Panthers schedule is out

[Matthias]

Nobody has a problem with that bye week essentially being at the end of the season?

[tukafan21]

28 minutes ago, CRA said:

Horn doesn't generally travel so the Jags could get him on Dyami Brown....

Horn should be on Thomas Jr 100% of the snaps IMO.  That's what he is paid to do. 

If a team with BTJ and Hunter are able to get Dyami Brown to be matched up with our top CB just with where they line them up and we're not able to adjust on the fly, then Evero should be fired before the game is even over.

[tukafan21]

54 minutes ago, CRA said:

yeah, we drafted a WR in round 1.  All signs points he is going to have a development window.  Just like XL (another first round WR).  Neither of which are natural pairings with Bryce Young and how he plays the game.   Drafting Tmac isn't going to drastically alter things this season most likely. 

in his final 8 games.....he was also meh/okay in 5 of the 8.  Which is great given what he was, which wasn't shouldn't even be on a NFL field caliber.    But the Panther passing attack as a whole or even cherry picked to only post benching......was a subpar NFL pass attack (which ranked dead last on the season). Too many IMO focus on the improvement vs where it actually stacks up vs the rest of the league.    

again, the defense SHOULD improve.  Almost a certainty.  It was historically horrific.  So even a good improvement there leaves in the bottom 3rd of the league. 

What signs are pointing to T-Mac having a developmental window?

If anything, it's literally the opposite.

He's one of the more accomplished and polished WRs to come out of college in a long time.  Not many players have 3 years of production like he had and then enter the draft early.  

Yes, there are things he needs to improve, just like every rookie, but he is NOTHING like XL in terms of needing a developmental season, literally couldn't be more different of situations.

I've also pointed out how T-Mac and Bryce are actually very much a natural pairing for each other.  Bryce is a touch passer who throws with anticipation because he doesn't have the rifle to squeeze into tight windows when they are there.  Which pairs perfectly with T-Mac's hands and catch radius as Bryce will be able to place the ball where only he can get his hands on the ball.

What a terrible take

Edited 5 hours ago by tukafan21

[rayzor]

15 minutes ago, Matthias said:

Nobody has a problem with that bye week essentially being at the end of the season?

it's not ideal, unless you are going to be heading into the playoffs. 

[rayzor]

1 hour ago, Navy_football said:

10 wins if we get Alabama Bryce (the Carolina Reaper) at the beginning of the season. 

i like it.

[CRA]

8 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

If a team with BTJ and Hunter are able to get Dyami Brown to be matched up with our top CB just with where they line them up and we're not able to adjust on the fly, then Evero should be fired before the game is even over.

I mean, outside of 1 game.....I can't recall Horn ever traveling in his entire career here.  And most teams aren't rolling with a 1a and 1b playing opposite each other.  

To me, I'd throw Travis Hunter in the slot in the NFL.  So yeah, if he doesn't travel w/ Thomas Jr......then he is going to see tons of reps on their other guys (like he does most games). 

[TD alt]

Nine to Eleven Wins. Bank on it.

[CRA]

14 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

What signs are pointing to T-Mac having a developmental window?

If anything, it's literally the opposite.

He's one of the more accomplished and polished WRs to come out of college in a long time.  Not many players have 3 years of production like he had and then enter the draft early.  

Yes, there are things he needs to improve, just like every rookie, but he is NOTHING like XL in terms of needing a developmental season, literally couldn't be more different of situations.

I've also pointed out how T-Mac and Bryce are actually very much a natural pairing for each other.  Bryce is a touch passer who throws with anticipation because he doesn't have the rifle to squeeze into tight windows when they are there.  Which pairs perfectly with T-Mac's hands and catch radius as Bryce will be able to place the ball where only he can get his hands on the ball.

What a terrible take

It's the NFL.  And Tmac wasn't a great separator in a weak college conference.    Seems pretty reasonable to think he will take some time to develop playing on the outside in the NFL.    See our last big body outside WR that could get open in the SEC. 

My take on Bryce has NEVER changed.  Bryce is best suited to take advantage of the slot, backfield, etc.  It's a quick pass game.  We recognized the quick PG aspect of his game but never put that into motion.  Big body downfield WRs on the outside are NOT his natural go to guys.  And there is a reason a completely washed up AT is our best weapon operating out of the slot. 

and I said the same thing about drafting XL.  Square peg/round hole w/ Bryce.  But I wanted XL because I assumed like most the Bryce experiment ended.  Canales is building a downfield chunk passing roster.....which pairs with his Seattle/Tampa times.  None of this talk is new.  Bryce throws shorter than anyone in the NFL (did it last year).   

[PanthersNCSU]

16 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

If a team with BTJ and Hunter are able to get Dyami Brown to be matched up with our top CB just with where they line them up and we're not able to adjust on the fly, then Evero should be fired before the game is even over.

