SCO96

I've never met a Panther player despite living in Spartanburg. But, I did bump into Jerry Richardson at the Marriott Hotel (circa 2004-2005). I was out on a date and He walked in with his wife. I said to my date "That looks like Jerry Richardson". She replied "Who's that?". She had no idea who he was. I told her "He owns the Panthers" Just then he walked by. I said "Mr. Richardson" He stopped and said "Yes?" I told him that I just wanted to say hello. He smiled at me and extended his hand. After our handshake we went our separate ways with our significant others. It wasn't and earth shattering event. Im sure Mr.Richasrdson has no memory of it . I had actually forgotten about it myself until I saw some of your posts. He did seem like a pleasant guy.

I’ll post more about this game later. For now I’ll say I’m disappointed but not surprised. Too loose on the road to Dallas by one score without your best cornerback and best offensive player is nothing to be ashamed of. I also thought our defense was being a little overhyped too. We could have given up when we were down 36-14. Everything went wrong in the 3rd quarter…and we still had a chance to win this game. I think this game is going to be a great learning experience for the team. Rhule and Fitz now see just how bad our Oline is and will make it a priority to fix it. The defense will come back down to earth and realize they have to get better. And, the team as a whole showed that they aren’t quitters. I think we are year, perhaps two years, away from being a a perennial Super Bowl threat in the NFC.

I don’t want Dak to get hurt. But, somebody needs to get a good lick on him to mark him think twice about leaving that pocket

We almost got a break with that “fumble”, but that call needs to be reversed. I thought he was already down when it came out the first time I saw the play.

This game is gonna be fun. I don’t think either team is going to be able to stop the other. If this game is close at the start of the 4th quarter, the last team with the ball will probably win.

You can already tell this is Dallas team is better offensively than anyone we’ve faced so far. I’m a diehard Panther, but even I was getting tired of hearing how great our defense is this year. We haven’t faced an good to great offense this season. We’ll have a better idea of how we good we are after this game. If we hold Dallas to 24 or less I’ll be impressed.

I wasn't upset/offended by that comment. Sure, it was a business decision. But, he was still packaged in a deal and sent packing after signing a deal just a few months ago. According to Shaqattaq's post "Jacksonville specifically asked for him". That has to make him feel valued as a player. I can't help but think our own Sam Darnold had similiar feelings after being traded to the Panthers. The Jets did the same thing to him that we just did to Arnold. They thought they could get better in the long run by moving him....so, it was a business decision. All that said, I think we'll end up getting the better end of the deal if CJ Henderson plays up to his potential.

We should have better understanding of just how good our defense is when we travel to Dallas next week. If we can contain Zeke Elliot and Dak Prescott on the road I'll feel a lot better about our defense.

I'd like to see the guy excel in the league. I realize most of the great QB's in the league are high draft choices, but it's always good to see QB's make a good showing who come out after the 1st round.

I was also impressed with Mills last night. 1) He was starting his first game, 2) He started on short notice because of Tyrod's injury 3) The game was a on Thursday night during prime time. 4) He was going against one of the best pass rushes in the NFL. Despite that, he didn't look overwhelmed. I think he would have played much better if he had better pass protection. Based on what I saw last night, he definitely was worth a 3rd round pick and could become a solid starter/backup with more seasoning and a better team around him. But, let's keep real...He can't sling it like Zach Wilson.

Is DJ hurt too? I’m having to watch the game on my phone. I’m having a bit of a delay plus I’m doing a couple of other things. I saw him sitting on the ground and he appeared to be getting work on.

I think the 16 game season was perfect. I hated to see the 17th game addition. But, after tonight I can’t help but wonder if the players would be healthier playing 18 games with a 2 bye weeks than having a Thursday night game every week making almost every team play at least 1 game on 3 days rest.

I had just finished texting some grad school buddies about this topic when I saw your post. We all feel the same as you.

What would you trade to recoup the 2nd round choice? Unless I'm wrong we only have 1 choice in the 1st round this year. I can't see us trading out of our 1st round slot unless we could get a later choice in the same round & that team's 2nd round pick as well. Unless the bottom fails out in the 2nd half of the season this team could very well end up competing for a playoff spot which puts our draft pick in the late teens or early 20's. I can't see anyone making the deal I just outlined above...unless they're really desperate to move up...which of course could happen.

In theory you are absolutely right. However, you know how the draft is in some years. Some classes have great lineman. Other years the talent isn't quite as good. I'd hate to take a LT (or center)out of desperation like we did with Little in the 2nd round a couple of years ago. I have a feeling we ain't gonna be drafting in the top 10 this year. The best LT's "could be gone" by the time we're on the clock. If a stud guard is on the board and he's better highest ranked remaining Center or LT, I'd be in favor of taking the guard...unless we had a more pressing need at another position.

A lot of people think this may be a bit drastic. But, I definitely understand your point of view. With the exception of RT, we could literally draft the best offensive lineman at any position in the 1st round (especially in the interior as you mentioned) of the 2022 draft and have an immediate improvement on the O-line. I don't think this is the year to get cute by trading back to acquire more choices if you have a shot to get a blue chip interior lineman in the 1st (or early 2nd) round. Moton is under contract now with a solid deal. If we can get Christensen ready to start (at either LT or G), we could double dip on lineman early in the draft and have literally have 4 starters on rookie contracts for 3 consecutive seasons.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WildJa00.htm Click on the link to see James Wilder's career stats. He had two great seasons back to back at ages 26 and 27. He had 492 touches in 1984 and 418 in 1985. He started all 16 games and rushed for over a 1,000 yards in both seasons. He also had 138 receptions over that period. After 1985, there's a drastic drop-off. 1) Never eclipsed 250 touches after 85'. After 86' he never eclipsed 150 before he retired in 90' 2) Never started 16 games again 3) Never rushed for more than 704 after 85, and never passed 500 after 86. 4) After having 138 receptions in 1984-85, he only had 135 receptions over the next 5 seasons of his career. Wilder wasn't the same type of back as Christian. He was more of an Eddie George type at 6-3/225. i didn't see him play much with Tampa because the Bucs weren't on TV much in SC back in the mid 80's but he was never as shifty as CMac and had an upright running style so he took a lot of hits. He was also older than Christian is now when he had is two great seasons. But it's pretty clear that the heavy work load he had in 1984-1985 caught up with him pretty quickly. We need need to get Chuba and Royce up to speed blend them into the offense as quickly as possible.

