DaveThePanther2008

You can have all the talent in the world but if you don't have that fire you'll end up being JAG. Smitty owes a lot of his future HOF induction to Jake. Jake had that gunslinger mentality and would sling it out there for Smitty to make a play. Smitty was always up for the task and made some incredible catches. Jake and Cam are neck and neck as my favorite Panther QBs. If one of these rookies have that insane fire. I would take him over a slightly more talented QB with less fire in him.

If he can make them serviceable as backups and get Moton, Christensen and Brown as solid starters we could have a solid line. I will be interested to see how he works with them. Actually that will probably be my focal point when OTAs, Mini-Camps and Training camp comes along. How well are our linemen adjusting to Campen.

I have never coached at a high level but one thing I know about coaching is connection with your players is as important as the knowledge that you bring. Campen will connect with these players and they'll respond. It's obvious that we need someone that is a complete coach not just a guy that knows the position. He'll be excited to have Brown, Christensen and Moton to start with. Hopefully, he'll have a say in who we bring in through free agency.

I want to say it was the Cardinals but memory fades with so many years under my belt. But I remember him taking a cheap shot and he got up furious and we won that game.

It didn't hurt that Burrow went down in 2020 and they were able to draft his former team Chase. This will be a duo that the AFC will have to defend for the next decade. We'll probably never be bad enough for the 1st, 2nd or 3rd pick. We'll always figure out a way to win a game or two. We are going to have to have great scouts and find that QB like Mahomes that falls to middle of the 1st round. If we could find a QB like Jake again. I would be happy. While Jake was never HOF material, he had leadership and a winner's mentality. His heart was 10x more than his talent and I loved that fire he brought to our team. Those Jake years and the early Cam years have been my favorite.

Tribisky played one season Howell has three good years. With solid WRs and RB he'll be an effective QB in the NFL.

This is what helps me get through the off-season. This and the endless arguing about who is a stud or washout in the upcoming draft.

We've fussed and moaned about how atrocious our line is. How we need to address the line this off-season. We need a great O-line coach. If they can get Brown and Christensen up to speed then we have 3/5th of the line addressed. Find another guard and center we only need to develop depth. I think our biggest acquisition this off-season will be who we hire as our o-line coach.

He'll go to Cincy, lead them to the Super Bowl and Tepper will hire him as the Panthers next HC. The nightmare continues....

When your QB is under duress from the moment he snaps the ball it doesn't matter who's under center they are going to be trash. Cam was learning on the fly and the fact that Brady had no business calling plays didn't help much. I hope we draft a QB and let Darnold and Cam battle it out until the rookie is ready to make his debut. I see no reason to go out and sign another Vet when our goal should be a rookie QB. Head to Head with a full offseason, Cam will beat out Darnold.

You can't base a bad head coach as your decision on whether he is a good coordinator. There are several coordinators, both offensively and defensively, in this league that bombed out as a head coaches but are top tier coordinators. McAdoo may not have been a great head coach but has history as a decent coordinator. My biggest fear is that Rhule can't let go of his connections with the NYG, Baylor or Temple. That may be his comfort zone but closing his mind to others may be his downfall.

I think this is the best draft to trade back and still get a QB. Several of these QBs are probably mid-first round picks. None of them scream upper first round talent. I do believe there will be several players that are NON-QBs that will be coveted. If we could trade back and recoup our 2nd we could land a QB with either choice (mid first or mid 2nd). There seems to be a lot of first round talent for interior linemen. I think we'll add a few top tier interior linemen in free agency but also add O-line help with our 1st two picks. (providing we get a 2nd) It will be interesting to see how these QBs stack up after the Senior Bowl, the combine and Pro days. I may be wrong but I thought combines are only for Seniors and underclassmen aren't eligible.

We need to draft another CB like we need a hole in the head. It sounds funny as just a year ago CB was a negative for us. We have some good young talent at CB. I just don't see us drafting a CB. If it comes down to nothing we need at 6. We'll trade down and get some additional picks and take one of the 1st round graded O-linemen later in round one.

I still like Howell. He had a great 2020 season because he had great receivers and a good running game. If we somehow addressed the IOL through free agency. I think trading down and getting a rookie O-lineman in round one and picking up a 2nd round Howell would be a good pick there. We have solid receivers and if CMC can stay healthy a solid running game. It will all depend on how well we do in free agency. Furthermore, Howell could sit behind Darnold for most of the season and we can continue to build the O-line through the draft. By 2023 he would be our starter with a solid O-line. Once again it comes down on how well we address the offensive line. This has to be our #1 Priority in Free Agency.

There was one coach that could get the best out of Winston and that was Payton. Bringing Winston here would bring a better arm but a far worse interception ratio then Sam. Please No.

