Jalen Ramsey

[TD alt]

17 hours ago, frankw said:

On the surface all variables to be considered aside obviously I would love to have him. Situationally though this compares to when we acquired Stephon Gilmore. Ramsey will be 31 this fall and Gilmore was 31 when we acquired him. Ultimately it was a moot point because we weren't ready to compete for anything of note and Gilmore went elsewhere. Ultimately I see this playing out the same. As such I cannot envision any scenario where he does not go to a legit playoff contender.

I mean, I get why the media and some NFL and Carolina fans are saying that we don't have a real chance, but as many Huddlers should know, we won't know what we really have in this team until probably late September or early October at the earliest. And I'm not trying to be a homer, I'm just looking at things historically. Obviously I'm also looking at Bryce's "palatable" improvement the last half of last season (including being the catalyst for hanging with and nearly beating the Super Bowl participants), and the new additions that we've acquired overall. I'm also looking at the beginnings of a culture change--even if perceptibly subtle--to some degree indeed may take a foothold if things start falling the right way. But, overall, I'm still cognizant of the realization that things could just go south and that perhaps that Bryce could revert and flop, or that D & D (Dan and Dave) are not the answer, but I still am not ready to say "we're far away." Hell we could be close, albeit with growing pains, but even if we're on the course to bring legit in 2026, then guys like Ramsey would be welcome additions this season. That's just my take on it. I don't think we'll know that we're far away until some point in the season. If we can compete in the South...who knows?

[frankw]

24 minutes ago, TD alt said:

I mean, I get why the media and some NFL and Carolina fans are saying that we don't have a real chance, but as many Huddlers should know, we won't know what we really have in this team until probably late September or early October at the earliest. And I'm not trying to be a homer, I'm just looking at things historically. Obviously I'm also looking at Bryce's "palatable" improvement the last half of last season (including being the catalyst for hanging with and nearly beating the Super Bowl participants), and the new additions that we've acquired overall. I'm also looking at the beginnings of a culture change--even if perceptibly subtle--to some degree indeed may take a foothold if things start falling the right way. But, overall, I'm still cognizant of the realization that things could just go south and that perhaps that Bryce could revert and flop, or that D & D (Dan and Dave) are not the answer, but I still am not ready to say "we're far away." Hell we could be close, albeit with growing pains, but even if we're on the course to bring legit in 2026, then guys like Ramsey would be welcome additions this season. That's just my take on it. I don't think we'll know that we're far away until some point in the season. If we can compete in the South...who knows?

Well with back to back road games to open the season again we really can't afford a "slow start" at least not for the psyche of the fanbase that is already at rock bottom from years of losing. I think that will depend on our approach to preseason this go around. But I do agree the makings of a culture change could be big for us. At the same time we heard talk of this last year and then we got the doors blown off multiple times. I can agree with you it's best to try to maintain perspective until we get closer to the midway point of the season. The main things I want to see early on even if we aren't necessarily winning is spark and toughness from the offense and defense and at least keeping games close.

[kungfoodude]

2 hours ago, frankw said:

Well with back to back road games to open the season again we really can't afford a "slow start" at least not for the psyche of the fanbase that is already at rock bottom from years of losing. I think that will depend on our approach to preseason this go around. But I do agree the makings of a culture change could be big for us. At the same time we heard talk of this last year and then we got the doors blown off multiple times. I can agree with you it's best to try to maintain perspective until we get closer to the midway point of the season. The main things I want to see early on even if we aren't necessarily winning is spark and toughness from the offense and defense and at least keeping games close.

The offseason is always when hope springs eternal. If you look past that, you can see a very bad roster with a lot more questions than definitive answers.

Let's hope we get a lot of those right, because I think we are a lot closer to another impatient Tepper reset than we probably think.

[frankw]

50 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

The offseason is always when hope springs eternal. If you look past that, you can see a very bad roster with a lot more questions than definitive answers.

Let's hope we get a lot of those right, because I think we are a lot closer to another impatient Tepper reset than we probably think.

I agree about this offseason being just as typical as years past where we tend to think we "won" because of process blue colored glasses. But I think there is a good amount of talent on this roster. The issue begins with the fact that it is overall a very young roster now. But I do think that is a good thing if you ponder years ago where we would field rosters made up of aging veterans previous coaches were overly loyal to even to a fault. In that aspect at a minimum I appreciate that we are trying to develop young players with potential. Now we just need to see if Canales and company are up to the task.

As far as Tepper goes all I can do is hope he and his wife continue to fall back and let the football people run things even if there are a some bumps in the road along the way. But I share your concern that Mr. Tepper is unlikely to be able to resist meddling for very long. We'll see.