Mage

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. He's already started 24 games. If "film catching up to him" was going to be a thing, then he should be getting worse right now, not better. Because he already has a lot of film to dig through. With that said, I still want to see Bryce finish this year strong to feel confident in him going into 2025.

What? He has 2 games with 26+ carries in the last 4 weeks. 7th in the entire league in rush attempts.

The commitment to the run game was what kept us in that game. Philly tends to win the time of possession (9th in average time per drive this year; 3rd last year), so for us to win it (33 to 26) is crazy impressive. The problem is our run defense couldn't get a stop whenever Philly did run. Otherwise the gap would have been even wider.

Yeah, lets just ruin all the goodwill we've built with the players and fans over the last month by deciding to sit arguably our best non-offensive lineman.

I understand it is easier than saying his actual name, but my mind instantly goes to Tracy McGrady every time I read "TMac" on here.

I'm definitely down to bring Evero back for another year and think he's gotten too much criticism from some fans But dude really needs to stop with these soft as hell coverages when the game is on the line.

Donte Jackson-Curtis Samuel-James Bradberry was a decent stretch. Compared to our usual, anyway. Too bad Samuel was always hurt and Jackson was inconsistent as hell.

Yeah, I feel like this is what people are missing the most with Legette. Cam Newton was "raw". One could argue Thomas Davis was "raw". But those guys still had multiple years of college production (albeit one of Cam's years was at Blinn). Legette wasn't even a middling receiver his first 4 years; his production was nonexistent. It is very concerning that his best and only year came when he was older and more experienced than most of the guys covering him. When will that be the case in the NFL? Is he "raw" so much as he just isn't that good?

It is a very good match-up for us. We are better equipped to take advantage of Dallas' biggest weakness (run defense) than they are ours, although Dowdle has been picking up steam recently. Dallas is also on a short week and will be coming to our house. Evero and Horn have done a good job keeping opposing teams #1 quiet and Dallas doesn't have much past Lamb. Their best player on defense, Micah Parsons, should be somewhat neutralized by our OL and Young's mobility. Will I bet on them? I'm not sure. The usual signs I look for all point to us, but I do expect Cowboys fans to show up huge for the game on Sunday which neutralizes the homefield advantage. And while the defense certainly looks better than it did in September/October - it is still not a great unit. Philly just called a terrible game; it was like they outright refused to get Barkley in a rhythm in the first half. The safest bet for the game on Sunday might be Hubbard overs. The Philly game showed that his workload is match-up proof; they are going to get him touches.

We can only hope so. 2 consecutive ACL tears really puts a damper on that.

You are right. I shouldn't be expecting a 24-year old, 5-year college, 1st round pick to have dependable hands. Like, what are we doing here? Would you be okay drafting a 1st round MLB who sucks at tackling? A 1st round RB with a bad fumbling problem? Ya'll act like I'm talking about his ability to run routes or other things that do take time at the NFL level, like understanding zones, leverages, chemistry with the QB, etc. No, I am literally talking about the most basic part of his job (just as tackling is for a MLB and not fumbling is for a RB): the ability to catch the ball. Nobody is expecting him to be a HOFer; I'm expecting him, at his age, after all his years in college, having been a 1st round pick, to be able to hold onto the ball. This isn't just a one-week problem. Not a two-week problem. Not even a three-week problem. Did I make a thread when he was dropping passes those weeks? Nah. But yesterday was as bad as it gets. Anyone not concerned about a 1st round 24-year old 5 year college player dropping a wide open touchdown has got to be fooling themselves. I'd trust Ted Ginn more than I would Xavier Legette.

Look at the 3rd play by Moss in this clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2nImaSkXME&ab_channel=NFL So sure, did Moss sometimes body-catch? Yeah. But he also used his hands extremely well. That is why I don't get why he's being brought up. Legette almost exclusively body-catches, it isn't the same thing. Ultimately every WR is going to have to body-catch at some point. It happens. But you also have to be able to go up and get it with your hands. Moss could do that when he needed to. Legette hasn't shown that he can.

False dilemma? Huh? No where in my post did I say Randy Moss didn't ever body catch, so maybe it is your reading comprehension that needs work rather than mine. I said it wasn't true that he body caught all the time, which is what you said. Like, you have heard, "you got Mossed", right? They don't say that for body catches. If Legette was pulling stuff like that out, then I would be perfectly fine with Legette body catching on other plays.

