LinvilleGorge

Outside of that one game against a faded Fitz, Shaq has been decent at best in coverage. He's definitely been a disappointment in that department having come into the league billed as a S/LB hybrid. Unfortunately, he is. He covers like a LB and run supports like a safety. He's not a bad player by any means, but he's not a guy you pay. You pay Bradberry and let Shaq walk. Just IMO.

That one game against a faded Fitzgerald is still the one thing people are hanging their hats on to convince themselves that Shaq is good in coverage. He's a decent starting LB. Nothing more, nothing less. Decent in coverage. Decent against the run. Decent blitzer. Decent. Hurney paid him to be top tier, but that's not Shaq's fault. Hurney is an idiot. Shaq is decent. He's a hard worker. He's well liked by staff and teammates. None of the issues with Shaq are Shaq's fault. He can't help that the standard of Panthers 1st round LBs is higher than he's achieved. He can't help that an idiot of a GM gave him a bloated contract. He can't help that same idiot of a GM let a better player at a higher value position walk for similar money.

It blows my mind how some people create an argument that doesn't exist in their own heads. No one argues that Shaq isn't a decent starting LB. The issues people have with Shaq is that contract. We overpaid. Significantly. Luke was retiring and Hurney panicked. Hurney has always loved paying LBs anyway, it's not like he needed much nudging. And yeah, Shaq does not measure up to the standard of 1st round LBs for the Panthers but that's not really the issue. If Shaq's contract was half of what it is like it should be that wouldn't be an issue. It just adds salt to the wound when looking at that contract. The kicker was choosing to pay Shaq over Bradberry who signed elsewhere for similar money per year while being a better player at a higher value position. That's not Shaq's fault, but again just more salt in the wound.

There's an endless list of reasons to hate that fuging guy. He's a piece of poo.

I'm not giving Aqib Talib any clicks. fug that guy.

We'll see. I was surprised we didn't draft a LB at some point. But without going back and looking at the complete draft order I can't say where or of I would've taken a LB over the pick that we actually made. If we're somewhat deemphasizing the position I'm definitely okay with that. We've historically way over-prioritized IMO. I would've just preferred to see some effort made to potentially backfill Shaq's spot to set ourselves up to part with that contract.

I said it last year with Teddy. Expect him to look pretty good early on having the advantage of no one having film of him in our offense (yes, I know it's very similar to the Saints' but it's not identical) and working with our skill position players. We'll find out the truth as teams gather relevant film to study. Yeah, we found out that truth. Expect Darnold to look pretty good early on for the same reasons. If he doesn't, woah boy. Fly the red flags. We'll probably what we have (or don't have) in Darnold by Halloween. If he's still looking pretty good by Turkey Day we can start celebrating.

Go look at James Anderson's best seasons. Basically Shaq. It wasn't an insult. Anderson at his best was a decent starting LB. Like Shaq.

Every roster has strengths and weaknesses. Acknowledging that isn't being negative.

It's reality. Being our best LB isn't saying much. It's easily our weakest positional group on D with Chinn at safety.

Yeah, he's our best LB (if we're officially considering Chinn a safety now) but LB isn't a strength of ours either. Honestly, that's why Shaq is here with that contract. Luke retired and Hurney panicked. Then he restructured an already bad contract and made it worse. Classic Hurney.

Yeah, he's not bad. He's just not a difference maker. Plug him into a good D and you still have a good D. Same with an average D. Same with a bad D. He won't create a problem but he also won't help elevate a unit.

This. He's basically James Anderson 2.0. That's not a bad thing, it's just disappointing for a former 1st round pick and not a guy you pay to be a difference maker.

Nah, he's just significantly overpaid and a significant disappoinment by the standard of Panthers 1st round LBs. When the measuring sticks are Morgan, Beason, TD, Luke, etc. just being a decent starter is a disappointment.

If I'm the Jags, I wouldn't trade Minshew for anything less than a 3rd. Good backup QBs are valuable, especially when they're on cheap late round rookie contracts.

Yeah, I don't have any major issues with Brady, but it's waaaaay too early to be annointing him as a top 5 NFL play caller.

For all you know though, Fred Rogers might make $200k a year while living well within his means and Starbucks is just his favorite indulgence. If you lived exactly like your retirement advisor would like, you'd live a miserable life. The only thing you're guaranteed in this life is the present. You gotta plan and prepare for the future, but you also have to let yourself live a little in the present. If having the occasional cheap breakfast out with your daughter causes you financial grief tbecause you spent $10 that could've gone toward retirement then I honestly feel sorry for you.

I don't know what he should've done, but damn... he certainly played his cards as poorly as he possibly could have. He went from being a good QB on a bad team and assumed mid-round pick with the ability to possibly play his way into 1st or 2nd round consideration to going undrafted and not even making it to training camp for a team whose QB room is a dumpster fire. Transferring and then option to sit out then going to the draft and bombing the pre-draft process... I mean damn, it was tough to watch. You're watching a talented kid basically flush his future down the toilet with a series of awful decisions.

Well, to be fair, they literally didn't cover Dickson in that game. I mean, he was streaking down the field wide ass open.

Cliff notes: Carson Wentz and Drew Lock really suck.

I'm just glad we're looking at guys in a variety of different positions.

Robby had his lowest TD total since his rookie year. There's a reason why Teddy has never thrown for more than 15 TDs. The receivers weren't the problem, it was Teddy. He's too conservative to fit balls into tight spots on the redzone and his arm is too weak to lead guys outside the redzone. The end result is you're not throwing for TDs.

It's hard to catch TDs from a QB who doesn't throw for TDs. Just sayin'.

Robby is on the last year of his contract and will want a fat new deal though. I think a 3rd would likely be a best case scenario.