Ricky Spanish

I'm interested to see how he utilizes the TEs in our offense. Looking at his history he was a TE coach before he was Aaron Rodger's QB Coach and in his stint with NY his TEs had moderate to good production behind OBJ being the #1 target. Ian Thomas/Tommy Tremble could very well see 40 receptions this seasons and upwards of 600 yards receiving. I am cautiously optimistic.

Let me clarify, I am not optimistic. I will however stop my vitriolic spewing of hatred at the mere mention of Rhule's name and choose to the support the team. I don't think it will last long, but we have him at least through this next season so there's no point in rooting against him at the moment. If we are 2-6 halfway through the season, all my goodwill will be gone and I'll be back on the root for the team to lose so they get rid of the guy.

When you're out of the playoffs, you are pulling for the draft spot. Remember in 2019 when we went 5-11 and picked 7th? If we had lost just one more game, we would have been picking in front of the Chargers... We would have Herbert. Remember in 202 when we went 5-11 and we beat Ron and the WFT towards the end of the season? Had we lost that game we would have picked in front of the Lions. We would have Penei Sewell. As soon as the season is lost, I root for the tank job because the higher the tank, the better the chances we land a franchise player at a key position like QB or LT.

This isn't me calling anyone out in particular, it's more just some self reflection that I think probably applies to quite a few fans of this franchise, I will admit to being one of the most guilty of this: I like the Panthers I don't like Matt Rhule The problem I, and it seems many, are running into is that Point 1 is almost fueling the rage and feelings dedicated to Point 2. As a fan of this team, we should want to see the team succeed, but Rhule has sucked so bad, I want to see him fail as an individual. Unfortunately if Rhule fails, the team fails, and watching the team fail makes me angry. Thus the cycle perpetuates itself. Therein lies the conundrum that is being a fan of this franchise at the moment. The past two years as a Panther fan have not been fun. It would be one thing if the rest of the team looked competent minus the QB's but overall the team ended up looking worse in year 2 than they did in year 1. That falls on Rhule's Shoulders. So here we are going into year 3, and we as a fanbase are unhappy. We as a team are trending down, and Matt Rhule is still at the helm. However, this offseason is different than last offseason and there have definitely been some objectively good changes that have been made going into year 3: Legitimate OL upgrade in FA with players we aren't scratching our heads over Brought in All-Pros in the Special Teams in Hekker and Andre Roberts Drafted an OT with our first pick at #6 overall, and he's a local kid Drafted a QB with upside to try and develop in the 3rd round Legitimate assistant coaches with track records of success at their positions (Wilks, Campen, McAdoo) Coaches added to the staff with NFL Experience, something we severely lacked the first two years of the Rhule Regime We made a legitimately good trade for Baker Mayfield. Say what you want about him as a QB, with the state of our current team, that was the best deal we could have made. There is a 0% chance the team improves with Sam starting under center next year. Of course there are some not good things as well: We lost our best Corner and pass rusher and really didn't do anything to replace either. We are banking a crop of young unproven players stepping up and breaking out in CJ Henderson, Horn, and Gross-Matos. Rhule and Tepper simped hard for Sexual Predator Deshaun Watson and failed at acquiring him in the process. Just made the team and themselves look desperate and foolish. This left a really bad taste in my, and many other fan's mouths. This will be the third year in a row that Matt Rhule tries to unfug the QB situation that he himself created. The third point I think is a big sticking point for a lot of the fanbase. He has already failed at identifying even mediocre talent at the position, and it seems like he has gotten carte blanche to do it for a third year in a row. It's like watching Star Wars Episodes 1 and 2 and knowing that 3 will be just as big of a pile of poo as the others. BUT, and I can't believe I'm saying this, it is a new year, and it is very possible that we COULD be surprised with a halfway decent third installment, much like the prequels did with Revenge of the Sith. Was it the best Star Wars movie ever made? God no. But it was a significant improvement over the previous two. I guess what I'm saying is I am a Panther Fan first and foremost, and I don't want to lose sight of that, regardless of who the coach is. I'm going to root for Matt Rhule to succeed, because his success means the team succeeds, and that's all any of us really care about. Objectively speaking, our team looks improved from last year. I honestly don't think I wanted to believe it because I don't like Matt Rhule and don't think he's a good head coach. But, there is a chance he surprises us and we actually contend for a playoff spot because the moves made this offseason have made the team better, on paper at least. So I ask that we all take a step back, take a breath, and look at the roster top to bottom compared to last year. Look at the Offense the Defense and the STs. We are a better team than 2021 even with Matt Rhule as a coach. So until we are out of the playoff race, I'm willing to put my hatred of Matt Rhule aside and pull for this team to succeed even if it's being coached by a guy I think is incompetent. Let's hope 2022 is our Revenge of the Sith, and not the Rise of Skywalker.

