Icege

Oh wow...

It's hard not to notice that most of the fans pushing pro-tank or anti-culture takes also happen to be down on Bryce. Feels more connected than coincidence.

The draft isn't a vending machine where you insert a pick, press A3, and out pops a franchise cornerstone. It’s more like a gacha game - you turn in a premium (or non-premium) ticket, hear the fun little jingle, and wait to see what you pulled... without knowing how strong it'll actually end up. League-wide, the average draft hits on about 30 - 40% of its picks when teams have a standard seven selections. So if you walk away with 3 - 4 real contributors... that's considered a solid class. Hitting on 4 out of 11 is right in that range. To be clear: this isn't some veiled endorsement of Tepper, Fitterer, or Rhule. It’s simply an honest accounting of which players from that class are still with the Panthers and heading into their fourth year - and thus outlasting the average NFL career. Just trying to lean more toward more critiquing with clarity rather than lighting it all on fire for the spectacle of the flames.

How can your plan that has been laid out be correct when it involves the GM making the right moves and still getting fired so that a new, more capable front office and coaching staff can takeover? That is a fantasy that you're trying to present as reallty.

A franchise CB, starting RB, reliable TE2, and a top OL6 is a bad draft? That doompill some folks seem to take every morning does some crazy work.

Aaand this confirms the core disconnect. You view tanking as a guaranteed payoff with no organizational risk, even under a GM you didn't trust. That's not strategic thinking... that's revisionist certainty. "No risk when you're that bad" is also a wild take when the team under Wilks rallied and was almost able to steal a playoff spot in a weak NFC South. That wasn't nothing... it was proof that the locker room still had fight.

Looking Back at the 2021 Panthers Draft Class An NFL player's career on average is said to last just slightly over three years, and because of that, it's considered a general rule of thumb that by Year 3, a team knows what kind of professional football player a pick has developed into. While there are always exceptions to the rule, that's not the point of this topic. This is about the players who are still on the team after being picked up in the 2021 draft (or as UDFAs). Only four remain on the roster today: Jaycee Horn, Chuba Hubbard, Tommy Tremble, and Brady Christensen. Two of them signed significant contract extensions with the team (Horn, Hubbard) while the other two (Tremble, Christensen) received short-term deals that aren't cap-heavy. It's worth mentioning the conditions these guys entered the league under Matt Rhule's second year and Scott Fitterer's first. A ton of players were brought in that year, including a long snapper who didn't make the team… instead of Trey Smith, who just happens to be the Chiefs' starting guard (hey... to be fair to Thomas Fletcher, he did have a fun draft day phone call). These four survived Rhule and Reich and were seen as valuable enough under the first-year combo of Morgan and Canales to be rewarded with second deals. Jaycee Horn (Round 1, Pick 8.) Horn has all of the traits of a true CB1: elite footwork, physicality, and the ability to mirror WR1s... but his biggest challenge has been staying on the field. He's never finished an entire season, though to be fair, it's been rumored he wouldn’t have been shut down for the final two weeks of last season had the team been in playoff contention. He's got just 37 career games played over four seasons (with 15 of those coming in Morgan/Canales' Year 1). The team gambled on his production after seeing that not only can he lock down WR1s in man or match quarters, but he can also be dependable in a heavy cover-3 zone scheme like what the Panthers ran last season. With the recent free agent and draft additions made this offseason, expect Jaycee to go back to eliminating WR1s from the game rather than shutting down a third of the field like he was recently asked to do. Chuba Hubbard (Round 4, Pick 126) Originally seen as a depth pick with linear speed, Hubbard has outperformed expectations and emerged as the team's RB1 over the past couple of years. His 2023 breakout laid the foundation, but in 2024 he cemented his role as the lead back, showing much-improved vision, contact balance, and decisiveness in outside zone. He finished top-10 in missed tackles forced and yards after contact per attempt, all while holding his own in pass protection and producing on screens. Chuba doesn't have elite burst or wiggle, but he's carved out a spot as the leader and tone-setter in the run game. Not bad value for a Day 3 selection—positional value be damned. Tommy Tremble (Round 3, Pick 83) Tremble has been the kind of player every team needs but few talk about: dependable, physical, and quietly versatile. When he was drafted, he was already known for his blocking chops and has steadily improved as a receiver. He experienced his most complete season in 2024 with a 79.3% catch rate, 10.2 yards per reception, no drops, and a 108.9 passer rating when targeted. Not only that, he's been a consistent special teamer since coming into the league. He's a natural fit as a TE/FB hybrid in 12 and 13 personnel, consistently handling the dirty work in both run and pass situations. Brady Christensen (Round 3, Pick 70) BC has played all over the line both as a starter and as a back-up. We haven't seen the "short arms" come up as often as Rhule was worried about, especially against ATL and WAS where he logged over 100 snaps at center and posted his best grades of the year (76.0 OVR, 73.8 PBL, 75.8 RBLK vs. ATL; 85.2 OVR, 72.9 PBLK, 86.0 RBLK vs. WAS). While his overall pass-blocking grade (56.1) and lack of a consistent position might mean that he's the perfect OL6 rather than a long-term starter, he's been dependable when given his opportunities.

