Gapanthersfan

12 minutes ago, Khaki Lackey said:

Then he needs to stop drafting projects. Everyone knew XL was raw. 

1000%. 

XL never felt like a Dan pick. Same with Brooks. This last draft felt like a draft orchestrated by a former NFL star. XL and Brooks felt like the same Mickey Mouse ish we had seen for years. I know we’ll never know for sure, though. 

Thielen extends drives and gives the offense another set of downs. I think he had something like 5 3rd/4th down conversions in the Eagles game. Without that, they blow us out and we probably don’t score 10 points. 

Not a yac guy, but he’s still a good medium range option. 

As other receivers come on I expect his snap count to decrease but guys like Thielen are so valuable. Teaching The intricacies of taking the game to the next level to the young guys. 

39 minutes ago, PootieNunu said:

For me I would rather see Tmac, XL, Coker, JT as the top 4 with Thielen not relied on as much as this is probably his last season.  He is basically a catch the ball fall down type of guy which contradicts with Bryces playstyle of distributing to allow YAC. 

We should have enough WR talent to keep him on limited snaps. 

Ideally my top 4 as well, but XL needs to prove himself to be a reliable target. I genuinely like the dude.  His ceiling is stupid high. 

3 hours ago, Tr3ach said:

My biggest problem is I think the players he likes don't really work in the modern NFL.  You mentioned the wr room being a lot better, is it?  It has the potential to be.   Last year when we traded up to get Legette, they said they traded up to take him specifically because he was a true X receiver.   Now this year they take TMac because they say he is and that XL was out of posisition last year.  Im not sold on Tmac yet just like I wasn't sold on XL last year.  If TMac isn't a lot better than last XL was last season then that's back to back first rounders in one position that would still need a huge amount of work.  Hopefully Tmac is what everyone seems to think he will be, I'm just not so sure, but them declaring XL was a true X receiver after the draft last year and what they're saying now should at least give you pause about their receivers evaluation because it means they definitely made a mistake one way or another.

I take the T Mac, Horn Jr,  and Renfrow additions as a direct shot over the bow when discussing XL.

1 year of dropsies and he finds himself automatically downgraded to WR2, at best, with the t Mac selection. I really hope he understands the gravity of this. 

Barring unforeseen circumstances, T Mac will play all but a handful of snaps at WR1. Thielen will be on the field on all third downs, at least. guarantee. Coker will get a ton of snaps. He is just too good to be parked on the bench. JHJ will make the final 53. They will like him returning punts and kicks. He’s has good hands and elite game speed. 

Dan still can’t bring himself to watch the SB from 22 years ago. How well do y’all think XL’s 3 drops on the final drive of the Eagles game went over?

Dan is as serious as a heart attack when it comes to winning and losing. I don’t see him waiting patiently with developing XL if he is killing drives and/or costing the team games. Look no further than Ginn’s career to see what happens to first rounders with suspect hands. 

I’m crazy, yes, but I do think that if Coker comes on, T Mac is who we hope he is and XL has another year of dropsies, he may end up as trade bait. Coker is going to continue to up his already impressive game. I don’t think anyone will argue that. He has a chip. JHJ has a chip. Thielen is Mr first down. XL better show growth. 

I just don’t see Dan as the type who is patient with projects. 

I’ve turned from a staunch detractor to him now having my 100% support.

1. He turned the worst o line in the league in to a top 10 unit in 1 offseason. Incredible. 

2. Contracts to Horn and Hubbard. Reward your ride or die homegrown talent. Neither contract was way out of line for market value. 

3. All of the talent he has added are intelligent, high floor types who love competing. 

4. He understands that an org lives and dies off of the draft. This was the very first draft that I can remember since… ever where the franchise didn’t make a boneheaded trade and/or waste a high pick on a project tweener. No. It was Tepper sitting by almost completely mum, watching Dan orchestrate Dan’s draft…. picking intelligent high floor dudes from big name schools who showed up to play every Saturday and loved competing. It just felt right. 

5. He has shown no reservation in cutting bait on guys that he sees as not having what it takes. This is really big one. It’s what the good teams do. Without it, you get the ‘coach’s guys’. Complacency. Stagnation. All these dudes needs to watch their backs. 

