MHS831

I think it is one of those moments that we will all look back on and say, "that is when the boy became a man." Happened to me in the drive through lane at a Taco Bell. Can't tell you the rest.

The head coach builds the culture--I like the positivity--lotta ups and downs during a season, and football is very mental. Bryce fed off the positivity, I have no doubt. We finished the last 9 games 4-5 and almost beat KC, Philly, and TB during that stretch. You can SEE when the players started buying in.

ONE PERSPECTIVE, Based on needs, some flashes I noticed down the stretch. Agree, disagree, add something? Remember, the draft is basically 3 picks and free agency is based on our cap. Be realistic. CB Mike Jackson (he he): He was rated at 68 on PFF and no CB played more snaps (1200). With Horn, Jackson is a solid #2. Akayleb Evans (25) and Shemar Bartholomew (24): longshots to make the roster in 2025, I was impressed with both at times. SB's coverage of Evans in man was excellent, but since Evans caught the ball, he was probably downgraded. Small sample size for both, but depth at CB is important. I really like them, especially SB. Both upgrades over Dane Jackson. FWIW, Caleb Farley scored a 56.1 in about 170 snaps and did not do much to earn a roster spot in 2025 at CB--but could he play a different position? see (S). NOTE: If the Panthers can get Mike Jackson back, they are pretty good at starting CB but very thin at the position. Wade-Smith is next up, and we need better. DE/DT Sam Roberts: Very small sample size, but he was effective. At 26 he is a longshot and may be a PS player at best, maybe there is something there? A'Shawn Robinson: He is under contract and will be 30, but he gets pressure on the QB, with 24 pressures this season. Not a great DT/DE in terms of stuffing the run, but he would be a valuable rotational piece. I am including this about Robinson because I would let Ray, Tuttle, and D. Williams go. Tuttle sucked and his cap hit is $9m. Post June cut saves us $6.5m. NOTE: We get Brown back, but we need 2 more Defensive Hog Mollies. Brown, a stud DT/NT, A Robinson and another DE would be solid. OLB Jadaveon Clowney and DJ Wonnum: They are under contract, but will add about $10m to the cap to keep them. Worth it? I say "yes" but we need to address the position and rookie OLBs tend to struggle. May be a necessary expense. Wonnum is a potential extension, but he is average at best---good at QB pressures and holds a decent edge. Amare Barno was injured and could be solid depth; not sure DJ Johnson is worth the roster spot. NOTE: I think the Panthers will add up to 2 Edge players to the roster and carry Barno, Clowney, and Wonnum. ILB Josey Jewell had 68 tackles and a 56 PFF score. Trevin Wallace had a 56 PFF score and 43 tackles--not good. Bad DTs? Probably. However, Jewell will be 31, but his roster spot is secure. Our Safeties and CBs made most of the tackles. Where have you gone, Sam Morgeasonluke? I don't see Shaq coming back, at 31. Jacoby Windmon is 23 and showed some flashes that he could be sound depth. He made 11 tackles in 128 snaps--that is about 9% of each play. Chandler Wooten was terrible. Note: People are not really talking about ILB, but it is a big need. Look for 2 additions to the roster, one from the draft (deep). S Jordan Fuller UFA. was subpar for a veteran S. Will be 28. Lonnie Johnson? UFA and gone as well. Will be 30. Xavier Woods ? UFA. PFF score 57. 