Bear Hands

What we desperately needed was a quick zone beater which we got in Dionte. That was the bigger need to help handicap our chap at QB. XL is the large catch radius to make up for his strays and floaters so the team is trying to cover both ends that previously weren’t.

Both can be true and are. There’s no apologizing. The dude even lays it out.

So when his QB was inaccurate, he did the least with uncatchable balls. Being more of a body catcher and his lack of short area quickness, and Reich/Brown’s awful play designs, it makes sense why.

Zero in 2023. 4 in all of college in 140ish targets. 2.8% rate. And he was inline and out. Average is usually around 5-5.5%. Bad is 8%+ Best in NFL history catch rates (I.E. Ertz, Olsen, Reed) are sub 3.0% at their career volumes. So good indicator, but small sample size so far. But he is super reliable.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kilroyzkrystalball/

velocity discussion aside, it will definitely be interesting to see him this year, compare eye test to last, and what iffy tendencies carry over. We all will be able to tell fairly quickly if we're looking at the same guy as last season, or a refreshed prospect fitting better in a better situation. In short-It will be obvious if he's a fish out of water rather quickly after a full offseason in the big leagues long form- We saw a glimpse of maybe an above average/top-15 starter-level potential, at his best (and that was like 1 game). Otherwise, his "good" felt kind of like what you saw when the Raiders threw in O'Connell or the Giants with the Italian dude and they had their moments. The Colts and Texans were simply different teams, for the better, with their guys on the field respectively. My biggest concern is still-- let's say the conditions are optimal, what will Bryce do to take it to the next level and put the team on his back? I want to see glimpses of what that could be, not just elevated stat lines in a more friendly system. This is going to take more than mostly looking like the same guy and having a handful more Green Bay 2023-level games. This is about getting his feet and arm coordinated, footwork better, drop backs more consistent, pocket awareness elevated, throws more deliberate, reads/head movement in pocket, there's just a lot that needs to be kicked up a notch and it will be easy to see if it's the same guy or not rather soon.

Watching Sanders, I see a lot of Evan Engram to his game. The nice thing is he has a slightly bigger build and better upside as a blocker - so could line up in a few different spots. I really like his potential. Also - he's young. I'm telling you, a big playoff caliber program like that, with an up and down QB, doesn't just target a TE 139 times in his 27 college games before the age of 21 for no reason when they had Mitchell, Worthy, & Wittingham out there. Young, great ceiling, I really hope this kid can produce for us.

Thanks - good stuff

Good mentality, I've liked what I've seen in interviews between him and Brooks as well. Both of those kids should be good for this offense.

Thanks for this. Good to hear this stuff from the player himself instead of guesswork prognosis. We’ll get him out there when they think he’s ready, and sounds like it could be sooner than some think.

Having a guy who should be our RB1 moving forward in JB (that can pass catch) allows for us to just grab guys they think can be good fits. Penny at his pro best looked damn good to close out 2021, much better than anything we’ve seen recently, so I welcome it. I’m not content with much on this team and offensive skill positions need some damn competition. Tired of presuming content just bc we filled a need before we even know what they bring. Make them fight.

If there’s any year to be aggressive with it, it’s this one.

I saw an interesting point the other day about our type of situation. It could have been wise to hold him off for 1-2 weeks, but that would not have anything to do with Bryce and you could easily communicate that from a PR standpoint. Why? Well, we just brought an entirely new staff into town, new offense for the returning OL, and had wholesale turnover elsewhere. So just run Dalton out there the first game or so to see how things are shaking out. Dry run to make sure we won't kill the kid. We weren't eyeing the SB. Get a sense of the line, the receivers, the playbook. It gives you a glimpse of what Bryce would be stepping into and a good barometer on where things stood sans him. I suppose we sort of did that with Dalton, but that was a reactive switch and like @Ricky Spanish mentioned, it was against an injured SEA defense where we threw a ridiculous amount. Who knows, maybe we could have at least won a game or two more that way. You can adjustments prior to Bryce stepping in, better tee it up for him, and maybe we end up winning game 1 or 2. Last year was such a sh*tshow. One of the worst seasons I've ever experienced in any sport for any team. Absolutely nothing made sense together. Happy we cut the cord early, but should have never hired that crew in the first place.

