MHS831

I don't assume Allar will declare after that game he had vs. ND. He probably needs a year anyway.

I have not kept up with who wants whom, and that might be the best move for the Browns in the long term. Stefanski has one year, I would assume, so breaking in a rookie might not be in his best interest. My first thought was Cousins--who the Falcons will want to deal-- I could see the Browns taking a second-tier QB from this draft--Ewers maybe, or Howard.

You bring up an interesting point--of course, we will know what I am about to post during free agency, but here is how I see it (shooting from the hip based on mocks): Quality players are available: Round 1: All positions except QB Round 2: If you need an edge, better get it by end of round 2. WR, DBs that are likely to make a difference year 1 are gone by mid round 2. Round 3: DT/DEs run out in round 3 I really like the DT/DE depth in this draft--So much I might double dip (NT) and 3 tech (DE). WR? Free agency is not good, and you have to ask, "When are we getting a WR?" You could add edge early, but if we plan to keep Clowney and Wonnum et al, can we get one later? Doubt it, which suggests that we may need to try to trade back and get the second or third best edge and WR early, DT/DE in rounds 2 and 3. Just how I feel right now.

The Browns pick second, and they were prepared to renegotiate Watson's deal and go with him--until Thursday's second surgery--he could be done (my opinion). Regardless, the Browns have to take a QB--Ward or Sanders. Wonder how Coach Prime feels about baby Prime playing in Cleveland?

He is 29. Never earned a starting gig he could hold. Decent value as a swing T, but we played him at G and C. He is not a necessity, and you gotta lose some to gain some. Go figure. I think we need to draft a T to replace BC as a top swing T (Nijman is not the answer) and eventual Moton replacement. Moton's knees (knee issues on a big man are not good) and when we sign Ickey, Moton's contract could be an issue if we cannot extend him. Always plan ahead for unseen circumstances. If you think the agents don't know when you are vulnerable, you would be wrong for thinking the agents don't know when you are vulnerable. Good thread. I would like to see us analyze the S situation, the LB situation, DTs, and the OLB /edge situation soon.

Seriously, everyone had a right to criticize Bryce and they have a right to be skeptical now--his positive sample size is small. But I agree that he showed us enough to change our approach to QB in 2025. And Daniels points out how well he was reading the defense. Hats off to the OL, and especially Cade Mays who stepped in at C and improved us. Coker who is going to be fun to watch in 2025 because he was just getting started-great hands, nice size, and a gamer. Add a WR or two and maybe a TE and this offense is going to be way groovy.

And when he tries to dip under the tackle or rush from inside, he rips with his left hand--I watched him the whole game, and he never ripped with his left hand-he was protecting it (a should is most vulnerable when away from the body, and he was holding it tight, for the most part. He was fighting them with "one hand tied behind his back," in other words. In my view, that is probably why he was on the RT all night unless over center. Not sure how much he shifts to the Defensive right, but he never did. I would take him in the first. Another player with some similarities (listed as a LB more than an edge--sorta like Parsons--is Javon Walker from Salisbury through UGA. He can play edge or move around to make the defense find Waldo.

HEY!!! You bringing positive stuff about our QB in heah? It makes all the time spent bitching about how he sucks lose credibility. Forget all the stats and obvious signs of improvement--the only stats that matter in the Huddle are "He sucks" or "He will start sucking soon." We all play Madden and know our sh*t. So be gone with "analytics" and "data" and "expert opinions." There is no room for you heah!

His left shoulder is injured so it has limited his inside move--the last thing he wants is for a 300 lb OT to get ahold of it. So he is staying outside and trying to get low and vary is speeds to get to the QB--if healthy, oh my. Having played with a shoulder injury, you can tell how he is holding it--it is as if he is winning with one arm. If he falls to 8, slap some silver and black on him

I think I saw where Salah was interviewing with Vegas. I think that would be the hire for them--but Brady's ego is now involved--he will pursue Vrabel, but I think Vrabel goes where there is a QB--NE. While on the subject, Brady is also trying to create a great situation for coach Bill, trying to steal him from UNC. Not sure BB wants that, but BB will not take a job without a QB in place. However, it seems odd that BB has gone recruiting (in my opinion he is avoiding the press) when he could halt these rumors if he wanted to--the rumor is hurting recruiting and the transfer portal, I would assume. I think he is playing both sides a bit and will wait to see what numbers a team is going to throw at him.