3 picks. Not sure he is going to be offered a contract--overpaid in 2024. Will be 30. Nick Scott? UFA. PFF score 53. Will be 30. Sam Franklin? UFA. Will be 29. NOTE: I see no player I would re-sign. This is why I wanted to see the Panthers give Caleb Farley a look at S. NO S on the PS or IR. The cupboards are empty. Fuller may have to be re-signed, or Woods. Do not want either. OVERALL DEFENSIVE ASSESSMENT: I am shocked to realize how much turnover we are about to see--We have no safeties, few ILBs, CBs, and DL. We have Morgan (defensive player) who loves "Dawgs," looking into this. QB Bryce Young. Slated to be the starter. Not sure Dalton is coming back. RB Miles Sanders. Can be post June 1 cut and save the team $6m. Has no market value. Would probably take a team-friendly deal, or cut him. Lotta good young RBs in the draft, but if you can get a veteran behind Chuba for $2m (negotiated down from $8m), you consider it. However, with no guaranteed salary, I see him done in Carolina. NOTE: You have to pick up a RB or two, and since we have so many defensive needs, I am not sure we do anything before day 3 if at all--renegotiating with Sanders might be the smart play--not sure. TE Tommy Tremble is an UFA. He had 200+ yards receiving this season and knows the system. Let him shop himself, but I would offer the vet minimum. NOTE: This offense needs a stud TE as much as it needs a stud WR. Sanders should be the #2, but is TE enough of a need to address it now? WR Xavier Legette scored 4 TDs on about 500 yards (PFF score 59.3) He needs to double those numbers in 2025, and I expect it--raw players can have bigger jumps from year 1 to year 2. That also applies to Jalen Coker who had a 72.8 PFF grade and 478 yards and 2 TDs. I expect both to double up those numbers. Adam Theilen (615 yards, 5 TDs, 76.4 PFF grade) would round out the core. David Moore is an UFA, but he could be brought back on the cheap, in my view. He will be 30. NOTE: Of course, the Panthers need to add a WR, but if the rookies improve, the WR corps should be respectable. It is my view that a good possession WR that runs good routes and has good hands would be enough--just not ideal. An elite TE, in my view, would impact the offense more. OL Cade Mays is a decent starting center right now, but after he works as a starter through camp at one position, you will see improvement. He was top 10 in pass protection among 64 centers. With Bryce, that is the most important aspect of his game. I am elated by the way he developed in a partial season. Love him. The rest of the OL is under contract--big ones, but contracts. Brady Christensen UFA needs to be re-signed. In my view, he should be our swing OT and nothing else. Why? Zavala has played much better all year, culminating in a starting performance vs. the Falcons that was great. Chandler Zavala: So how good was Chandler Zavala in spot duty this season? You weren't paying attention because you were telling everyone that "he sucks". PFF: Pass blocking--73.9, run blocking 71.9. We have depth at G, folks. NOTE: We need one depth position, in my opinion--C. In my view, we have a few guys on the roster who can compete for the backup C position, if BC is not your guy. Jarrett Kingston and Andrew Raym. OFFENSIVE OVERVIEW: We must add a WR or two, a TE, a RB, and a backup QB. In relation to the draft and salary cap, most of these needs are not primary needs like we see on defense. TEAM NEEDS OVERVIEW (Obviously, there are hundreds of ways to approach this, but after doing this, I am having the following thoughts--priorities in bold): Edge (1-one elite player IF we keep Clowney and Wonnum) 2 DL (2-one elite NT/DT and a DE. 2 players to go with Brown and A. Robinson in rotation). CB (1- sign Mike Jackson and find a CB to play nickel--could be on the roster) LB (1- one dawg in the middle to go with Jewell and Wallace) 2 S (2-we could need 2 starting safeties--all of our safeties underperformed and are UFA) QB (1 backup QB) RB (1 backup RB--is Sanders the answer? Draft is ridiculously deep at RB--take one day 3?-wait for Undrafted free agent?) TE (1 starter) WR (we could use a #1 WR, but this does not seem to be the year for it. Get solid WRs who can catch). OL (1 backup center-answer could be on roster) DRAFT PRIORITIES: (WR, Edge, DT) Day 3 options: (QB, TE, RB, S) FREE AGENT PRIORITIES: (CB, S, DE, ILB) This is not to suggest it is all we do--just the must do list

yes--watched his videos early on. We had Zavala and Mays playing beside one another. We have depth and youth.

