vorbis

the Panthers have to interview at least two minority candidates from outside the building to satisfy the Rooney Rule conditions, so might as well make it a proper search. my question is what kind of demand there will be for Steve Wilks around the league after the job he's done down the stretch. might not be a "hold on Steve let us interview these people and then circle back" situation at all.

Panthers have been using extra linemen to jumpstart the running game since Steve Wilks took over. when Erving is in he's usually the 6th or 7th lineman on the field. see Cade Mays at fullback last couple games. it's just to get better matchups in run block, that's it. get that 6th OL to block a linebacker at the point of attack. that's all.

not my business. DJ is a smart guy, if he did this then he knows it was something he needed to do. I don't need details honestly. moving on

saying nothing was an option for Matt Rhule, and it remains an option. he chooses every day to avoid that option and make himself look like a conniving fool.

you can't say he didn't come with the specifics though. so if this turns out to have any accuracy to it, he better get his flowers. I'm not saying he's going to be right but he's certainly talking like he heard something in particular.

first of all, he's right. maybe this reverberates through the locker room and screws up the team dynamic but he's 100% correct.

11-27. in ink. record speaks for itself. I get many feeling relieved and even joy, but I think it's a sad day. what would even be a sign that Tepper's next head coach hire is going to go better than this one? funny how Wilks seemed a logical fit for interim HC the moment he was hired. he's obviously qualified, but he's getting a "chance" in a born-to-lose situation once again. hope he galvanizes the team and makes a great case for himself as a "all the time" leader and not just a "eh we're screwed, put Wilks in charge" leader.

I don't think Mims is a lost cause or anything close to it, but they're already grumbling about dealing with a 2nd year WR who can't stay on the field, and Mims has had the same experience in the NFL so far. so working on the assumption that the acquisition cost would be discounted by that, I wouldn't be opposed to it in theory. he's not just a Rhule/Baylor mirage, either. he was very highly thought of and made some noise in his first camp before getting injured IIRC.

it's dirty to do that hit on a guy when he's in training camp, presumably trying to earn a spot. during the season, these players are on rosters and are getting game checks. everybody knows that anything can happen in a game. when you're literally practicing, that's not the time to send a message. I get that emotions were high already and there likely was some back and forth, but there has to be some sort of professional respect on a basic level here. the hit itself could have been made without knocking the player out. they were playing at "thud" tempo, meaning bump into somebody and that's the extent of contact. I guess that's kind of the bottom line for me.

I caught their preseason game the other day. he looked really good in the game, honestly. so for him to be released at this point, it's something other than performance. which shouldn't be surprising to anyone who knows a little about his path to the NFL.

who run it

came here to say Arron Mosby. when the UDFAs were signed I went hunting as many highlights as I could, and he stood out as someone with some urgency to his game. kind of a Luvu type impact. I think he could stick, maybe get in some decent defensive snaps towards the end of the season.

I love how neatly Fitterer's picks correlate to RAS numbers. the higher the RAS number, the higher round you get chosen in. not that I think this is the be-all, end-all. but I do think you get better results paying attention to RAS and using it to guide your valuation of players, than you get by ignoring it (see: Gettleman era). totally agree with the sentiment that having a good RAS doesn't necessarily make you a great player. but having a great RAS means there's a probability that you have a better chance to be a good player. better late than never having this philosophy filter throughout the entire drafting apparatus IMO.

let's not paint a third round pick averaging nearly 4k yards per season over the first 8 years of his career with more than twice as many TDs as INTs and 3 Pro Bowls as anything other than a colossal win for the franchise.

Horn was looking 100% legit before his injury. assuming no issues with that, I expect he will make a huge impact. I do anticipate another signing. Fitterer brought up the idea of a DE/5 technique player being a potential add earlier in free agency, so Clowney is a potential move, or someone who does the same kind of things. I've been watching some tape on Brandon Smith, and I think he's quite a bit away from being a rotational LB. maybe training camp does the job to get him there, but I doubt it honestly.

the draft edition of Panthers Huddle came out today, and at the very end they teased the upcoming Panthers Confidential, so have no fear, it's coming

the Saints have a very good record of draft decisions in the last few years, and they've regularly traded up to get their guy. it's really no different from their strategy last few years, and I don't think they've got much to regret about it so far.

Sam Darnold is never ever going to be part of a trade for Baker Mayfield. it sounds nice but it's not gonna happen. the Browns are definitely not afraid of Mayfield signing with the Steelers or whatever if they release him. if they were worried about that, they wouldn't have ponied up the assets they did to get Deshaun Watson. I think it's important to reiterate that Mayfield and Darnold are not on the same level as a QB right now. as meh and as volatile of an asset Mayfield is, he's proven far more in his rocky career than Darnold ever has. I hate that the Panthers have arrived at a position where this appears to be their best option. just gross. you only get here through a plinko game of bad decisions. and there's no reason to think the bad decisions have stopped by now.

I remember the narrative when Rhule was hired being that he had been waiting for the right spot to do the NFL thing. he turned down the Jets. "I want to be a part of the game at the highest level, and I just gotta figure out where" was the quote from his opening press conference or something like that. so if he's looking at this job as one he can't wait to walk away from, guaranteed money or no, that's a bad look for him. no matter how bad Tepper might be.

the 2000 cutoff misses Rae Carruth by like two weeks.

Fitterer has literally said he's going to be adding lots of competition to the QB room. if Darnold somehow comes out on top of that competition, I can't imagine it will last all that long. there will be a rookie (or injured ) QB waiting in the wings to take over.

the Panthers could benefit from a trade for Baker, given Cleveland's motivation to move him for cap purposes. it's not out of the question that a pick swap (Cleveland 4th for a Carolina 5th or something along those lines) that ultimately benefits the Panthers would be part of the trade.

there's a price point where Mayfield makes some sense, and that price point will realistically only be available at the draft. so I'm assuming that's when something goes down.

DW's vibes are ridiculous. he literally called up Atlanta out of the blue, got them to sabotage their relationship with their long-time franchise QB, and then left them at the altar to pick up the pieces. if I didn't feel so grimy about him as a person, I'd almost respect it.

I mean, his impact was pretty short-lived in a Panthers uniform last season. and if his new contract comes in at less than the Panthers were slated to pay him, I guess that would go a long way towards showing they made a sound decision. not sure how many teams are lining up to sign him right now.