ColumbusCounty

Lol, I think up until Dallas I remember hearing that we had "statistically" the best run defense in NFL history. IIRC And we ended the season with a top 5-10 defense. Not 1 player in the top 101. No Reddick, Burns, Gilmore, Donte, Shaq? On O: DJ?, Moton? Guess not.

Free Agency: Bring back Norwell and sign Ben Jones (center). I'm going to need Gonzales back also. Along with Luvu. Also need a DT, LB and a FS. Let Samir work his magic. In the draft either stay at 6 and pick your LT of the three or trade back and maybe luck up and Linderbaum is still there. If not, grab Penning or Kenyon Green. If Green is the pick Brady fights for LT in camp. It all just depends on how far back we go and what moves we actually make in FA. Take that second rounder go BPA again on the line. Hopefully we got a late third in that trade and go general BPA for the rest of the draft. But if you stay at 6 go LT. Not QB, not RB, not CB. Something tells me Rhule will pick Pickett if he has the chance. But if he won't play BC at LT because of his arm length how does he draft a dude with insecurity surrounding his actual hand size. Just seems like the Rhule thing to do though Gave up so much for Darnold, he needs to sink or swim with that decision. The wildcard: if Mcadoo has his sights on one of QB's in this draft, considering his past recommendations.

Let me start this by saying I really like Horn. In hindsight I probably would have picked Mac or Slater. Its crazy if you look at the domino effect not picking one of the two above caused. If Slater would have been the pick we would still have a 3rd and 6th this year, Dan Arnold, a 3rd from last year(Brady C), the 6th we sent to trade up to get Brady, and probably our first pick of 2023 (if we end up taking a LT). Add in Darnold costing us a 6th, 2nd and 4th, those two moves alone lost us 7 draft picks, a starter, and damn near 20mill in salary cap this offseason.

No doubt in my mind he's going to be a VERY special player down the road. Reminds me Ramsey. I like our cb situation. Horn will be our #1 but I also have a really good feeling about Keith Taylor Jr. Coaching last year's Senior Bowl got us three really solid picks based on potential and skillset. Possibly two future starters by year three. Not bad for day three.

Make sure we left the draft with Chad Muma drafted. Underrated and a small school prospect but imo he'd clearly be an upgrade.

Realistically, I see us going for Ben Jones (center) and bringing Norwell back. Moton is our starting RT. Brady is probably a backup swing tackle. LT, will be addressed in the draft. Unless we pick up Armstead or somebody of that same caliber. If we can pull that off, we'd most likely see a repeat of last year...trade back x 4 and pick BPA throughout. Grab Green in the first and we're nasty upfront. That line would like: Armstead-Norwell-Jones-Green-Moton w/ Brady, Brown, Erving, Elfien at backup. Pipedream ofcourse...but with a man like Rhule in his current position lol I fully expect him to OD on offensive line. Too bad we dont have next year's cap numbers for this year smh.

I'm almost sure we're looking at C and G in FA. Going LT in draft...or going QB if we get C,G and LT in free agency somehow. They may consider moving Elfien to fulltime at center but his availability could collapse our whole plan without a decent backup. I think Elfien is their plan at backup. Same exact scenario with Erving at LT.

Lol this is actually true ... and sobering.

No bro. We benched Sam and the offense came to life. Albeit minimal life but better. Hell, even Robbie could catch again. Dude was on a 20 quarters without a TD streak..that's wild. Amazingly we still beat Atlanta during that span. He did manage to throw 2 his last game though. Even if we build the line, they're going to blitz him the entire game. Funny thing is, I legitimately thought we fleeced the Jets at one point. I have zero faith in Sam. And when the hits started most of his interceptions were threw when he had time. BUT hey that's our QB. They still believe they can fix him based off his first 3 games. We'll see.

Actually, we were up 38-7 and its still amazing we didnt lose that game. They did it tie it up 38-38 by the fourth but Gano hit an almost 50 yard FG for that win. We probably should have lost, Odell drops would b touchdown over Norman.. Eli underthrows Odell on a would be TD, CAP fumbling in giants territory. The dropped pick 6 by the giants. Mcadoo as a coordinator that game was impressive. Take Beckham out the picture and it gets horrific though. He had way too much speed for Norman or Peanut to cover. Very impressive comeback but if you inserted him (McAdoo) in our offense this past season ...our results wouldnt have varied much. Giants just happened to have Ben McAdoo, a pretty good Oline, a "game changing" WR, and a Manning at QB. We currently have 1 of those 4. Would have loved to hear his pitch to Rhule & Fit though... esp considering I've heard he wasnt a fan of Sam. That might just be speculation

Not a fan btw. But fug it ...no choice now. Bright side being he's been a QB, TE and Oline coach in the past...so maybe we get some quality assistants out of this. Fun fact: Last time he was a coordinator against us was Cam's mvp year. The Josh Norman/Odell game. Iirc, besides that second falcons game, that's the only game I didnt think our defense could stop. Looking at our schedule and QB situation, I fully expect this guy to be our new interim head coach after the bye week.

