Bear Hands

Just keep riding this season's rollercoaster. I would simply implore peeps to accept its a roller coaster -- Mainly because there is no point in benching Bryce when it would be for Andy f*cking Dalton. We've seen both of their full spectrum of play. You saw today progress from Bryce at his worst to him at his above-average. The FO is not going to turn and suddenly try to find some future at the position at this juncture. And we aren't achieving anything with Andy. Ride Bryce out, see what happens.

nice

Gabriel with 3 passing TDs in his first 28 NFL throws. Not too shabby. They're scheming well with the run game leading the way. Screens, TE focused approach. Will see if they open it up and go vertical as this hits the final stretch.

Well that was short lived with Wentz back in

Dillon Gabriel is looking alright, nothing special. Wentz out, rookie Max Brosmer in for Minny. Heavy hitters in Europe.

Minor thing but Mingo was our original 2nd rounder at the 9 slot. The 2nd rounder from CMC was used in the Bryce trade, and Chicago traded it to Jacksonville for Brenton Strange. Our original 2023 3rd was sent the prior year for Corral. So you're right that the 3rd and 4th from the CMC trade were used to get DJJ. The Steelers got Washington (TE) and Herbig (EDGE) out of it. Nonetheless, total mismanagement and poor drafting.

Some general musings after a minute: The run game is dull, glanzlos. Barely any pin & pull, twitchy misdirect, 12 personnel gap, pre-snap motion, Canales is inside/outside zone all day. Maybe 25-30% gap. Whats weird is that this was a super similar issue with Reich who was unflinching in his ecosystem. Passing game was WC, mesh heavy concepts, Running was Split zone and some stretch. Canales is somehow even less creative than Reich in the run game, but he thinks vertically in the pass. There is no focus on getting a guy, to his advantage, in space. It’s just these bland runs, bland passes, some interesting deep looks a few times. I’m honestly leaning in the d-coach direction as HC. A guy to establish culture and tenaciousness. The offense can be just as good as the crap we’ve got used to. Need to find the right guy to create the right environment.

Yeah times are a changing. Lots of different ways to do the fan communicato. I respect they want their own thing, it is what it is.

The passing game simply stinks Pass blocking is not good. We have a solid unit but we're not the best if you're just looking at the pass game. They noted our RG depth (although we've been weird without bringing in BC) Receiver blows. Need to spread out and be in gun to help Bryce, but McMillan has been the only guy worth anything Unexplosive, juiceless, although they concur McMillan is an absolute stud/he's a hit. 3 throws on the entire season less than 15 air yards that is credited "explosive" - no YAC. No quickness or speed. Bryce Young is averaging 4.0 air yards per attempt off play action. FOUR! No play action game at all - doesn't see well (Dead last in the NFL) The team doesn't dictate to opposing defenses- I.E. you seek out matchups to take advantage of. Understand how to move your guys, manufacture opportunities. We don't play chess. We go out, and run a play. No nuance to our offensive scheme. Icky has been dissapointing this year. He'll always be solid in the run game, but a top-10 LT? Nope. "When losing David Moore in 2025 is a big deal..." lol If we can't get it going versus the Dolphins defense this week, then we're in for a serious problem. What I think you can take out of this likely redundant video for many here - This week is a huge benchmark. If this offense is still sh*t, then it's time for DT to consider a big move sooner rather than later. If this game is an indictment on the offense more than the defense, do you have enough reason to fire Evero as a transitional move? Canales' isn't firing Idzik. Does Bryce get benched if its on the offense? What's the move if the offense sucks?

1 hr 03 min mark if my trick thingy didn't work will follow up with notes.

I still can't believe that whole Rock Hill disaster. That's a bigger land sore than the former Baker Family theme park in the early 00s.

Well it appears nearly all of our offensive rookies will be getting substantial playing time. McMillan, Etienne, Evans [edit] +Horn Miami's defense is crap - 2nd worst in 3rd down conversion %, 26th in yards per game, no real threats. Will be interested to see if anyone makes noise. Or maybe Chop Robinson just destroys us lol.

