"Floor, not Ceiling" - between the hashmarks

[PanthersATL]

Excerpts from analysis article posted at Between the Hashmarks: https://www.betweenthehashmarks.com/
 

Quote

Floor, Not Ceiling: How Dan Morgan Spent $119 Million to Prove Last Season Was Just the Beginning | Grading the Carolina Panthers' Offseason

In a division with no clear-cut favorite, with a roster in place around a 24-year-old former No. 1 overall draft pick who finally seems to be trending upwards, Morgan and the Panthers committed upwards of $119 million in guaranteed money in free agency, investing in the kind of infrastructure that fast-tracks a quarterback and a franchise, taking the next steps.

Morgan clearly was not satisfied by watching Young and the offense dragging a defense that ranked 16th in the league, and third in the NFC South, to a backdoor division title and playoff appearance last season.

Eliminating a-gap pressure on Young, and adding an experienced anchor along a relatively young offensive line that now features two former first-round offensive tackles, is a significant investment in the future of the franchise and the trajectory of the offense in 2026.

Carolina Panthers Offseason Grade: A-

Critics will point to the obscene money the Panthers paid Phillips, but when a defense is so inept at wreaking havoc in the backfield, and the franchise knows it has a limited window around a quarterback who seems to be ascending but they still need to finish evaluating, money becomes secondary to fixing a glaring problem at a premium position and going all in to set a young passer up for success.

 there is little argument that the Panthers didn’t raise the talent level almost across the board this offseason

Carolina was far closer last season than many anticipated, and Morgan and the Panthers are acting like an organization intent on quickly taking the next steps in a division where there’s no tangible reason they can’t emerge as the team to beat for the foreseeable future.

 

[SetfreexX]

"Young and the offense dragging the 16th ranked defense."

Please check our bottom 3rd offensive production.

I can't take it serious after that. Defense needed work, but the offensive passing game sucked, and that starts with Bryce. 

[frankw]

8 minutes ago, SetfreexX said:

"Young and the offense dragging the 16th ranked defense."

They horribly misspelled Rico Dowdle.

[TD alt]

1 hour ago, SetfreexX said:

"Young and the offense dragging the 16th ranked defense."

Please check our bottom 3rd offensive production.

I can't take it serious after that. Defense needed work, but the offensive passing game sucked, and that starts with Bryce. 

 

1 hour ago, frankw said:

They horribly misspelled Rico Dowdle.

The author was probably fixated on the playoff game against the Rams. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

2 hours ago, SetfreexX said:

"Young and the offense dragging down the 16th ranked defense."

Please check our bottom 3rd offensive production.

I can't take it serious after that. Defense needed work, but the offensive passing game sucked, and that starts with Bryce. 

What it should have said. 

[strato]

I don’t know about floor in a team defense sense but we needed more. 

The floor that I am familiar with is our QBs floor and it is so low that every other part of the team needs to be beefed up.  
 

We tried our best to improve these things and I think we did improve the defense and we at least kept the offense  from sinking from no LT. 
And ostensibly helped the receivers too.  

So we kept a window open that we at least have a chance to improve our record by a game of two.  Which would probably give us the division. 
 

 

 

[strato]

I don’t know about floor in a team defense sense but we needed more. 

The floor that I am familiar with is our QBs floor and it is so low that every other part of the team needs to be beefed up.  
 

We tried our best to improve these things and I think we did improve the defense and we at least kept the offense  from sinking from no LT. 
And ostensibly helped the receivers too.  

So we kept a window open that we at least have a chance to improve our record by a game of two.  Which would probably give us the division. 
 

 

 

[OldhamA]

God you read these articles and just realise it's a self fulfilling prophecy.

None of these scouts and analysts want to admit they were duped by Bryce Young coming out of College, so they run down every other aspect to prop him up.

He had 50 yards against another NFL team. 50. 12 games throwing for less than 200 yards last season.

Enough of this utter bullshit. He's a replacement level player - call it how it fuging is. 

Edited 3 hours ago by OldhamA

[OldhamA]

6 hours ago, SetfreexX said:

"Young and the offense dragging the 16th ranked defense."

Please check our bottom 3rd offensive production.

I can't take it serious after that. Defense needed work, but the offensive passing game sucked, and that starts with Bryce. 

As I've said repeatedly, it's baffling how Morgan (Tillis and Canales) is handling the QB room.

He's upgraded every other position group on the team in 2 years - and we desperately needed to bolster that front 7 this offseason - but little Brycey is untouchable for some reason. They don't even bring in competition for him. It's utterly maddening. 

[strato]

6 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

As I've said repeatedly, it's baffling how Morgan (Tillis and Canales) is handling the QB room.

He's upgraded every other position group on the team in 2 years - and we desperately needed to bolster that front 7 this offseason - but little Brycey is untouchable for some reason. They don't even bring in competition for him. It's utterly maddening. 

This gets me to the what question would you like answered zone and I neglected to make an entry about Beyce and Morgan/Canales’ hiring and the terms of the agreement that are not in the contract. 
 

The only way this makes sense to me is there is a condition of employment that has Bryce as untouchable for whatever number of years the commitment is.  
Because why not put some real competition in the mix otherwise?  Could they actually believe he is the guy? My many decades of watching NFL ball tell me he is not the guy.  And that finding someone to beat him out wouldn’t be a real hard job.   

 

Edited 3 hours ago by strato

[jfra78]

21 minutes ago, strato said:

This gets me to the what question would you like answered zone and I neglected to make an entry about Beyce and Morgan/Canales’ hiring and the terms of the agreement that are not in the contract. 
 

The only way this makes sense to me is there is a condition of employment that has Bryce as untouchable for whatever number of years the commitment is.  
Because why not put some real competition in the mix otherwise?  Could they actually believe he is the guy? My many decades of watching NFL ball tell me he is not the guy.  And that finding someone to beat him out wouldn’t be a real hard job.   

 

Kenny Pickett is competition for Bryce, but we dont have to worry about anyone wanting to keep him past this season

Edited 3 hours ago by jfra78

[strato]

5 minutes ago, jfra78 said:

Kenny Pickett is competition for Bryce, but we dont have to worry about anyone wanting to keep him past this season

That is true (but it took them until year 4 to act).  And it does support my contention that finding competition shouldn’t be very hard.  
 

I am not as vehemently anti Pickett as a lot of people are. I think he is about interchangeable with Bryce’s level of ability.  

Edited 2 hours ago by strato