Bear Hands

I'll echo that it's at least watchable. I seriously couldn't watch games with Bryce. I turned our game on this week and didn't migrate to quad box/or another game by the half. That's huge strides. But for real, for a franchise that experienced Matt Moore, Kyle Allen, Rhule's 3-0 start, & a few others flash in the pans, you think we'd be conditioned not to be so reactive, but I think seeing competent football again just got everyone a bit jazzed. Also - I didn't have much time to check here yesterday -- but XL for example: he had a very up and down game with an awesome 2Q. Sure as hell want to see more horse riding celebrations this year. But he is what was advertised and could take some time. It could be up and down. Good thing is Canales clearly knows how to integrate his skillset early. JT Sanders isn't a bust, he isn't a hit. He's a work in progress, just like Trevin, just like others. My only counter is Brooks isn't a project but we'll see what happens. He's able to start practicing this week so time will tell. We've got the Bears, Falcons, Broncos, Giants on our schedule...there's winnable games. Let's root for wins, hope for some good development with the young guys. It's all about figuring out who emerges from this season as dudes for the future vs. who are placeholders/replaceable.

We’ve got some winnable games ahead. Just stay competitive and prove we aren’t a dumpster fire. That is objective number one lol. Today felt aight. Bengals were the better team and it’s whatever.

They’re making me feel like we’ve got some pieces. That’s all you can ask for right now haha. fun game so far. Some meh defense but offense is looking nice.

I'm excited to see how Allar looks against Illinois' defense today. PSU v. Illinois should be a good game.

I'm going to try and put an unbiased lens here and give an honest assessment. Not a guy who necessarily wants Ward in the 1st but I like what I've seen developmentally if you look at where he was at Incarnate. I'll be honest and admit he's as much as a developmental guy as a 1st round prospect. That's just the reality. But the development he's already made alludes to a ceiling that will be appealing for many. When people thought he would possibly declare last season, it was rumored (Via Lance Z, Brugler, Sando, and a few others) that scouts viewed him as a 3rd-4th rounder. The accuracy and decision making were the top digs and it makes sense why he went back and transferred. From my vantage point: He has the baseline arm talent you want. Highly disagree with the noodle arm digs. If you'd rank him vs NFL starters, he's probably around #15-20 arm strength wise. He's NFL average, college above-average. Not the best, but he'll make the throws and maintains velocity on most throws. Timing and placement has notably improved over time. He gets sloppy trying to play hero ball. He's overall getting a bit too comfortable doing things he won't have time for in the NFL. And it's making his mechanics a bit messy.. Side arm style aside, his release is quick. He calls protections and has been in pro-style offenses. Translatable experience, should have a solid acclimation period into playbooks. He is not a guy that lives in the short game, but shows he can operate the quick game no problem - intermediate throws are a big part of his game and he goes through progressions quickly with those, which you don't see much in college. And I prefer the types who lean more on the push the ball downfield vs. conservative/INT-averse style play. They can clean up the decision making through NFL coaching. Overall, I like him, he could bring some unwanted chaos in the pocket. After what we've experienced, it would be nice to find a guy that's more of a dude that checks the fundamental boxes of a pocket passer, but he's an interesting prospect. It's too early for me to jump on or off the train, still looking at the train.

You need to chill man.

Boone looks rough right now. Stay safe y’all.

I have a khaki carhart hat I wear doing yard work or for randomly wearing on the weekends. A simple logo black dry fit for the gym. That’s about it. Have a white Proehl and Kuechly jersey in the closet I haven’t worn since the 2010s - only would wear a jersey to a game, so they’re just sitting there. I’m about 50-50 Panthers-Bears merch.

Yep. I mean, he's the standard age for a senior in college. Juniors are 20/21, seniors are 21/22. He's at the tail end of a typical senior. Absolutely nothing "old" about him. And yep, younger than Jayden. There's a walgreens receipt-long list of notable players drafted at an age older than Ward. I mean, Eli, Palmer, Burrow, Kirk, Russ, Carr, Tannehill, Wentz, Penix, Pickett, Levis, Hooker, Bennett, the list goes on

Not really. The average drafted QB age last year was 23.24 y/o.

This has been one strange as hell thread

Old man? He’ll be 22 when drafted

Well hot diggity damn Anyhoo, elsewhere, I wonder if this Crumedy will be effective or anything. Haven’t been hitting late rounders so would welcome some sort of interest there.

He got dinged up last year and then this year but it hasn’t been that much lost time. I’m still a bit hopeful (for a tad longer). He’s still here for a reason I suppose

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2024/09/25/panthers-injury-updates-jonathon-brooks-dj-wonnum-dave-canales/ Looks like it's only a matter of time. Could be looking at weeks 5-6 for some of these guys. Wonnum and Barno are welcomed boosts to the pass rush. Would still love to see if Barno can develop into something. With Brooks, I think we're all excited about getting the first RB selected in the draft on the field. Happy Thursday.

Cam Ward thread...is apparently about Shedeur Sanders haha

I’ve been watching him since year 1 at WSU — I thought he was gonna declare last year and have been excited to see his development over the years 2 seasons back, Oregon vs Wash State was one of his big turning point games. It was back and forth, and he had that energy of putting everything on his back, played great but made some forced/aggressive errors trying to do too much. But showed some awesome awesome promise. Overall, has a great build, just a real brick of a dude. Not towering or anything but a few main checks: He has the size, release, and arm strength. 3 biggie quals. Is also agile, elusive, but can stand in the pocket and push the team downfield. He’s not a looser goose pocket bailer. Last season, his awareness and decision making improved a ton. Really grew as a passer. Sando, Brugler and the Prospects to Pros guys had some good discussion on him. Accuracy still left scouts something to be desired so rumor was he was perceived in the 2nd-4th rounds. So he stayed in school another year and transferred. And this year, the accuracy is looking somewhat improved. I just love when you see a dude that has the physical traits and the leader gene steadily get better like he has. He has a ceiling he’s still working towards which would make him a pretty high reward pick if he turns out.

If be surprised if he played even 15% of our offensive snaps this week but it’s a great opportunity for him to convince the coaches to bring him on full time This is honestly a really big moment for Mingo to step up more than anything these next 4+ weeks. People are rightfully excited about Legette and Coker, but Mingo — this is where you show your development and if Andy can elevate you in Adam’s role.

Bengals just lost Trent Brown for the year so Mims is being thrown in the ringer sooner than expected. Hope we can take advantage of that.

I want to end the Bengals season this week. 0-4 is a mighty impossible hill to climb. Let’s go

I wonder if Hunt knowing Wilkins' tendencies during their 2+ years together in Miami helped as well. That's a lot of practice time where they squared up on the line. Awesome to see Icky doing better. He looked very confident in the run game again, much more like what we were sold on. These young LTs can go through ebs and flows.. I.E. Cross is starting to crush it it, Andrew Thomas is finally playing a bit better.

Before he made the decision to return to LSU last year: @Tepper get at me lol

It’s just a tough scenario. We drafted a guy for the new 2023 staff, thought he could excel, be this rare undersized phenom, regardless of his shortcomings. Ended up being the furthest thing from the truth. A new staff comes in this year to check him out, and it probably looked just as bad to them. It had to of been noticeable but you can’t go into year two with the benching of 1OA. They waited to see how it really looked and noped out for now — I imagine because Tepper is probably more open to it after last season’s trainwreck where he probably made Reich and then Brown start Bryce. He’s open to seeing what the staff wants to do. I’m willing to buy he’s softened his leash and is indeed more backseat with the occasional driver shouting.