d-dave

Thanks for the handy breakdown @SCO96! I'd see who wants what after round 1. I can almost guarantee that we'll have a fair number of suitors for at the top of 2 and 3. Listening to Bucky Brooks the other day, he said this draft was really deep in OT and WR, but after the first 100 or so players, it all gets really thin. I'm all for more darts at the dart board of chance!

In the pursuit of the competitive edge, teams aren't making the best choices in their data sets. Data is data, but without context, it's just a bunch of numbers. I wouldn't blame players for skipping that after what happened to CJ. Now was the the only reason he slid all the way to 2? No. There were real concerns with Stroud. The overwhelming national narrative was Bryce was just a little bit better due to his creativity and playmaking ability coming out of Alabama. Bryce also carried the caveat that his size is a MAJOR outlier. The S2 nonsense didn't help, but it wasn't the whole story. There are plenty of stories of the best QBs not being #1 over all. We'll just have to see what happens with our QB. S2 is fine as a piece of the puzzle, but it's not the only defining characteristic of a person. CJ was drug through the mud, which was stupid, over leaked scores. The problem is that if a person says "no, I decline to share my secret scores with the world" is interpreted as they aren't proud of their results and think it will hurt their stock.

I hate how things turned out for him. Hopefully he can use this as a personal and professional rebound. Was a nice kid, good story, but just couldn't develop here. I wish nothing but the best for him (and honestly most NFL players). I'll look out for him this spring!

That's what I think too. I don't disagree that Cable Companies are good ole capitalistic institutions that strive for profit over all (and need to be reigned in), but there are some SIGNIFIGANT challenges to streaming the volume of data to the world.

The whole entertainment industry is completely fugged. The model is broken. Advertisers want to get their products out to people. I get it. It's a part of business. Nothing in this world is free. Production is expensive. From actors, to extras, to crew, to the artists, writers, sets, costumes, locations...the list goes on. It's not as simple as filming in a backyard somewhere. How do these companies pay for these productions? Either via subscription or advertisements. There are very few billionaires willing to burn money on a tv show. The old cable model has been discussed with carrier fees, etc. With the disruption of the pay for a bundle model that cable has relied on, channels have to figure out how to get the money to get rich and produce content to keep people paying. It's just the model is now fragmented instead of universal. Companies will now hide premium content from OTA or regular cable subscribers behind a paywall. Your left with the options of piracy (which seems great for you), until the things you enjoy pirating end up getting canceled because there aren't enough paying customers. Again, these companies make a LOT of money off the advertising, which in turn allows them to buy these expensive shows from the studios. What is the option here? I'm much more of a fan of paying for what I want to watch instead of paying for a bunch of crap I don't want. I like that if I'm done with HBO for a little, I can cancel then reup later.

This is an interesting debate. What makes a player a dawg versus a good play versus an edgy player? For me: DB is a dawg because you never saw him slack off, he played as hard as he could, made plays and set the tone. Luvu is a dawg because of his vocal leadership and charisma, his impact plays, and that he plays with his hair on fire. Chubba is a dawg because he has grown up and has learned to run angry. He was an offensive tone setter. Shaq is a dawg because of his hardwork, leadership, and playmaking ability. Bell/Woods? They are both good players and leaders. There just wasn't the production we expected last year, but I think they are definitely dawgs. You know a dawg when you see him play. Burns was one in the past, but this year with the contract and injuries, he was looking after himself (can't blame him too much when a hundred million bucks is on the line). I'd love for JC to be a dawg, but he's not available enough. Icky? Could have been, maybe still be but he took a HUGE step back this year. So where do we need more? OL, WR, CB. If we can lock up Burns with a contract (not my money, don't care about the numbers), I think he returns to form. We need some help with some playmakers, but we're not far away from making some noise in 2024. No playoffs, but interesting.

That's going to be the killer app so to speak. Being able to shrink AR into something easy to wear, fit into helmets, dash, etc to make life better. Or get people MORE engrossed in porn...whatever!

JPJ is a freak athlete. Watching some of his highlights from the Senior Bowl... Man, if he's there at 33, you sprint to the podium. Talk about a dawg! Someone takes a cheap shot on Bryce, what do you think JPJ is going to do about it?

To me, VR is a cool tool, but it's still very limited. Like, I do like being able to have a virtual desktop as big as I want, but the googles aren't high enough resolution for real work. I tried doing some video editing in a Quest 2, and it was gimicky. We're still a while away from VR headsets replacing things like monitors or experiences. Asking my 11 year old if he'd rather go visit a castle in VR or in person, and he'd rather go on a trip. VR is a fun game for him right now, but nothing beats the real thing. Now if VR can be used to make certain tasks more efficient, it will catch on, but otherwise there are still too many problems with things like clarity, motion sickness, latency, etc which make it hard to do real work. I mean, I love some of the AR things, and working with 3D objects can be cool. Like I could absolutely see a company prototyping in VR with simulations.