He's made a lot of very small improvements that have all added up together to create what we are seeing now - His mobility is shining more than it ever has because he's trusting the pocket the OL creates for him (most of the time). Instead of drifting backwards when the pressure comes, he either stays mostly level with the LOS (or makes sure he gets back to that point) or steps up and through the pressure. We saw this on the 3rd down when he was facing a safety. Bryce from a year ago or Week 1 ABSOLUTELY takes that sack. Instead, he steps up and weaves through the pressure and gets level with the LOS before making the throw. This is such a big difference that if you haven't been watching Bryce, you wouldn't think anything of it. - As a result, we are also getting more rushing production from Bryce. He's ran for 20+ in 3 of the last 4 and in the one game he didn't, he ran for 17 and a score. His decisiveness on these kind of plays has made the biggest difference - Just his willingness to push it downfield and understanding sometimes it is better to give your WRs a chance even if the risk of an INT is high. His interception yesterday was terrible, make no mistake about it. But it is nice to see him take that risk - He keeps his eyes down the field when he moves out of the pocket. As a huge Bryce Young fan coming out of Alabama, one reason I defended him for so long (and lowkey am starting to regret hopping off the train - gotta trust your gut) is because at his absolute worst, he should be one of the NFL's elite escape artists. Yet we never really got that because for, he seemed incapable of scrambling and keeping his eyes on the routes developing. We're really seeing the Bryce that we saw at Alabama With all that said, I'm still a bit skeptical. His accuracy is still very concerning at times. A few of his plays went into the dirt yesterday and had a few other misses. Still, his decision-making and playmaking have been top-notch since returning to the line-up.

Where I disagree with this argument is that Legette didn't need to reach out the way he did. It wasn't a perfect, right on the money pass, I'm not suggesting that. But it was still in a position where he could hand-catch it and go into the endzone. Legette just doesn't trust his hands though and tried to pull it into his body, hence laying out and falling down. I've seen plenty of WRs catch those kind of throws in stride without falling on their stomach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbqu9RSnHL0&ab_channel=NFLArchive Not the same kind of throw, but look at how Steve Smith catches the ball on this play. Delhomme throws it high, but instead of trying to find a way to catch it with his body, Smitty extends his hands and makes the play. It allows him to get YAC as well (we'll see an example of Legette likely missing out on YAC because he body catched it) Look at this play by Legette at South Carolina - https://x.com/Panthers24_7/status/1866098134302011556?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet Not a good throw by the QB, but Legette does what he should do here: goes up and gets it with his hands instead of trying to clutch it with his body. Legette made the same "body-catch" earlier on the drive when Bryce nearly escaped a sack Imagine if he had actually caught it with his hands instead of clutching it with his body again? Probably would have been in a better position to make the 2 guys in the secondary miss. That is why I'm so concerned that this might not be fixable. It is instinctual for him right now.

He wasn't "body catching all the time." And even if so, Moss is a completely different kind of WR. Legette having bad hands damn near negates the kind of WR he is supposed to be. A big, strong, go up and get it physical WR. It is hard to be that when you have bad hands. If you want to compare him to a HOF WR with bad hands, then the best comp would be Terrell Owens. But TO was a freak athlete and one of the few exceptions of a great #1 not having reliable hands. And maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see Legette ever playing with the kind of intensity that TO has. This isn't me slandering Legette as a person because he seems to be a great guy, but I'm not sure he's got that #1 WR dawg mentality in him. I'd love to be wrong about that though.

You might be thinking of Philly Brown. I could be mistaken but I don’t recall Curtis Samuel having a drops problem.

I really don't understand how people can watch Legette and not think his hands aren't a MASSIVE concern for his long-term future. I understand he is a rookie, but that is a big deal. Having good hands is not something you should need to be working on achieving in the NFL if you are a WR. And this isn't the 1950s. The transition from college to NFL at the WR position has to be among the easiest alongside RB and LB. And again, Legette will be 24 next year and spent 5 years in college. Do people really think he's suddenly going to get his hands to the point where he can be a #1?

I mean you can't compare him to RBs. Among WRs he's 11th on that list and guys like Nabers and Lamb get way more targets than Legette, so it makes sense they would rank high in drops. Drop % is a better number to look at for that reason.

Yes, among qualified WRs. Going into the game he was 14th among WRs with 100 snaps. 2 or 3 drops today, whatever the PFF officially marks him for, will likely push him into the top 10 if not top 5. And the WRs ahead of him are mostly scrubs.

"I didn't watch the game" Also, two things can be true at once. Legette can have had a terrible game AND the offense also could have played better the rest of the game.

I don't know man. I want to agree with you, but hands just aren't something that can be improved overnight no matter how hard you work and we have seen this time and time again. For 90% of guys, you either have good hands or you don't. That is why DBs stay DBs. Could it happen? Sure, but I think the Panthers would be making a grave mistake if they go into this offseason banking on Legette being the #1.

Is it? He had one of the highest drop %s in the NFL coming into this game and had 3 drops this game. Even if we don't blame him for the first one (and I would agree we shouldn't fault him for that), that is still 1 too many drops for a 1st round WR. I'm not saying he won't ever get better, although I doubt it. But right now? In this very moment? He is a bad WR.

The issue is we aren't talking about route-running or things that do take time to develop at the NFL level. If he simply couldn't separate, I would understand that is something that comes with time. But we're talking about his hands. He's gonna be 24 years old next year. He was in college for 5 years. There is a very legit possibility that improving his hands just isn't something in his future. He's a body-catcher.

Lol what kind of post is this? Nobody is "scapegoating" him. He literally dropped a game-winning touchdown.