MasterAwesome

Rich Eisen: “How is Bryce Young looking right now after his season, Adam?” You wanted him to deflect and talk about Derrick Brown or roster long-shots? What? Clearly you didn’t click the link in the OP or watch the interview if you think “they” (the Panthers) put this out. It’s an NBCSports article that references an interview Thielen did recently on the Rich Eisen show where he was asked a direct question about Bryce Young. So who exactly is running PR for the Panthers here? NBCSports? Or Rich Eisen?

Some of you need to understand that these types of articles/"fluff" pieces aren't catering to the types of fans who are going scorched earth rage-posting online about "clown show" this and "dumpster fire" that and getting ticked off at the sight of a few seconds of David Tepper in a 45-minute video. Y'all are a particularly niche subset of the fanbase to get irrationally upset over these things and are far beyond placating. There's zero reason from a business perspective (which is what this is at the end of the day) to waste a second thinking about a portion of the fanbase who has zero excitement around the team, won't go to a single game this year, won't buy any merch, etc. If you're the type of person who acknowledges there's nothing the team could do or say in the offseason to sway you in any way, then have the awareness to recognize that you're not the target audience. Yes, a lot of people (myself included) are numb to these types of articles and are in a "just show me" mindset...but getting upset at an incredibly milquetoast piece of praise like "Bryce looks more comfortable" is honestly pretty unhinged. Thielen is even explicitly acknowledging a similar sentiment as you in the last paragraph of the article: He's basically saying "yeah this is the offseason so take all of this with a grain of salt". I don't even think this rises to the level of "fluff".

I understand why your brain translates "cool, calm, and collected" into a pejorative like "boring milquetoast" since you're genuinely the polar opposite of cool calm and collected, as someone who awkwardly escalates every innocuous statement into multi-paragraph performative rants as if someone just slapped your mother. I assure you that well-adjusted people do not consider that to be an insult in the real world...not ass-backwards Internet Land where it's cool and trendy to be a Debbie Downer and being "too positive" is thrown around as a slur. I remember you bragging about taking two days away from these boards as if that was a big accomplishment for you, which was eye-opening to say the least. I genuinely hope this is just some internet character you're playing, because the way you act on these boards would be objectively so off-putting in the real world. I've known a couple people like this and it's always incredibly socially awkward and sucks the energy out of the room; these are the people who don't get invited out to social events. But instead of properly absorbing and learning from these social cues in person, you're being enabled by your fellow gloomy weird internet friends here which only encourages you to spend more and more of your time online to get the approval you crave. Just some life advice, my friend...since I'm assuming you are very young. Don't spend all of your time in here. There's a whole world out there with real people and meaningful connections. And despite what the internet has taught you, being pleasant is a good thing. Btw it's really interesting how you ignored this part and instead honed in on a singular 2-second moment that I referenced and saying that I "summed him up" that way. But hey, this is ass-backwards Internet Land after all.

Are you truly a "dawg" if you need negative bulletin board material to bring out the best in your game? I would think a dawg is someone who consistently puts in the work regardless of external factors. Otherwise that would suggest that they're not playing up to their potential without that extra motivation. On a bit of a side note: Cam obviously brought a huge amount of energy and hype on and off the field and we loved him for that, but one of his most badass moments IMO was that Giants shootout game where they had just scored and the camera panned to him off the field where he just calmly nodded his head, put on his helmet, and knew it was time to go out there and respond to win the game. It seems like that kind of cool, calm, collected demeanor is looked down upon here in favor of the more fiery archetype. I haven't seen evidence to suggest that there's a correlation between a player's temperament and their performance. I think we tend to see players struggle on the field and then assign reasons for their failures largely based on assumptions combined with our own preconceived opinions on what the recipe for success entails.

Lol. I asked you to show me where Frank said Dalton presented a much greater threat than Bryce Young (your words) and you give me your interpretation of something completely different that he said. Most normal people would listen to Reich there and see that as standard coachspeak conveying confidence in his back-up QB and your brain translates that into Reich calling out Bryce’s limitations. No poo he’s gonna say Andy can do more than one thing…why the hell would Reich say to everyone “hey if you see Andy coming in on 4th and short, IT MEANS QB SNEAK!”. If your interpretation is correct, then you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think that’d be a headline in multiple articles across multiple publications. Yet not a single site reported on it or even referenced anything he said here…that’s why you had to dig deep to find the source material rather than a single reference to it from an outside source. There’s a reason why The Huddle was the only place talking about it lol we are totally known for our rational levelheaded takes and NOT sensationalizing everything like it’s a damn soap opera (cue the pic of Nicole Tepper hugging Bryce). I guess I could claim “CRA says he thinks Bryce Young is trash and a huge bust” and if anyone asks me to source you saying that, I’ll just give my own multiple paragraph interpretation breaking down one of your posts. Btw having a difference of opinion is not being “wildly dishonest”…what a crazy suggestion for a mod of a discussion board to make. Claiming someone said something that they didn’t say? Yeah that’s being objectively dishonest.

