top dawg

I wouldn't be mad at Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, I'm not gonna lie.

The Bills ain't done sh¡t yet. However, they appear to be the better part. But, we were going to be on a different trajectory anyway with so much change here. Maybe we'll be there by 2026. It just takes a head coach that knows what he's doing, and, perhaps even more problematic, a legit franchise QB.

The Colts problem is that they pushed their chips in on Wentz. They still have a pretty talented squad. "Poorly ran" is subjective.

Good reflection. I keep forgetting where Fitt came from.

Actually Sauce Gardner looks like the truth. He arguably had better tape than Horn, and that's saying something. Never allowed a coverage TD in three seasons, and locked down some of the nation's best

Yeah, OK.

I have yet to look at any QBs for your information. I wasn't talking to any draft, much less this one. I was speaking to the fact that teams don't wait until the last minute to start evaluating. We weren't drafting a QB last year because we didn't have the juice or the will to make it happen, IDGAF what Fitterer or anyone else may have said, hinted--whatever. It wasn't going to happen, and, as it turns out, I'm glad that we weren't able to because I suspect they would have screwed the pooch.

QB ain't one of them.

No I don't, but I also don't think that our GM is as clueless about the top prospects as is perhaps being suggested. No chance of that either.

Coaches are just beginning to enter the evaluation process, not the teams. The scouts have been evaluating these prospects directly for months, and indirectly for even years. As for this draft, depending upon where we trade down, I doubt we'll be able to get Ewonu outside the 10, but it could happen. Being that this is considered a deep class, we should be able to get a quality lineman though (all the way into day two it seems).

You're absolutely right, and I don't know what to think about it. I'm probably going to have to sit down and reflect about the seeming disconnect. Perhaps people are just right about Rhule's "success" in college being overblown.

I've researched all of this stuff. I used to make the same types of argument that you're making. After years of research, I'm certain that the scouting process begins in earnest well before now. Of course nothing is set in stone, it's way too early. But neither Mobile or much of anything else at this point is going to change the way that these execs and analysts will think about the top prospects at QB. Fitterer isn't just talking out of the side of his neck. If anything, he'd be talking them up for trade value.

The only thing I can think of is a sweet talking Tepper willing to make it rain (particularly after our failures at the position), the slick talking salesman Rhule, and the fact that it's still close to home. It's all in the packaging. He's still a young kid with a lot to prove. I don't think he's ultimately going to be in a position to be choosey either.

He didn't exactly say no to us. We are considered in the mix long term depending upon what happens. I saw something listing us and the Broncos as the only ones still in the mix now that Miami is out.

Well that's an entirely different argument that neither I or anyone is arguing.

Surely we aren't making the same mistakes twice. They aren't that thickheaded...I hope.

These guys have been scouted for years. Anyone who believes otherwise is kidding themselves. We aren't talking about a small school safety or guard here.

I think he has lots of influence. That's why he was brought here. Of course Rhule makes the ultimate decisions, until Tepper says otherwise. But I don't believe Scott was acquired just to be a yes-man.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe there's any way they don't go O-line. Unless we make some trades and get creative with the cap, I don't believe that they can address all the needs across the O-line in free agency. Call it wishful thinking, I think we're going O-line. They've marked it as our number one priority and area ripe for serious investment.

People paid attention to Matt Rhule's radio interview for good reason (I guess), but Anthony Rizzuti also paid attention to another radio interview, one Thursday, and that was Scott Fitterer's on the Kyle Bailey show, and in a perf--err, improved world, that interview was the one that Panthers fans should be giving more credence to as it relates to the team's future personnel decisions. Rizzuti rightfully zeroed in on a couple of what he referred to as "nuggets", and it falls in line with what others have said about the 2021 QB class. “It’s a good class, it’s not a great class,” Fitterer said. “There’s some good players in there. There’s players every year throughout the draft—you might be able to find a guy, get lucky, second/third round.” It doesn't sound like we'll be falling into the overdrafting-a-QB-trap. “The one thing we have to really be careful about is not forcing,” he continued. “Taking a quarterback just because we think we need to take a quarterback. You can really get in trouble that way. You can pass on a really good player with the pick you have. So I don’t wanna force anything. I do like a couple of the quarterbacks in this class. I think it gives us options. But, as a whole, I think there have been other, better draft classes in other years.” Now if Fitterer would apply that kind of thinking to spending good money--literal and draft compensation--on bad free agent QB pickups, I'd be even more hopeful--just let us know that they've finally learned from their mistakes might be an M-F-ing mental coup. But, I digress. I could be wrong, but it sounds like Fitt may be suggesting that the likes of Kenny Pickett or Sam Howell (for example) get second or third round grades at best. Now, I know what some of you are thinking: We don't have a 2nd or 3rd round pick! True, but that doesn't mean that we won't have one or both after all is said and done. And, remember, we still wouldn't necessarily use them on a signal caller. Indeed, Fitt basically said that we might be able to luck up on QB on day two. That leads me to believe that we simply won't be seriously shopping for a QB in the draft (which is probably a good thing). Of course it's all just speculation, but it is reading between the lines. https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2022/01/15/panthers-scott-fitterer-2022-qb-class/

Some of you say that, and indeed it may have been true for some teams, but many teams obviously had an opposite opinion. Indeed, his tape was pretty stellar, and he handled pass rushers--including the premier pass rusher in Chase Young--like a grown man. Slater's body of work was simply great and more than justified a top pick for a team in need for an offensive lineman. That's just the fact of the matter. Rashawn Slater's tape told a story, and guys like Matt Rhule were just too thickheaded to listen.

BPA, unless it's a guard.

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2022/01/14/panthers-rb-deangelo-williams-matt-rhule-problem/

Yeah, I used to scoff at people who said such things in terms of the Panthers. Now, I have come to the realization that it's a real possibility, if not probable in some instances.