Been saying YES all year. He has played every position in college, and did not play C much here until he beat out BC for the job when Corbett left. Cade is very good at pass blocking (9th of 64) and needs to improve on run blocking. He is 25. If you charted his growth this year, you would have a line with a steep, rising slope

I agree--as the coach, you deal with so much crap, and I am referring to the high school level. College position coaches focus on depth--they really know every detail about technique, timing, angles, etc. at their positions. They KNOW football. The coordinators and coaches, once position coaches, focus on everything else---game plan, overall timing, chemistry, media, etc. If you think you got away with a mistake on film because during the team sessions the coordinators did not mention it, you NEVER got away with it when you went to your position room to watch the film--those coaches see everything and they deal with the players. I can see where most of my position coaches did not want to mess with the politics and planning of football; they are all about execution. Different animals. I imagine in the pros, it is more extreme. I think that is the reason few college HCs succeed in the NFL.

Wondering about this group, specifically WASH. He had veteran free agents who were healthy, after the Brown Injury:

I really like him as a coach/person, but man they were picked to run away with the division and finished below .500.

I wanted us to overreact and fire him. I think that is what the bad teams do--Pittsburgh, New England, KC--they have consistency--sure, they are winning, but how much turnover did they have before that?

weren't we switching from a 4-3 then?

I am not a fan---but we are going to retool the belt. I am wrong about stuff so much, I almost feel good about my position right now. I used to coach at a high school with a winning tradition. We did not two platoon. The coach took all of the best players for his offense, and left me with the kids who were 'not athletes" and/or "too dumb to memorize the offense or remember the snap count." We did OK--just gave them a simple defense where the non athletes were shooting gaps on the snap and everyone had the same basic responsibilities--and told them to go 100%. The offense was much better, and if they fired me because the defense was giving up 20 points a game, I would have been pissed. So I suppose I get it--if my example is applicable.

Here is how I see it--last year, people wanted him here--this year, people want him gone. What was it you liked about him last year and what changed? I have stated that you could argue why Evero should be fired as easily as you could argue why this was not his fault. I also think that change of any kind, especially your defensive structure and philosophy, there is a period of chaos. You need a system that players buy into and that is difficult when the system changes as much as this one has. Impulsively, I wanted Evero gone--but with a few players and maybe some new position coaches, I see their strategy. Did we give up too soon on Baker? Darnold? Well, contracts were part of the reason, but maybe the success of Bryce Young demonstrates what the new mindset void of Tepper is going to be like. Maybe it is not between a 3-4 and a 4-3--maybe it is between annual chaos and consistency. This team was EE down the stretch--ELIMINATED and EXCITED. That is unusual and something you don't want to disrupt. I see their thinking. This means that we are going to build the D this offseason. The decision was made and although I wanted Evero gone, something is refreshingly different about the new regime.

Could not believe that I could not find a "Black Monday" thread except the one about Mayo. I have some dirt that I love because I hate New Orleans--they stole our basketball team, they give us hurricanes, and they are stupid. And from Google Earth, New Orleans looks like the nation's twat. For reference, Tampa Bay is just as bad about the hurricanes, but they did not steal our basketball team and they are more like a venereal wart on the nation's penis--big difference. Sorry for the offensive metaphors--had to be said. Now more facts with commentary: Mayo out in New England. While he was never a coordinator, could he be a candidate for the DC job here? Vrabel to interview in New England. This is very significant because before the Mayo firing, Vrabel was considered an option in New Orleans. They wanted him BAAAD. Jaguars fire Pederson. He deserved it. Giants to keep head coach (Daboll) and GM (Schoen) Bengals fire Defensive Coordinator (Amarumo).

Year 1: Coker is better than Legette. Year 2: Year 3: Year 4: Year 5: Year 6: Year 7: Legette is very raw, but if the light comes on, his ceiling is much higher.

I just think he had a bad experience at Disney. Here is Kevin Hart, recreating the traumatic experience.

