Gapanthersfan

At least with as many 3 and outs that they’ve seen it hasn’t been too many.

There’s going to be completely new energy not seen since… this time last year. Open the game with a go route for 40. Make a statement.

Thaaaaaat’s right. Wow. Forgot he did that.

Feed him like crazy over the next few games and let him rack up numbers… then look for the first contender who just lost a big wr to injury (happens every year) and get a third for him.

Nah, he’s the awkward guy who focuses on his hand connecting, no eye contact, but still manages to squeeze before the thumbs meet, resulting in the awkward and nervous finger grab-redo-repeat finger grab sequence, while you’re still waiting for the first sign of eye contact… and then he gives you the nervous laugh, and you follow suit with your WTF was that laugh.

Vietnam Tom was a true badass.

No agent 58 is criminal 89 is one of the best football players of an entire generation but never a media darling… especially with how he’s shown out on some national broadcasts, and flat out stole the show. I’m not sure he was allowed to do that as the FNG among the broadcast group. I really miss his edginess and truth bombs, but I fear it is a thing of the past. It was like Mike Tyson in a football uniform.

The media shot callers need a narrative to cover that they got it completely wrong. They crowned him and in reality he is laughably bad. It exposed them for the echo chamber yes men lemmings that they really are. They take their marching orders and report as ordered until the narrative is allowed to change from their shot callers. Anything that paints one of the chosen CFB programs negatively is never going to be a headline. Don’t expect it to change in to an ‘our bad’ we got it wrong any time soon, at least on the big stage. Our line may start getting some credence eventually but the Bryce turmoil may need to simmer down first.

Maybe Canales saw an occupational hypnotherapist a la Office Space before the meeting. There will be speculation until the end on time as to who made the call. The good news is that it was done before the darkness reached the point of no return. I think the tone of the press conferences will be different in a good way. Less placating, maybe. The company line is obviously different when it comes to Bryce and hopefully if we start reeling off some wins and/or multi TDs games, he will become an afterthought. It’s not impossible to hit 30 points with this offense. Anyway, it’s going to at least be fun to watch some games again. The first 30 yd laser from Andy may make me pee on myself a little.

Even more impressive to me is this: we played 2 teams who knew exactly how to play Bryce. They pressured every play and ran stunts. They stuffed the run, and he still had time to throw and guys were running open. He had a great pocket. Blind side pressure was well contained… holy poo. I even noticed people weren’t running completely free up the middle. When is the last time we have seen this? I’m telling y’all, the $$$ laid out on the line was the best use of resources this team has seen in years. Leadership. Guidance and teaching from high level dudes.

Top 5 pick teams usually have crap o lines. It’s one of the biggest reasons why they lose all the time and don’t score enough to be competitive. The hamster wheel of trying to compete is real. Need an elite QB, draft one and put him behind your crap o line, he gets killed, your promising WRs go stale and you keep losing. A top pick QB going to a team with a built o line doesn’t happen all that frequently. Trying to build an elite o line through the draft is so tough when you’re starting from scratch. Those guys are usually gone by mid second round. Then, what if you whiff on a couple of picks. Or injuries. Years go by and no progress is ever made. This is why the more I think of it, the more I like how aggressive Morgan went on o line this year. It was an expensive buy, but very crafty. Instant infusion of vet leadership from 2 high level guys, Not just JAGs that can show the basics. This is HUGE for icky. He’s still a raw talent. Watch him kill it this year. We need to keep feeding the line with each draft. Morgan didn’t just drop 2 studs on the line, he changed the whole complexion.

It depends on how the rest of this season goes. If the line looks good, receivers look good and Canales looks to be the one in control. Things look like they’re moving in the right direction? No worries.

Are we seeing the beginning of Wilks Jr? Did he snatch his man card out from under the brass balls? I will say, his answers to the reporters questions had a ‘this is my team’ undertone. I bet there is a text message on his phone from Sunday evening from Morgan. It’s time.

I think he is actually processing fine, but all the throws that he does see, he knows he can not make. Like he sees a crossing route open, knows what to do, but knows that his arm won’t get it done on that play, so he hesitates and then goes to his second read. Same thing happens again, but now he’s gotta make something happen or take another sack. He really does need Alabama open. He can be mad at himself. His one glaring weakness, arm strength, he chose to do 0 work on this off season. He could have done something to bulk up but he didn’t. I wish I could have seen SS89’s face when he heard that BY played video games and watched tv this offseason.

Canales answer was well played. In other words, I’m here to help the panthers win, not to help Bryce win. He now has the locker room back.

