MHS831

I just don't think Persons is in the loop. I worked weekends at the Observer a long time ago in the Sports Department and I can tell you that the guy I worked with the most, Rick Bonnell, was in the loop. He knew stuff long before it happened. In fact, when it was rumored (I wrote about this a few days ago) that Valvano was going to the NBA, Rick called VALVANO. Joe just reads tweets from other reporters he follows. There is a trust between a team and the reporter--and if you violate it--you get shut out. Repeating rumors or injecting your gut feelings with no more credibility than anyone on this board is not journalism, and teams (pro, college, etc) will not give you information that provides insights into a developing story. Rick told me, "It is like dancing at a ball--they lead, you follow, and you do not cause them to misstep." I never forgot things he told me. David Poole used to cover NASCAR and he knew all kinds of interesting things that came true, but he never revealed these things until they became news. I see Person as a clown, a 50-year old boy scout looking for merit badges. His fluff, if you go back, is usually 50/50 and he is not right most of the time. I also worked for the Capital Newspaper in Annapolis Maryland and used to use my press pass to sit in the press box and eat free food and watch the Orioles while pretending to cover the game. That is where I met some REAL sports reporters. The Baltimore Sun--even recently, they were breaking Panther stories before the Panther reporters were.

Just say "I don't know" and move on. "Possibly. But there is a chance..." No poo.

Joe is vibing now? He is interpreting vibes and sharing his vibeness with his readership? Nice work, gumshoe. Thanks for digging into your plethora of contacts and sources and giving us your vibes.

I see where you can make the argument that he was not that bad, but when he was not influence by a coach--the Clausen draft--when Fox was a Lame Duck as the team anticipated the draft, he was pretty much empowered without practical input. I realize that he had scouts, but he did not have a vision. He had already traded away the first rounder the year before, and when Clausen was there after the first round, it later came out that he tried to trade up to #33 with the Rams to get him, probably dealing away another first rounder. When KC and Minnesota--both desperate for QBs--passed on Clausen in the second round, I figured that was a red flag--what did they know? Of course, we drafted Clausen, and then Lafell in the third round, and then I read a story that the Colts bluffed Hurney into moving up to take Armanti Edwards so convince him to draft a player they did not want. The Colts source joked that there was a run on WRs and they were hoping to get one to fall to them so they put out the word that they were interested in Armanti Edwards. It is believed that they wanted Emanuel Sanders or Eric Decker, but they were taken before the Panther pick. Having already taken a WR in the third round, it seemed unlikely that they would pick another, so they forgot about it. Most teams had a much lower grade (7th round) on Edwards. When it was announced that Hurney took Edwards, they laughed. Nobody can be sure if their pressure worked, but the reveal here is that they laughed at him (if true--I doubt it, to be honest). In the fourth round, he picked Eric Norwood, a tweener who did not fit the 4-3. I get that was one draft, but it was a demonstration of Hurney without parental controls. I went to Spartanburg that summer, and Fox was being openly sarcastic. He had Clausen at #3 QB and he made a sarcastic comment I could easily hear about Armanti when he dropped a jugs machine punt. Having talked to Fox at OTAs before, I really liked him and felt that he was a true, old school football guy. And yes, I heard they hated Gettlemen. I see why. I think players retired because of him. To me, the bigger question and picture is this: You have hours of tape of these players playing football in college against future NFL players. You weigh them, you measure them, you time them, you interview them, and you work them out. Why is the first round a coin toss? Why is the second round a 75% chance of failure? It makes no sense to me. I appreciate your admiration for Hurney and since we do not see GMs as a whole group but an isolated situation in most cases, it is easy to attribute failure to the man who picks in the draft when the majority of players drafted on all teams fail. He sealed his fate when he started dealing first rounders away. That was his strength.

I mean, the QB position is finally heading in the right direction. not the time to stir the pot. Nope, skeptics, you are not getting any rookie who would be better as a backup than Andy. Not many teams win with QB2. I still say if a Rourke, Will Howard, Gabriel, or McCord falls into day 3, you take him.

We are pretty immune to overthinking, I would say.

that is all he said--then they had the Panthers taking Walker.

OK, Lets play along. Person stakes his reputation on the fact that the Panthers will not extend Moton. Bank on it. It is signed, sealed and delivered. Carved in stone. Does that mean he gets a $31m cap number this season? What does that mean? 1. If we trade Moton pre June 1, We would save over $12m and get a pick or player later. Most of the teams in need of a RT are at the end of the round. They are competing for Lombardis, so they might really like an elite OT that they can sign and give a 2-year extension, mitigating the costs for a proven veteran. Everyone wins. Why would a team do that? Ask KC. With the Patriots, Dolphins, Ravens, Rams, Chiefs, Bears, Jets etc. all predicted to have OT as their #1 need, only the Patriots and Jets would have access to the top 2 OTs in the draft, leaving 5 or more scrambling for a second-tier OT. Stay tuned. 2. The Panthers would then be in line to draft a RT. Both Simmons (Ohio State) and Membou (Missouri) are experienced at RT and could start right away. So you get rid of about $12m of cap, add a draft pick, and trade an aging veteran and draft a young RT. Risky, but you get a younger, elite T, a draft pick, and $12m for a free agent S and Mike Jack at CB--not out of the question. So, if the Panthers are not extending Moton like Person swore on his life, are they trading him? Possible, or maybe not.

