SCO96

I missed most of the 3rd quarter. I just saw BY's stat line. It said he had 74 passing yards at end of the 3rd quarter. That's close to what he had when I had to leave the game at the end of the 2nd quarter. We'll never be competitive week in and week out if he can't put up better numbers than this.

JB had a first round grade in the eyes of a lot scouts based on HIS TALENT LEVEL. If not for the injury he would have gone higher in the draft, possibly between the middle and the end of round 1. To get him just before the 50th pick is a steal. He'd be on a 4 year deal. You can't even renegotiate until the end of the season 3. You're basically paying him nothing for 3 seasons. I don't buy into all back are interchangeable. No they're not. You have average backs, good backs, then your great-exceptional backs. The latter category doesn't grow on trees. If a back is special it pays to keep them. The key is knowing the difference between the first two categories and the third one.

It's hard to argue with your logic. Ladd seems tailor made to play in a system with a QB like BY; and getting a franchise center in round2 would have given us easily one of the top 10 interior lines...if not top 10 offensive lines...in the NFL.

I didn't say I would have done it. I was just saying that I can see why some in the FO considered it. Everything was done to give Bryce weapons. Solidify the interior line thru FA. Get XL at WR in round 1 and then get the most talented RB in round 2. Take a TE in round 4, etc They were probably "assuming" he'd make a complete recovery during the 2024 season. I'm a skeptical person. I wouldn't have assumed he'd be ok in 2024. I personally would have taken another position in the 2nd for that very reason. But, if I were "influenced" to take him I would've argued to keep him off the field, especially seeing how things were going for us record wise. Conventional Wisdom says most backs don't get back to normal until two years after the ACL surgery. He was injured in Fall 2023. Having him suit up in 2025 would have been almost 2 years since the original injury. You have him for 3 year on low contract. If he balls out, you resign him for a couple of more years b/c he'd only have 3 years of tread on the tires. If he's ok but not great you let him walk.

Chubba had a good season in 2023. He's having a good-great 2024. I understand why Brooks was taken in 2nd round. Getting a back that talented on round 2 is a steal. But, the injury thing couldn't be overlooked. This team had no chance to make the playoffs by the time he was activated. We didn't need JB this season. I would have made 2024 a red-shirt season for him; and wouldn't have had him take a snap until 2025 to give him an entire season to heal. That doesn't mean that he couldn't have hurt reinjured the knee in 2025, but taking the 2024 season off would have given him approximately 18 months off to recover from the original ACL injury.

Luke is only 33. Maybe he can convince him to suit up with him!

This offseason we lost 2 key starters (Burns, Luvu)and were not adequately replace due to the big emphasis on offense in the 2024 draft. Two of our 3 best defensive players (Shaq, DB) were lost for the season in the 1st quarter of the season. No one was on the roster to step up and fill those voids. Those facts alone should give Morgan and Canales another year even if they fail to get 5 wins. If we had scored one more TD or FG in either game we would have beat 3 playoff teams in row (KC, Tampa, Philly) despite our shaky defense and lack of proven weapons at the skill positions. If we don't show any improvement in the win column in 2025 then I'd be inclined to agree with you.

Here's are list of the 2025 draft picks. If they nail this draft things could turn around in a hurry for the Panthers. Here's what I'd consider. You'll notice I'm focusing primarily on one side of the ball. First round pick (DT or DE who can stuff the run AND RUSH the passer, possibly TMC WR) Second-round pick (via LA Rams) (Best DT, DE, LB on board that you can pencil in as Day 1 Starter) Third round pick (Assuming you got 1st 2 rounds right...best defensive player....S, LB, CB, DL, CB) Fourth round pick (Center. Most starting centers in the NFL are chosen on Day 3 of the draft) Fifth round pick (BPA) Fifth Round pick (via Ravens) (BPA) Fifth-round pick (via NY Giants) (BPA) Seventh round pick (BPA) Seventh-round pick (via 49ers) (BPA) I wouldn't be opposed to trading some of those low end picks away to move up higher into the 4th or 5th round. Stats show that undrafted players have a higher likelihood of making the team than a large percentage of players taken in rounds 6 and 7. As bad as our team is, if we don't come away with 3 starters for the first 2 days of the draft I'd count that as a massive failure.

