Post your overreaction here?

[Icege]

My current overreactions (and copium) before reviewing the All-22:

• LB is a huge problem. Not only is depth incredibly weak, we're depending on a second year Trevin Wallace. While having solid athletic traits, Trevin seems to be out of position more often than we'd want our starting ILB. There's also been errors in coverage as well, which was one of his strong points due to said athleticism.
  • Rams LB situation was to basically walk out ST LBs (ie: Rozeboom) and let them do what they can while the DL takes care of the run and the DBs handle coverage. LBs job might be asked to lurk and clean up this season. I'm going to have to go look at the 2023 season as well as Evero's 2022 season with Denver. Wallace does have the skillset though to be a solid blitzer if schemed up. Evero likes to use ILBs to supplement the pass rush sometimes, so having Moehrig/Wallace/Jaycee all able to blitz at any given moment will allow for more options to pressure with.
• Young weapons need to start stepping up. Having to depend on a rookie WR1, second year WR2 that was known to be a project, and a soon-to-be 35yr old WR3, Tremble coming back from back surgery, and an inconsistent Ja'Tavion Sanders isn't going to allow the offense to truly threaten through the air.
  • The WR room is deep with veteran slot guys, an exciting top-10 pick, a late first rounder, an exciting UDFA that is challenging for WR2, and the explosiveness of Jimmy Horn Jr gives a lot to be excited for. There's going to be some growing pains, but what's most important this season is TMac + XL's development + chemistry with Bryce. The real test is 2026 when it's time for Bryce to play for a second contract and Tillis has the roster set to be able to be reset should things not be going where they need to under Canales.
• While more comfortable looking, the team can't afford a slow start by Bryce. Going three-and-out on back-to-back opening drives (without all of the opponents' starters) is not giving guns blazing out the gate... and wtf was that atrocious throw today on the free play? Even if you know you've got a free shot that was bad. Also looked like he was already pressing early by not taking the open check down.
  • Can't catch it for em. That JT Sanders drop looked egregious, but I'll get a better idea of what happened when the All-22 comes out (as well as what the hell Bryce saw on the free play). TMac has also made more difficult catches than the one that came his way look simple, but he's clearly still catching up as a rookie. As the season is underway and more targets come his way we'll probably forget plays like that one. Bryce just has to keep trending up and helping his young weapons develop with him.
• The OL and the run game, the supposed strengths of the offense, have not looked strong. The OL has given up pressures, penalties, and hasn't been getting the push in the run game. As announcers and analysts have also pointed out, the team doesn't look like it's due to break off a big run any time soon.
  • That RB room is deep with Chuba, Dowdle, and Etienne. Etienne especially has looked like he's taken Blackshear's job on ST and the offense. The OL has also been somewhat protected this season, being pulled after just a series or two (and not playing against Pittsburgh on Thursday). DLew being out has also allowed for better evaluation of the OL to see if there's anybody that can make a case to carry 10 OL into the season
• The pass rush is still non-existent and relying on the duo of Wonnum/Jones II made sense in Minnesota when they were rotating for each other but not both starting. Derrick Brown is a presence, but he doesn't exactly rack up sacks. The team looks destined to be bottom-10 in pressure again.
  • It's a tough pill to swallow, but this season (pass rush-wise) is all about Scourton and Umanmielen's development. The sooner they threaten starting time, the better (see: Ransom/Richardson vs. Scott in the safety room, though Wonnum/Jones II are better starters than Nick). With Moehrig, Ransom, Horn, Jackson, and Wallace available to be sent on blitzes, Evero will be able to scheme up 1v1s and maybe even some open rushers. He's got the personnel where we don't have to worry about asking "is it cover-3 or is it fire zone?" Also, Evero's shown that he can scheme to buy time for the pass rush through confusing QBs with post-snap shifts. Combine that with confusing the OL with where they have to shift to deal with additional pressure, we'll hopefully see more sacks this season than we have the last two. Finally, DB played a single series. BB3 has already shown that he can make an impact as well. 

