Rookie Diary: Michael Barrett used 10 seconds to light a fire entering the NFL

[Carolina Panthers]

Rookie linebacker Michael Barrett recaps his draft day, the motivation he found just before getting the phone call, and how it's fueled his entrance to the NFL.

View the full article on Panthers.com

[bga71]

It would be nice to see last years and this year's draft produce some studs by mid-season.

[Navy_football]

On 6/13/2024 at 9:55 PM, bga71 said:

It would be nice to see last years and this year's draft produce some studs by mid-season.

The opportunity was there to draft 4 or 5 guys that either started or made significant contributions this season. But I guess they wanted "dawgs" instead. 

[kungfoodude]

On 6/16/2024 at 7:36 AM, Navy_football said:

The opportunity was there to draft 4 or 5 guys that either started or made significant contributions this season. But I guess they wanted "dawgs" instead. 

Yep. Another year, another batch of "upside" gambles. 

Panthers gonna Panther.

[LinvilleGorge]

On 6/13/2024 at 9:55 PM, bga71 said:

It would be nice to see last years and this year's draft produce some studs by mid-season.

You'd think we're due, if nothing else just by sheer luck and chance. We've never drafted consistently well but we've been drafting consistently terribly for years now.

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

You'd think we're due, if nothing else just by sheer luck and chance. We've never drafted consistently well but we've been drafting consistently terribly for years now.

"Braintrust."

[Tr3ach]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

Yep. Another year, another batch of "upside" gambles. 

Panthers gonna Panther.

I don't even think they're upside gambles.  It seemed to carry over from the fitterer era.  Draft old players that are "raw" and have some decent physical traits but not all around good athletes.  This drafting style has been even worse than the rhule draft style of at least drafting elite athletes.

[Bear Hands]

Sans XL and Barrett, we got gritty, experienced, athletic, younger guys.   

4 of our top 5 picks are 21/younger, not a lot of tread (w/still had plenty of snaps & experience to show for), big upside and real athleticism (JB, Trevin & Ja'Tavion especially).  Brooks & Sanders are both young and were focal points for a top-CFB offense.  These were also guys many had been mocking to us. 

Seems a lot got the "who is this?" feel with the Trevin pick, but if you dig, plenty of publications, writers, and apparently teams had him LB3 or above.  Same sentiment goes to Chau, another guy I saw mocked to us mid-late rounds, 21 y/o, solid NB prospect who plays ST immediately.  Tough as nails playing style.  

I get that we didn't double dip at WR.  Legette being the only pick at the spot has us still feeling unresolved there.  We also didn't get a DB or EDGE that people wanted, but I don't see a ton of carry over trends from Fitt.  Some parallels though with ignoring speedy playmakers and fixating on guys no matter how things fell.  

We clearly just wanted XL and were getting him no matter who else was there.  They were so zoned in on him, it was over Johnny Newton, Ladd, same with Dejean/Lassiter/Kool-Aid, and the centers.  We were completely zoned-in on Legette.  

We began and ended the draft with some older college guys.  But, I mean, Barrett is pick 240.  It's a complete dart throw here.  We had priority waivers for UDFA so you could honestly just mentally swap Coker at 240 if you want, value is pretty similar.  

 

[TD alt]

23 minutes ago, Bear Hands said:

Sans XL and Barrett, we got gritty, experienced, athletic, younger guys.   

4 of our top 5 picks are 21/younger, not a lot of tread (w/still had plenty of snaps & experience to show for), big upside and real athleticism (JB, Trevin & Ja'Tavion especially).  Brooks & Sanders are both young and were focal points for a top-CFB offense.  These were also guys many had been mocking to us. 

Seems a lot got the "who is this?" feel with the Trevin pick, but if you dig, plenty of publications, writers, and apparently teams had him LB3 or above.  Same sentiment goes to Chau, another guy I saw mocked to us mid-late rounds, 21 y/o, solid NB prospect who plays ST immediately.  Tough as nails playing style.  

I get that we didn't double dip at WR.  Legette being the only pick at the spot has us still feeling unresolved there.  We also didn't get a DB or EDGE that people wanted, but I don't see a ton of carry over trends from Fitt.  Some parallels though with ignoring speedy playmakers and fixating on guys no matter how things fell.  

We clearly just wanted XL and were getting him no matter who else was there.  They were so zoned in on him, it was over Johnny Newton, Ladd, same with Dejean/Lassiter/Kool-Aid, and the centers.  We were completely zoned-in on Legette.  

We began and ended the draft with some older college guys.  But, I mean, Barrett is pick 240.  It's a complete dart throw here.  We had priority waivers for UDFA so you could honestly just mentally swap Coker at 240 if you want, value is pretty similar.  

 

Bear Hands, who are you? Who were you before "Bear Hands?"

[ForJimmy]

6 minutes ago, TD alt said:

Bear Hands, who are you? Who were you before "Bear Hands?"

Cub Hands 

[TD alt]

25 minutes ago, Bear Hands said:

Sans XL and Barrett, we got gritty, experienced, athletic, younger guys.   

4 of our top 5 picks are 21/younger, not a lot of tread (w/still had plenty of snaps & experience to show for), big upside and real athleticism (JB, Trevin & Ja'Tavion especially).  Brooks & Sanders are both young and were focal points for a top-CFB offense.  These were also guys many had been mocking to us. 

Seems a lot got the "who is this?" feel with the Trevin pick, but if you dig, plenty of publications, writers, and apparently teams had him LB3 or above.  Same sentiment goes to Chau, another guy I saw mocked to us mid-late rounds, 21 y/o, solid NB prospect who plays ST immediately.  Tough as nails playing style.  

I get that we didn't double dip at WR.  Legette being the only pick at the spot has us still feeling unresolved there.  We also didn't get a DB or EDGE that people wanted, but I don't see a ton of carry over trends from Fitt.  Some parallels though with ignoring speedy playmakers and fixating on guys no matter how things fell.  

We clearly just wanted XL and were getting him no matter who else was there.  They were so zoned in on him, it was over Johnny Newton, Ladd, same with Dejean/Lassiter/Kool-Aid, and the centers.  We were completely zoned-in on Legette.  

We began and ended the draft with some older college guys.  But, I mean, Barrett is pick 240.  It's a complete dart throw here.  We had priority waivers for UDFA so you could honestly just mentally swap Coker at 240 if you want, value is pretty similar.  

 

Honestly, I have no problems with being fixated on a player. If the FO is on board, which it sounds like it was, at least for now, then I don't see the problem. Every FO in this league develops a preference or preferences during draft season. I think that you're assuming that there were better options analytically, but X could easily be deemed the best of those options depending upon one's perspective. They loved him for specific reasons. Now, they must put their plan in action. 

[TD alt]

2 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

Cub Hands 

Ha ha.

I was thinking, Dimbee was a Bears fan.

[Bear Hands]

3 hours ago, TD alt said:

Bear Hands, who are you? Who were you before "Bear Hands?"

 

[Bear Hands]

Really though, no alts.  A little insight: Been a Panthers fan since they started, fam had PSLs from the start (finally gave them up this year), grew up in south Charlotte.  CU alumn (Not a Deoin/Shedeur stan though), north shore Chi-town these days (was in Madison, WI for a while)   

Wanted to drive some good convo here/try to outweigh the spam-oriented stuff.   So, brought into the mod team with the intent to help and keep bringing conversation.  We'll see if the team keeps me entertained enough to keep at this haha.