Mr. Scot

From Gantt's latest mailbag... If the Panthers have the No. 1 pick, why do they need to "put up a smokescreen," as one reporter says? Who the heck are they faking out? — Mitchell, Clover, SC I'm not sure who that reporter is; maybe stop listening to them. That sounds silly. There are plenty of false prophets out there in the world because a lot of them apparently get paid by the word or maybe by the tweet. Because if anyone tells you they know what the Panthers are doing, they're lying. I know this for sure, because the Panthers don't know yet. They've been intentional to not decide while they're collecting evidence, and they're going to be collecting evidence for another couple of weeks. Reich said as much Tuesday back in Arizona, and they're not just going to Gainesville to add to their Marriott points balance. Though they have plenty. Once they're home, they're bringing the final four (unlike the basketball Final Four, I've heard of these guys) in for visits. They'll talk more, and they'll eat more food, and maybe they'll find a basketball goal so Josh McCown can play a little horse with them. (Side story: Reich is also a bit of a hooper and said he liked to take the court with potential draft picks on visits as part of his evaluation. He's not as athletic as the 43-year-old McCown, though he was quick to add: "but I can still shoot." Challenge him at your own risk.) Ask the Old Guy

I think that question's been asked before, but not yet answered.

I wouldn't put money on Lance.

Either would have been appropriate

Well if I'm being honest, part of it is lack of interest I don't doubt that I could probably figure out the details of the cap and all if I applied myself, but I'm not that into it. And there are guys on here who already understand it pretty well so I can always just listen to them. I can spend plenty of time analyzing coaches, players, strategies, etc. but I'll leave the economics to others

Shanahan runs a very quarterback friendly system. I don't know if I'd go Pro Bowler but improved player is at least a possibility.

Pretty much For me, I'll admit I don't know. Like just about everyone else, I believe it's probably between Stroud and Young. My pick would be Stroud, but I could live with Young as long as he's well protected. Reich talked about smaller guys who knew how to avoid the big hits and said he's seen Young do some of those same things. That'd be a good thing to know.

Again to be fair, it's a pretty common human treat to expect that when somebody is a certain way, they're likely going to stay that way (especially Type A guys like Tepper). Now with that said, yes the people who assumed this were...wrong. And I'm pretty happy about that

Never tried gluten free anything, honestly. Lady Cowboy Fan's older grandson has an allergy to it though, and he's not a fan. I do like Jersey Mike's

I think everybody wants that. And who knows? Maybe Reich and / or Fitterer can persuade him.

True, but Young can't touch Murray's high score on Ghost Recon

I'm not convinced of that. This quarterback pick is going to be a result of full collaboration between personnel and coaching. Reich (and reportedly Jim Caldwell) will figure very prominently into the final choice. What do you do? Fire everybody?

Eight ball In the corner pocket

To be fair, accounts have indicated he's not all that active a participant in the quarterback search. He's just a close observer. That follows the pattern of the head coach hiring as well. When it came time for the final decision, Tepper abstained and let the football people handle it. Has he produced anything yet? It's fair to say no he hasn't, but I do like the direction things are going. Haven't been able to say that for a while...

(I'm no good with the salary cap stuff either)

That's kind of like talking about the crappiest food you've ever eaten by saying "Well at least they use some great ingredients."

Well to be fair, he kinda was. Even Tepper himself has admitted that he came into the NFL with some wrongheaded ideas. Those were what led to the Rhule hire which was then the source for most of the issues over the past three years. The incorrect assumption was that he couldn't learn. He has, and now we seem to be headed in the right direction.

Unfortunately, someone has to

You're correct. It was... It's definitely a thought...

Re: Stroud

You forgot to mention him reaching boss level on Call of Duty