Well, we all need to use our brains too...not just our eyes. Our eyes tell us that Bryce was objectively bad last year. Our brains are what allow us the critical thinking to deduce why Bryce was bad, which is the crux of the disagreement. Perhaps Bryce just doesn't have the tools to be a starting QB in this league and this season will confirm that for us. But you seem to not even be able to fathom or acknowledge the possibility that Bryce's poor play (i.e. bad footwork, bad downfield accuracy, bad decision-making, etc.) could in large part be a product of abysmal circumstances including poor coaching, poor playcalling, poor pass protection, and a poor receiving corps. You call them "excuses", which they are, but how can you not understand that those can very well be inextricably linked? It's like getting punched in the stomach repeatedly during karaoke night and then people complaining that your singing was off pitch. Are you actually a good singer? I don't know, that performance really sucked but I'm willing to give you one more song under better conditions.

Oh my god please post any reference to this. This might be the most wildly dishonest assertion I've seen on these boards in a while. Here is what Reich actually said for anyone who cares about facts: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/panthers-frank-reich-says-using-andy-dalton-in-short-yardage-spots-can-limit-bryce-youngs-exposure/ It was about limiting his exposure because, yes, he's a small QB. And something Reich had a history of doing, even back in Indianapolis. It's funny that you take to heart the decisions and philosophies of a failed ineffective coach. Remember when Ron would choose to punt the ball instead of electing to let Gano kick 50ish yard FGs? Well, it turns out Gano actually had a pretty strong leg and was solid from deep.

If one side talks about how awful Bryce was last year and the other side talks about how Bryce was put in an impossible situation, then it's just going to be a circular unproductive back and forth ad nauseum until we see how this season plays out. And I think that's where most of us are...the roster is what it is, so let's just look ahead to this upcoming season instead of rehashing the same tired conversations over and over again about last season. "Was Bryce bad last year?" is such a boring and juvenile debate to be having halfway into the offseason. For as much as you and others like to talk about how delicate and sensitive the Bryce fans are, y'all get just as triggered towards the people voicing opposing positive sentiments. You're just two sides of the same coin...it's really silly to get on a high horse about how you're the levelheaded ones. I similarly find it ironic how your side of the aisle always prides themselves on being "realists", when I would argue that the realest realists are those who understand that Bryce is our unquestioned starting QB and it is in our best interests for him to succeed. Because that's the reality of the situation. Instead, you guys are complaining that we didn't bring in Nathan Rourke from the Canadian Football League (lol) to compete with Bryce Young. Y'all know damn well that if we signed Nathan Rourke or if we were in the Falcons' position of paying Cousins and then drafting Penix in the Top 10 (both moves that are being praised in here), you would be laughing your asses off at how stupid the Panthers are. "LOLOL Nathan Rourke is who we bring in to push Bryce?? What an insulting farce of a QB competition".

I really doubt Thielen is running these deep routes in a real game (at least I hope not), which is what slightly confuses me about why we're running this in practice. But given that Thielen was the receiver here, then 4 seconds in the air makes sense considering that's legit how long it takes him to run that far.

While I think it'd be silly for anyone to argue that Mahomes wouldn't have done any better here (and is obviously leagues above Bryce), it's worth mentioning...I watched the Raiders/Chiefs game late last year and man did Mahomes and that offense look like absolute trash in a game where Mahomes was continuously running for his life behind an o-line that couldn't block for poo, while trying to throw to receivers getting zero separation, and getting zero help from his run game. You know, the norm for Bryce every week. It really did look like I was watching a Panthers game. That was a game against Aidan O'Connell with a final stat line of 9/21 for 62 yards 0 TDs and yet Mahomes and the Chiefs managed 7 total points up until 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter in arguably garbage time.

Remember when you claimed Bryce never worked privately with his receivers last offseason? Then when you were presented with an article and photos showing just that, you called it a fake photo op? Remember continuously suggesting that Bryce is shorter than his official height taken at the Combine? Remember the report that came out about Nicole Tepper wanting Stroud and you saying that was BS that the team leaked so Nicole Tepper could save face? Most of what we discuss in here is opinion-based, but those are three empirical evidence-based examples that your conspiracy-brain has rejected based on nothing but your feelings…so I think you’ve forfeited your right to invoke “reality”, buddy. Unless we’re just operating in two different dimensions of the Multiverse. But if we’re actually acknowledging reality, you’ve taken coping to new heights. I’ve genuinely never seen anyone work so hard trying to gaslight people into believing that any report you disagree with is automatically fake.

