Bear Hands

I’m making some light bets against the Panthers this year. Win money if we still suck, feel good about a team for once if they prove me otherwise

Yeah autocorrect. Penn State had a terrible offense last year so I’m interested to see how Allar is with new wings. His arm is a beaut. This will be my third CFS following Ward so am high on him, but he may top out as a top-10ish pick. He’s probably not passing Beck or Allan unless he has some Daniels type year.

Allan and Beck looked great

*Updated to reflect bringing J Matthews back & Crumedy going on IR/Return

I’d agree there. Hill is a solid NB as well who can play outside if need be. That would likely be the case if we didn’t trade for the second Jackson and then Chau would’ve been folded in a bit sooner than expected at Nickel. Problem being those packages are probably 60% of our snaps so it would’ve been a big role for a 5th rounder to be thrust into. By doing what we did, 2 Jacksons can be outside if Horn goes down (once Dane is back) and Hill stays put. No musical chairs if a secondary starter goes down.

Thx - yup correct

Yep we’ll see who sticks after the first few weeks on defense. The DB unit will be a bit fluid behind our starters but think we’re pretty set for Base, Nickel and Subpackages OLB is the thinnest. DJJ’s development will be key this year

Stealing SpecialPersons thunder...here's the roster (bold=starter): Quarterbacks (2) 9 Bryce Young 14 Andy Dalton Running backs (3) 30 Chuba Hubbard 6 Miles Sanders 3 Raheem Blackshear *Reserve: Jonathan Brooks RB (Week 5 return eligible) Wide receivers (5) 5 Diontae Johnson 19 Adam Thielen 15 Jonathan Mingo 17 Xavier Legette 83 David Moore Tight ends (4) *I’m unsure who our guys are in 11 and 12 personnel. But I do think Sanders is for sure getting looks in 12. Imagine all 3 are getting snaps with different sets. Bolding the young dude. 85 Ja'Tavion Sanders 82 Tommy Tremble 81 Jordan Matthews 80 Ian Thomas Offensive linemen (10) 79 Ikem Ekwonu LT 68 Damien Lewis LG 63 Austin Corbett C 50 Robert Hunt RG 72 Taylor Moton RT 70 Brady Christensen G/T 77 Yosh Nijman T/G 60 Andrew Raym C/G 62 Chandler Zavala G -- Jarrett Kingston G (waiver) Defensive linemen (6) 95 Derrick Brown DE 99 Shy Tuttle DT 94 A'Shawn Robinson DE 93 LaBryan Ray DE 91 Nick Thurman DT *Have 96 Jaden Crumedy DE on IR Linebackers (9) 7 Jadeveon Clowney OLB 54 Shaq Thompson ILB 47 Josey Jewell ILB 52 D. J. Johnson OLB (Current guess for base 3-4) 56 Trevin Wallace ILB 46 Eku Leota OLB 45 K'Lavon Chaisson OLB 53 Claudin Cherelus ILB -- Jon Rhattigan LB (waiver) -- Jamie Sheriff OLB (waiver) *98 DJ Wonnum return eligible on IR Defensive backs (11) 20 Jordan Fuller SS 25 Xavier Woods FS 8 Jaycee Horn CB 28 Mike Jackson CB (trade) 13 Troy Hill NB 21 Nick Scott SS 26 Chau Smith-Wade DB (Backup nickel/Snaps in Dime/6DB looks) 22 Jammie Robinson DB -- Keenan Isaac DB (waiver) -- Tariq Castro-Fields CB (waiver) -- Shemar Bartholomew CB (waiver) *Notes: Lonnie Johnson Jr. DB likely elevated for Week 1, Dane Jackson CB and Sam Franklin S/ST designated return IR. This will be refined over time. Special teams (3) 10 Johnny Hekker P 44 J. J. Jansen LS 4 Eddy Piñeiro K

So the D we'll see out there most will likely have: 2 High: Woods & Fuller OCB: Horn OCB: Jackson NB: Hill In 6 DB sets, I imagine we'll see Smith-Wade (or maybe Scott). Backups being Scott, Robinson and the new waiver pickups until Dane is healthy.

Projected Update: Quarterbacks (2) 14 Andy Dalton 9 Bryce Young Running backs (3) 3 Raheem Blackshear 30 Chuba Hubbard 6 Miles Sanders Wide receivers (5) 5 Diontae Johnson 19 Adam Thielen 15 Jonathan Mingo 17 Xavier Legette 83 David Moore Tight ends (3) 85 Ja'Tavion Sanders 80 Ian Thomas 82 Tommy Tremble Offensive linemen (10) 63 Austin Corbett C 79 Ikem Ekwonu T 50 Robert Hunt G 68 Damien Lewis G 72 Taylor Moton T 70 Brady Christensen G 77 Yosh Nijman T 60 Andrew Raym C 62 Chandler Zavala G -- Jarrett Kingston G (waiver) Defensive linemen (7) 95 Derrick Brown DE 94 A'Shawn Robinson DE 99 Shy Tuttle DT 96 Jaden Crumedy DE 93 LaBryan Ray DE 91 Nick Thurman DT -- Jamie Sheriff DE (waiver) Linebackers (9) 7 Jadeveon Clowney OLB 54 Shaq Thompson ILB 56 Trevin Wallace ILB 47 Josey Jewell ILB 52 D. J. Johnson OLB 46 Eku Leota OLB 45 K'Lavon Chaisson OLB 53 Claudin Cherelus ILB -- Jon Rhattigan LB (waiver) Defensive backs (11) 20 Jordan Fuller SS 25 Xavier Woods FS 8 Jaycee Horn CB 28 Mike Jackson CB (trade) 13 Troy Hill CB 21 Nick Scott SS 26 Chau Smith-Wade CB 22 Jammie Robinson FS -- Keenan Isaac DB (waiver) -- Tariq Castro-Fields CB (waiver) -- Shemar Bartholomew CB (waiver) Special teams (3) 10 Johnny Hekker P 44 J. J. Jansen LS 4 Eddy Piñeiro K

Outside of the enigma that is Ian Thomas, David Moore being here as a vet who has come and gone before is the only other spot that seems a bit uninspiring. But realistically, our WR5 isn’t getting substantial production anyways.

