internet.

This hasn't got much attention. I can usually, quickly name these guys and all I knew this year is we picked up the FSU kid. He was a top college kicker but a UDFA and was competing with an older FA pickup (and forgot who). So here it is: Kickers: Matthew Wright - Age 30 He has changed teams every season of his career. Even more than per season, 8 teams since 2020. But volume was low, 7-11 career over 50 yards https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/3128444/matthew-wright Ryan Fitzgerald - Rookie Final 2 seasons of school was 115/116 on XPs, 32/34 FGs. Hit (6) over 50 last season including a 59. https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/4568263/ryan-fitzgerald It seems Wright is in front from camp stuff coming out, but I hope we give Fitzgerald a clear shot. Don't see Wright as a remotely long term or trusting option. Punter: Sam Martin - Age 35 https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/15928/sam-martin Averaged in the 22-26th-ish rank last season as the punter for the Bills. Though looking more advanced, he was good at pinning opponents near their own endzone with a higher inside 20 yl % Interested to gauge how we all think of this situation. It's harder to get too in depth here, but we've been used to Hekker and some decent kickers (Kasay, Gano, Tattooboy).

Yes, the OP mentions him - Eric Eager. He was head of R&D for PFF

The late round rookies competing against returning depth are always the fun ones in my eyes. Rivera didn't make them fun (always going with the vets), but Canales seems very attune to using who works best. I'm also interested to see if Etienne is getting any time with the 2s and how often he's on installs compared to Dowdle. Want to see what unit they're running Coker with and his assignments. How JT is progressing. But mostly, I want to see a front-7 coalesce on defense and hear good stuff about them. Wharton, Wallace and the new EDGEs in particular.

He's got a legit pro-level pass rush arsenal. Very Nic Bonnito-esque. Could see him popping out of the gate. Scourton could be a slower burn but has the chance to be a huge presence and compliments him well.

I imagine they'll wait until August. Maybe they'll see how Rozeboom & Wallace jive in the coming weeks. If it looks iffy, they're going to look at the market, and then cuts. Maybe trades but I don't think we need to be desperate about it since we're still building the defense. With that said, watch them turn around and sign somebody this week haha

With Evero's high zone looks, it's all based around disguises in the secondary as much as the front 7 with a bandit-type approach. So it makes sense to have guys that have some fluidity that can play houdini technique on QBs. Therefore, I think it's smarter to load up on SS these days who have those instincts and smarts. You can use them interchangeably whereas if a guy is an FS-- you know he's getting FS deep assignments. In my view, the FS is the least valuable position in the lineup these days. I firmly believe a SS can play FS much more easily than a FS can play SS. FSs have that outfielder poacher mentality but don't see the short field as well and usually don't have the quickness, which is why they're back there. SSs have the quickness and alertness to play both spots. They mess around with man assignments, drop back into deep zone and have delayed blitzes in these Fangio-inspired high zone defenses. We also play 3 deep at times, where we play cover-3 but disguised as cover-2. So it's good to have a backlog of this prototype. So with our personnel, you have SS guys who can play off eachother to bait QBs in our two-high zone looks, it's super valuable disguising who is playing high zone and who has a delayed play in the box. I think the playmaker in these defenses becomes the nickel and dime more of the time because its the safeties and LBs baiting and disguising while they're sneakily getting the right look in the field of play for INTs. Just my two cents.

thanks @Captain Morgan as always with the updates I'm digging what I'm hearing about Demani Richardson. He's the guy not talked about as much. It seems they've got a good grip on what they have with him after a lot of playing time to close out 2024. Seems to have trust and I'm hearing good stuff.

Their flailing attempts of long term survival with the SAS and Pat McAfee-cation of their programming has ruined the product. The NBA Draft coverage this year was a disgrace to even a casual fan. It's unwatchable garbage. Corresponds pretty well with Disney making Pitaro head of ESPN. Norby Williamson already caused a slow death beginning in the 2000s, but his ouster didn't change much. That org has so much toxicity and programming with no real analysis anymore. Taken over by talking heads and ex-attorney/execs who think they know ball.

Good perspective. And it's hard to know what really was the case with CJ vs. Bryce. I do think Reich's system had basically past its expiration date and we should've obviously recognized that in our search. Coming off Rhule, we all recognized Tepper wanted NFL experience at the helm. The issue we looked past was that what seemed like a fun assembly of coaches from a bunch of different systems was not the way to approach it. Thomas Brown was thrown in too soon as OC, way over his head. Just so many factors at play. I think it really created chaos and made it a difficult offense to implement. No cohesive vision/just competing philosophies and coaching. Then come the start of last season. you're right that Bryce was still super off. Something had to get shaken out of him. I would love to see what thing were like behind the scenes during Dalton's starting period that allowed Bryce to really change his game. He still had messy pocket tendencies but the field vision/timing/awareness definitely shifted wayyy for the better once he was back. That final 6-7 games were a good indicator, so we'll see how things look to start this one.

Totally. It's also very relative to their development. I had a preferential eye on Penix, Daniels & Ward over the years and they were talked about as legit prospects dating back to 2022 (but opted to return/transfer/declare when they did respectively). Ward's ceiling is pretty dope - I'll always go back to the Was State/Oregon shootout in 2022 that got me fixed on him. He played ridiculous but also made a late iffy decision under pressure that ultimately became a 44-41 loss to Bo Nix and the Oregon machine. But man, he played super. At that time, I know Spielman and Sando had an insider pod talking about these future prospects and how Ward wasn't viewed super highly (yet) but had all the skill to be a top pick...could've been a 3rd/4th rounder in 2023. He kept developing the next year, could've gone higher in 2024, and then went to Miami and showed VAST pocket improvement, propelling him to the top of the draft. So it goes to show there's too many factors to make those year-to-year comparisons a lot of the time. Ward has always had the skillset, and he stayed in school, and showed his development was absolutely legit, became the top pick with more tape and less projection. Other teams are banking on development once drafted (McCarthy), which I'd honestly be a bit more nervous about than Ward. Although he has Kevin O'Connell along with JJ and Addison, which is about as good of a situation you can ask for haha.

Yeah I think Frank saw Bryce in his offense come that camp and was obviously quite petrified and had to play it cool/mask it. He wasn't a guy curating a modern offense around a player, he had a fixed system and philosophy that just didn't work with Bryce. Then the season rolled around and we saw what that looked like, and Bryce's psyche (and play of course) took a major hit. Combine that with his physical limitations, and it was the recipe for disaster that we all witnessed. Still won't forget how much our staff seemed to be gushing over CJ at his pro day. I still view this year as the real "prove it" one for Bryce. He was great to close out last, so we need to see that it has rolled over and continued to improve within a system that is much more tailored to his skillset.

Watching Hunt's interview makes me think he's really taken the leadership role on offense for us which is huge given the youth we have. Bryce will of course continuing to mature into one but he's a guy I'm very happy to have, even if we're paying premium. I love the guy's energy. Easily one of my current faves:

It can be easy to overestimate rosters this time of year. Most teams are probably waiting until they see what they’ve got in camp for a minute before making a move. Unless they’ve got an obvious hole (like LB has become now)