Our talent level is so low, and our defensive needs so vast, that just about any position we take in the first round at DL, LB, S would make us immediately better. I wouldn't even be "upset " if we took Will Johnson or Hunter at CB. Those guys would make us make our pass defense better overnight. My only drawback to to those guys would be the fact that they wouldn't heavily impact our RUN DEFENSE. As some have pointed out, our run defense is historically bad. You won't compete for championships if teams are gashing for 150-200 yards every game. A stud at DT, DE, LB, or even a hard hitting/in the box Safety would help that issue immediately. But, if you did take a shutdown corner, you could use the rest of the draft and FA to solve our other issues.

We switched to the 3-4 at the start of the 2019 season. I remember reading an article on the web...possibly even from this site...stating that this was what Tepper wanted and Rivera obliged him. We've hired 3 head coaches since then and none of them has even hinted at moving back to a 4-3. I can't help but think that our owner still wants to run a 3-4, but I could be wrong. I wish someone could bring this up at a postseason conference and gauge the attitude to such a question/suggestion.

You and I must be kindred spirits. I just brought this up in reply to a question on a different thread around the same time you posted your reply. I'll paste my post below. "Mason and (a healthy) Brown would gives us a formidable interior defensive presence, but we'd need to find some 4-3 ends that could get to the passer and set the edge on running plays. If we went 3-4 we'd have to find some OLB/DE hybrids that could get upfield on passing plays...but also drop into coverage at times. Mason and Brown could work at DE in that scheme, but we'd still need to find a monster to man the point at NT. This is "arguably" the biggest question facing the defensive side of the ball this year." Here's the sad fact, we don't have the talent to play either scheme right now.

It's hard to argue with this post after watching yesterday's defensive debacle. Here's something that really needs to be contemplated by the FO this offseason. Are they going to stick with the 3-4 or transition back to a 4-3? That decision is really going to affect how you approach the draft & FA Mason and (a healthy) Brown would gives us a formidable interior defensive presence, but we'd need to find some 4-3 ends that could get to the passer and set the edge on running plays. If we went 3-4 we'd have to find some OLB/DE hybrids that could get upfield on passing plays...but also drop into coverage at times. Mason and Brown could work at DE in that scheme, but we'd still need to find a monster to man the point at NT. This is "arguably" the biggest question facing the defensive side of the ball this year.

I didn't follow Lewis before he joined our team. I had no idea he played Center. If your scenario were tried we'd have a solid interior with Icky, Lewis, and Hunt. Moton at RT, and I'm assuming Brady at LT. That wouldn't be a bad line-up when you think about. Unfortunately, I don't see Brady sticking around when his contract expires. I think he's going to want to compete for a starting job elsewhere or at minimum serve as a swing lineman on a winning team. Your idea could necessitate finding a solid LT this off-season in the draft or via free agency...and solid LT's don't grow on trees.

While what you suggest is quite tantalizing, their affect on the field would be lessened if our opponents keep cramming the ball down the throats of our ineffective defensive line. Why throw at our CB's when you can rush for 150-200 yards per game? We also do a bad job of consistently rushing the passer. Going for the best D-lineman in the draft wouldn't be a bad move. Yesterday our D-line made Rush and Dowdle look like Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman. That said, I wouldn't jump off a cliff if the Panther took Hunter. They could then use most of the other picks to solidify the line and other deficient roster spots.

I'm old enough to remember the Joe Montana/Steve Young competition from the late 80's. Montana had a 3 year run from 85-87 where the 49ers didn't reach the NFC title game. They were thumped by the Giants in back to back years (85-86). The 2nd game resulted in a back injury that almost ended his career. People thought it may be time to move on from him (which is laughable in hindsight). Bill Walsh brought in Steve Young that off-season. In 87, Montana had arguable the worst playoff game of his career and the the 49ers were upset at home by an unheralded Vikings team. In 88' there was a legitimate competition between him and Young. We know how that turned out. The 49ers repeated in 88-89, and almost pulled off a 3 peat in 1990. Young eventually got the job after Montana was hurt at the end of the 1990 season and missed pretty much all of the 1991 and 1992 seasons. To this day its obvious that there is still some friction between Montana and Young. But, you can't deny that competition made them BOTH BETTER. Montana was playing the best football of his career before he got hurt in the 1990 NFC title game. Young took over and played at a HOF level for the rest of his career. IF the 49ers brought in competition for JOE MONTANA, then the Panther should bring in competition for Bryce Young.