People make a statement on here and then proceed as if it is indisputably true, making them feel smart and everyone else illogical. Bryce is a unique situation. Few would disagree that he is still a work in progress. If Dalton was part of his growth and development, you don't screw with that. I doubt the coaches say, "This is year 3. Everyone knows what that means!!" Nope--you handle it on a case-by-case basis. Anyone who applies "one-size-fits-all" self-manufactured rules about football to every situation play Madden too much.

Another scoop from Person that starts with "Might" or "May"--50% chance. Another headline that has a question mark at the end. Where is the XL surgery information, Person? "Xavier Legette may probably have had wrist surgery or not, per sources."

Mentor is a word someone assumed and now everyone is attacking that assumption. Dalton knows the system, this is not a good QB year in the draft, and he may have been instrumental in Bryce's turnaround--in the film room, as a respected resource, and someone who does not cause you to tank the season if the starter goes down. Mentor? probably, but not the only reason. I wanted a youngster like Rourke or Howard, but $4m per is not a major expense and you are paying for his expertise and experience. A backup QB can also watch the OL and WRs etc. and detect problems as well. I get why they want him back, just may not 100% agree with it.

Yep, and you can work on hands. It reminds me of the chiropractor telling me to relax before he twists my skull around 90 degrees. SO much of it is based on confidence, as you know--in the zone, its like picking apples off low-hanging branches. Drop a pass or two, and you feel like you are trying to catch flies with chop sticks. If his wrist has been bothering him, and if he has the surgery and starts catching jugs balls--50 a day from each hand angle (thumbs together, facing the qb--thumbs apart, back to qb-left thumb up (side), left thumb down, below your knees, etc.---and it becomes muscle memory---but yeah, he seems as if he is tense when the ball approaches.

Based on Stats alone: Antwaun Powell-Ryland. I could see a fifth round pick on him--6'3" 255. Sleeper who impressed at SR bowl

Nice call--I have been eyeballing Thor as well--I think he was a Harvard boy at one point--prolly smarter than Special Juan--and he has good size. I noticed that a lot of DTs in the NFL were undrafted--so there has to be value late--

I feel good about Higgins. Have not seen much of Castro.

Good School. Your alumni are probably my favorite coaches in the NFL. I have seen him projected to Center. I am always leary of small school OL since we had experiences with Kugbila (4th-Valdosta St) and Silatolu (2nd-Midwestern State), but my perspective on Grant is different. First, I think William & Mary is a bigger, more established football school than those mentioned here. He is much more fluid and technically sound than those I just mentioned. He could backup C, something we need, but possibly be our swing T as well. I am on board.

I LOVE "outside the box" thinking, so keep em coming. thanks for this

Caldwell is one of mine--I love the depth at IDL positions this year. In my mocks, I tend to draft 3 because I can't believe someone we could use is sitting there in round 5, for example. I also like Jordan Phillips from Maryland. I liked TCU WR Jack Bech before the Sr Bowl--love him now. Skattelbo, RB Ariz St. Dawg eating Dawg Here is my 7th round / UDFA sleeper: Jackson Hawes, TE Ga Tech. Watched him during Sr Bowl practice and he caught my eye a time or two. Can pass block, lead block, pull, and catch the ball. With no Tremble or the future Hall of Famer Ian Thomas on the roster, we need a player who is versatile and willing to block.

I agree, and my optimism is more aligned with hope than probability. Here is why I still have hope: He has had that wrist injury since 2021 and it was re-injured during the 8th game of the season. When I was in college, our WR coach worked with the TEs and WRs on pass reception/hands. He played for the Browns. He would tell us to avoid strengthening our wrists because a weak wrist absorbs the pass (like a car shock) and strong wrists--like the DL and OL and LBs etc. work on, hurts your ability to catch the ball--and you start body catching to compensate for the lost confidence in your hands when the wrist training was the problem. Interesting. I wonder if his hands issues are due to braces or support for his wrist or simply lost confidence from having that condition for so long? Just a theory. Before that injury (including the Saints game) he had 24 receptions for about 250 yards. At QB during the time his wrist injury was not a concern, he had bad Bryce for 2 games, Andy for 2 games, and improving Bryce for 4 games. Coker did not have to go through this as much, and was less impacted by a the chaos at QB, one might assume. So XL is now having surgery--do not know why he has waited if he has--and the QB position seems stable. I worry that there will be no work on his hands while rehabbing his injury--and if he waits, he is in denial. Maybe they wanted to get this new Strength and conditioning coach in place before moving forward. I still think you have to give him a chance and go with him.

