outlaw4

Last year's schedule looked brutal and looked how that turned out. Just never know who breaks out, who slumps and how injuries affect each team.

Trevin now has Lee Hunter on the line in front of him to help and so that should make him better by default.

This obsession with all these analysts on us needing a TE that badly was... odd. Yes, we certainly would've liked an upgrade but does the production from that position really warrant such high draft capital? I look at last year's production league-wide and I can't really make a case from a yardage standpoint. From a red-zone TD perspective, maybe. It seems Canales favors wideouts far more, though, especially since we drafted yet another one.

The servers didn't melt because of this. Disappointed. Also, an inevitable decision. The real problem is that QB's are far overpaid in this league, period. At least it's not like way back then when rookie QB's were given so much money just for being drafted *cough* Sam Bradford *cough*.

I actually say wait five years since that's long enough to know if a player became something worthy enough for a long term contract, whether with their original team or someone else. Therefore... 1 (8): Jaycee Horn - Has been questions about his durability but when he's healthy, he plays at a high level. Should we have drafted Pat Surtain or Micah Parsons, however? Arguably could’ve done better, but he's still here so that's a W pick. 2 (59): Terrance Marshall - Yet another classic Panther WR bust. I don’t recall seeing anything in his college tape that made me excited about drafting him in the first place. 3 (70): Brady Christensen - Proved to be a versatile player on the O-line. As of now, we haven’t signed him back and I feel that we should. That's enough to say he was a solid draft pick. 3 (83): Tommy Tremble - Hasn't emerged as a consistent productive player, but he's had his moments here and there. We can certainly do better, but we haven’t found that guy yet so he still has some utility. W because he's not Ian Thomas. 4 (126): Chuba Hubbard - Surprise of the draft. It took time, but he's now our lead back. 5 (158): Daviyon Nixon - Had a half a sack with us and... that's it. I think I liked what I saw but it didn't pan out. 5 (166): Keith Taylor - Another guy I liked but only stuck around for two years. Played for a few other teams but nothing really to note. 6 (193): Deonte Brown - I really thought this guy was going to be a steal. He might’ve been the guy that had weight issues and never really got a handle on it. 6 (204): Shi Smith - He scored double the touchdowns that Marshall did in his short time here; it was two. Yeah, the Panthers wide receiver history is rather bleak. 6 (222): Thomas Fletcher - I had to look it up but he was a long snapper. JJ Jansen is immortal, so it was a wasted draft pick. 7 (232): Phil Hoskins - Actually recorded a sack here in his short career. Wish I could remember it. Surprisingly not a bad draft when you have two good/great starters and a JAG that's still here, plus a good rotation guy most would like to keep.

Never having back to back winning seasons in franchise history will do that. And frankly, only a Lombardi is going to change the general public's minds in the long term. Maybe. The media will likely find ways to call us the worst team ever to win one.

If there's a pattern I'm definitely picking up from Dan and company is a philosophy of making trades where we try not to sacrifice the number of draft picks we have by day's end. In other words, we're not giving up three picks for one, or giving up a future pick to make a pick today. And even if we give up something at the start, we make trades later to make up for that initial loss. Here's how it stacked up for 2026: How we started: 19, 51, 83, 119, 158, 159, 200 How we ended: 19, 49, 83, 129, 144, 151, 227 (no future picks sacrificed) Ultimately, we moved up two spots in the second to ensure we got someone we coveted, gave up a few spots for our fourth round pick, but then had better picks in the 5th (and got really good value out of them), and had a worse 7th rounder which isn't that big of a loss anyways. At this point, we can question who they draft, but they're pretty good maneuvering across the draft board.

Not one single pick that is asking me why we drafted a guy in the first place. It was a guy we needed and/or a guy that had certain traits making them stand out. Best of all, I feel everyone we drafted are capable of stepping onto the field this year and have a meaningful role (even Kuwatch on special teams). Obviously, nothing is guaranteed but I'm not seeing any huge flags on guys because they're risky projects or massive overreaches.

He's a guy to Kuwatch on the field. ...hey, have to get value out of this pick somehow.

His athleticism is somewhat lacking which is probably why he fell this far. But the guy knows how to play the position well, something that couldn't be said for just about everyone that's played center for us since Kalil retired. We could've drafted him in the 3rd and I wouldn't have complained too much, but a 5th? Highway robbery.

I swear, this team just doesn't care about centers. How much longer... ...wait. We actually drafted one?!

If he's a bust and allows receivers to run free, he'll be called Free Willy.

Feels so much like a Dave Canales pick. I would've preferred someone that's fast and shifty underneath, but defenses will have to respect that vertical speed.

That's one big man! I'm always on board building a team from the lines on out and so I'm okay with this choice. Sounds like a good run stuffer which is quite welcome considering we were historically awful in that department recently.

Whatever Joe Person says we'll do, the team will do the opposite.