Panthers schedule is out

[jfra78]

1 hour ago, Panthers Rhule said:

I doubt it. You've been pretty vocal about this since the draft. You even admitted to having an issue with this pick before hand. You don't like it. We have understood. Why continue to come here and piss on everyone's day. I think Atlanta would be a better crowd base for you. 

I've actually been very complimentary of him.  I have said that I think he will get the bulk of receptions and yards. I have said I think he will be a 1k yard reciever thia year. He has issues tho and I guess no one is allowed to point them out.   

[CRA]

5 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

Have you even been reading my posts?  I'm not so sure because you seem to insinuate that I'm expecting some monster year 1 season, but I've time and time again said I'm only expecting 800 yards from him as a rookie.  Because like you said, it's not in his control, we have a bunch of good receiving options and two 1k yard RBs in what should be a run first offense.

And yes, I'm very much a T-Mac homer, I've never once denied it, I'm an Arizona alumni who has been open about that from the very first thread I made about him over 18 months ago.

But that doesn't mean I'm blindly expecting him to be an All Pro as a rookie, I just know more about his game than most people here who watch his highlights and breakdowns.  Which generally focus on the things he does best and worst to highlight his best abilities (his downfield contested catches) and where he needs to improve (separation) as those are the two things fans care most about when talking about the draft.

What those breakdowns don't cover much are the "boring and mundane" things he does very well and exactly what you are talking about needing for Bryce.  

He was constantly used in the short passing game, whether they be WR screens or quick slants, to get the ball in his hands and let him make plays, it's why he was 5th in the Big 12 in YAC last year.  With his size and hands, when he runs a quick 5 yard slant in front of the defender and the QB delivers the ball on time with anticipation, creating buckets of separation isn't needed, he's going to make the catch and then get some YAC for a 1st down. 

Go watch the 30 minute YT videos that string together every catch he made last year (or the same thing from 2023) and you'll see those plays constantly, but in the analyst breakdowns leading into the draft those things don't get discussed as much as the big plays and then the things he needs to work on, because they're just not as "sexy" to talk about as those.

Per your ask... He has 3 main things he needs to improve upon, and again, "needing to improve" doesn't mean "he's terrible" at them, just things he can get better at, like all young players have things to work on.

1.  His get off at the snap.  

For all the amazing things he did for us at Arizona, this was always the thing that would frustrate me the most, as he generally was a bit slow to fire off the line.  The nice thing is even in the minimal clips we've seen from rookie mini camp, his initial fire off the line already appears to have been sped up a lot, he clearly has been working on that in the lead up to the draft.

2.  His separation

Yea, he's not a 6' quick twitch athlete, so his separation is never going to be at the level of a Chase or Jefferson.  I've always admitted that, but because he's not one of those guys, he also brings a lot of things that those others can't.  His catch radius and hands are why I'm not as concerned about his separation, because he's so good at making those contested catches by snatching the ball away from his body to where the defender can't get to it to break it up.

But yes, he does still need to get better here, just as all rookies have things to improve upon.

3.  Using his body more physically

This is something that he did at times, but he also is just a great athlete for his size and would often rely on his physical abilities to make defenders miss him in the open field than just power through them, which is fine in college.  But yes, at the next level, as he gets older and stronger, I'd like to see him use it more like Evans does, and that will come with time as he builds strength and develops that part of his game.

Again, I implore you to to spend an hour watching those "Every catch from the X season" for his last two years in college.  If/when you do, I think you're going to be very surprised by the number of times we used him in the short passing game and let him gain YAC to move the ball down the field.

But just for the record, you basically just agreed with all the things that I was using for why I think his rookie year will be quieter than some’s expectations here.  Slow off the line.  Slow separation.  Not as physical as his size suggests.  Those are the things I think are going to take time to make him a good player at this level.  I think it’s a realistic outlook that it’s going to take time to develop.  
 

if you can’t get off the line quick and can’t separate quick….that doesn’t really translate to short passing game weapon as a rookie.   On top of the fact he isn’t as physical as his size suggests and is more finesse. 

[tukafan21]

1 hour ago, CRA said:

But just for the record, you basically just agreed with all the things that I was using for why I think his rookie year will be quieter than some’s expectations here.  Slow off the line.  Slow separation.  Not as physical as his size suggests.  Those are the things I think are going to take time to make him a good player at this level.  I think it’s a realistic outlook that it’s going to take time to develop.  
 

if you can’t get off the line quick and can’t separate quick….that doesn’t really translate to short passing game weapon as a rookie.   On top of the fact he isn’t as physical as his size suggests and is more finesse. 

See this is the problem, you say "can't get off the line quick" and "can't separate quick" but in reality it's "he can get off the line better and create more separation" which are two completely different things.

If he couldn't get off the line or separate, he wouldn't have put up the numbers he did and end up a Top 10 pick.

But he can get better, and maybe more accurately, consistent with them both, and that will take his game to the next level.  These are things that are also much easier to improve once you get to the NFL than things like being a poor route runner or having bad hands, two of his strengths.

Thinking he can't get open in the short passing game also shows you haven't watched enough tape on him, as he was used in that role so much in college with little issue getting open and making plays.

And him not using his physicality as much isn't even something that hurts his game because he's so much more agile than a player of his size should be, which he used to his advantage.  Instead of throwing passes where he'd go up and box out a player like a TE or Mike Evans does, they use his athleticism and put the ball in places that only he can get to it, and he usually does (and yes, he'll still be able to do that against NFL DB's with his catch radius).

But now that he's in the NFL, I'd like to see him get stronger and add that to his game because it also will help him take his game to another level.

As I've said before, if he doesn't improve on those things at all, I think he's a Top 25 WR in this league, he's already that good.  But I think he'll improve on those things and be a perennial Top 10 WR and in his prime is considered and perform like Top 5 guy in some years.

My expectations for him this year at 800 yards and 8 TDs (although I do think he'll get to 10 TDs) with a real chance at getting to 1,000.  But those expectations are because I think Thielen will lead the team in yards with close to 1k and XL/Coker each end up in the 500-600 range themselves, just too many mouths to feed this year for a rookie to dominate yardage, especially if we're running the ball well again.

But if Thielen can't stay healthy or puts up sub 750 yards, then yea, my expectations for T-Mac likely shift to getting to 1k as a rookie.

Edited 17 hours ago by tukafan21

[jfra78]

 

 

 

[rayzor]

8 hours ago, jfra78 said:

 

 

 

wow i absolutely LOVED watching that.

 

will watch again...and again...and again.

[WUnderhill]

9 hours ago, jfra78 said:

 

 

 

I enjoyed this much more than the schedule release video with the players. Hope they do this every year.