frankw

This is why I said before the draft this is not a good destination for a rookie wideout. Yes we think we have a better coach on paper this year (deja vu?). But if Bryce starts to struggle early like he did last season because defenses now have 16 games worth of tape of his habits and cons how long before the coach has to make a change for the good of the team? And will Tepper even allow that change? Stay tuned.

I think some of you are reading way too much into this emphasis on the run. Running the ball is good. Running the ball is old school football. But it's a passing league. And the other layer to wanting to run the ball at all costs is your run game is only as good as your passing game. Just a heads up for folks. Defenses will be ready to stop our run game from the jump until Bryce Young proves he can open up the entire field with his arm.

This shouldn't be news to anyone that isn't trying to carry water for Bryce Young.

I don't remember hearing much if any at all doubts about Joe's arm talent. Caleb Williams as much poo as people talk about him no one is worried about his arm. And neither were sub 6 foot QB's to boot. When you're an outlier amongst outliers physically and you refuse to participate at the combine you better walk on water as Bill Parcells said.

I'll look but so far I don't know where or when that would have taken place. When he was at Alabama? And if that's the case we already know how they embellish things in relation to height and weight so it would have to be taken with a heavy grain of salt if such were the case. At the end of the day knowing what we know now after their rookie seasons the tape that we all argued over behind each QB prospect didn't lie. The proof is in the pudding as they say right?

All anyone could do pre-draft was speculate based on his college tape. Here's a fun reddit thread that has aged impeccably. https://www.reddit.com/r/Texans/comments/zk9hlf/despite_his_size_bryce_young_has_excellent_a_but/

You are a loyal fan sir.

$450? I had to look this up to see for myself. That is pure hilarity. I have had very little to no interest in other NFL games the last several years and nonsense like this certainly won't help with that. I'll just stick with the local Panthers games and catch highlights for others if I have any interest.

When you say early do you mean first round in general or top 5? If you're going top 5 top 3 or 1st overall then yeah you're going to find a ton of busts. That's why I didn't want to trade up for a QB and if I did Stroud was the only choice. And that brings us back to the issue at hand. If you're trading up you trade up for the jackpot. The best arm talent in the draft. We chose the low end arm talent to trade up for. Just awful management. But that's a Tepper team for ya.

People have been saying stuff like this for years. Here's one in relation to the 2018 draft when this topic was once again a source of debate. That list is.....rough.

It wasn't even just not wanting to have his numbers under the microscope compared to the big arm QB's it was just not wanting that data available overall. Both he and his agents/inner circle knew they couldn't let that happen because it would have torched his draft stock. At the end of the day to me that's not the mark of someone who wants to be a champion or a leader. That's just someone who wants to get drafted high at all costs and then worry about the rest later. That's who we decided to mortgage the future for and make the face of our franchise. It was an enormous gamble that for some reason many people lauded as a slam dunk at the time. Sports will humble you quick. If there's anything we as Panthers fans can say for certain that's it.

LOL the Bobcats couldn't get the first pick with what I assume is still the worst single season win % in NBA history but the Hawks get it with 36 wins. Rigged.

Well that's the problem. What's "good enough" at this juncture? Have we not learned anything from our Carolina Panthers in this area? I don't see us getting a proper return value right now with the rest of the NBA knowing our predicament. Look at what the Pelicans have dealt with in relation to Zion. The best path is to revisit this next year where there is a high probability his value will increase with improvement under Charles Lee. The biggest variable is the question of how much he will actually play. We just have to wait and see. I know one thing. The NBA better give us minimum another top 3 pick.

I'm seeing some revisionist history being applied in here about things. Such is the life of a Panthers fan I suppose. Some of us would like to forget the debacle last year. But let's not just throw poo out there that isn't true. We ran a fugton of shotgun plays last year and it wasn't just because our coaching staff was trash. Anyone with eyes could see it was to the direct benefit of BY and his phsyical limitations. He ran virtually no under center plays with Alabama and we talked at length about that before the draft. We can only have these circular arguments about last seasons coaching ineptitude so many times. Yes it was bad. The QB play was horrific at times as well. But let's not forget the fact that there were games where mediocre at best backup opposing QB's like Tyson Bagent and CJ Beathard looked much better than our own QB. We need to see better results fast with Canales.