While Tremble was wide open, it might suggest that Young is feeling confident in his field vision. I think his first year was plagued by his trouble reading defensive coverage over the middle. I realize there is skepticism, but all signs pointing North. I also found it interesting that he looked to the sidelines to grin when he made a play--is he thanking his mentors, or is he failing to connect with the players on the field? Could be neither---watching for signs and usually wrong

Frazier worked for Tony Dungee, Andy Reid, and has head coaching experience. He is 65 and would be a good influence over Canales. Not sure what he has done as a DC, but this is my first impression. Another player (like Rivera) from the 85 Bears' defense? I would assume that he is the most likely candidate because his personality seems to fit Canales the best----from the outside looking in, at least, and in my limited view.

I think that was the plan--so that is fair. Bryce's year 3, but year 2 for Morgan and Canales--I have never seen a QB turn it around like Bryce did--but we need to see more before sounding the trumpets. Bryce's numbers went up and we finished the second half 4-5 with close losses to KC, Philly, and TB. That is encouraging.

OK, hear me out. If I was rich enough to buy a pro football team, I would be the owner, president, GM, consultant to the head coach, PR representative, Cheerleader inspector, 53rd roster spot, and mascot. It would take some time for me to slow my roll. I get it, glad he seems to have.

WOW! I like him, but I would have bet my house on it.

I was always under the impression that Rivera was not a detail-oriented, scientific analyzer of football--and it works for Dan Campbell, but not sure it worked for RR at times. I am not sure a reunion as a coordinator after being a head coach is ideal--I am not sure I can think of a situation where that has happened after being fired. He was a good person, having met him at OTAs--I also met Dom Capers (back in the day--great guy) and my favorite was John Fox--he and I had an exchange that had him laughing so hard, he came back to talk some more and continue the joke. I only went to one OTA per year and back then, the players walked right beside you. Fox was a charismatic dude-and his coordinator Turgovac's daughter was friends with my son--went to the same school--so I chatted with him a lot. He was waiting for his wife who was shopping at Belk and he was wandering around, not paying attention to where he was--he was in the lingerie section. (it was during a bye week). I walked up behind him and said, "If you think 4-4 makes you that sexy, coach, go for the fishnets." He looked at me like he was going to kill me, but then burst out into laughter. He said, "I guess this is not a good look!" I rambled.

The thing about him, so many WRs (for some reason) are divas and head cases. Coker seems to have a very level head. His dad is a Panther fan (Facebook) and I was interacting with him throughout the UDFA drama this past year. I really pull for him. Coker is our second best WR.

I doubt Wilks would either. I would like this opportunity--a team that had a strong second half of the season (4-5) with a QB who started figuring it out. Knowing he'd get some players in the draft. Knowing the coach is offense and he'd have total control of the defense. Saleh might bite--I don't see Wilks or Rivera coming back. Frazier is interesting.

do the Vikings run screens? I can't remember any, but have not been watching closely. In turn, had they kicked FGs on 4th down in the red zone, they would be ahead by 5.

I was looking for stuff that has nothing to do with the personnel--signs of adjustments and scheme. Your point is valid. If I saw players confused or getting burned, that would be one thing, but the zone coverage allowed London to get single coverage on the outside or pick apart the deep secondary in cover 2. AAAAHHH!!! In fact, I noted that there was not that much motion because they knew we were in zone for the most part and they motioned to get London a better situation. If they had an experienced QB, we would have been beaten, in my opinion. Right about Lamb--and vs Tampa Bay, Baker hit Evans for 2 TDs but used him more selectively to get favorable match ups (he was not needed the entire game)--in fact, they did not adjust to Bucky Irving and he torched the Panthers for nearly 80 receiving yards in addition to over 100 yards of rushing (averaging nearly 6 yards a carry). I just do not see Evero adjusting and I see OCs manipulating his system--I don't pretend to know as much football as he does, but I just don't see many changes.