XL about to turn the corner

[Gapanthersfan]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah, Darnold I still believe will be a career backup and he is trending that direction.

I was a Baker fan before he came here and never really bought the line about him being washed. Nor do I buy the line about him being some big turnaround. He is performing the best of his career but it isn't insanely better than with Cleveland. He was always a good NFL QB. I think it's more his progression/experience as an NFL player that is leading to the improvements.

But you see why I harp so much on evaluation failures. This is the most critical flaw in our attempts to build anything cohesive here. You gotta be able to identify actual NFL caliber talent.

Stepping on to a team with Wirfs, Evans and a  perpetually good defense in the weakest division in the NFL. Dream landing spot. 

I always liked Baker. I appreciated his heart and moxie… 2 essential franchise QB qualities. 

[CPF4LIFE]

7 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Maybe had he been drafted where he was supposed to, 2nd/3rd round by a team that didn't have immediate and critical needs at his position then it would have been different. I generally tend to not believe that but at least he could have developed where he needs to, buried on a depth chart and with no pressure to perform.

They really wanted the 5th year option.

[frankw]

XL needs to reevaluate his approach to everything and his time on social media IMO. If he wants to be a successful football player then he will do this and apply a change going forward. If he just wants the limelight and to hangout with other celebrities then he is going to fizzle out fast and all of that will eventually fizzle out as well.

All we can do is see how he responds over the course of the season and go from there.

But we do need to see much more competent QB play and actually threaten downfield instead of making opposing defenses jobs easier in order to fully evaluate the offensive pieces though. That can't be understated.

Edited September 19 by frankw

[Move the Panthers to Raleigh]

23 minutes ago, CPF4LIFE said:

They really wanted the 5th year option.

Makes it so much dumber. One year of tape made the FO think that they wouldn't even have to worry about the possibility of this guy not even being around for 3 years, much less 5

[Waldo]

10 minutes ago, Move the Panthers to Raleigh said:

Makes it so much dumber. One year of tape made the FO think that they wouldn't even have to worry about the possibility of this guy not even being around for 3 years, much less 5

Over confidence and under competence is a stable under Tepper. They brought in Teddy, then Sam and then Baker to be the franchise QB vs just building around them which made it impossible to stop back from that overconfidence. Same with Bryce and that freaking trade up. Different people same story. 

[electro's horse]

1 hour ago, Move the Panthers to Raleigh said:

Makes it so much dumber. One year of tape made the FO think that they wouldn't even have to worry about the possibility of this guy not even being around for 3 years, much less 5

The problem wasn’t trading up marginally for a guy just to add a year to his contract; it was drafting the wrong person. If this was Ladd it wouldn’t be an issue. 

the strategy was correct, the execution was abysmal. 

[MHS831]

9 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Maybe had he been drafted where he was supposed to, 2nd/3rd round by a team that didn't have immediate and critical needs at his position then it would have been different. I generally tend to not believe that but at least he could have developed where he needs to, buried on a depth chart and with no pressure to perform.

Not many Huddlers were keen on this pick--and it came a year after nabbing Mingo at #39 overall--gut punch--

[strato]

People aren’t wrong on posters here having very strong prospect evaluation skills. At the same time people went nuts for Bryce Young. Okay but anyhow we look at overall stuff and what impresses me is the people that know the deeper prospects. 
I used to spend time studying and they’d trade the pick. After a while I said screw it not putting my time into that. 
People here immediately bitched about DJ Johnson for instance. 3rd round I think. And they were freaking right. I’m not sure I’d have figured that out. Other examples exist. 

Edited September 20 by strato

[kungfoodude]

12 hours ago, MHS831 said:

Not many Huddlers were keen on this pick--and it came a year after nabbing Mingo at #39 overall--gut punch--

Trust me, I wasn't either. Just seemed like another TMJ, Mingo, etc. Well.....turns out it was.

[kungfoodude]

5 hours ago, strato said:

People aren’t wrong on posters here having very strong prospect evaluation skills. At the same time people went nuts for Bryce Young. Okay but anyhow we look at overall stuff and what impresses me is the people that know the deeper prospects. 
I used to spend time studying and they’d trade the pick. After a while I said screw it not putting my time into that. 
People here immediately bitched about DJ Johnson for instance. 3rd round I think. And they were freaking right. I’m not sure I’d have figured that out. Other examples exist. 

