Pejorative Miscreant

On 7/2/2025 at 4:21 PM, Basbear said:

 

Honestly the 2024 draft class(minus brooks).

All are in line to be starters, expect crumedy who's fighting for a 53. 

 

Great post. The fact that you/anybody can say this about a Panthers draft class and not immediately get torn apart by rabid posters is a good thing and gives me hope for the FO and team in general. 
 

I think all of these guys are going to get meaningful snaps and contribute heavily. 

On 7/2/2025 at 4:21 PM, Basbear said:

That draft also helped land starter Michael Jackson in a round about way, big bonus.. 

This was pretty big also. Basically got a starting CB with our 7th rounder. 
 

While the verdict is still out, my July hopium is overflowing. 

I’m voting for Byron Bell.  He technically wasn’t drafted but we got a lot of starts and playing time out of him so I guess if you go for value then he’d be on the list.  Some would say a potted plant would have served the same purpose but not the guys fault.  Should have never been in that position.  

39 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

 

Someone will eventually have to explain to me how this guy, who is not productive at all on the field, gets all this adulation for his oddball off field/on field antics and schtick but Cam got absolutely pilloried for his oddball antics while being arguably the best player in franchise history.

Good question and I don't have a good answer.  If I had to guess it might have something to do with the Aw Shucks approach that people may feel as being more genuine. 

None of this stuff is going to matter if  XL cant catch the damn ball though.

14 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

-- David Newton

I like it!  The only portion of the post that tempers my optimism.

I don't think there should be a difference and if there is a conflict, you have an implosion.  The staff and organization are there to establish culture from the FO down.  The players they bring in should personify that.  The FO ideally has the vision and the players execute on that vision.  What we see as fans should appear to be player led but it has to complement and be aligned with the organization.  

Just my opinion and I may be missing the point of the topic so apologies if that is the case.

4 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

Should have gotten David Blaine.

Yeah, but I think this guy does balloon animals too so there's that...

32 minutes ago, CRA said:

He's half man, half god, half possible centaur. 

 

He might be half a football player at this point too.

Can he make Tepper disappear?

Chuba has an understated approach to the game and comes across like an excellent locker room guy.  Glad we have gotten him some help with Rico and hope he can complement Chuba. 

Cautiously optimistic. Bryce’s tenure has been 20% feast and 80% famine.  I was all in for Bryce at first then I sunk to he’s done and now my arrow is moving to positive again but remain in the just at wait and see mode.  

I feel pretty good about the staff and better about the roster so hoping we see an uptick. Team was playing very competitive football to end last season and a 5-12 team energized a downtrodden fan base with many  wishing there was a week 19. Could be in a better spot but the spot we are in is better than expected so I’ll take it. 

49 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

His points are valid.  However, it seems a bit based on past performance and fails to take into consideration trends and conditions that might suggest growth in 2025.  

For one, he breaks the team down by position and ranks them separately.  I guess that is a fair way to do it, but they are dependent upon each other. Last year, our DL sucked.  That impacts the rest of the defense.  With no internal pressure, the QBs simply step up to avoid the Edge rush.  I would have suggested that the internal DL is now featuring pass rushers and large people who can collapse the pocket.  Secondly, the LBs were not protected very well in 2024.  It is hard to see the holes and step up when a guard is in your earhole a second after the snap.  Finally, the defensive backs will be forced to make fewer tackles and they will be better in pass protection with a new and improved DL.   

Canales made an interesting comment the other day, and I (from the outside looking in) feel the same way:  (paraphrasing) "I have never seen a better group of rookies."  

I think the biggest concern is the learning curve.  How long before these rookies are ready?  

I am bullish on this team.  I think they win 3 of their first 4 and get confident.  The get the fans behind them.  From there, they win 6 of the remaining 13.  If they stay injury free, they have an outside shot at the NFC south.   

 

Good post.  Definitely appeared to me as it was based on past performance and I was ok with that. His tone seemed to be bullish as well but the team ended up at 28 as a starting point. I personally don’t think they finish here but in my mind this is the right realm for preseason rankings.  I think the team has a lot to prove.  How fast can the rookies get up to speed, can the 2nd year players make the jump (coaching, player development), can DB come back to form from the injury, etc…

56 minutes ago, PootieNunu said:

TE says lost N/A, Does he not realize we lost THE Ian Thomas?