I need Trevin Wallace retelling the Takeo Spikes story about Weapon X

Do we just get to have the player without any salary cap implications? Do they have to be a current player? Give me Brian Dawkins and just let him bless people.

Just finished the doc and it's pretty good. Nothing revealing other than getting a look into TMac's personality and his support circle. Looks like he's surrounded himself with some good friends that have his back and are genuinely happy for him in his success. Cool to see.

4.28 vs. 4.31 Funny enough... I can see the Ted Ginn Jr comp. Hands aren't the best but has great speed... except XL is almost 50lbs bigger than Ginn was. That's a whole lot of him to be moving that fast.

And that right there is the disconnect. It’s not that you’re being misunderstood... it’s that you’re refusing to consider any perspective but your own. That kind of zero-sum absolutism doesn’t lead to learning nor understanding. It just creates dissonance and a distorted sense of certainty.

Yea, there's a good amount of players there but fortunately it's not a lot of expensive players that are going to demand a premium to be replaced outside of TMo. A punter, two ST LBs, a LS, three back-up OL, and a starting center are all players that can be replaced with day three picks which will allow the team to commit the premium picks to premium positions. fwiw I hope that they invest in a franchise center next season if they decide Mays isn't the guy.

Base for run downs: Scourton-Brown-Brown III-Robinson-Wonnum Base for passing downs: Scourton-Brown-Jackson-Wharton-Umanmielen I can dig it...

Most analysts from what I've seen are projecting next year's cap as closer to $298M but as high as in the low 300s. We saw a $24M increase this season, $31M increase last season, and $16M prior to that. There's also the inevitable cap casualties... A'Shawn Robinson being cut saves the team $8.5M. Damien Lewis would save $9M. BB3, Jewell, PJ2 all would save $5M each. Tremble and Mike Jackson could save $4M each. It wouldn't surprise me to see the team make a few moves that end up giving them closer to $50M in cap space to start 2026. I'm less worried about next year's cap space due to the upcoming UFAs for the team: TMo, AT, Tuttle, Wonnum, Nijman, Mays, Corbett, BC, Dowdle, Rozeboom, Martin, Rhattigan, Jansen, Scott... the only FAs I'm seeing on Spotrac outside of TMo that are must keeps are ERFAs Coker + Demani (so long as TMo's knee is fine, of course). 2027 on the other hand is going to be the offseason for Bryce's bonus option with Icky being the most significant UFA. PJ2, A'Shawn, Josey, MJackson, Tremble, Dalton, DJ Johnson, Zavala, and Bartholomew are the only other current FAs then. I'm of the opinion that they are all in on next season and if it doesn't go well, it's being blown up and starting from scratch. They're currently estimated to have $130M in free cap space in 2027.