As someone with no swag who has about a 39% dap success rate, I can’t overstate how much anxiety this video gave me. But coach nailed it.

17,000 posts but unwilling to read a single paragraph is actually a pretty remarkable insight into the psyche of some of these posters.

Oopsies

He looks about the same size to me...here's a pic from this time last year for comparison:

I guess you could say he....parroted someone else's opinion

You're not the same? You're very much parroting things other people have posted in here. You didn't come up with the Mingo/Legette comparison lol. Seems like you both read evaluations of prospects and based on what is compelling to you, you formed an opinion. That's a very normal thing to do...not sure why the petty self-righteousness. Your evidence only supports that the two of them are very similar physically/athletically. I don't think you've supported your broader argument that they are similar prospects. You're basically unironically doing the meme on here where every short agile WR prospect = Steve Smith.

So by your logic, the jury is still out on Ian Thomas because of the "Young effect". All we have to do is ignore all of his previous seasons pre-Young where he looked like the same guy as last year.

Now a rookie Bryce Young is being blamed for TMJ having done nothing in his three year career. Poor guy is turning into the "Thanks Obama" meme.

Right...that's my point. There's no one archetype of a leader. Some people seem to think a leader is someone who is fiery and screams a lot. Like I guess Travis Kelce screaming in the face of Andy Reid in the Super Bowl must have given these people chills as the epitome of leadership. So that's what people want and expect from Bryce, but for better or worse he ain't that...although he does have that side to him as well as was evident during the primetime game against the Bears. I'm not even saying Bryce is for sure some kind of amazing leader. But I think judging his leadership off how much he yells and his team's W/L record is asinine. For example the camera would often pan to him on the sideline standing up and rallying his o-line. That's more of the stuff I associate with leadership.

I agree that we had a distinct lack of leadership, but I don't know how you can begin to assign the blame to any one individual player. A head coach, sure. But I think if your team of grey-haired NFL coaches and multi-year NFL vets has to rely on a 22-year-old rookie to be the sole leader or else everything comes crashing down, then you've got some serious problems in that locker room that go far beyond the QB. Saying "we were a bad team, ergo Bryce Young is a bad leader" just seems like a weird leap to make. Surely your criteria for a QB's leadership isn't as simple as his team's W/L record...right? I'm just curious then, do you think Cam Newton was a good leader every odd season, but a bad leader every even season? Or is it more likely that team performance is an unreliable metric for leadership? Blast Young's arm strength and physical size all you want, that's fair game. But baselessly questioning Young's leadership makes you no better than the people you railed against for questioning Stroud's character in the offseason. Let's not be one of those people who apply principles inconsistently depending on whether it's someone you like or dislike.

So you're telling me you came in here to complain about something someone said about Mingo at some time in the past in some other thread that actually has nothing to do with anything anyone said about him in here. Got it...not sure why you proudly clarified that as if that makes you sound reasonable. At least it makes more sense why you just made a general passive-aggressive comment about these mysterious people who say Mingo is the worst NFL receiver we ever drafted instead of actually directly quoting a post, since there was nothing to quote. Also can you clarify your basis for comparison as to how Stroud brings an undisputed presence of leadership while questioning Young's leadership? What exactly are you basing that off of?

It's so strange...you complain about people treating Bryce with kiddie gloves, yet you find it so offensive that people say Mingo is not a good route runner? That's where criticism goes over the line for you? That's more coddling than I've seen anyone do for Bryce. Don't talk about people white knighting for Bryce and then be this sensitive to the mildest of criticisms for Mingo. Mingo had 3 catches for 21 yards with Dalton throwing the ball 58 times so it doesn't bode particularly well for your thought experiment. If you think our offense looked so much more effective with Dalton and yet Mingo is putting up the same consistently minimal production with both QBs, then that would suggest Mingo is at fault for his own struggles.

I just don't understand why it bothers people so much and why you guys can't just not click the thread (or put the bot on ignore). Even amongst a standard fluff piece, there are pieces of factual information I enjoy extracting from these articles that I hadn't heard otherwise. Something as simple as Bryce and Canales getting together for 3-hour long dinners to build rapport and reflect on last season's struggles. Maybe not groundbreaking news, but it still provides more value and insight to me than a hundredth mock draft or a thread discussing whether we're going to even win a single game next year.

Yes please do...the "fluff" is just a small percentage of what it posts; it also often breaks news and posts articles with good factual info that nobody else here would have linked otherwise. I don't see why we can't just apply the same rule we use broadly of "if you aren't interested, don't click it". People can ignore topics posted by the bot instead of swarming to the thread to post about how much those posts bother them.