With that list, it's Minter all day. But I doubt he'd want to come here.

That Adams completion by Stafford is an example of one that is impossible with our current situation Stood tall, calmly, in a tight pocket, slight drift left, used his eyes to throw off to a guy with anticipation.

The guy we didn't trust to attempt over 53 yards just hit a 59 yarder lol

I usually wouldn't endorse something like this, but honestly, it's not unrealistic. We've tried enough random sh*t. The college coach, the experienced elder, & now the young NFL OC. Former Player is naturally the next up lol

Puka & St Brown are taking over the league this season. Odunze as well.

He's been saying a lot like this about Bryce since he was with the Athletic Football Show. He's offered some of the most straightforward takes of Young.

4 receptions for 8 yards on 15 targets. That's a 1st round pick stat line right there. At least Mingo, Jarrett, and others were 2nd rounders and beyond lol.

I'm conflicted with him. He's shown way more than Allar/Klubnik/other preseason hyped who've struggled, but he is trending down right now. I still like the tools. A bit Darnold-ish IMO. Mateer & Mendoza may be the only ones who end up declaring with the high ceiling. Sellers and Moore may stay another year.

Rankings are crazily evolving this time of year. My own included, but I still think this is a super exciting class compared to past years. Nuss & Beck (Seniors) will be coming out for sure, but their buzz is being muted by the big risers; I'm not sure they're high draft picks. Nuss maybe. Sellers (20 y/o) is an evolving case, sky high potential, athleticism and crazy deep ball...but being just 20, does he come out yet? Or go the Cam Ward type route? Indiana plays Oregon Oct 11. Mendoza (22 y/o) vs. Moore (20 y/o) That game is showcasing the two rising prospects this season generating the buzz. Will be one for Panthers fans to watch. Both of these guys have an ARM. John Mateer (21 y/o) is coming back in 1-2 weeks. He could still crank out a very nice season. So let's say Sellers & Moore go back to school...(they'd be in the top-3) Still high on: -round 1 guys- 1. John Mateer - exciting guy, top-of-R1 worthy 2. Garrett Nussmeier - slight slump but still a nice prospect 3. Fernando Mendoza (pending closer look) - major boom/buzz happening with him -tier drop- 4. Carson Beck - The next McCarron/Bennett type guy 5. Sam Leavitt - There's a lot to like, but he's a bit too..ordinary? Want a higher ceiling. 6. Drew Allar - a guy that people want to like but they just hasn't played to level you want. I don't see the feel/energy in his work. 7. Cade Klubnik - oof, stay away *watch: Taylen Green Arkansas

Not just that, consider the picks we gave up in that draft --- brace yourselves: R1 Jalen Carter DT (CHI traded 9 to PHI) - top starting DL in the league w/some screws loose R2 (from the CMC trade) Brenton Strange TE - solid starting TE R3 (original pick used for Matt Corral package) Marte Mapu LB - Developing depth/Vrabel loves him and he's making an impact at LB - Byron Young also went like a pick or so after this lol R3 (from the DJJ package) Darnell Washington TE - developing but getting more playing time R4 (DJJ package) Nick Herbig EDGE - a blooming EDGE defender for PIT. Having a great season. 80%+ defensive snaps R6 (Gilmore trade) Kayshon Boutte WR - was hyped, has had his moments. Way more impactful than Mingo and others

I'm saying it just takes time. With this game in particular, even though it was turnover clean, it somehow made the inability to do anything decent that more obvious. It was just straight up inefficiency and misses. Daffy duck'd

Yeah there's a pretty substantial switch this week. The more tape there is, more evident the reality becomes. The footwork, shallow jittery drops that give him no sight lanes, frenetic pacing, slow pocket speed, inability to outrun IDLs, poor placement, and really, he can't move the ball unless he's running empty sets or has an easy dump off. He'll have 2-3 good intermediates per game (if that).

Diaby was one of many guys plenty of people around here were excited about. Byron Young and Tuli were two in particular that completely presented themselves to us. It's rough to look back on.