Young has a functional NFL arm with the added benefit of the creative arm angles he can throw from when off platform. There's my best NFL draft pundit impression. We all know he doesn't have a rocket launcher. That's ok. In college, we saw that he can make throws down the field. In the NFL, he rarely had the chance due to the absolute poo show that was the 2023 Carolina Panthers. Some fans are just not convinced. So that's up to Canales & Co. to fix. They need to build a system that allows Bryce to maximize his talents. And if he fails, then he's done. Another QB bust. But I'm choosing hope. It's better than wallowing in misery.

I think if they can start putting up some points early, that helps a lot. I like what Person tweeted about Tepper saying he's going to stay out of the spotlight. Hopefully that means less meddling. I think we can look at year 1: being competent, maybe not the most talented. Year 2: Being competitive, meaningful December. Year 3: We need to look like a playoff team. I'll say in the NFL, with its year to year variance, three years is more than enough time to see if it works. Ideally, Tepper got it right on the 3rd try, and Canales is able to lead a competitive and feisty team. If they are just fun, then that's a step in the right direction! I have no idea what will happen, but I can see Tepper firing him in year 3 if it still looks like poop.

Generally, I'm pretty positive about the whole dog and pony show. Seems like we have some serious football people. Good. On the other hand, we have David Tepper. So I bet if you gave Dan and Dave some time and room, they could probably help the Panthers develop a winner. How much room will David Tepper give the team to perform? Or did he freaking learn to let people do their jobs? Or does he want to pay out more buyouts, and continue to be made fun of around the country. I'm hoping, but I'm not full in. I'm positive, looking on the bright side of things until the ugly side comes out in droves. I'd rather look forward to enjoying the season than hoping to be internet right about the team. Here's to hope!

Solomon Wilcots was on Locked On Panthers this week, and it was an interesting segment. The big points are: 1. Don't waste a dude's time. 2. Score points to save your job. So with Burns, we have a 26 year old pass rusher who is respected in the NFL. There's value there. It's about time to trade him to a contender. We're not winning any time soon, and the assets can be used to improve the offense. By scoring points, you'll get fans in the seats. The NFL is an offensive league. You can maintain interest with a good offense. I can really see those points. Though I hate the idea of sending MORE good players to other places to find success. What do the Panthers do if they trade Burns, or Brown, or any other defensive piece? You can only add so many pieces. To me, there's a tremendous amount of scary in trading our best players on D for unproven rookies. With the lack of news about Evero, I'm starting to get concerned that he's leaving as well. Lord, then what? The defense would have to be rebuilt as well. Or heck, maybe it's time to just rip the bandaid off.. Fire sale the defense, get what we can, and call it.

I'm a fan of the draft, yet not being deep enough into the process of evaluation. I do enjoy this time of year (since we suck), and this year looks to be a deep WR draft according to the draftniks. I've seen some stuff about Legette that makes him sound like a faster Mingo. Would that be accurate? Considering the "struggles" of Mingo this year, is that a good idea? Since y'all are higher on Legette, what makes you higher on him?

I'm pretty sure the Huddle is the last place in the world good ideas would come from, so hopefully staying far away from us dumdums! Realistically, I don't care. It's up to him to do what he needs to do. I'm sure he probably has a pretty big network of people to assist him in improvement. Private coaches, nutritionists, all the things. But that doesn't matter for poo. What matters is if he gets better. That's going to be on him. On the coaches. On the other players. If Bryce has a repeat year, then we dump him and go find a new QB. That's the NFL. The business. Bryce strikes me as someone who knows what's at stake with his actions on and off the field. He also is smart enough to know how the NFL works, and I imagine he's probably working to improve himself.

Given what we've seen of Tepper over the past 6 years, I have no idea if he's learned his lesson. The start to the off season right now is going better. Now If he can allow the football guys to do their job... That's a really BIG IF! I'm not sure he can tamp down on his own ego enough to do so. I'd love to see Tepper fade into obscurity or stick out as a big dorky fanboy. He needs to get his name out of the news for meddling. No more owner spies. Sit and enjoy the dinners, but don't ask football questions. It's fine to be a rich fan with access. It's another to sit here and try to run the team like Jerry Jones....

LOL yeah! I play for a bit, into act II, then I'm like "but what if I did this instead?" so I start another... I have five saves... LOL

It's very simple, Frank Reich and Co. didn't see Matt Coral as anything other than a JAG. Last year Bryce was bad. The Panthers were Bad. The coaching staff is gone. But we still invested a LOT into getting Bryce. We don't know if Bryce is the guy or not, but he couldn't be accurately judged in the poo show that was last season. Knowing our track record, if we unloaded him, we'd end up looking like fools, regardless of what people think of his height or size.