I see him building a young core who have displayed NFL level ability. For the first time in a really long time it feels like the captain of the ship actually knows what he is doing. 

2 hours ago, outlaw4 said:

If we're purely using that Rivera clip as a baseline, not sure that's much of anything. It really comes down to whether you're more motivating your players or constantly abusing them verbally (or even physically). That's an important distinction to make and I would have to assume the Seattle Storm allegations falls into the latter category.

It’s all about the money.

If the coach is an a hole but the team makes the finals more often than not, he’ll be called a great motivator and knows how to get the most out of his players

If the coach is an a hole on a losing franchise, he’s a borderline criminal. 

1 hour ago, PanthersATL said:

in the video, he referred to himself as a "former Carolina Panther"

he left out the "player, on the field" portion of that sentence. Once a Panther, ALWAYS a Panther (well, some exceptions may apply)

Didn’t catch that one. Hmmmm…

From just a couple videos, Dan seems to be big on nuance. 

In the draft video, he commented when Tmac said he “would get the chance to play here.” How he said what he said made an impression on Dan. 

He comes off as a pretty deep dude in these videos, in true southpaw style. 

47 minutes ago, PantherChris said:

He was absolutely a first round talent, size power length, and athletic ability.... absolutely a beast a little crazy.... (dline is a spot you like a little crazy if they can keep it on the field.) He couldn’t the guy literally went off the rails right when he was on the verge of a massive payday.

 

 

He was a top 5 pick talent wise. He had 3 speeds. On, off and then everyone run for your life. His kraken moniker was spot on. Landing here with the veteran leadership gave him a chance but his mental issues cost him over $100 million. 

Legit take a game over ability, and he was just starting to show what he could be on the field. Unreal ceiling on that dude. 

8 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

Very possible. But, I think TMac and XL both have much higher ceilings than Coker. Will they get there is the question. 

Agreed. 

I don’t see it taking very long before Coker supplants himself as the firm #2 option in the WR room. It’s a crowded WR room, but he’s easily capable (IMHO) of a 700 yd 8+ TD type season. 

Discussing the initial player interviews, Dan said: “And how did you first come to love football?”

I am really loving Dan’s approach. He wants to know if these dudes have heart. I can’t  recall that ever being a stated point of emphasis. 
 

Edit: Never realized that Dan is a lefty. 

Thielen will get fewer snaps when the other WRs can beat him out of his spot. dude is still a gamer who knows how to get open, find a first down and doesn’t drop anything, ever. If the other WRs don’t like it, beat him out of his spot. 

35 minutes ago, Basbear said:

It always triggers me about hamstring issues and WRs. 

I blame the NFL career leader in hamstring issues- Devin funchess

Memo to all players coming to NC- welcome to humidity!! in order to be a professional NFL player you must hydrate before you enter the hellscape. Grapes, fruits, pure H20, sport Pedialyte the night before and you should be able to avoid the nasty hamstring issues.

 

Broski is a Florida native. He’ll get that Colorado climate out of his system. He back in the south now. 

What does say a 6th/7th rounder contract look like? I would see this as the ceiling on contracts he could splash at UDFAs before it’s disrespectful to your late round drafted guys. 
 

that said, I’m all for any way there is to retain all good talent. 

8 hours ago, panthers55 said:

Loser mentality. Glad no football players think tanking is a win and instead compete to win every week. Only fans think like that.

Winning culture trumps ALL. 

Here’s my way to long take: 

Last season this team started out breaking the sports books and being the lead pipe lock of the week. They finished by being a tough out for both SB teams. 

I don’t think they’ll pick up right where they left off, but for the first time in years they’re on the legitimate upswing. Honest to God NFL talent has been infused. 

Offense is already going to be good for 2-3 more 3rd down conversions (I don’t think anyone will argue that) a game over last year so I’ll go (very optimistically) 5-6 more points better than last year’s team. ADDED: A legit backup RB and a money WR who catches everything, along with 2 promising rooks. No significant losses (sorry Miles). KEYS: Can Dave bob and weave play calling if things aren’t working? Does protection continue to hold for Bryce. Did this team pick up dudes who know how to find the end zone or will the struggle of 3rd and goal continue. 