I'd say one of those relatively short ~5-6' ones with some buoyancy in the thread so he doesn't hurt his neck.

Let's get to the hard stuff Panthers.com... I want to know where they stand on Kendrick vs. Drake lol

Exactly this as well. Beyond age concerns--by the time they find out if they have something in Penix, they'll need to work on a new contract not long after. The newer league winning QBs have gotten extensions by year 3 (ie. Burrow). So, if Penix somehow lights it up year 3, he could turn around fairly quickly, probably by year 4, and ask for an extension. ATL has really no buffer time in easing the bucks off the QB room to build a team around him. Not to mention, they'll be needing to make decisions on Terrell, London, Pitts, Bijan, a lot of high end investments BEFORE seeing Penix through, and that's IF he works out. Lindstrom's contract is backloaded too and they can't cut Matthews until after 2026. Just a terrible use of resources as it relates to timing & salary allocation, no matter how you look at it. You're in win now, so get a talent to win now.

Sometimes it’s obvious that we made a ton of reaches, panicked, got fleeced in trades or on the rare occasion got great value and nailed a draft. This year, we landed promising talent, mostly around their projected spots per consensus. Made some nice dealings, gained a pick back next year and ended up with a draftee in every round 1-7z I like the guys we drafted, we got every offensive skill player (RB, WR, TE) for the worst offense in the league. Landed a a really high ceiling LB fitted for our defense, and some developmental DBs and a DL. Not bad. First draft in a while where I’m not walking away scratching my head.

Penix is going to see the field first and work with the first team probably up until preseason due to Cousins rehab. Thats what’s even more awkward is their 1-8 investment is going to get all of this chemistry and trust gained this offseason and just handoff to a vet right before the season starts.

Yep. Hainsey, Stinnie and Mauch were absolutely awful in run blocking last year so it's really hard to see how effective DC's offense will be with an even average run game. Just hard to tell but the passing game started to click down the stretch. Will be interesting to see. Could be more SEA esque given the personnel in Tampa not really showing it at full effectiveness.

Yeah it’s going to take another year to come together. The three guys this year are all great high-ceiling foundational pieces. It’s a start. And if Diontae vibes well, maybe we give him a 2-3 year deal.

Yep I think you laid out the role XL will ideally fit into long term. But I won’t be surprised if we start him out only outside in RZ and particular looks. He’s not ready to be fixed at the line of scrimmage going up against press —that’s clearly Dionte’s role. He’ll likely be a combination of what we used Shenault and Mingo for in one dude (at least starting out) Still think a speedy primary Z who can rotate into slot and shake off coverage is a big need. That’s pretty much Thielen’s role rotating in and out but he’s slowing down. He can get open but he’s not doing much once he catches it. Still think we need more shifty, short area quickness on this team that can quickly beat zone for Bryce. It’s missing.

Yeah this was one of the best trades we managed in a while. Gained our second back from the Bryce trade, likely got the guy we wanted anyways.

I'm rooting for him because the WR still feels incomplete to me. It's a combination of our slot guys not having either speed or the short area quickness to beat better NBs and break big plays, and also not really having resolution at flanker.

Gosh, loving some of these WRs haha. Javon Baker was a riot in his opening presser. Kind of wish we double dipped in the 5th or 6th for a shifty/joystick type dude like Malik but oh well. : /

I agree. I've been following him for the last 2 years and am a big fan. Think he has all the tools to be successful. Tough in the pocket, strong upper body and mechanics, he'll take risks (doesn't play the safe/stat friendly game), and he noticeably progressed as a processor last year. Big year for him in a new setting. Will be interested to see how he performs in the ACC.