[tukafan21]

43 minutes ago, Icege said:

The real test is 2026 when it's time for Bryce to play for a second contract and Tillis has the roster set to be able to be reset should things not be going where they need to under Canales.

Sorry, but if Bryce hasn't shown enough this season to prove he should be signed to an extension, then it's time to move on from him in the offseason.

If he was even just a 2nd round pick it would be different, but when you trade away the farm to take a guy #1 overall, he doesn't get to his 4th season as still an unknown and then you throw him back out there as the starter for said 4th year.

This is a make or break year for Bryce, the only way he can go into next season as our starting QB still on his rookie contract is if he balls out and then he's the one who won't sign an extension yet because he wants another great season on tape before signing his extension to get a bigger one.

Another offseason of putting the cap space into the defense and another good draft, should have this roster set up to be a playoff team with good QB play.  We can't waste yet another season on Bryce if he hasn't shown to be the guy the team sold fans on with the trade and draft.

[DCR]

I only saw the first 2 series of each team.

But my thought was - is it possible that we are worse than last season

 

 

[BIGH2001]

This season has a 2021 feel to it. In 2020 we had a young team with little talent but some young guys that played some good teams surprisingly close including almost winning at KC. The Rhule experiment seemed like it might work until it didn’t and we went 5-12. Now last year we almost won at Philly (thanks Leggette) and had an unproven coach with a pretty decent year. As it turned out in 2021 we weren’t nearly as close as we thought. 

[Icege]

4 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

Sorry, but if Bryce hasn't shown enough this season to prove he should be signed to an extension, then it's time to move on from him in the offseason.

If he was even just a 2nd round pick it would be different, but when you trade away the farm to take a guy #1 overall, he doesn't get to his 4th season as still an unknown and then you throw him back out there as the starter for said 4th year.

This is a make or break year for Bryce, the only way he can go into next season as our starting QB still on his rookie contract is if he balls out and then he's the one who won't sign an extension yet because he wants another great season on tape before signing his extension to get a bigger one.

Another offseason of putting the cap space into the defense and another good draft, should have this roster set up to be a playoff team with good QB play.  We can't waste yet another season on Bryce if he hasn't shown to be the guy the team sold fans on with the trade and draft.

If TMac is half as good as you have claimed then I don't see how Bryce can he as bad as you fear.

Edited Sunday at 10:49 AM by Icege

[tukafan21]

18 minutes ago, Icege said:

If TMac is half as good as you have claimed then I don't see how Bryce can he as bad as you fear.

My real fear is he will have the type of season that the team isn't ready to give up on him yet but he still hasn't proven worthy of being the long term guy either.

When was the last time a 1st round QB was unable to prove they should (or shouldn't) be that team's long term solution after 3 years of being the starter and then still ended up being that team's long term QB?

And that's my point, if he can't prove he's worthy of the extension this year, I'm not on board with bringing him back for year 4 as a prove it season.  I can accept losing this year because the defense is still not there yet, but the offense is built to put up points with a good QB.  

There really is no excuse for Bryce to not live up to his draft position this year, if he can't, why wait another year (or two if they pick up the 5th year) to delay getting a QB in place to give us a shot to win a SB?

I'm also not even saying that's what I think is going to happen, just what needs to happen if it comes to it.  I know I've been a vocal anti Bryce person, but I have nothing against him and hope he succeeds because it's what is best for the franchise, to have our solution already in house.

[mc52beast]

Looks like we’ll be battling the AINTS for the first pick in the draft…

is it too early to start talking draft?

[jtm]

Team just looked flat all around. Lewis and Horn not playing is a big deal. I’m going to reserve judgement until week 1 and I just don’t see how this team isn’t better than last year. 

[Panthercougar68]

39 minutes ago, jtm said:

Team just looked flat all around. Lewis and Horn not playing is a big deal. I’m going to reserve judgement until week 1 and I just don’t see how this team isn’t better than last year. 

No Coker either.

[Shotgun]

The overreaction has been happening all offseason. This is more of a realization thread.

[mrcompletely11]

9 hours ago, Seltzer said:

The Panthers offensive starters looked good for the ~40 snaps they got against the Texans starters on Thursday.