It’s good to see they’re not settling at CB. Our S and NB look respectable IMO for Evero’s packages but we need some outside capable guys and the defense we deploy is DB heavy. Important to get right and churn out who wasn’t working. The OL and OLB signings sound interesting.

They should be the people we stay the furthest away from honestly. Our discards from previous regimes who were discarded again.

Tyler Badie is an interesting option at RB if we decide to unload Miles Sanders. Pass-catcher, great speed, was in a tight battle in DEN.

I honestly think there will be better WR on the wire. Toney doesn’t seem to be worth it. He’s in Claypool territory. Just isn’t working out anywhere.

That flip job was one of the most impressive you'll find historically. Also, the draft picks they've landed have been money, beyond just Stroud. Stingley, Pitre, Dell, Nico, Scruggs, Harris, Anderson. Difference makers at every phase of the game. But at the end of the day, the coaching & QB combination elevates all and they found guys who do just that.

Shows how bad we've been when we're familiar with so many of the initial cuts today haha.

He has a bit of tunnel vision in his critiques for a lot of players. He caught a bit of the lightning in a bottle thing for the crappy ex-QBs turned analyst. I’m kind of indifferent, some of his vids are pretty shortsighted in respect to play designs and he makes a lot of assumptions that are easy for a casual viewer to think are right bc he says so. This is funny: https://x.com/icecoldfootball/status/1826371588469805370

That’s fair. I’m definitely more out than in, but we’ll see/no reason to hate it if he stays. If they keep him, best case, maybe he becomes decent depth over time.

I personally think he's one of the worst OGs we've ever had aside Nate Chandler to play substantial regular season snaps. We have a good swing lineman in Brady at LT, LG..not to mention, Yosh can and has played LT, RT, and LG effectively in the NFL. Extremely poor performance, one alright preseason game stretch, long term hammy injuries, freak injury last season, again terrible play, with a staff that didn't draft him. I don't see how he's valuable compared to some of the UDFAs/late signings.

My 2 cents- WR: I could see us cutting all but (4) Diontae, Thielen, Legette, & Mingo. I don't think ISM makes it unless they really think his ST are that much a benefit compared to many other likely dudes on the wire. Coker could sneak in, but I think we target the waiver wire. Agree w/Persn that we keep 4 Zavala gets cut. Raym or Anderson make it instead We keep 5 safeties, Alex Cook makes it. Where the space is made - Cherelus or Davis get cut in the front-7.

I’ll respectfully disagree to the point rookie receivers struggle more these days. I’d say that’s absolutely not the case anymore, and has been this way for a minute with modern offenses. The last handful drafts have been fire with impact rookie WRs making impacts left and right, all over the map and quickly. Chase, Lamb, JJ, Waddle, Puka, St Brown, Olave, Dell, JSN, Nico, Reed, Watson, Devonta, G Wilson, London, Higgins, Pittman, Addison, Doubs, Douglas, Pickens, Aiyuk, there’s been impactful guys coming in with swift, high snap count roles in just a few years time. This is separate from the XL talk, he’s got great potential, but he’s more in the DK or Deebo framework needing a bit of refinement to nail down his forte. Those guys still find their way as well. The crazy thing was that last year was the draft many claimed was WR starved and it was historic production wise.

If it's the right play I'm thinking of, it was Pistol w/2 H-Blockers. So that's a 12-personnel pistol package -- Had Dionte & Mingo, Matthews & Sanders blocking each side of Bryce. It was a clean pocket until Branson Deen shed an Icky block with a spin. Got Bryce a bit jittery even though I think he had space to move left.

There's no real critique to have yet either way. After scoping things out -- Initial snaps yesterday were Dionte (X), Thielen (Slot), Mingo (Flanker), & Sanders (In-Line/Flex TE), Chubba (RB) Matthews & Sanders in 12 personnel w/Dionte & Thielen. We brought in XL in a condensed set +motion with Dionte. I imagine that's similar to the script we'll see early on in the year. (4th down completion) And then had XL at the X with Dionte at Flanker, Thielen slot, Sanders inline for the big Thielen completion. That was a nice play design. More spread gun. Seems like our primary 11 personnel is: Diontae (X), Mingo (Flanker), Thielen (Slot) 12 personnel (w/Tremble out): WR: Diontae & Thielen (Sometimes XL if we need speed), TE: Sanders & Matthews Condensed (or) Spread Pistol and Gun Packages: If 3 WRs, XL is in Mingo out. Diontae & XL rotating spots. If 4+, XL looks more slot/presnap motion type. Some decent potential in the offense.

Got around to watching highlights today. Looked promising. Sound play designs. Still see anxious feet by QB1 but he's looking more confident. The first Sanders completion was really nice.