The information about knee pain is significant, and if true and depending on the extent, I have changed my approach to the Moton issue. First, his performance has not dropped off but Moton has never been elite--he has been solid and dependable--maybe our best player over the past 5 years. However, extending a big man with knee issues is VERY risky--the question is not "if" it is "when." The "Left Tackle is more important that Right Tackle" argument is not valid any more. Watt, Bosa, Crosby, etc. prefer rushing from the RT side--Bosa had this to say about rushing when he is not on the blind side: "“When it’s right there, you don’t really even have to completely get off your block . You can kind of just reach over and knock it out sometimes.” Getting a hand on the ball and stripping it is easier than getting off a block and tackling the QB, so the most destructive pass rushers in the NFL play defensive left tackle. Having said that, Moton is incredibly important, but extending him may seem risky--HOWEVER--most big men who have played OL in the NFL for a decade have knee soreness---I have not seen a major problem in his history: Week 17, 2024: Moton missed the Panthers' loss to Tampa Bay due to a knee issue. He didn't practice during the week and was considered doubtful for the game. Week 2, 2024: Moton experienced knee sorenes 2019: Moton had a questionable knee injury. Is Brady Christensen good enough to start at RT in the NFL? If not, I think the solution is to extend Moton with less guaranteed money and add a young RT through the draft or free agency. Cade Mays' performance means that C is not something we MUST address, so a depth, developmental RT is smart. Furthermore, we still have Nijman on the roster, and he played RT for Moton during the Tampa Bay game--he was not good, however. If you do not have a LT, RT, and a swing T who can hold his own in the NFL, your roster is not complete.

George Carlin said (paraphrasing) "The average American is pretty stupid. Half of them are stupider than that." So if you are one notch above stupid, you are "above average." Reading is not the issue--it is the the inability to apply reading comprehension skills that bothers me. I realize that you were kidding because I have 8th grade reading comprehension skills--but there are some very intuitive posters on this board--people who look at alternative perspectives and are able to discuss alternative viewpoints without grabbing their nuts and getting pissed because someone disagrees with them. For those folks, they WISH they were on an eighth grade level. I laughed when I read this, but not out loud. LBNOL!

That is a problem, but this draft is deep at DT/NT as well as DE/3tech. I hear that Evero likes smaller NTs (Tuttle is smaller than DEs on the team, for example). I REALLY like the DTs in this draft--and think we can find a stud in the second, but I would not be surprised to see us take a DT early--and to your point--we need to stop the run first and work on the other areas afterwards.

Ok, I agree that I was not happy with the rush stats. But most teams were beating us--what are they going to do? Run the ball. Overall, the Defense was ranked 4th and the Passing Defense was ranked 3rd. (because teams did not need to pass much vs. the terrible offense) Regardless, the same reason you can't give Evero credit for his pass defense is the reason you can't crush him over rushing data. This is cherry picking--yet I agree with you that they gave up too much on the ground then and it got worse. I think we are a stud DT(NT), a DE, and an ILB away from solving that problem--and I think it will be the priority.

McDermott was--Brandon Beane was another. The Buffalo Bills should be the Carolina Panthers, but our idiot owners kept Marty Hurney and Ron Rivera instead. As for Brady, I am not sold that he is a leader of men who can build a culture.

You know who had the most missed time on defense due to injuries? Detroit. Carolina was #2.

Well said. On top of losses in free agency and trades last year (Burns, DJax, YGM, etc). This team had nearly 100 starts lost to injuries. I think he will be fine, but I am concerned about his "bend don't break" approach--one that could be based on personnel and not philosophy. If you give him some defensive weapons he will attack. In my view, DT (NT) is the biggest need, and DE is next. Edge is a problem, but with Clowney and a healthy Wonnum, not so much. We need an alpha safety. A stud, run-stuffing ILB. Re-sign Jackson (CB). It was not fair to evaluate Evero after this season--we are concerned, but the greatest coach in the world would have been abused with these holes. I think you have to be careful evaluating players that depend on others doing their jobs in order to do their jobs. I can say this with a fair degree of confidence: Ray and Tuttle sucked. That impacts the rush from the outside and it creates traffic for your ILBs to hunt. I think we can "over fix" this. Fuller? (UFA and his numbers were not good-but we shall see) We need a few safeties, fwiw.

A lot of folks seem to think that Mays is not that good despite his performance numbers since taking over. Reason? He has been labeled, in my opinion, and that is preventing some from seeing Mays as a legit OL. He played nearly every position on the in college at Georgia and Tennessee. This should help him as a center calling blocking schemes. He started here at OG, where he struggled, and many of you sealed your opinion of him then--he was 24. Ryan Kalil played G his first season and he was not good. So now he has transitioned to one of the positions he has the least amount of experience playing--C--and he has been good for 11 games. During that time, the Panthers got Bryce back at QB and the last nine games of the season the Panthers went 4-5 and if Legette catches that damn pass, they would have posted a winning record. Number of sacks surrendered during the 11 games this season? 0 I am not sure why anyone is questioning Mays and acting as if we need to upgrade.