Darrian Beavers in the 4th-5th. Get familiar if don't know the kid. A little development needed but I forsee a star. 3 defensive players in this draft that I'd LOVE to have. Darrian Beavers (MLB), Drake Jackson (DE), and Brandon Joseph (FS)....a real true fs. Beavers would be an immediate upgrade to Carter whether he plays middle or outside. Ideally, Id like to see him on the inside. We may be in a 3-4 though...who knows

My first thought lol

If we cant sign Brown, Armstead, etc .. that makes things interesting. Do you trust Brady at LT enough to pass on Neal? Do you pick Neal and move Brady to LG? Or pick Linderbaum and let Brady develop? Sadly I dont think they have enough game tape of Brady playing LT here to fully come to a solid conclusion either way (and without an attribute bias). Alot of situations for Rhule & Fitterer... I just have an extreme lack of faith in their Oline evaluation skills (Rhule atleast).

It's pretty simple. Eliminate the doubts. No gambles: Free Agent Top Priorities Ben Jones at Center Duane Brown at Left Tackle 2 proven commodities. Armstead isn't coming here. Brown is older but his overall production the last 3 years is better than anything we can field by far. If Reddick cant resigned because of these two so be it... Center & LT DONE. No growing pains on the blind side. Round 1: Trade back .... Pick after 15-20. We'd swap 1sts, pick up a 2nd and 3rd via value. Select Kenyon Green with the first pick. Second Round grab Drake Johnson (Replaces Reddick) ...see above. I think his ceiling is actually higher than Reddick's. Brown-Christensen-Jones-Green-Moton Also, as good as these 5 are as-is, they'll look even better playing next to each other. Oline problem solved and instantly becomes a strength... and with 1 trade we'd leave the draft with around 8 picks. At which point Rhule could go BPA crazy if he wants to idc. Just solidify that line. I've said that scenario before and will continue. Our solution is easy assuming the players are willing to come here. We have Samir which means I'm not too worried about the cap. So ofcourse I'ma keep touching on it like a blind reader. Just don't draft a QB early. That answer is not in this draft. Christensen needs to find his spot and STAY in that spot.

Ima need a first, second and third for Burns, maybe a little more. As I said in another thread. Trade back into 3rd and draft Drake Jackson out of USC. He reminds me of Burns mixed with YGM. IMO...His ceiling is equals to Burns. As for which to keep. Reddick is pretty much a finished product. His production fell as the season went on but he's still a nightmare. Both leave much to be desired in the run game at this point. If we plan on keeping both then we should move to a 3-4. I think our personnel matches better that way anymore. Going to a 3-4 would make Luvu a must sign. I'd also look to bring back Haynes for cheap if possible. Has Snow ever ran a 3-4 as a base formation is my question.

Linderbaum is hard to get a feel for. Typically centers don't go in the top 10 but I think he has a shot at it. He's that talented. I thought I saw him rated 7 or 8 overall on SI's big board so it is possible especially since the Qb class is lack. What I would do, would be overkill BUT: Free Agency: Find a way to get Ben Jones at center. Also target Duane Brown for LT incase BC doesnt pan out. Older but still producing at an above average level. I'd target Philly and trade for one of their firsts. With our #6 the value should net us 15, 51, 83. Pick 15: Kenyon Green ...... Just those moves VASTLY improve our line and leave us flexible for the rest of the draft. Duane Brown-Christensen-Jones-Green-Moton.. BC and Green can play all over line incase of injury. Deonte Brown plugs in if that happens. Pick 51: Drake Jackson (DE) ... reminds me of YGM mixed with Burns but if insisted on going Qb with the pick...Carson Strong (QB). Pick 83: Brandon Joseph (FS) .. we finally get a true FS...instincts, ballhawk, range immediate starter imo + he can PR. Let's Chinn either move back to LB or up in the box SS. Pick 105: Lucas Abraham (OT) .. too much upside IMO. Pick 148: Darrian Beavers (LB) ...beast..Phil Snow type of player. Pick 156: Dameon Pierce (RB) ...tough runner, looks for contact, good vision... but if you want more finesse Max Borghi...the lite lite version of McCaffrey. Pick 199: Isiah Likely (TE)... Tremble is our blocking TE ..THIS will be our better version of Dan Arnold. Pick 248: Devonnsha Maxwell (DT)

He actually looked impressive his first couple of games b4 injury. Flashed a couple times since then but for the most part he was getting abused.