They looked bad for the 6 they got tonight.

I think the biggest overreactions on here are the ones who act like the 6 tonight portend something awful while acting like 40 on Thursday mean nothing.

In reality, neither will matter much in 3 weeks. Its about how we perform then.

And IMHO, the concerns about the offense are overblown big time.

This is the best offensive personnel we've had since 2021. I firmly believe that.

Too much talent to not be good unless the Oline suffers too many injuries or Bryce regresses. I dont think either happens.

Far too many of y'all either didnt watch the 2nd half of last year or have forgotten. Bryce was balling at the end of last year. He's been balling all camp. 

Its OK to have some confidence in Bryce. CJ Stroud & Tetoria McMillan both believe hes one of the best QBs they've ever seen. But what do they know??

As for the defense, yeah I get the concerns... we better hope Derrick Brown & Jaycee Horn stay healthy, especially DB.

We still have plenty of cap space. Between that and roster cuts, I hope Dan Morgan is still active trying to improve the defensive depth. These 2 preseason games havent been promising.

I thought the biggest issue with the ILBs last year was the awful Dline. And maybe it was. But they are definitely bad in their own accord. That and/or Evero's scheme doesn't do them any favors.

It's ironic in a year where we may have the deepest WR room in franchise history, where we've historically have been weak, this is probably the weakest ILB we've ever had, where we've had greats like Sam Mills, Jon Beason, Luke Kuechly, and Thomas Davis.

I did want to mention one undeniable positive story on the defense though. Corey Thornton is a beast. Hell of a find. Glad we look to have another CB who can play bump-and-run man bc i feel like Evero is going to have to dial up blitzes for pressure yet again.

And here's another thing. Our offense has been kicking ass in camp. If they weren't, I'd be more concerned about the limited reps in the preseason games.

But, our pass rush has been bad in camp since the pads came on, it's wasnt great in joint practices, and it hasn't been good in the games. That's enough data points to be concerned IMO, preseason or not.

I hope Nic Scourton is back Week 1- it seems he will be. We may need him to play a big role in this defense from the jump.

The run defense has been better, and it should be given the investment, although the guys who probably wont be here in 2 weeks didnt do good at all tonight stopping the run. If I never see another down of Shy Tuttle miscast as a NT in this debacle of a scheme, it wont be too soon.

Hell, you guys want something to actually worry about that I think is grounded in hard data and reality... why is Evero still here??

Its one of the worst things about Tepper... getting rid of people but keeping guys from the old regimes around... I dont get it... and there was no real justification for keeping Evero last year other than they thought he wasnt given a fair shake.

I know Evero was touted as a good coach, but he has been objectively awful here.

And he's gotten worse over time. He was better in 2024 when we still had 4-3 misfits and spare parts.

And say what you will about the (lack of) talent, this defense can't get pressure and can't tackle no matter who is out there. It's Year 3... he's had plenty of time to bring his guys in and draft the guys he wants, and will still suck.

It is the scheme... first and foremost. I hope Canales has a contingency plan at DC.

Anyway, I'm mostly positive for this year. I genuinely think the offense once it gets rolling is going to be good.

And it will probably have to be to overcome this defense. Please stay healthy Derrick Brown!

I cannot imagine watching the panthers for the past 3ish years and especially after the past two weeks and being this fuging delusional.

[Chief Keek]

It's not looking good.

[The Lobo]

54 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

I cannot imagine watching the panthers for the past 3ish years and especially after the past two weeks and being this fuging delusional.

The last two pre seasons were pretty good indicators. I used to take pre season with a big grain of salt, but like you said, the last couple of years have shown otherwise. I hope I’m wrong. 

[tukafan21]

9 minutes ago, The Lobo said:

The last two pre seasons were pretty good indicators. I used to take pre season with a big grain of salt, but like you said, the last couple of years have shown otherwise. I hope I’m wrong. 

The two 0-16 teams in NFL history both went 4-0 in the preseason in the year they didn't win a game.

Preseason really means nothing

Edited Sunday at 01:35 PM by tukafan21