DJ Johnson just ticked too many boxes on the warning list. Unpolished/raw at his position, older guy, etc. 

Project players don't belong in the top 3 rounds, IMO. Not on teams completely bereft of talent. The Ravens, 49ers, etc of the world can get away with that. It's hard to justify that in the condition our roster usuallu is.

[Shotgun]

17 hours ago, Gapanthersfan said:

I always liked Baker. I appreciated his heart and moxie… 2 essential franchise QB qualities. 

[Achilles]

Very likely that he needs another season or two to really find his groove.  It very well may not be here where he has his best season.

He’s a physical standout, but he can’t seem to get his focus and mentality right.

That non-catch where he didn’t get his second foot in bounds was a truly awful display of this. Every professional in this game makes that catch. 

Last week, it was clear that he wasn’t playing in top gear.  Like so many young people these days, he wants success without working hard.  He wants maximum reward for minimum effort. He wants to rest on talent. But talent alone won’t cut it.  The foolishness of youth and inexperience. 

He can have it all if he wants it.  Seems like he’s content to be a social media star and a forgettable football player. 

[Gapanthersfan]

He’s set financially for life barring complete fiscal lunacy. He has $12.3 million guaranteed. Think about that. Twelve million three hundred thousand dollars, he’ll be 28 years old when his contract is up and he’s completely forgotten about if he never plays another down in the NFL if he so chooses.

Say after taxes he ‘only’ brings home $6M (fire your accountant territory) and parks $4M in a run of the mill mutual fund… good God…

What I’m getting at, IF homie ain’t feeling the NFL, he has 12,300,000 reasons to take the fewest NFL edition ass kickings as possible while waiting out his very wealthy non-football future. 

Obviously completely talking out of my a$$ with this… but if you hated contact, didn’t want to live with a completely wrecked body for the rest of your life and you know you’re set financially… what path would you take, assuming you’re cool with being a quitter (not calling him a quitter, I’m just playing out a scenario)? Why do so many first rounders bust? Where was he before his one year wonder if he was such a stud? 

Everybody likes the dude on a personal level. How could you not? …. but I like seeing a winning product even more. He doesn’t play like his head is in the game. The Why is where the speculation lies and helps to clarify if his issues are ‘fixable’ or not. 

Edited September 20 by Gapanthersfan

[kungfoodude]

37 minutes ago, Gapanthersfan said:

He’s set financially for life barring complete fiscal lunacy. He has $12.3 million guaranteed. Think about that. Twelve million three hundred thousand dollars, he’ll be 28 years old when his contract is up and he’s completely forgotten about if he never plays another down in the NFL if he so chooses.

Say after taxes he ‘only’ brings home $6M (fire your accountant territory) and parks $4M in a run of the mill mutual fund… good God…

What I’m getting at, IF homie ain’t feeling the NFL, he has 12,300,000 reasons to take the fewest NFL edition ass kickings as possible while waiting out his very wealthy non-football future. 

Obviously completely talking out of my a$$ with this… but if you hated contact, didn’t want to live with a completely wrecked body for the rest of your life and you know you’re set financially… what path would you take, assuming you’re cool with being a quitter (not calling him a quitter, I’m just playing out a scenario)? Why do so many first rounders bust? Where was he before his one year wonder if he was such a stud? 

Everybody likes the dude on a personal level. How could you not? …. but I like seeing a winning product even more. He doesn’t play like his head is in the game. The Why is where the speculation lies and helps to clarify if his issues are ‘fixable’ or not. 

IIRC, he isn't exactly coming from an impoverished background in the first place. 

I think this is just the realization for the first time in his life that he is unable to make this next leap up to the NFL level. This isn't rare, dozens and dozens of players hit this wall every single season. Hell, think about how many guys we typically acquire in each individual draft that hit this wall, largely due to our dogshitt evaluation capabilities.

 

Edit: I am tripping. I was talking about Bryce, not XL. I actually have zero idea about XL's background. I suppose he can't be TOO poor if he is a horse owner. That ain't a cheap hobby.

 

Edited September 20 by kungfoodude