This is one of the biggest issues, and speaks to Evero in general. He's so reluctant or outright unwilling to change his scheme and it's probably his downfall as a coach now and in the future. 

At the end of the day, put your best guy on their best guy. If they win, so be it. But you can't look back and say damn, what could we have done differently? 

[kungfoodude]

13 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

What signs are pointing to T-Mac having a developmental window?

If anything, it's literally the opposite.

He's one of the more accomplished and polished WRs to come out of college in a long time.  Not many players have 3 years of production like he had and then enter the draft early.  

Yes, there are things he needs to improve, just like every rookie, but he is NOTHING like XL in terms of needing a developmental season, literally couldn't be more different of situations.

I've also pointed out how T-Mac and Bryce are actually very much a natural pairing for each other.  Bryce is a touch passer who throws with anticipation because he doesn't have the rifle to squeeze into tight windows when they are there.  Which pairs perfectly with T-Mac's hands and catch radius as Bryce will be able to place the ball where only he can get his hands on the ball.

What a terrible take

We are in the era of young, impact WR's immediately popping. This isn't the era where it was rare to see a 1st round WR make an impact for 2-3 seasons. 

If Tmac doesn't look good in year 1(barring injury or just general offensive woes), that probably isn't a very good sign for his NFL future.

[kungfoodude]

Just now, PanthersNCSU said:

This is one of the biggest issues, and speaks to Evero in general. He's so reluctant or outright unwilling to change his scheme and it's probably his downfall as a coach now and in the future. 

At the end of the day, put your best guy on their best guy. If they win, so be it. But you can't look back and say damn, what could we have done differently? 

If your scheme is only at it's best when you have elite players across the board, how good of a scheme is it? How good of a coach are you?

George Seifert ring a bell?

[tukafan21]

13 minutes ago, CRA said:

It's the NFL.  And Tmac wasn't a great separator in a weak college conference.    Seems pretty reasonable to think he will take some time to develop playing on the outside in the NFL.    See our last big body outside WR that could get open in the SEC. 

My take on Bryce has NEVER changed.  Bryce is best suited to take advantage of the slot, backfield, etc.  It's a quick pass game.  We recognized the quick PG aspect of his game but never put that into motion.  Big body downfield WRs on the outside are NOT his natural go to guys.  And there is a reason a completely washed up AT is our best weapon operating out of the slot. 

He played in the Big 12 last year, not like he was in the MAC or something.

Also, in 2023 for the last year of the Pac 12, they legit might have been the best conference in the nation that year when he had 90 catches for 1,402 yards and 10 TDs in a season where they played against 7 ranked teams and 4 of the 7 were Top 12 teams when they played.

Not being a great separator doesn't mean he's a developmental prospect, especially when that is almost his only weakness and he still put up over 2,700 yards in his final 2 seasons of college.

It just means he has something to work on, but he's basically the picture perfect definition of NOT a developmental prospect but someone who should be able to produce immediately.

XL with his 5 years in college but only 1 season of production with weak route running and questionable hands but elite athleticism, THAT is the definition of a developmental project.

I love how the T-Mac haters only focus on the things they think he does poorly and needs to improve upon and extrapolate that out to mean he's not that good and needs time to develop, but completely disregard the stats he put up with those "problems."  

If he was as bad at those things that the haters like to insinuate, he'd never have been able to do what he did in college, level of competition aside, which again is still far better than people want to give it credit for anyways.

Edited 4 hours ago by tukafan21

[tukafan21]

4 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

We are in the era of young, impact WR's immediately popping. This isn't the era where it was rare to see a 1st round WR make an impact for 2-3 seasons. 

If Tmac doesn't look good in year 1(barring injury or just general offensive woes), that probably isn't a very good sign for his NFL future.

Not sure what you're trying to say here, at least in terms of why this was the response to my post.

I'm not saying he's going to struggle, I'm saying the exact opposite, that he's going to be a successful rookie directly because he's NOT a developmental project.

I've said before my expectations are 800 yards and 10 TDs, but he very well could get over 1,000.

I'm not going to EXPECT 1,000 because I do think we're going to be a run first team and Thielen is still going to be Bryce's safety valve just because of their history together, so it's unrealistic for me to say that's my expectation, but it's certainly more than possible.  And if you were to tell me right now that Thielen has 600 or less yards this year, then I'd change my T-Mac expectation to the 1,000 yard mark, but I think it's more likely that Thielen leads the team in yards if he plays a full season healthy and then T-Mac explodes in year 2 for 1,200+ when all those Thielen targets are up for grabs.

[PNW_PantherMan]

Drake London's stats.  I think a lot of Panthers fans would be calling him a bust before year 3.