BlitzMonster

I wouldn't be surprised at all if one of the conditions for the hire was that Campen gets the #6 pick for whatever OL he wants.

I am really impressed with this hire. The guy is outstanding. Overall a lot of good experience added to the Carolina coaching staff. Which was sorely needed.

Managing your cap well means you will be competitive over the long haul. That's what smart franchises do. If a team is close to being ready for a SB berth, sure, go for it with free agent signings. But first a great QB has to be in place as well as a lot of other big pieces before that strategy makes any sense. Carolina is no where near that right now.

plus OC Byron Leftwich is likely to move on and top WR Chris Godwin is not coming back any time soon after tearing his ACL

Rhule made his choice with Darnold. Now he should be made to deal with it. Start Darnold all season. No trading for anyone else.

I think Brady is ready to announce but is just being respectful of the game. He doesn't want to upstage the Conference Championships by saying anything this week. Look for his statement to come out Wed or Thurs of next week when it's more quiet in the NFL world. So after the Superbowl matchup has been set and discussed for a few days. That timing would give Tampa Bay the whole off-season to plan for his replacement.

True but Christensen doesn't even know what position he'll be playing. It could be any of LT, LG, C, RG according to Rhule. Pretty tough to prepare for all of them at the same time.

Brady might have success in Cincinnati given his LSU connections with Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase. Not because Brady has gotten any better as an OC but because the players there are so good they don't really need him. The Bengals offense will succeed in spite of Brady. And who knows, maybe Brady gets better with more practice.

A conversation that likely happened last training camp: Scout: Christensen plays better in space so try him at LT Rhule: But his arms are 1 inch too short which will prevent him from being a 10 year All Pro Scout: Christensen might still be an adequate LT with good coaching. Why don't you try him at LT and let him practice there for his whole rookie season ? Rhule: But his arms are too short. I'll move him to Guard. They have stubby arms. Scout: But Christensen doesn't have the size / power for an NFL Guard. He will struggle with bull rushes. Rhule: OK. I'll just keep moving him to different positions on the OL until one of them sticks. Scout: That will be very detrimental to Christensen's development. Just pick one position. Otherwise you won't know what you have with him this year. Rhule: I have to go put up my DBO poster now so we'll talk about this next season.

take away the CMC games and the numbers would look pretty close

That's where my thinking is as well. I see two important assistant coaches being added with a lot of NFL experience. It's something which was sorely lacking the last two seasons in Carolina. If this is a sign that Rhule realizes he needs more talented guys around him, that's great. Now I'll wait to see who the OL coach is and what the team does on draft day. Another experienced hire and the #6 draft pick on a LT will go a long way toward getting me enthusiastic for next year.

I must say I'm not a fan of the trend of void years I've seen with a number of recent Panther contracts. That's just kicking the can down the road. We'll have cap hits for a number of guys who aren't even on the roster anymore. So that's not so great.

I have Cousins on one of my fantasy football teams. Here's the season summary on him: "Though Cousins is highly scrutinized, he's now reached 30 passing touchdowns and 4,000 passing yards in three of his last four seasons." Obviously the Panthers first have to fix their atrocious OL. And any QB will have to mesh well with the new OC Ben McAdoo. But I could think of a lot worse talent wise. However the money and contract length discussed in the article above are pretty daunting.

from a Minnesota paper, January 22, 2022: Vikings’ Kirk Cousins likely will be traded in coming weeks "It will be surprising if the Minnesota Vikings don’t trade quarterback Kirk Cousins and his 2022 $35 million guaranteed salary, which comes with a $45 million cap hit, before mid-March. Carolina, Denver and Cleveland make the most sense for Cousins, who turns 34 in August. New Orleans could also be a destination, but Carolina seems most likely. It’s highly unlikely the Panthers will bring back Cam Newton as their starter. Cousins probably would need a three-year contract from his new team. A trade might be able to fetch the Vikings a second-round draft pick in return. It also could require the Vikings to pay at least $10 million of Cousins’ current contract. The draft pick could depend on how much of Cousins’ salary the Vikings would have to pay." link They also mention swapping QB with Cleveland.

Smart moves. Campen, Pep and Lovie are all excellent coaches.

I forgot about that aspect. In that case, I'd go for James Campen without a doubt. He played Center in the NFL for 8 years and then became the long-time Packers OL coach (2007-2017). During that time Green Bay had multiple Pro Bowl OL selections. Also just listen to what the Houston Texans Center Justin Britt has to say about him: “I love James Campen,” Britt said on Jan. 10. “If I could have it my way, I’d want to play for him for the rest of my career. He was someone who literally made every day enjoyable. article

I also would prefer Marrone but he just joined Alabama so I don't think he's going anywhere. And according to Wikipedia Warhop & Campen have current NFL jobs so I can't see them moving either. So Pat Flaherty seems like the most obvious choice. He's probably available since Flaherty was just an advisor for the Giants. He has great experience with 12 years as the Giants OL coach. But Flaherty may have been fired by McAdoo since Flaherty's tenure in NY ended when McAdoo was the teams OC. Also Miami HC Brian Flores fired Flaherty just four days into the 2019 training camp for failure to implement the team's new blocking schemes (which had been an ongoing issue since spring practices). And he's 65 so no spring chicken. Lots of questions about him . . .

Moton, DJ and CMC if he were moved to slot receiver (for injury prevention / career longevity). That's all the top level talent on this offense. I'm curious about Brady Christensen and Deonte Brown on the OL but didn't see enough of either to really know what they can do. Same for Tremble at TE and Shi Smith & TMJ at WR. Just horrible rookie development overall during what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The rest are all JAG's or worse

I think the fact that the Panthers were on a youth movement significantly helped Rhule. Everyone knew Carolina's old guard would be moved out and the team would now be filled with rookies and young guys. That situation favors a college coach since most of these players needed for the rebuild would be just a year or two older than a NCAA team.

Christensen might be a very good OG in a zone blocking scheme. That system gets the interior line out in space and moving around a lot, which would play to Christensen's strengths of athleticism, agility and speed for his size. Christensen is not a power guy like Deonte Brown. Brown will thrive in a man blocking scheme where you have to be big and strong enough to just dominate your opponent. I can't see Christensen doing well in man blocking unless he got a lot bigger & stronger.

anytime you add All-Pros to the roster, it's a good pick

take the layup and draft an elite LT

Christensen might not be a future All Pro but he looks like he can develop into at least an adequate LT (and who knows, maybe he could ??). In any case even adequate would be a huge improvement for the Panthers after years of sub-par play at that position. Voltaire - don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I think the mega-football schools (Alabama, Texas, Clemson, USC, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan) with loads of wealthy donors will have even MORE influence now given the fat NIL contracts their players will be eligible for. The transfer portal is really going to suck for the non-powerhouse teams who will now lose their best players to the mega-schools. North Carolina State gets a 1000 yard receiver like Torry Holt one year. The next season he's transferred to Miami or Clemson for 1M per year.

As we discuss the differences between NFL and college head coaches, I found this article pretty interesting. It describes how the college jobs are rapidly changing with the recent introduction of the transfer portal and NIL money. It seems that college coaching positions are getting a lot less desirable. College coaches are losing a lot of their control over the players. article