Good point.  Should have bumped us to 27 for that alone. 

Thanks for sharing.  I haven’t gotten all the way through but it seems very in depth. I don’t know much about this guy but like the fact that he is high on the panthers and optimistic but did not let that really play into his rankings.  I think 28 is a good stake in the ground. I would question the credibility of anyone ranking this team higher than 24/25. 

On 5/5/2025 at 10:20 AM, mrcompletely11 said:

of all of the 3 major parts of the knee, acl, mcl and meniscus, as I understand it the meniscus is the easiest to come back from.  I had mine shaved about 10 years ago and was back to normal in a month.  Granted it wasnt torn completely just partially and I was 210lbs.   I would have thought by now he would be 100% and working out normally seeing its 8 months out from surgery.  Like I said it just seems like its worded a bit odd.  Something to probably keep an eye on going into camp.

 

this is saying 3-6 months is the extreme

https://www.columbiadoctors.org/health-library/article/meniscus-surgery-recovery-time/

Know what you mean here.  Ive had both of mine done and each time I was back to normal relatively quickly as well.  I thought the same thing but then after consideration I concluded that maybe my and Derek's normals are not the same thing.

I am not/was not 300+LB and my job and recreational activity did not entail me having to violently engage other 300+LB men with twists, bends and quick bursts in a combative manner.  I think those nuances may play a factor in getting him ready for the season and may lengthen his process compared to my recovery.

15 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

He shouldn't have a been a replacement, but a compliment. Norman was the only NFL caliber CB we had and Gettleman let him walk to win a dick measuring contest.

Then broke his own rule, panicked and used 3 picks on CB, two of which, I cant bother to remember but they were a waste.

I like watching this stuff and it gives me good vibes.  I do think the guy went over the top regarding the T-Mac draft pick though.  I dont believe Bryce has Brady/GOAT influence on the front office based on half a good season in Carolina.  They might have been leaning that way and his vocalization may have help cement the deal but I cant believe the FO weighted the BY endorsement to change the course of the draft.

Just my .02

On 6/5/2025 at 7:41 AM, rayzor said:

the glue?

 

My initial reaction also.  He needs some of that too.

This leads me to think Bryce has a level of comfort and confidence which are both good things.  Hopefully this and last year's uptick translates to game day.  I'm cautiously optimistic.

The roster is a lot better this year than last year IMO.  Especially on defense.  That said, it is still a very talent deficient roster on paper and understand why people say it is at or near the bottom.  This team desperately needs to draft better and develop players.  One thing I am anxious to see is if some of the 2nd year players take the next step. 

There was promise last year with some contributors in Wallace, Smith-Wade, and Richardson on defense but with it being a historically bad defense it is hard to get a read on how good these guys are or can be.  On offense I like XL but think he needs to buy a Jugs Machine instead of a horse and work on the drops. It would also be nice to see Coker take the next step forward.  

An impact player coming in may be correct, but I heard nothing in that feed to indicate it. 
 

just my opinion and I’m often wrong though

4 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

If one of these guys with guaranteed money doesn't make the team and then goes to another team, does the guarantee still hold? Do we pay part of their salary at another team?

Or does it work the opposite way and tell them hey, we paid your salary for the season, you can't go elsewhere and keep that guarantee? If so, doesn't that create basically a second practice squad of reserves to call up from?

 

Good question and it made me curious. According to the google this would be dead money on our side although with the contract not being top 51 it doesn’t count against the cap. The other team will pay him whatever they agree to pay him.  So if he got guaranteed money of 250k from us and another 250 from his new team he has 500k. 

Caveat this by saying it was only five minutes of deep analysis on my part so it may be flawed but satisfies my curiosity nonetheless. 

I am optimistic that we might be on the verge of fielding a sustainable offense finally. The Bryce stats listed above are definitely encouraging. I don’t want to overly inflate this and disregard the previous 1 and a half seasons of production from Bryce and “cherry pick” stats but do hope the benching turns into an inflection point in his trajectory.   
 

Lots of excitement heading into this season.