Fixed? Or do you want to call it rehabbed? Geno Smith was a 2nd round pick who hadn't done much in the NFL until two years ago, then he blew up. Baker had a solid career in Cleveland, but the team wanted to move on to DeShaun Watson... Then he goes and has a great season, and will get paid thank to being rehabbed. There are plenty of stories of QBs getting rehabbed by better coaches and situations. Canales has experience doing that. Everything I read and watch about him says he very could be the coach we've been searching for, even if it takes a few years for him to learn to HC properly. Maybe that 6 year contract is a sign that there will be more patience with him. Now about Bryce, maybe. As much as I want him to do well, because he's our QB, every story is different. The size queens here are going to point out you cant teach height and arm rocket. Which is true. But I think we can all agree that you can't really teach fundamental accuracy, competitive fire, and work ethic. I think Bryce has those traits, some of you disagree. That's fine. We have no clue what this season is going to be. I want to see my team succeed. I have no ego in being internet right. If they fail, it's OK. I'm a fan, not a stockholder. The Panthers under Tepper have burned us as fans time and time again. It's completely fair to be VERY skeptical. Because it's fun, I'm going to have SOME hope. I'd rather look forward to possible success and dwell in the doldrums of "we're always going to suck." Fan how you want to fan.

I got bad news, it happens in a lot of teams. The big kicker is if Tepper doesn't give his phone number out to assistants, doesn't call weekly meetings to hold the coach over the fire, if he's not suggesting personnel decisions, and just being the biggest fan/dork. If he can just be the biggest and richest fan, who gets a few times to talk to the guys in charge, that will be a major improvement.

So I'm excited we have a head coach again! I'm interested in Canales. I like what I've seen about him but there are plenty of questions that remain. Hopefully Tepper gives him the time to develop and we get the right players in place. Let's keep the off season moving. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully well!

Here's what I'll say, he's interesting. Here's a video where he's talking and explaining things in an interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xysOtBj-ao8&t=274s&pp=ygUMZGF2ZSBjYW5hbGVz I'd absolutely interview him. I do like a LOT of what he says, and his results over the years. I also think @ncfan makes a great point above. Canales says the right things, and he's produced as a coach, but is he HC material or just good OC material?

Proof is in the pudding. That's the reality of the situation here. Right now, Morgan is behind in the "trust the new GM" process compared to an outside candidate. As far as last year, what do we expect him to say? That "Icky looks like a bum" or "This roster is so bad, we'll be looking for another coach in less than a year!" I'm sure they all thought they were a lot better than they were. Coming off the Wilks run at the end, they figured if they ran it back with most of the same players, they could build off the success. Will anyone on Mint Street have learned? Will anyone be able to figure out how to right the ship? As much as Tepper has invited the poo from us, the NFL, the community, the world, he didn't become a billionaire by being a dumbdumb who continually repeats mistakes. Sure, he had some help from the US taxpayer, but he still had to take that money and make it grow. So there's something his that vain, bald head of his. Folks will fan how they want to, but I'm just going to have to see what happens here. I'm not ready to be super pessimistic or optimistic. Morgan himself was a rising FO star a few years ago, so we'll see how year of hard, humble pie tastes and changes things. If not, then we continue to ride the merry go round.

Florio is a fun blowhard. Very much on the entertainment spectrum, but not for everyone. I do enjoy his stuff from time to time. Honestly, there is a lot of room to criticize the Panthers in how they hired Morgan. I get it. From the search firm, to the interviews, to watching folks pull out; it's hard to put a lot of faith in how the Panthers ended up with Morgan. While Dan Morgan has a lot of FO and scouting experience, and a reputation as an intense and smart dude; Tepper is the ultimate issue. Now will Morgan have the stones to tell Tep to back off? Or to make his own choices? I think so. While Fitterer was a consensus builder, the thing that kind of sticks out on my end was that Scott seemed to be a really nice guy, maybe not the strongest leader or most decisive person. Could be that Scott was more easily talked into things by others. Will Dan Morgan be more decisive and direct? I think so. He comes across as a bit of a old school hardass. I feel like Morgan is going to build the roster in his way, using input from others to help him make choices compared to Fitterer seeming to try to make everyone happy. I could be completely wrong. I WANT Dan Morgan to be a successful GM. IF he finds success, then my Panthers do. If not, then he'll lose his job and we start the churn again.

Well, it's interesting. Thrilled for the legacy, but very curious to see how he does since he and Fitterer were so close. Look, I wish Dan nothing but success. We'll see what happens, but I am a little puzzled why we didn't go outside the organization. Here's to hoping!