Defense. If they can force even 2 (hopefully 3) more stops a game on third down (not asking a lot, hopefully more), that’s good for -4 (optimistic) points for opposing teams.  ADDED: legit run stuffers. Legit (appearing) edge guys. LOST: Clowney. Question: With legit 3-4 talent can Evero finally show what we have been VERY patiently waiting on? To me, EVERYTHING on defense hinges on Evero. Everything. Every position group was upgraded (still not good enough, but certainly improved). 

Losing Brown early and Luvu… completely and utterly devastated the run defense. Luvu put up one of the best seasons at LB this team has ever seen. His under appreciation by some fans was criminal. He alone was our 3 down stop machine. Brown was pretty much it up front. Those 2 held RBs in check long enough for safety help to arrive. 

Coaching: Halftime adjustments and no prevent defense. In a nutshell, that’s pretty much it. No cutesy offense to show off WRs/Bryce when it’s not working. Use your sledgehammers, Dave. 

There is finally veteran leadership and legit NFL talent. It’s going in the right direction (I couldn’t have been more wrong last offseason) to build a winning culture, but teams have to learn how to win, especially the games where nothing is going right (this team has NEVER been able to do that). They will still lose more close games than they win, and that alone is where it all hinges. 

1 hour ago, HaricotVert said:

Feels a bit like a change that’s not based as much in fairness and good of the game and more to pacify owners in strong divisions. 

This. 

Weird stuff moves like this means there’s always money involved. 

Very similar, but I think Ted’s ‘football speed’ was far superior. If Ted got the ball in his hands in stride and a defender wasn’t within 5 yards… wrap. His game speed was just special. Tyreek and Vick like. I can remember the perfect bombs Cam would chuck his way, and, well, feast or famine. He would be 10 yards ahead of whoever was covering. 

Im not saying XL isn’t a burner, I just haven’t seen that level… yet. 

2 outcomes:

1. he learns how to not drop a football and turns in to a very solid player for us.

2. He’s a poor man’s Ted Ginn w/o the speed. 

I really think his drops are mental. He’ll make some really tough grabs but miss on the routine. It’s a good time to have the best pass catcher in team history in Thielen. 

20 minutes ago, X-Clown said:

He ran behind the best offensive line in the league, largely the same one that paved the way for Miles Sanders to run for 1300 yards and 11 TDs.

There have been other lines assembled in NFL history every bit as good as what the Eagles, but very few have had a RB perform like Barkley.

Barkley was a threat to put 6 on the board every time he touched the ball. An RB touches the ball 20+ times a game. It changes the entire complexion of the game. 3rd downs are easier, drives are extended, defense stays rested and opponents play from behind all game. 

Barkley and that line is what got them there. Defense is the icing. Let the defense play 40 minutes and see how good they look. 

Hurts tried his best to give us the game last season. I can’t drink his cool aide. 

Barkley? He literally drug the Eagles offense to the SB. 

Miles Garrett would be top 3 on my list. 

4 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

After their rookie season draft position has nothing to do with playing time. XL is going to have to fight for it. What I hope is XL has trained all off-season to improve his hands. 

Best thing is XL can only go up. 

He better start the season strong. I like the guy, and I do think he will improve but I would think patience only goes so far on a team that is very serious about winning. 

Coker, Thielen, Renfro. NFL proven Clutch dudes who flat out don’t drop passes and run sick routes. 

TMac: beast

Horn: Watch out

If your boss tells you that you’re doing a pretty decent job but could use some improvement, then over the course of the next few months hires 3 more guys who can do your job, just in case…. Just sayin’ 

Bryce and Dave will determine how many games this team wins next year. It’s not on the WRs. The RBs. LBs. This is about 2 things:

1. Can Bryce continue to come up big in the few key downs that decide most games? 

2. Can Canales evolve his play calling to counter punch like the big boys do. Half time adjustments. 

teams that score 30+ points on the regular win more games than not. That’s on Bryce and Dave. The offense is top 10 at every position group, save for TE and QB. A baller TE is gravy but not crucial when the receivers are dudes. 

The defense is the defense. It’ll be better this season, hopefully by a large margin, but Dave/Bryce is really where it’s at.