From UrinatingTree on youtube. He's a Steeler's fan but has fantastic videos related to the NFL. Breaks down the Baker situation from start to finish in Cleveland. Also details just how severe his injury last year was.

I'm anticipating a Mayfield/Corral Bromance blossoming. I bet they vibe well.

Yafeelinme? I think a new huddle meme is blossoming before our very eyes a la Tommy Jone, Donald Lafell, and eggshell penis.

Grossi on it as always.

Let's hope Baker is our Matt Flynn to Corral's Wilson

If you don't pick Justin Tucker as your Kicker then we ain't homies. I unironically love that kicker.

Personally, I don't think this guy is that far off. With Reddick gone we lose 11 sacks and replace those with nothing really proven. Our best Corner hit FA and we are replacing him with an unproven second year player limited his rookie year due to injury, Donte Jackson who is incredibly streaky, and CJ Henderson who has proven nothing yet. Chinn is still playing Safety where his impact isn't felt as much as it would be at LB, but we did add Woods to assist in the back. We need a bunch of unproven guys to step up in Brown, YGM, Hayes, Horn, and Henderson and we didn't really do much to address the defense's main weakness which was stopping the run. It seems our plans going into this season for that are "Hope the young guys develop", and that has me worried. Our defense was fools gold last year and not very good if you look at efficiency stats. Sure we didn't give up a lot of yards, but we also didn't stop other teams from scoring a lot of points either - mainly thanks to the poor run defense. For all the good work we did on the offensive line this offseason, it felt like the D-Line was equally neglected other than bringing in Ionnadis.

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10040237-ranking-the-5-worst-defenses-in-the-nfl-entering-2022.amp.html

This guy pre's

Welp, I guess we're including Christensen in the Mayfield deal. Rhule Kiss of death has spoken.

They got rid of the rule this season. There will be more throwback helmets and the such moving forward

Tongue in cheek really. Jimmy has two super bowl rings with the Pats as a backup. While he didn't start, I am still TECHNICALY correct.

Jimmy is a 2x Super bowl winner, don't know what you're talking about. I think the big thing scaring everyone away from Jimmy G is the throwing shoulder injury/surgery. Big Question Mark surrounding him and his capabilities as a passer moving forward.

Jimmy G is the best of the 3 but also the most fragile. All three have injury concerns, and let's be honest, so does Corral. There's a solid chance we aren't seeing the game 1 starter at some point next season due to injury.

poo you're right, I'll fix that

If this happens, the first question asked at the post trade press conference should be: "In 2020, you evaluated TB, brought him in, and it didn't work out. Last year you traded for Sam, guaranteed his 5th year option, and it didn't work out. Based off of your previous evaluations of retread QB's, what makes this one different and why do you think this one will work?" followed by: "Baker is under contract for one year. What are the team's plans for him in the future?"

Taking this with a huge grain of salt, as should you all. Just passing along the message I received.

My friend's guy says we are trying to either get the Browns to send money along with Baker or take Sam.

Hearing from a guy that knows a guy that says the Baker deal might be done by Friday. At least that's the buzz around Tepper Sports

It's fun to look at the leverage that each team has in this situation: Cleveland's leverage: Baker is better than any QB currently on our roster. Panthers have a HC on the hotseat and Baker is an upgrade at the most important position. They have another potential suitor for Baker in Seattle. Our Leverage: Cleveland needs to clear cap space for the future and rolling any savings over would be beneficial for them. They burned the bridge with Mayfield and he is never playing for them again. If no one trades for Baker then Cleveland has to eat his entire salary while he doesn't play for them next season. We just drafted a rookie QB with high upside that we like. We have a QB who costs the exact same as Baker so there's no point paying two QBs the same amount of money and playing only one. Mayfield is only under contract for one more year. Mayfield is coming off a down year. Mayfield is coming off of offseason surgery. Due to the Watson deal, CLE is hurting for Draft capital. Baker, while an upgrade, is enough of a question mark that you can't sell the farm for him. I'm sure I'm missing some points for both sides but it looks like we have way more leverage in these negotiations on the surface.

To summarize my feelings: Baker is not as bad as people on here make him out to be and is a significant step up from Darnold. Baker would make the team better immediately and is good enough to take a team to the playoffs. I don't necessarily believe he is the long term answer for us even if he is the best option for this upcoming season. I don't trust this FO to make a cunning enough trade to get him on the roster due to previous dealings and evaluations of the QB position. I would love to trade Sam for Baker straight up but doubt that would happen. Because of this, I would prefer we roll with Corral this season, take our lumps, and evaluate next year.