100% agree. We are on the hook for some of Bridgewater's contract and we still have Sam's contract. Throwing more money into the veteran QB, who may or may not be the answer, makes no sense. Focusing on TOP TIER IOL should be Fitterer's focus in free agency. I am talking about players that are established and consistently grade well. Those normally aren't the players team franchise so they'll be available. We need at least two of them.

Goff was apart of a player for player swap. If you trade CMC you are going for draft picks. Those Rookies. We aren't going to trade for another player we want picks. Those two or three players won't make nearly what we are paying CMC. Those players help with our overall Cap space. How much I don't know but like I said, indirectly it would help.

So you can't offset it directly but indirectly you can. You won't recuperate all of it but you will soft the blow with two to possibly 3 players under rookie contracts. True?

GMs work all types of deals that can alleviate some of those concerns. I am not going to argue your point on cap implications because I'm not a cap guru like many think they are. It's a fair point.

Offensively we have talent that with the right coaching could do well. Darnold had is moments good and bad (more bad than good) but I don't know many QBs in this league that could stand up to the pressure he was under. You spend 4 or 5 series in a row with 3 and out you tend to try and make things happen. Coaching IMO will be the difference. What we need is an NFL caliber OC and O-line coach. That's your beginning. We have skill players at RB and WR. TE could use some help but I am high on Tremble. Get me an O-line coach and an OC and those players we see as weak could be good. IMO we should go all in on the best interior linemen in free agency. I don't want these bargain players that might be good or might be bad. Give me a free agent that has a solid resume.

While you rant and rave that it isn't possible Fitterer has said from day one he'd listen to any offer. I have been an opponent of trading him but two seasons of injuries opens the door to the possibility. Hubbard is not CMC but showed promise as a running back that could carry a significant amount of carries. CMC is generational talent but no matter how great your skill level is, if you can't stay on the field you are a worthless asset. If Fitterer felt he was getting a deal that would help us overall. He'll make the trade. Stop acting like you're a know-it-all. YOU AIN'T. YOUR OPINION is we won't trade him and I'm OK with it but MY OPINION which is just as valid as yours is IT'S Possible.

In players that we could move I think CMC would still garner some nice picks. Maybe not a first rounder but possibly a 2nd and 3rd. This all depends on whether we think Hubbard can carry the load. He did well for a rookie and as much as I like CMC this is the season to do it. Denver would lick their chops to get McCaffery 2.0 in Denver. He definitely has trade value. The only other position I would consider is WR. Many have written Marshall off. I think he has the potential to be a stud. If I had the choice I would trade Anderson. Anderson didn't have the impact he had in 2020 but can fill the deep threat role many teams covet. I see us trading down as well. The combine and the senior bowl will bring some cream to the top and someone will make us an offer. Tepper has made it clear that we will not lose in a trade (points wise) If we could somehow add a 2nd along with a latter round 1st. I think we'd be in business. Best case we trade CMC for a 2nd and 4th and get a 3rd for Anderson, we add a lower 1st rounder and add a 2nd. We'd have 1st, 2 (2nd) a 3rd and 2 (4th) plus our lower round picks..

An offensive coordinator that has reached the playoffs several times is good enough for me. While you can say he never got out of the wildcard game the defense is partially to blame for that loss. Something you can't hang on Gruden. What it does tell me is that he knows how to make in game adjustments and counter what defenses bring to him. Something we haven't had in a VERY VERY long time. Gruden may not be the pick but I hope and pray that whoever they bring in has the mental capacity to counteract what a defense throws at us. I would be happy with Gruden.

I can see this. The draft does not have that top end QB that will go in the top 5. Obviously that could change after the Senior Bowl and combine. However, I do see an opportunity to trade down and pick up another pick or two later in the draft and get a late 1st round QB. We're on the hook for Sam and with TB5 contract still in play picking up another QB bill doesn't make sense. We all want to throw Darnold under the bus and in some instances rightly so. But between our horrendous O-Line and an incompetent QC I don't think many QBs would have faired much better. Resign Cam as a backup and build a stout O-line for Darnold. Our rookie QB can sit back and learn for the year and when the season starts to tank, (which at this point I think is more probably than the playoffs) let the rookie get his feet wet. If Darnold plays well we might actual get some compensation if he signed as a free agent in 2023. I say plan 2023 with a new Coach and a 2nd year QB that has enough experience to start new.

With the understanding that pre-season doesn't mean much it is hard to believe that all these rookies played well in preseason yet did get many opportunities during the regular season. Especially since those in front of them were not much better (outside the receiving corps) I still believe that this rookie class will be one of our better drafts providing Rhule starts to use them. It doesn't do much good to draft all these players without giving them much of an opportunity to play.