LinvilleGorge

Gil Brandt, NFL.com NFL.com senior analyst and former vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, Gil Brandt has a lot of experience evaluating talent, and he was a guy that was buying into Cam Newton from the jump. In his article posted back in March titled, "Believe the hype: Newton has intangibles to be a start" Brandt wasn't simply talking potential like everyone else; he was talking intangibles, which many thought Newton lacked. Brandt said, "I’ve talked to a lot of players and coaches who were around Newton at Auburn, people whose opinions I trust, and I’ve come to this conclusion: Newton is the real deal." Brandt even went on to credit Newton's passing, which is what most experts doubted. He said, "The one thing most people will agree on is that Newton has a ton of talent, both as a passer and a natural athlete." He then went on to say, "Will he be as productive as Sam Bradford was in his first year? No. But he will be a big-time quarterback in the NFL within a few years. This is a special guy."

I can't possibly imagine we're actually going into the season this light on DL and heavy on TE.

If my parents named me "Jihad" I'd definitely look to legally change my name. Just saying.

Musically it kinda reminds me of a lesser version of the "Master of Puppets" era of Metallica. I just don't get the vocals though. And that's even acknowledging that the lead singer dude seems like a legit good person.

This.

Angle. He's listed at 6'1" and I think about right. I'd be shocked if he comes in under 6'.

Watch the video of Rhule and Fitts talking about the Corral trade and pick. Rhule couldn't care less. It just seems really obvious he had no desire not just for Corral, but a rookie QB period. Seems like Fitts convinced him that they had to take a QB and Rhule was probably like well fine then, this guy and Fitts was likely high on Corral too so it worked out. Well, it didn't work out but they were in agreement. Maybe it was McAdoo banging the table for Corral but I'm not sure how much sway he had in the room. McAdoo just seemed like someone that was forced onto Rhule that Rhule never really wanted to begin with. Tepper probably told him to get some real NFL experience on his staff and he came up with McAdoo and Wilks.

I hate it for him. I get no joy out of this kid getting cut. Rhule clearly didn't have much interest in him so it seems he was a Fitts pick. I sure hope he chose wiser with his much bigger QB swing.

Yeah, they've been middle of the pack at drafting. They had a huge competitive advantage during the Belichick/Brady duo era of being able to stockpile vets chasing rings. If you were a proven vet with fug you money already in the bank and truly wanted that SB ring to crown your career, it was by far your #1 destination of choice.

This is all just so dumb. If you're not gonna pay the guy, just trade him for the best offer you can get and move on. It's in both osrrties' best interest. Why they're willing to cut their own nose off to spite their face to win a dick measuring contest with a player is just baffling.

Don't forget, when they mic'ed up players for our preseason game they chose the punter and the long snapper. I mean, that says a LOT.

This is my concern with Ekwonu. I'm not certain he's a LT in the scheme that we want to run.

I mean, he has a history of seemingly being blind to young talent that even fans can see. So the way I see it is that Ron is either an atrocious evaluator of talent, even worse than a decently knowledgeable fan or he's simply not paying any attention to the guys down the roster. As unbelievable as the latter is, it's more believable to me than the former.

None of this should be surprising to a Panthers fan. That "thing" that Rivera lost as a head coach was prime Cam Newton. I think that much is obvious.

I'm still clueless as to what to expect. I think our schemes both offensively and defensively have been largely kept under wraps in the preseason but nothing would shock me in week one.

He'd probably be running the scout team.

It needed to happen but I just can't celebrate a guy losing his job unless he's a known POS. Looks like he's made roughly $4M so far in his career. After agent cut, taxes, etc. it's not set for life money but it's a damn good financial head start if he's been smart with it. If he's done he could work an average Joe job and live an average Joe lifestyle and be very comfortable.

Walmart merchandisers aren't dumb.

It'll be interesting if Taylor challenges this. Is he actually hurt? If he's not he may force the Colts' hand to prove the PUP list is justified. This very much feels like an Irsay personal pissing match at this point. It sucks too. A RB like Taylor could really help with easing Anthony Richardson into the NFL taking some pressure off of him.

Hindsight will tell us. I do think we had to make moves at WR. You couldn't go into this season with TMJ and Shenault penciled in as your starting WRs. Thielen made sense. Steady vet on the decline but he'll be a security blanket for Bryce. Chark honestly made sense too. He's shown the ability to produce in the NFL injuries have just gotten in his way and the contract reflects those injury concerns. So now we have two solid vets as our starting WRs with plenty of snaps still available for guys like TMJ and Shenault.

It was worth having a look, injuries have just left him a shell of his former self. Just an unfortunate reality of the game. Avoiding career derailing injuries is a huge part of the battle. There are a nearly endless number of "what could've been" stories in football that were ended by injuries. Just with the Panthers alone you have Cam, Luke, Morgan, Beason, off the top of my head. And that's just sticking with guys who showed legit HOF type potential on the field. Luke will be there anyway but I honestly think all four of those guys were Canton bound before injuries struck.

The guys I have the most sympathy for are the guys who are going to make the initial 53 but then get bounced by subsequent roster additions from the rubbish pile of the newly flooded FA market. What a gut punch that has to be.

In general.

Especially watching the games. He was still the same guy throwing the ball. The talent around him just had a massive drop off. We just learned that wow, this guy can actually run too. But the NFL took that info and came to the conclusion that he was nothing more than a poor man's The Golden Calf of Bristol. Baffling.

Stay salty.