The last few games (scoring 30+) showed that--and you have to think Sanders will be improved in year 2. We could use an elite TE, in my view, to give Bryce another weapon, but it does seem to be more of a luxury than necessity at this point. I don't see but about 3-5 TEs in the draft that would move the needle here, and I think we have seen signs of player development on the roster at a level we have not seen before in Carolina.

I think we found our QB, and he was on the roster. We found a starting Center I think we found a starting LB (Wallace) and we may have found a starting CB (Jackson) and I think a possible depth or nickel CB (Bartholomew). An undrafted Rookie because a key part of our offense (Coker). We seem to have gotten good play from our 2024 draft's third and fourth round picks. Our biggest weaknesses: DL (I think DT/nose is a huge weakness that can really make us better if addressed properly) DB (We have 1 safety returning; need to re-sign Jackson and add some CB help) WR (We could use an alpha) Edge (A rookie to play with Clowney and Wonnum for a season) LB (Jewell and Wallace were below average--but playing behind a below average DL--I think we need an ILB) TE--A stud would improve this offense. Give Sanders time, but we could use 2

If you don't realize what a great job Mays did, you don't watch OL play. He was better than Corbett, he beat out BC when Corbett was injured--and Mays had been playing G as well as C--yes, it helps being between two stud Gs, but his pass blocking was very good. Overall grade, PFF--Lewis 72, Hunt 67, Mays 66. Pass blocking? Mays ranked higher than Lewis and Hunt. Compared to Corbett: Overall: Mays 66.1; Corbett 62.9 Pass Blocking: Mays 74.9; Corbett 66.8 Run Blocking: Mays 66.9; Corbett 59.3 Salary: Corbett $10m; Mays $711K (RFA entering 2025). Mays may have contributed to Bryce's turnaround more than anyone else-- Mays will improve when he learns better technique and gets familiar with just 1 job. He is 25. Let's not create problems that do not exist.

I am seeing Vrabel, Johnson, and Saleh as the 3 hottest candidates. Many see Johnson as the most coveted--but I disagree. Johnson is a technical guy--a creative offensive mind who has not been a head coach yet. I think Vrabel or Saleh are better choices because they are more about culture and seem to have the respect of players. I also think Vrabel might be making a mistake going to New England, I think he is the best leader of men--followed by Saleh. Dan Campbell is not a football genius, but he knows how to motivate. He gets family and the power of the locker room. Having said that, Johnson needs to go to a job with a solid culture--not one that is in disarray. After the presser in Jax with the owner who threatened to fire his GM while sitting beside him on national TV--that is not the job for him. I also think Brady needs a more solid environment, but I am not sure he is head coach material.

Winston has the highest completion percentage in NFL History, if you count interceptions as completions. (Positive?)

I am the same way--look back at the draft history of the Panthers and see how many fourth rounders stuck--While I agree that we need all the picks we have to address needs, backup QB is a VERY IMPORTANT need. While people do not want to spend a draft pick on a QB--I think the best value in round 4 might be QB. Besides, backups cost more cap room than a mid round rookie--so what you lose in the draft you gain in free agency. We have coaches who have developed QBs--and other players. Let them do their work. The concept that a third year QB needs a mentor is myth. They can develop just as much by mentoring a rookie--and there are these things called coaches (often former QBs) who can do that. THIS DRAFT has some strong, developmental QBs that should be available in rounds 3 and 4. The Pats drafted Brady when they had Bledsoe--same thing. I want my backup QB trying to win a starting gig, not looking to stave off Shady Acres.

Definitely want a guy you can count on for a few games who gives the team a chance to win--I see that perspective. My view is the backup needs to be competing and developing for 3 years from now, when Bryce may be a mediocre QB asking for $80m. In addition, his success has been a relatively short stretch; we don't know if old Bryce might return. I would like to be grooming a backup to be an NFL starter (here or elsewhere) than keeping a guy out of retirement. But there is benefit to any approach, and what I like probably matters little--Cousins behind RGIII, Brady was drafted when Bledsoe was a big name, The Niners drafted Purdy when they were grooming Lance, etc. If you sign a 38-year old veteran, you don't develop the backup QB. Here, we seem to be able to develop QBs (Coach has the rep for developing QBs), so I would like to see us prepare for an uncertain future and use the talents we have on the staff.