Lol, the mlb we needed and still do. Our coach decides to release him, only to watch him perform at a Pro bowl level. Sounds about right for Rhule. Him & Shaq would have been a nightmare though. Now we're left with probably one of the "softest" #2 Defenses in history and an anemic offense led by a turnover prone QB. Somewhere around 30 mil in cap space I think, 1 draft pick in the top 100 and as of now the worst coach and staff in the league. Yet I'm still trying to be optimistic about our future.

I caught that also. Slight the man then give him his flowers. Its damn near comical, he can't seem to stop digging himself further in that hole. In this same interview, he also stated he's not one for throwing his players under the bus. This guy is a narcissist as well as a habitual liar. AND he has full personnel control. Sobering for our future. Tepper paid this idiot 60+ million dollars to come here. That's an extremely expensive 10-23 record. I honestly think at minimum a quarter of this board could have done similar if not better in the same span. The only press we get in Carolina is due to incompetency. If his character was different, I'd feel sorry for the guy. Clearly he's in over his head. P.S. Everything he says to the media will now be dissected x10. He's be spiraling downwards since the Joe Person peice. I FULLY expect this to continue.

Not necessarily. If BY THE GRACE OF GOD, we truly address the Oline, get some coaches who actually coach up positions, an OC who can adjust on the fly, CMC for the whole season and perhaps a receiving threat at TE... I could see us doing ok(This may be me attempting to convince myself). We won 5 games this season. We lost by 3 to the Eagles, 6 to the Vikings, Falcons, and Redskins and 8 to the Cowboys, Falcons and Saints. Even with our extremely disappointing offense this was the case. I don't think the FO has given much thought to the domino effect that solidifying the line would do. Just addressing the line correctly should benefit RB, WR ,QB and the playcalling. Play calling effects the opposing teams defense. "Hopefully" no more predictive calls and enough time for the deep routes to develop enough to opens up the underneath. Not saying we'll get 10 wins next season by any means but damn bro if I gotta sit through Rhule and Sam another year I HAVE to find a silver lining for my own sanity. Now....all that said I still dont believe one season of SOLID Oline work will erase 4 seasons of Sam seeing ghosts so I fully expect turnovers but if he can simplify that to maybe none to 1 a game we might have a chance. My gut is telling me even with a all star line and OC he'll march down the field but stall or regress in the redzone. Passing game atleast. I think with time in the redzone Sam would still freak actually. To me imo, he just never looks comfortable in the pocket, clean or otherwise. Very noticeable difference when Cam was behind that line. Sam does have the stronger arm but he rarely comes off his first read unless he's scrambling. We'll see ...lol what else do we have to hold on to. That's probably best case scenario. But after seeing our schedule next season smdh ...we're more than likely top 5-10 pick in next year's draft. But we should at least look semi competent on both sides of the ball.

Move Chinn bk to LB and play Luvu more. Get Carter off the field ... Play YGM-Nixon-Brown-Fox on obvious rushing downs. That alone improves our Run D a couple notches.

Everybody can go for the right price. BUT from an NFL realistic perspective.... + how hard it would be to find alternative production. + Your workers, your grinders, that winning mentality certain players have Defense: Chinn(LB), Shaq(Heartbeat), Burns(Still in development. Loses contain but his upside is ridiculous), Reddick (Beast), Horn (Beast), Gilmore(Still a top 15 corner IMO + guidance). You keep those 6 alone and surround them with template players and you'll still field a top 20 defense imo. Sadly 2 of those may never wear a Panthers uni again. Offense: DJ(consistent production no matter the QB), Moton(consistent protection), CMC (been injury plagued these last two seasons but IF healthy he's more times the not the best player on field including the opponents roster) But that's just me attempting to talk myself away from the cliff.

That incredibly comical until you remember this ass clown is coming back... both of 'em. To be fair though, Sam didn't ask for this ....its just the hand he was dealt. And the craziest thing his, he really has all the tools except the mental aspect. He has his moments throwing on the run but under duress he's consistently horrible.. I'm not so sure that's something that one can fix. Even with an upgraded line, "if" we managed to sneak into the playoffs in any form next season I have no doubt in mind he'd crumble. He's a good enough to have on a roster just not as your Plan A. He's a backup at best. That said, he'll go out next year and put us in prime position for our next coach to get his QB in the 23 draft. Atleast by then we should finally have the proper protection in place. Or... Sam gets his Oline and he finally balls out. Only thing sobering about that are the turnovers he's had in even a decent pocket. I really dont know where we go from here. I do know, that was stupid af to pick up that option. Rhule thought he was getting Tannehill..in actuality he may have picked us up the semi improved version of Clausen.

Aside from equipment manager. Nothing...literally nothing. Honestly wouldn't trust him with the water.