LinvilleGorge

Our biggest issues are along the IOL, so that's fine by me. Christensen was good enough last week that I think he should continue starting and developing at OT.

This. Erving had probably been our second beat OL prior to getting hurt. All he needs to be is better than our worst.

Sure. Why not? We're at the point we have to take scraps, might as well be scraps off of one of if not the best OLs in the NFL.

You're not often right, but gotta give credit where credit is due. You were right on that one.

I think Chuba will get there. He's developing into a very solid #2 RB. We've kinda been using DJ to fill I for some of CMC's role during his absence this year but that also essentially takes our #1 WR out of the play as the threat of a WR. It's not an ideal situation. I think Shi Smith would probably be filling that role if he wasn't injured.

DJ is low key one of the absolute best WRs in the NFL. The numbers he's out up throughout his career given his QB, OL, and overall offensive situations is pretty unbelievable. VERY few guys in today's league could've duplicated it IMO.

His career year was almost entirely due to conveniently timed injury to CMC. He got to basically step in for CMC's role in the passing game as well as get more carries as a runner. How he was used last year is basically the blueprint for how he should be used in the NFL. There just wasn't an opportunity for him to really due that here because we had CMC. That was an issue I had with Gettleman. He tended to spend too many high value draft picks on overlapping talents. CMC/Samuel. KB/Funchess. Short/Butler. Etc.

He's a good player, he's just not a pure WR. Probably never will be. He's basically a poor man's Percy Harvin and when he was finally used that way last year due to CMC's absence he shined.

I'd be SHOCKED if the Panthers don't have an in-house nutritionist on the staff.

It is not college football's fault. College coaches are paid to field good college football teams, not develop talent for the NFL. NFL coaches are paid to field good NFL teams. If they can't translate the talent from the college game to the pro game, it's on them not college football.

I don't think it's necessarily how college offenses work but how college offenses have impacted NFL offenses. More and more spread type formations but more and more pressure on your OL. There are just fewer blockers available even if all they're doing is chipping before releasing into their route. NFL coaches have been blaming the college game for their shoddy prospect evaluation and player development since the beginning of the league. College coaches aren't paid to develop NFL talent. They're paid to build winning college football programs which just so happens to usually also produce NFL prospects.

Welcome to Panthers fandom. We've never given a single solitary fug about the OL. Any decent OL we ever fielded was primarily out of pure horseshit luck having some bargain basement free agents and/or mid-late round draft picks work out. The same was true of the secondary too but we've quite obviously changed our approach there.

I have an idea. Let's just play the cart at at OG.

Y'all realize that when he's saying that Darnold isn't feeling and seeing the pass rush that he's meaning that in a positive light, right? But that was about the only positive thing he said. Yeah, we obviously need to cut down on the turnovers but the guy literally took zero responsibility for any of the offensive struggles. Not a good look IMO.

I've been against paying RBs huge money for a long time now. With that said, with CMC's threat as a receiver he's much more than the typical RB but with that said, one of the typical concerns with paying RBs huge money has befallen him the last two seasons.

People shot on Eli, but that guy played completely out of his mind in the playoffs in those two SB seasons. Was his overall career worth the trade they made? Honestly, no. But those two Lombardis were.

Hence why many of us have been calling for Christensen and Brown to play. There's hope that those guys can grow and improve. The rest of these dudes are depth caliber at best.

If that was the case he'd be released like Slye was. I think most likely Charlton has been playing through injury all season long. He was punting great in the preseason.

I just think he didn't really know how to answer a pointed question and was basically just babbling to avoid saying, "Listen, we thought they'd play better and we hoped they could overcome past injury issues. We were wrong. We bet on the wrong horses. poo happens. Fug."

I'm not as certain about this. Most of his worst moments come from just getting forklifted into Darnold's lap on a one on one bullrush. It just doesn't seem like he regained his physical strength after that hip injury.

Elflein played well at center as a rookie. He was terrible there in his second season. Pretty sure he's only played guard ever since then.

So was Ryan Leaf and a poo ton of other outright busts. Draft status just doesn't matter anymore once you've shown what you are in the league.

That OL question shook him. He's not an idiot. He knows this OL is trash. Fitts has been making calls. There's nothing out there to be had. The only hope for a better OL this season is playing the rookies and letting them learn in the job. As for the vets, it's probably time to go back and reevaluate everything. Are they playing the right positions for this roster? For instance, Erving's best spot might be LT but this roster might require him to play LG. It's blatantly obvious that the initial plan has been producing disastrous results. Back to the drawing board on the OL and that probably entails just reshuffling the current deck.

I think Rhule was probably just challenging his defense. He knows they have the talent to be dominant. Beyond that, he is probably also starting to realize that this team is only going as far as the D and CMC can drag them.

I don't think we ever saw Elflein and Erving as legit "answers", but I definitely think we expected them to be legit vet bandaids. I'm just not exactly sure why.