MMQB worth a read today - Panthers relevance

[KB_fan]

MMQB today is well worth reading even if you normally hate Peter King.

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/05/01/san-francisco-49ers-nfl-draft-room-bears-trade-reuben-foster-peter-king

1) He relates being embedded in the 49ers war room during the draft.  Fascinating stuff.   A couple mentions there that they were considering trade back to #8, so there's definitely a chance I think that DG was considering trading up for someone at one point.  (Garrett if he was there?)

2) Of more direct interest though, Peter King reflects on the significance of our picks of McCaffrey & Samuel.

Here's an excerpt:

Quote

 

“In the Super Bowl,” Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula wondered the other night, “how many passes do you think Tom Brady threw to his backs? Mostly completed, right?”

Nineteen passes attempted to James White and Dion Lewis. Fifteen completed.

“So maybe sometimes it turns into just a four-yard gain. But I’ll take a four-yard gain,” Shula said.

In the draft, the Panthers did a couple of things to help Cam Newton, who completed just 44 passes to his backs last year while crashing to a 52.9 percent accuracy rate, a stunning 7 points lower than 2015. Carolina drafted Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel, a couple of versatile backs/slots/receivers with 206 career receptions and 804 career rushes in college. McCaffrey will play running back, slot receiver and wideout (less) and help in the return game. Samuel could become the next Percy Harvin, with jet sweeps and pitches and some field-stretching on the outside. They are potentially going to overhaul how Shula calls his offense, and give Newton some easy completions. “They’re glorified runs sometimes, but they work and it doesn’t matter what you call them,” Shula said.

The combined stat line for McCaffrey and Samuel from a total of six college seasons:

Total touches: 1,010
Yards: 7,663
Yards per touch: 7.59
TD: 55

I spoke with Shula after the McCaffrey choice Thursday night and before Samuel was picked in round two. The Samuel pick was an exclamation point on my theory to Shula. Two picks in the top 40, to resuscitate Cam Newton. That’s how I see it. Not 19 targets to his backs per game, certainly, but five or six easy completions in an offense that has been predominantly deep strike.

“I think Christian’s going to help Cam,” Shula said. “In fact, I know he’s going to help Cam. Giving him those guaranteed completions—well, high-percentage completions—you hit it right on the head. With what we’ll be asking Cam, he can get the ball out quicker now.”

It’ll be interesting, too, to see how the Panthers’ return game (2016: 7.0 yards per punt returns, 22.4 yards per kick returns, both mediocre) is impacted. The early guess is McCaffrey could handle punts and Samuel kickoffs.

“We’ll have to see about Christian’s touches,” Shula said. “But if he gets 20 per game, and it’s just too early to know, whatever, however you do it could be different each week.”

The one interesting point Shula made was about McCaffrey: He values him as an inside runner, which isn’t something you heard a lot about in the run-up to the draft. “The one thing with his size that I think people underestimated with him was his ability to break tackles, especially break tackles with his legs,” Shula said. “He’s definitely underrated as an inside runner, and some of those runs we saw at Stanford are part of core run-game calls. You see him lined up all over the place, but he’s not just a guy you try to put in different spots to confuse the defense.”

It’s hard not to like what the Panthers did for their offense, and to make their quarterback more efficient, in this draft.

 

 

Woah boy.  Just love those combined stats for CMC & Curtis!

[MHS831]

Cam Curtis and Christian---C sick

[Saca312]

43 minutes ago, KB_fan said:

With what we’ll be asking Cam, he can get the ball out quicker now.”[Shula]

Did I read that right? Are you sure this is Shula?

"Get the ball out quicker"

Holy crap we've just evolved.

[KB_fan]

7 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Cam Curtis and Christian---C sick

Yeah, I think we're gonna have fun coming up with nicknames for this offense..., the player groupings & different plays they come up with.

[PandaPancake]

If anyone else suggested this I would goof on them.

[Ricky Spanish]

Dear lord the Bears were stupid... This just solidifies it. 

[Cyclonus]

it just moved.

[SOJA]

as usual great post KB

two things: first I don't believe the 9ers had Foster number three on their board, maybe before the diluted sample and injury concerns but...that just seems like King's price to enter the draft room: report the amazing job the 49ers did with rookie GM John Lynch. Maybe he was but I doubt it. 

Second, it's crazy that the same people who hate the Samuel and McCaffrey picks were the same fans who halfway through the year once we had all been screaming that we needed to run some short quick routes- woke up and joined in on the mutiny. Now that we've drafted two players capable of fitting that scheme....they hate the picks. 

[outlaw4]

Boy, the 49ers really loved Reuben Foster, didn't they? It's possible that the part about considering him at 3 is a lie but then again, teams have been known to severely overvalue players they fall in love with. 

[DeeJay]

Always hated Peter King

This is good stuff,

[Moorgan]

It is a good read. As far as just football goes, someone I trust told me they think Reuben Foster is a lot like Luke. Off the field obviously night and day but the kid is always at the ball violently. I might be able to believe they had him at 3. Garrett, Thomas and Foster? Perhaps.

As for us, this evolution has got me excited:

 

[Saca312]

10 minutes ago, Moorgan said:

It is a good read. As far as just football goes, someone I trust told me they think Reuben Foster is a lot like Luke. Off the field obviously night and day but the kid is always at the ball violently. I might be able to believe they had him at 3. Garrett, Thomas and Foster? Perhaps.

 

As far as Foster goes, he isn't as instinctive as Luke, or near as good as Luke coming out as a prospect. Luke trusted his instincts and reacted immediately. Foster shows a bit of hesitancy and usually lets his front four do the bulk of the work.

Doesn't mean he's bad. He's just not Luke.

[AU-panther]

Whether or not you thought McCaffrey and/or Samuel were the best picks available is somewhat irrelevant. 

The change in philosophy might end up being greater then the players themselves. 

Maybe a player like Fournette or Howard has the better long term career then either of our first two picks but our change in offensive philosophy propels our team to better records then those players would have.  In some ways you might be drafting a better Cam.