Bear Hands

Speaking of GB, Rodgers had a similar deal as well. Sometimes the talent can be unlocked. Something midseason just clicked for Love this year even in muddy pockets. He just became this cerebral dude. Would love if something similar could happen here.

The York's have made plenty of terrible decisions and post-Harbaugh was pretty brutal. 4 seasons, 17-47 record, 3 coaches. It doesn't make us any better, but just consider, it wasn't all peachy. Cycled through Tomsula and Kelly 2 years in a row after Harbaugh. They brought in Shanahan, who wasn't considered this savior type hire. Then proceeded to start his coaching career 10-22. Just look at the stuff written and said about them after that second season. People hated his dual role, stubbornness, made bad challenges, didn't have a good rhythm of calls run-pass early on either. Sometimes you just stumble into the right group of people that click. Once they got guys like Deebo, Bosa, Greenlaw, and Shan called in his pal Forrester to help, they took a huge step forward. He had the personnel and staff where his strengths were able to be flexed. But Lynch and Shanahan took big lumps early and many people weren't fans. Unsavory trade ups in the draft (not just Lance). Him and Lynch were reported to have a beef at the get-go, there were leaks coming out from the FO, it was a mess. Solomon Thomas didn't pan out, Reuben Foster even moreso. Sometimes, they can just figure it out, but people acting like they had some magical button that was just hit aren't remembering correctly. Oh and then York had the whole insider trading fiasco as well.

The offseason essay season is upon us...

I don't think Fiz likes the hire. Call it a hunch.

Bright side first- The good thing is that he seems tough as nails, thin frame be damned. His biggest strengths are finding a rhythm when moving quickly on his feet, plays out of structure, & exhibiting creativity when a play may brake down. Had some great moments in the second half of the GB game. He can be a strong game manager for a playoff caliber team. He's in the Purdy/Tua/Mac Jones strength range with his power. However, in that reality, and right now, he's got loose, unconventional footwork that can make it appear worse. He's in that 25ish of 32 starters range. Those guys CAN be successful -- we just don't have that transcendent full-package situation here. The bigger problem is that his loose, non-traditional dropbacks are second nature at this point. It would take a lot to correct and he's already a year into his professional career. He did it throughout his tenure at Bama, and I'd imagine pre-collegiate as well. It's just the way he does it at this point. And he'll continue to be a bit late on mid-range throws because of it. The exact critique: He doesn't drop back with enough decisiveness, quickness and to a proper depth to create a clearing & lanes of vision. This is critical for someone his height. The easiest way to see this is how DEs are often already behind him when he sets in the gun. Even when Icky fell apart, that shouldn't be the case. You've got a 5-7 yard head start. He doesn't set properly or consistently, and he's even inconsistent in his non-traditional drops. A lot of scouts tried to call this his "Steph Curry/Point Guard" style, but others (including annonymous scouts pre-draft) pointed out that it's a mechanical detriment. He walks back parallel to the LOS and then makes a quick jump skip to set. And because of how slow that is, it throws off weight distribution, guys are at the top of their route early, the pocket is cluttered, and his balls can flutter even if accurate and read well. For those points, I don't no how you teach it out of him. I mean, that's the stuff you teach a guy when he's learning the position early on. This is simply how he plays. It doesn't mean he can't be successful, but it will take a lot to build a winnable framework around it. If you want to deem it broken, then he's always been broken.

I'm sure he'll connect with and have a good thing with the players, but man, just hope he learns quickly how jaded and bought out the fanbase is. We're in a "I hate everything until there's tangible proof otherwise" state of disgust with this franchise.

He clearly just needs Kunu as his coach

Logan had Karl and Frank to buffer with Kendall and Roman. Just have to get our Karl

There’s really nothing to fix. Bryce didn’t break last year, he consistently looked a certain level of bad minus one half against Barry’s GB defense. It’s more like “get a team together to make him look good”

Thats a bit too much of a pipe dream for me though, just trying to connect dots. Aiyuk is one of the best pure receivers in the league. Doubt SF looks to move him. He’s an integral part of their team vying for a SB. Doubt Metcalf is going anywhere as well.

The one to keep an eye on is Lockett that worked heavily with Canales. He will be the casualty there with JSN coming up. DK should be in SEA to stay for a bit.

He’s a promising coach. Curious to see how the Athletic Football show breaks this down.

It’s more promising than not. I’m personally a fan.

Note that he worked under Pete Carroll for 13/14 years. It’s not like he’s some fish out of water.

As one of the resident Canales stans I’m happy but have to temper expectations. This team has a long way to go still.

Canales has been a guy NFL nerds have paid attention to for a bit — this is a promising hire. Of course, we are the Panthers and we shouldn’t inflate expectations, but it’s promising and a refreshing direction.

I’m excited for this. Overall expectations will remain tame given our history with Tepper but Canales has a ton of potential.

Checking out some of Seattle's online platforms, the greater media perception is Quinn or maybe Vrabel, but Slowik is definitely not being counted out there. Seems like a wildcard for them. Not much traction with them and Macdonald from what I found. Quinn+Kelly (fans are hating that idea) v. Vrabel v. Slowik. And with Belichick not being as heavily favored for ATL, Macdonald and Weaver become 2 of the frontrunners (ATL requested 2nd interviews w/them). They interviewed Vrabel this afternoon. Commanders are still pretty heavily presumed to be Ben Johnson's choice. Per Tom Pelissero, them and the Falcons are sending contingents to Detroit next week for second interviews. No word on us yet. So, adding it all up, it really does seem like this could be aligning with Macdonald v. Canales v. Evero with Vrabel as an outside shot. Same with Morris & Monken. Unless someone really comes out of left field.

I just hope whoever comes in has a clear & consistent vision. Not the preachy BS that Rhule spewed out with clueless college and over the hill NFL position coaches. Not the "let's grab every NFL lifer we can think of and bring them together to collaborate" approach under Reich. Not to mention, he was a rambler on the mic as well. Just a clear idea of what they want on defense, offense, the type of team they want, the type of culture they want to instill. Give us the well-defined, hard sh*t, not the fluff, not the disorganized chaos.

Yep that's been chatted about

I was thinking Vrabel made a lot sense in Seattle. Wouldn't hate it, but man, it would be nice to try an approach we've never done before.

Yeah him and Canales are the once I’ve around interesting outside of Johnson. Don’t really have much interest in Monken so that’s good to hear haha. Sounds like it’s still a bit open ended. Interesting to see what unfolds.

Tyler Lockett is also a likely cap casualty in Seattle who would be a great help. They know eachother intimately from his years with Baldwin as their WR coach.

I was afraid that would be the case when Ben Johnson backed out last year because our crop became very meh without Steichen interest. Didn't foresee the trainwreck that would ensure giving us a shot this year haha