I can go for the line building. O line. Big. Mean. Built for the eventual successor to Bryce. He knew, as did everyone that Bryce wasn’t him. Very expensive pieces, but I appreciate the ‘it’s time to stop screwing around’ intention. We’ve been begging for it and knew it would be expensive. We would need to hit on 2 pieces in the same draft for the o line to improve… not happening with our history. Defense additions… still yet to see to me. Bryce was about as demotivating as it gets. Contracts weren’t great.

I want to see his war face.

I rejoice in the benching and hopeful for eventual dismissal. I’m uneasy about this being non congruent with our assessment of how unfit for the nfl Bryce is and What Tep sees/believes. As obtuse as it may seem, if Tep bought in to the enormous pre draft hype and is obviously emotionally invested in Bryce succeeding, he likely is living a completely different reality than the rest of us. We and everyone else see the benching as an endpoint to an obvious situation: he has no business in the nfl. This is his retreat in to the sunset. What T may believe is that he is still correct, and Bryce has superstar potential. When you’re never wrong, then it means that you’re NEVER wrong. Instead of believing what he sees, he sees what he believes. There are many like this. We all probably know several. I could be way off base, I want to believe that I am, but probably not. So yes, the journey continues. I would expect another go round with BY at some point in the future, but for now I’m going to enjoy what a touchdown feels like again.

I’m sure talk about bringing in another qb was way off limits. Hey Tep, just in case your boy really sucks, think we need a back plan?

Everyone, internally had the feeling in the first game in the dome. We were all so pumped. We believed all the hype beyond better judgment… and then he threw the pick… and another one… It felt like being a kid and opening the big box under the tree and it was some crappy easel with dry erase markers. It has not improved 1 iota in a meaningful way since. He is still skinny for nfl standards. His footwork sucks and he admits that after turning in one of the worst rookie qb seasons in history he went home and watched tv and played video games. Do you even lift, bro? Even last year he never looked like he wanted to be out there. This year was no different. Give me 1 reason to keep trying with a kid whose ceiling is maybe a JAG+, and that’s pushing it. I thought our goal was an alpha elite franchise QB with charisma and natural leadership qualities. Our dudes are having to cheer him up? That’s ass backwards. What is the obsession to keep working on this project?

Young found out in the Atlanta game that he has no business in the NFL. His goal ever since has been survival and to not suffer a life changing injury by a man who outweighs him by 150 lbs. We drafted a project, but the talking heads who crowned him have to save face so coming up with an excuse for failure is paramount.

I’ve been thinking more and more about this today. Chugging some hopium. Tep is still the biggest hindering factor to our success, but they did something that is going to pay dividends: the offensive line. Through 2 games, it’s been impressive. Bryce was the sole glaring weakness on the offense. Our guys were running open and he was protected. It won’t take a high level qb to make this thing go. We have legit home run level talent at wr and rb. The line looks good. Even a JAG level qb could do well. If this O has the ability to capitalize off of turnovers… A defense loves taking on an offense playing from behind. Our defense is built to stop the pass more so than the run. If, big if, we can make teams play from way behind, it plays in to our strength. this is a good batch of hopium I love the focus on building the o line. That’s huge. It’s what good teams do. We had to start somewhere, and that’s the best place to do it. They’re locked up for a while or playing on rookie contracts. They need to go o line again this coming draft, de, dt and lb. Build depth. Consistently good teams have depth at o line. They lock up their all pros and dish their pro bowlers for great draft capital to desperate teams like us since they have a next man up. If Dan is able to keep Tep interested in investing in the lines, that’s huge. There is no hope for Bryce, but if we get a QB who can at least make the throws, it could be at least something.

It’s different this year though. We have some dudes now with home run potential. We have a good line, but nothing has had a chance to gel as of yet. This week will almost be like training camp for them. With a veteran like Andy, veterans on the line, receiver spot and RB, and we have legit *potential* home run talented dudes… it could be really fun to watch. Once it gels, it could be enough to give Bryce some undeserved success. But that’s the negative in me talking, and this is a new day. “Come on in boys, the water is fine.”

I think the visual of the come apart of Thielen finally got through to Tepper as to the state of the rest of the players. When Mr. Cool does that, it’s eye opening.

The nightmare is Dalton goes down after week 12. Offense is in sync and we’re scoring 28 points a game. Bryce is inserted and actually looks halfway ok, but we would all know that it’s fools gold and he’s living in the house that Andy built. Now that’s depressingly plausible. Ugh…..