If I were going to make a decision like this anywhere during days 1 or 2 of the draft, I would make sure that my resume was current before anything else. I would then take a look at the measures one looks for in an elite DE--not 40 time, but 3 cone, 10 yard splits, etc. and compare those numbers to the elites. I would watch film for physicality and then I would interview the player. Moving a player from the position he has been grooming himself for in preparation to be drafted at that position can be demoralizing if he is assigned a totally new position. I see where you are and why you are thinking this way, but in my opinion, there is no way Morgan drafts a project of this magnitude. At edge, there is a lot of technical, mechanical stuff that must be perfected that does not fall under the category of natural ability. Much too risky in a draft where we need home runs. I might add that a player like this who is an UDFA may be willing to undergo this transformation to find a roster spot after serving on the PS for a year, but that is unlikely-not saying your idea is illogical or impossible, I am just sharing my opinion.

I said in another post (I contradict myself quite often but few keep up with it) that it bothers me having 2 CBs who are/might be injury prone. I am not crazy about the idea--I think he is the best CB in draft, but if it is that injury, I am not sure he needs to play on Tepper Turf. I also think Jeanty is a stud and the Eagles and Barkley may have increased the RB value this year--we shall see. We really need to focus on the defensive front 7 and refrain from cuteness. Last year, in my opinion, Morgan got cute.

Isn't the first pick the easiest? He chose positions, as a general rule, that were generally successful as rookies because the position did not take time to master--RBs, LBs, etc. I was never a fan--let's not forget, he tried to trade up with the Rams to get the 33rd pick so he could take Clausen. And he took Clausen after 2 teams, KC and Minn, who were desperate for a QB passed on Clausen--in rounds one and then again in round 2. That same draft, he moved up to get Armanti Edwards....He traded away first round picks to get Otah and Everette Brown. First round magic?

It works out for us--you can get DL in the second, S and LB later---As for TE and WR--yep, but we have players who are developing there--not what we want or maybe need--and we need to address that somehow. If XL and Coker step up, are we OK with a Restrepo, Bech, or another mid round WR? If Sanders steps up at TE, can we do some bottom fishing for TE depth? I would love to have pro bowlers everywhere, but we agree the D is where the attention needs to go..There is already writing on the wall that we are overhauling the D--no extensions for safeties or NT/DEs--maybe I am premature, but I feel that we are shedding our skin.

Not saying I am right and you all are wrong, but I strongly believe in developing your rookies through errors and bruises and not by flooding people at their position until someone rises. For this reason, and it is hard to say at times, I hesitate to bring in a veteran or a high draft pick where a first or second year player is developing. I have seen too many players become good after we give up on them--and others become good years 2 or 3 (Charles Johnson, Greg Hardy, Josh Norman, Steve Smith, Bryce Young, Chuba Hubbard, etc.) so I believe addressing the positions where you have NOTHING or AGING players. For example, I think I might not prioritize these positions as much as others: 1. Wide Receiver--(developing players) while it is hard for me to say that XL might step up in year 2, but he has all the tools. Coker will get better as well. AT is back. Maybe adding an WR#1 is counterproductive right now. Add a WR, but the priority could go somewhere else. Have faith in your developing players. We need another WR, don't get me wrong. 2. Tight End--(developing player) Sanders flashed enough to know that he has a chance to be a good TE. Again, we need to add a TE, but maybe we don't need the best TE in the draft. 3. Center--developing, established player) I have repeatedly said that Cade Mays did a good job at C. He beat out Christensen and outperformed Corbett when he was healthy. Maybe depth at the end of the draft, but not early. Priorities Defensive line. (Aging player, no player) We get Brown back and have a "meh" Robinson who is 31 or so. We need a DT/NT who can take on double teams and get to the passer. We need a DE behind 31-year old Robinson. Safety. This is easy. (No players) We have one, a 2024 UDFA. We need to upgrade in free agency and draft. ILB. (aging player) Not behind Wallace, a developing player entering year 2, but behind Jewell, an aging veteran (30). Edge. (aging players) We have Wonnum and Clowney for now, but we really need to get a young super star to groom for the future--I think we need 2, a strong and rush edge. CB--(no player) if we don't re-sign Jackson or find a starter nearly as good as Horn, we need a starter at CB. Nobody behind him developing, since Smith Wade seems to be the Nickel. I think this gets addressed before the draft, however.

I think Baltimore, KC, Miami, LA Rams, and a few others will want one of the top 2 OTs and they get ripe around the back of the top 10. We shall see.