Adam Theilen said he came back to play with Bryce, and he expects the Panthers to surprise some people

[LinvilleGorge]

15 minutes ago, frankw said:

Me and you clearly have different definitions of production. If you remove the 2023 season where Thielen had just over 1k yards he is 43rd on our all time receivers list just ahead of Jonathan Mingo. And before you ask why would we remove that season? Well a couple reasons. For one thing we won a whopping 2 games. And for the biggest. Thielen was 14th in targets in 2023. We absolutely force fed him the ball all season and finished with the 32nd passing offense. For comparison sake 33 year old Jerricho Cotchery eclipsed over 1k total yards in just 2 more games and with 67 less targets than Thielen did in that 2023 season. He has above average hands. That's it. We overpaid him because we were desperate and overvalued him. That's the reality no matter how many times you or anyone else wants to quote me and get defensive about it.

What do you want me to tell you? I'm sorry that you thought he was brought here to be prime Smitty or Moose. He wasn't. That's a you problem.

[LinvilleGorge]

19 minutes ago, Basbear said:

He's played great and it was a win-win (rare free agent) for both parties. 

One of the points is he hasn't made enough difference to "waste" 35 million on. Another point is by the time Panthers are hitting their prime, he would have taken snaps away from young WRs/TEs/RBs. "Thus" in the long term, hurting the teams new future "window." 

But I dare think of the monkey poo of a offense the Panthers had without him the past 2 years. Lack of talent leads to many problems, including paying a 35 year old to be somewhat respectable. Hes one of few that cared enough and made a effort. Plus you know he's done great stuff in many other ways for the team, community juggernaut, leadership, etc. 

Judgement is for AT and his 3 year panther career!!

Bingo. Blaming Thielen is dumb.

[tukafan21]

7 hours ago, frankw said:

You guys are entitled to your opinion but I'm not letting our staff off the hook. We have coaches who are paid to develop receivers. We have an offensive minded head coach. We do not need to pay 8-9 million a piece to aging WR's and QB's other teams would scoff at signing just to develop our young roster.

Coaches can't mentor, they coach, they are two entirely different things, and your coaches can also only do so many things at one time.  When they're running a drill, the vets are pulling the young guys aside after their reps and giving tips while waiting for the drill to reset.

You do also realize that for the most part, players are only around the coaches in the film room and on the field, coaches aren't in the locker room other than just before the game and at half.  That's another place someone like Thielen shines, he's always been a pro's pro, he's going to take these young WRs under his wing and team them how you go about being an NFL player.

That's not stuff coaches do, you NEED the vets for it and Thielen has embraced the role.  When you have a guy who made his career on doing the little things right, and he is willing to be that vet mentor to a group of young WRs in their 1st or 2nd year that you hope to be your future 1-4, then he's worth every penny we're giving him this year.

[CarolinaLivin]

This was good entertainment, keep it up guys.

[pantherclaw]

Can't believe the poo that gets argued on this forum. 

You'd think after the decades I'd get use to this. 

 

[Panthers Rhule]

14 hours ago, mrcompletely11 said:

The AT deal (ext) I can kindof wrap my head around.  Kindof.  But the dalton deal is fuging bananas for numerous reasons.  The main couple is that he was completely shot last year and his arm is fuging done and secondly if Canalas is this wonder coach of qbs why in the hell wouldnt we be utilizing that and bringing in other young talent whether is a rookie or young vet to try and turn them around while canalas is here?

He's here to help BY. Having an experienced veteran behind a young QB has more value then anything else a backup QB can bring to your team unless you aren't sure who the starter is. 

[MHS831]

I think AT is going to be a rotational slot and not much more.  On the outside, we have XL and TMac and Coker could play multiple roles (primarily a slot in 2024).  With Renfrow likely to stick and Horn destined to be a ST/Slot, it seems that the overload at the slot position COULD push Coker into X and Z responsibilities--we shall see.  But with Coker, Renfrow, and Horn, slot is pretty crowded, imo

[Gapanthersfan]

if Theilen can coach XL to be even 80% of the pass catcher that he himself is, how much $$ is that worth? Millions.

Would I pay $5 million for XL be the guy who never drops a pass? Hell yes I would. All day. 

Not too long ago this team didn’t have any veteran leadership. Don’t be so quick to boot it out the door just to see what the new toys can do. 

[mrcompletely11]

1 hour ago, Panthers Rhule said:

He's here to help BY. Having an experienced veteran behind a young QB has more value then anything else a backup QB can bring to your team unless you aren't sure who the starter is. 

If your #1 overall pick needs a vet to help him going into year 3 then we have problems.   And this was discussed when Dalton resigned, in a nutshell this is a bit unprecedented  

[45catfan]

The Panthers begged him to come back so Bryce can have his security blanket once again.  Without AT this season, Bryce may have regressed.  The young WRs may be the chunk yardage or 'shot' guys, but AT will the the 3rd down (4th down) chain mover.  If there is a must have play, Bryce won't be looking for the young guys, he's looking for AT.

[shaqattaq]

17 hours ago, Captain Morgan said:

also says Bryce sucks at golf 

 

[shaqattaq]

17 hours ago, frankw said:

I just don't view Thielen as that consequential to our season.

Absolutely if Canales is the QB guru he has been hyped to be he should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time by developing more than one QB. At the end of the day the Dalton contract is for our starting QB's comfort level whether we like it or not. Let's just hope our #1 pick makes us all forget about these little things with at least a fringe elite season.

I don't particularly see Canales as someone that develops QBs that dropped into the late rounds, which is what you want as a backup. Not saying he can't, we've just never seen it. He's more of a bring a soon to be bust guy back from the dead kind of coach.

 In Seattle, he did nothing with Wilson, but got Geno playing up to his #39 pick potential, when everyone had him slated as a perennial back up. In Tampa he semi-resurrected Mayfield, who had played his ass off in LA after we traded him. He was brought here to make sure that Bryce didn't immediately wash out after we bet the farm to trade up for him, And let's face it, that's the direction Bryce was heading.  

[Icege]

2 hours ago, mrcompletely11 said:

If your #1 overall pick needs a vet to help him going into year 3 then we have problems.   And this was discussed when Dalton resigned, in a nutshell this is a bit unprecedented  

It is strange seeing the same Panthers fans that complained about Cam not getting enough help turn around and complain that Bryce has received too much help.

All because they drafted a WR high in back-to-back seasons, retained a mentor QB as a back-up, and signed a veteran target just like they did for Cam?

Weird...

Edited 5 hours ago by Icege

[CRA]

2 hours ago, 45catfan said:

The Panthers begged him to come back so Bryce can have his security blanket once again.  Without AT this season, Bryce may have regressed.  The young WRs may be the chunk yardage or 'shot' guys, but AT will the the 3rd down (4th down) chain mover.  If there is a must have play, Bryce won't be looking for the young guys, he's looking for AT.

which you can argue, has been actually a problem/flaw for Carolina.    Generally speaking, if AT has a good game and we force production to him.......we haven't won.  

In the random games we have won, AT generally had 40 yards or didn't play.  Which is true of 6 of our 7 wins.   

I still contend AT has taken up too much oxygen in this O.  Too many reps and targets.