Navy_football

He really is. I mean that's Bryce Young level bad situation.

First of all, Tepper has too much money to be confronting people like that. It's just too dangerous now a days. Folks are crazy! But I like his attitude of not taking ish from anybody and talking to people man to man. It's obvious that he doesn't come from money. He's a self made billionare and that's pretty rare. Probably a real straight shooter and I respect the heck out of that!

So... you don't agree?

Yeah, I don't think the trade up was worth it. I mean aren't you paying him more on his rookie contract because he was drafted in the 1st round vs the 2nd? Will the fifth year option will cover the difference in net present value? I think XL will be more exciting than Ladd or AD. At this point, I don't want exciting. I want consistency at the position. We'll see. Probably the better deep ball and jump ball option of the 3.

Just have realistic expectations for XL. Ladd and Mitchell will look better out the gate, but he does have the higher ceiling. He should have the better highlight reel as a rookie, but Ladd will have the stats. We'll see in 2-3 years if he was the right choice.

Ladd and AD are still available? Hmmm...

I mean worst case, he's an upgrade over Thielen, who just tallied 1000 yards this season. If Bryce trusts him, he'll force feed him every game. Diontae will get 1000 yards if he doesn't get injured. That'll be worth a HUGE contract next year.

So what was that about resigning Diontae Johnson next year? I was thinking around $20M a year. I may have grossly underestimated what he'll want. Draft WRs early and often.

Every mock is busted to Hell right now. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE!!!

I don't think the draft should be about filling holes. It's about bringing in talent for the future. The expectation that a rookie will start day 1 and be a pro bowl talent is not realistic. You want them to come in, play meaningful minutes, and improve throughout the season. That way you have options at the end. This WR corps is not proven in this offense with this HC and this OC. The only one that has consistently caught for 1000 yards is in his mid 30s now. Very good WRs will be available in the 2nd round on Friday. Don't take a fringe 2nd/3rd round CB or DE because the team needs one, when a WR that could have easily gone in the 1st last year is sitting there. Thielen, Moore, TMJ and Johnson could very likely be gone next season. And even if they are still here, that group doesn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of DCs - even if you add Mingo and ISM to the list. None of them were 1st round talents coming into the league. They were all developmental projects.

Really good point. I think we forget that defense (particularly secondary) can be schemed to hide weaker areas a lot easier than offense.

Bro, I've called for WRs on both second round picks forever. Ladd, Ricky then Van Pran would be my dream for the 1st three picks. I don't think TE is that big of a need. Thielen and Diontae could legit be gone next season. Why not get their insurance plans in a WR heavy draft? And even if Diontae comes back, he'll be trying to get 20M+ a year. Shouldn't the team prepare for that?

Ladd, Pearsall and SVP. But I'm admittantly an all offense draft proponent.

Maybe... Zay ran in the 4.4s at 5'9" and a buck nothing. Quentin ran in the 4.5s. Jordan barely broke 4.5s at 4.49. I just don't think they'd be that high this season. But I could be wrong.

If they draft Leggette, the thought process must be that he'd fit a scheme that Canales wants to implement. Thinking Canales plans to scheme him open more than put him in 1v1 situations all game. The Panthers have been taking that approach for as long as I can remember. You run your route, and you run your route, and if you beat your defender then you may get the ball. I don't think this team has ever had consistent route concepts that schemed guys open. I was hoping Frank would bring that here with the mesh concept, but I don't recall seeing much of that during the season.

I guess that's subjective. But where do you think Zay Flowers, Quentin Johnson, and Jordan Addison would be drafted in 2024? They were drafted in the 1st round in 2023. I think a guy like Ricky Pearsall would jump all of them and he's projected as a mid 2nd rounder this year. I think guys like Corley, Worthy, Malik Washington and Jalen McMillan would compete with them in the first last year, but they're fringe 2nd rounders, mostly 3rd round targets this draft.

But that's just the thing. This draft is so deep at WR, that a few guys that would have been 1st rounders in previous drafts, will be available in the 2nd and early 3rd round. Now, which WR they choose... well Panthers have been known to pick the wrong WRs in the 2nd round. They love themselves some TE type wideouts that can't create separation.

I respect and appreciate the Hell out of this post! It should bring perspective to our interactions on this site. Sometimes it's easy to forget that some people are pessimists and some people are optimists. Neither is better or worse than the other, but they are very different character traits - polar opposites even. Just like introverts vs extroverts. But it's difficult to understand the perspective of a person that doesn't fall into your spectrum. Let's remain open minded to those that have different opinions, because their ideas could be coming from a completely different mental make up. They see what you see. They just see it differently. Thank you for this.

If Ladd is really there at #33, I'd go Ladd and then Pearsall at #39. WR problems solved for the next 5+ seasons. I was a Coleman guy at first, but I just don't think he'll be a consistent contributer. He'll make a few highlight reel plays, but have like 3 catches for 35 yards a game. Probably a great redzone target too. I think a QB's best friend is having multiple options that can win their routes. That way, the first or second read can get the ball instead of having to progress to your 3rd or 4th options all game, every game. Not an easy task for a young QB.

Yeah Chris Scott started the season at RT. Not a world beater but not a turnstile either. Better at run blocking than pass pro, but physical either way. Don't forget Chudzinski at OC. That was the key to it all. And it is infinitely easier to play QB when your first read can get open at a high rate. When you're constantly progressing to your 3rd and 4th read, AND your o-line is bad... Well, good luck and pray you don't get injured.

I thought they cancelled that second Jets practice because the oline couldn't pick up on stunts. They were getting to the QB on every single drop back, and he was legit afraid someone would get hurt. I agree it was an indicator of how the season would go. The oline was atrocious.

I don't get it. So the Panthers should just keep building up a top 5 defense (by yards allowed), so they can keep losing games because they can't score more than 10 points? That just doesn't compute. And losing Burns, Henderson, Luvu and Bell doesn't make that big of a difference taking into account who was picked up in FA on defense. The defense has already gotten better personnel-wise IMHO. Much better actually.

I think it matters 100% which position you choose. I think the Panthers' offense was so bad last season (heck for the last 4 or 5 seasons really) that you almost have to ensure that side of the ball improves. I usually agree with BPA only approach, but this team is different. The defense will be ok (good enough to compete - honestly, I think they'll be better this season with the additions and subtractions). And with the NFL geared towards scoring, you need proficiency on the offensive side of the ball in order to win games - especially ones that matter. This isn't about Bryce Young. This is really about improving the offense with or without him at QB. Bad oline, WRs that couldn't separate consistently, archaic playcalling, bad QB play - all led to ridiculously bad offensive production. The defense lost Horn and Thompson last season, and Burns almost checked out after week 1, and they were still good enough. The offense, on the other hand, can be blamed for all 15 losses.

You know... Panthers decided to skimp on the last #1 pick in the draft QB this team had. Squandered an opportunity for a dynasty, because they wanted to control the clock. Rivera...

If the right edge rusher is there. Then and only then do you pick a position other than WR. Of course that assumes one of either Ladd or Mitchell are still available. Either would be BPA at position of extreme need.