Christian McCaffrey was drafted to replace Ted friggin Ginn

[electro's horse]

Alright, so Ted fuging Ginn is one of my most hated Panthers of all time. The only thing he could do to make himself higher is hire someone to murder his pregnant girlfriend, and if the plot involved talking on a cell phone he'd probably drop that too. But Ted Ginn gives you some versatility on offense, and lets you throw some wrinkles in there you wouldn't otherwise be able to. He accomplished this primarily two ways.

1. Absurd straight line speed - even last year, his like 55th year in the league, he was still one of the fastest players. So even though teams oftentimes just kinda left him uncovered by a corner, or at least never prioritized him, they had to keep a safety near him. Teams theoretically could never crowd the box with safeties because god knows Ted Ginn could get deep and maybe even catch it. 

2. Absurd....horizontal speed - they used him as the horizontal jet sweep threat in their mesh/option packages, and teams had to respect the fact that he might get the ball at full speed and take off to the sideline. If Ginn got the corner, unburdened by needing to catch a ball, he was gone. 

This vertical and horizontal threat played havoc with how DCs set their secondaries. One player made the field MUCH bigger. Of course Ted Ginn Jr. can't actually play wide receiver because he has dicks for fingers. Additionally, last year, injuries to the offensive line (Olsen had to stay in and block) and Type 2 Diabetes (Kelvin) forced him to moonlight as the number 1, and the results were predictably horrifying. 

Obviously Ginn was also a returner. 

But Electro's Horse, McCaffrey is a running back, not a wide receiver! The man on the tv machine told me so! How does McCaffrey replace him?!

Yes. I'm aware. (side note: i do appreciate the juxtaposition of replacing a wide receiver that can't catch with a running back that can't run). 

However, what McCaffrey is going to bring to this offense is not a straight line downfield threat, but just something that will fug with how defenses line up. The only time in his life Mike Shula hasn't been a total embarrassment to his dad was in 2015, when the Panthers rode an offense based on matchup nightmares to the super bowl. Well, they just drafted the biggest matchup nightmare since they got Cam. 

Line McCaffrey up in the backfield... oh it's a man defense? Well guess who is now motioning outside with a linebacker that can't cover him. Zone? Power run baby, right up the gut. Christian makes one cut and he's gone. Oh fug he's also staying out there to return punts. 

Man Electro, this sounds great. What's the catch?

The catch is none of it is going to work. 

Starting with the good: I think he'll be a good returner. I think he will competently line up on the outside and sometimes run the jet sweep, and sometimes even do some damage with it. And I think late in the game of blowouts, he can play running back when people are tired and make them look silly. 

But the ideal situation for McAffrey was always going to be a Reggie Bush in New Orleans type, or a random white guy out of the stands in New England type. Shifty little guys like that thrive when they have a quarterback that can generate mismatches through presnap audibles, or recognize them when they materialize, and take advantage. These require cerebral passers with great touch on short to intermediate routes who can lead their receiver to maximize their yards after catch. 

That ain't Cam. I can see scenarios where Christian obliterates someone coming out of his break, only to watch a pass sail five feet over his head, or even worse he goes up for it and ends up with twice as many ribs on one side. 

the worst part about this is what it indicates Shula is going to do. The Panthers had an opportunity to draft OJ Howard, line up with two tight ends, and bring back the beloved Chudzinski offense. This would have been power running, play action, deep passes, etc. 

It would have taken advantage of Cam's strengths and saved him from taking kill shots from blitzers.

Instead, the Panthers replaced their gimmick player, indicating they're again going to rely on the Mike Shula house of horrors mismatch show, starring Cam Newton's impending CTE and Kelvin Benjamin as the lovable obese town dunce. You can't run this bullshit offense unless the QB is a running threat, primarily up the gut, and bringing in McAffrey practically guarantees they're going to try to do the same poo again. Except instead of that matchup nighmare being a KR/WR, it's a WR/RB/KR. Oh the places you'll go. 

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Cam, after spending an offseason resting his shoulder and smoking weed at Coachella, has matured into a cerebral, accurate passer. Maybe Shula isn't going to trot him out there with a blindfold and a cigarette. Maybe Gettleman doesn't view Newton as just another piece that will eventually need to be replaced. Maybe Christian McAffrey will turn into that unholy white New England wide receiver Megazord everyone is hoping he does.

But none of that will happen.

[Guest Barry McCaulkinor]

I also see fail written all over our first round pick. It will be a horrible poo show. 

[therealmjl]

TLDR.

 

also Barry please leave

[nctarheel0619]

Just now, mjligon said:

TLDR.

 

also Barry please leave

And you @ me for some bull s hit.  And this guy writes a novel and that's all you write?  HMMMMMMMMMM.  

[billionairemonk]

[Confined9991]

TLDR 

[TheRed]

You really have devolved into an absolute god awful poster.

[OldNorthPowell]

[therealmjl]

This thread has to be GIF approved 

[gorillamilitia13]

Your biggest problem here is comparing Ginn to Mcaffrey 

[therealmjl]

[PhillyB]

i wanted OJ Howard solely due to the fact that mike shula has no prayer of being able to scheme mccaffrey open with any sort of effectiveness.

however i am optimistic

[chknwing]

12 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

The only thing he could do to make himself higher is hire someone to murder his pregnant girlfriend,

really bro, was that needed?

[Hogmolliesmaht]

9 minutes ago, Barry McCaulkinor said:

I also see fail written all over our first round pick. It will be a horrible poo show. 

You and Sean Peyton's Vicodin need to get a room.