You absolutely don't trade LaMelo Ball this early. One season minimum with Lee to see what juice he can squeeze out of him with this core intact. That being said I definitely need to see LaMelo not only get healthy and stay healthy (he's played less games than Gordon Hayward the last few seasons). But I also need him to mature and step forward as a LEADER. The clownery of yucking it up on the bench with James Bouknight while we were getting our asses handed to us soured me and I have been a big defender of LaMelo. When we first drafted him Scott Fowler put out that stupid hit piece and then got embarrassed for his take. Some of what we've seen from LaMelo as the face of the franchise and a Supermax player only lends credence to the takes like that from Fowler. That's a real bummer. He must take accountability and show that he is committed to basketball. Our new coach and GM need to make it clear expectations are no longer just showing up. We will see.

Whether or not it comes to fruition is obviously anyone's guess. But I love that he is not only familiar with Olsen but he wants to replicate that level of sustained success. That attention to history of his position and vocal confidence is hell of a lot better than what we've been getting from the position ie Ian Thomas here getting money just for showing up. I was already looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table but now I am individually a fan of his. I hope he proves himself. We need this mentality from the TE position it has been too long!

Ohh wee mayne.

Being a contrarian is more edgy right?

This game...

Sounds like a big FU and rubbing our noses in it from the league. Hey whatever we do just get the offense in the damn end zone against the Bears this time.

What it boils down to in Panthers country right now is you have two types of folks on the QB front. You have those who reside within some realm of reality and readily will acknowledge what's slapping them in the face. Then you have others that have to warp things to fit into the box they've created to handle the pickle we've put ourselves into. There's nothing wrong with either approach. We all know how tough it is being a local sports fan in this area. But eventually you've gotta remove the shades and get a good look at what's really going on. Good luck to you my friend!

Oh brother now we're latching onto Herbert to cope? I'd trade BY for Herbert in an instant.

Cam then is not Cam now. Cam now is fully embracing being another media talking head. The hot take brand of sports talk. I'm all for it because I enjoy him. But that's not for everyone and it's not breaking the mold either. But when Cam said what he said about Bryce and didn't say anything about CJ was before this new foray into media that he's in. It's fine to be wrong. There were a lot of people here wrong. They showed their ass about the pick and now some of them are either rambling about haters or they have gone missing. Where we go from here is what we've talked about adnauseum. Bryce either shows something to justify why he was the first pick or it's next man up in 2025. But whether it's Cam or whomever. My personal opinion is if you weren't saying it 12 months ago I don't wanna hear it now. We'll just agree to disagree.

Yes he spoke up and maintained the same (let's be honest here) drone take as anyone else in mainstream media that didn't want to go against an Alabama QB. But it was perfectly fine to drag Stroud through the mud even though he did everything asked of him throughout the process. Some of the ignorant assumptions being made and thrown at CJ Stroud were also similar to what was thrown at Cam Newton before his draft. Again. Cam had the opportunity to speak up. He didn't. That's all there is to it. Anything said now is just a flip flop IMO.

I'm gonna have to say it. Now let me make it crystal clear I was for years and remain a very vocal supporter of Cam Newton. I will forever be thankful to him for what he did for the soul and culture of this franchise in his best years. He brought us life and purpose. But moving onto the Bryce Young situation. I just felt absolutely zero pushback or even a hint or a simple suggestion from him or Steve Smith Sr of "Hey Panthers maybe CJ Stroud is getting a raw deal in the media take another look let's be real sure before making this decision". But no. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Now that he's got a YouTube channel he's got everything to say? Brother you should have spoke up a year ago. Your words carry weight. I still love him and Steve. It's just disappointing that's all I can say. They didn't make the pick it wasn't their call at the end of the day but they could have said something in defense of CJ. This after the fact mess isn't it. That's all I've got to say.