Carolina has too much talent in their backfield for Christian to be getting over 90% of the RB touches (carries and receptions) week in and week out. Years ago when he was with the Cowboys, Tony Dorsett (a small back like Christian) said Tom Landry rarely let him carry the ball more than 20 times a game. People who remember that era will recall that he shared carries with Robert Newhouse , Preston Pearson, and Ron Springs. In fact he was often on the bench early in his career for 3rd down and Pearson came in as a 3rd down specialty back. Dorsett said he resented it earlier in his career, but he realized later that it prolonged his career. I'm not saying Christian should be used exactly the same way, but Howard should be able to get 8-10 carries a game (approximately 2 per quarter) to lighten the load without really limiting the effectiveness of MacCaffrey. The latter is so talented, you could play them both at the same time by putting him in the slot and lining Howard up at TB (or vice versa to mix things up). 30 touches a game over a 17 game season could end up being a disaster in the making.

I feel the salary cap biased toward QB's has had a lot to do with my decreased interest. I believe the QB position should be the highest paid position in general. But, a QB's success is very dependent on the team surrounding him. 1) A poor offensive line will get even the best QB killed 2) Crappy receiving options limits a QB's effectiveness 3) A poor running game results in too many attempts which increases the risk of sacks/QB hits and INT'S. 4) A poor defense will almost always catch up to even the best offenses in the postseason. Dak Prescott balled last night. He'll probably throw for 35-40 TD's and 5,000 yards this year...and the Cowboys will struggle to make the playoffs because that defense doesn't make stops when it matters. Yet, QB's are almost making twice as much on average from any other position in the NFL. You can't afford to have a solid playmaker at each level of the defense like you could back in the day once your QB gets past his rookie deal. The NFL seems to aiming for a league where every team has a high priced QB to sling the ball game in and game out; and have him face defenses with almost no chance of holding him below 25-28 points per game.

I turned 50 this week. Today's NFL is different game from the one I grew up watching. There were high powered offenses back in the day that favored the pass (Air Coryell Chargers, Walsh's 49ers, etc). But even then, you didn't see Dan Fouts or Joe Montana throwing the ball 50 times a game. Those teams had guys that were still getting close to (or eclipsing) 1,000 yards on the ground. Dallas had 60 yds on the ground last night and Tampa only had 52. The defenses seem worse too. Whenever a QB gets the ball in the last 2:00 and only needs a FG or TD to win, I almost always put my bet on the defense to come up short. I think it's easier to pass than it's ever been due to the legalized holding on the O-line and the biased flag calling in the secondary. Godwin pushed off last night on Brady's game winning drive. If that play had been the other way around and the CB had got the INT a flag would have been thrown. I can't think of a more thankless task in the NFL than playing CB these days. I still follow the league, but I will confess to not nearly as interested in watching the actual games as I did growing up.

Not a fan of either guy, but I'm not surprised we cut Grier. He was a fairly high draft choice (3rd round) chosen as insurance in case CAM had another injury plagued season in 2019 (which he did). When he couldn't beat out Kyle Allen (who I believe was undrafted) I knew he wouldn't be here for the long term...unless he showed some significant improvement (which he never did). In hindsight, Hurney's last draft in 2019 was TERRIBLE...which is really the norm for him. I wouldn't be surprised if that move was made in order to leave room for a recently cut QB. We'll know soon enough.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/falcons/2021/08/24/josh-rosen-to-sign-falcons-backup-qb/8253466002/ I didn't see this news on our forum so I decided to make a thread. Any thoughts on this?

No team can compete in today's game with garbage at the LT position. I admit that I was giddy to see that he wouldn't be taking up a roster spot during the 2021 season. But, after I saw that he was traded for a 7th round pick a couple of thoughts popped into my mind 1) The Panthers must really thought extremely LITTLE (no pun intended) of his chances of becoming even a service backup in the NFL to cut bait with a 2nd round pick in exchange for a 7th round pick. 2) How will Greg Little process this transaction? What does it do to his confidence to know that he's a LT that "almost" went in the 1st round; that was traded away to a team for a 7th round draft choice (the round with the least chance of making a NFL roster) halfway through his rookie deal? If he's mentally tough this could light a fire under him and actually make him play better. If so, good for him. I'm inclined to believe he won't even make the Dolphin's final roster, and if he does I doubt it'll be as a LT. He'd probably have to moved inside to the guard position.

After seeing this list, I can't help but feel bad for all of the people who appear to have had their NFL dreams shattered today. And, as someone above pointed out earlier, this is really just the 1st phase/ beginning of the roster cuts. Teams have to be down to 85 by today, and all the way down to 53 by opening day. A lot more players have dark future at the end of the tunnel. It shows you just how hard it is to make an NFL team. Those who make it to the pros are very fortunate to achieve their dream of professional football.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/08/17/jaguars-cut-tim-The Golden Calf of Bristol/ Forget Minshew. We have a shot at The Golden Calf of Bristol now that he's been released was released by the Jaguars today. He's the best backup option on the market right now. If we don't use him as a QB, we can give him a shot at the TE position.