MHS831

Baker Mayfield is a good example of how the system and supporting cast can make a mediocre QB good. He was not good here with WR Moore and the OL was considered better than average. The defense was good. He goes to Tampa Bay, and leads them to a playoff berth and win. They want him back. I think Bryce will improve with weapons and in a new system that will probably be designed to accommodate his skill set. In college, Bryce was good (footwork) when he had time to throw. The OL will get better when BC and Corbett return, and I think Ekwonu needs an offseason of work on technique and focus. He had 10 false starts in 2023 and 4 holding penalties--all because he was not confident in his ability to block an edge rusher. Mechanics will improve this. Will this be enough for Bryce? We will find out.

I used to coach OL in high school, so that makes me an expert and unquestionable authority on all things between the Tackles. Seriously, I was excited to get Campen, but I am also a graduate professor who works with students who are about the same age as our OL. Campen is an old school, foul mouthed, experienced coach, but when I saw clips of him in interviews and at practice, my thought was: How is he going to relate to Ekwonu and a Mormon on the left side? Can he effectively communicate with them? I struggle to reach some of these millennials, so I have to strategically design lessons that appeal to their social dispositions. This may sound ridiculous, but it is far from it. I saw young players (Mays, Zavala, Jensen, Ickey, and a few others who seemed lost. Their mechanics were terrible (waste bending, head dropping/lunging, poor footwork leading to holding penalties, etc), they were not interacting during stunts etc, on the line, they made way too many pre-snap errors (false starts). they telegraphed plays. These are things I worked on as a high school coach, so I see them. There is no reason pros should be doing it. 65 sacks, second most in the NFL? (Statmuse) The Panthers were 3rd in the NFL in False Start Penalties with 27. 22 of those were on the OL. Mechanically, they were terrible. Chubba Hubbard and Miles Sanders were tackled for a loss a total of 40 times. Yikes. I think we have a decent core and our focus HAS to be on WR and TE. I think of Evan Mathis, how we gave up on him too early and he became an All Pro G for the Eagles. Maybe Ickey is a G. Maybe BC is a swing T (reserve) and nothing more. If Corbett fully recovers and we have the right people in the right places, the OL might not be that huge weakness we think it is. I think we should address depth.

that kid from Tulane (QB) Pratt could be a diamond in the rough if given a year or two. I doubt he will be there, but Bo Nix had 60 starts in college and demonstrated at Oregon that he can complete over 70% of his passes. He could be there at #33. I see him going to Denver or Vegas, but I also heard that Payton likes McCarthy, and Penix could end up in Vegas. Very early, however, but you never know--it is highly unusual for 5 QBs to go in round 1, and there are 6 who might.

There are a lot of ways to approach this, but remember, the new coach may watch film and decide Ickey goes inside to G. Corbett is in his prime. BC? Are we keeping Moton and that $30m cap hit? You could be right. I am looking at WR or TE at #33, because I think the line was poorly coached. I am not sure Campen was able to effectively communicate with these young players. He is as old school as they come, and I saw NO growth across the board.

Any respectable new coach will not want to come to Charlotte under the mandate or expectation that he must spend a season or two developing Bryce Young unless they feel that they have something there to develop. Nobody is going to fall on the sword for Fitterer. This is where Tepper is likely to become a problem. Is he going to insist that the new coach play Bryce? Is that going to be a deal breaker if the best coach possible interviews by saying, "I will need a legit QB.?" Or will the new coach come to Carolina because he sees this as an opportunity? He thinks he can make Bryce legitimate? If that approach is the only approach Tepper considers, then we are in trouble--again. Tepper's arrogance will push him to prove to the world that he and Nicole were right, instead of admitting you were wrong. Tepper is never the smartest person in the room, but often the loudest voice in it. Here is another perspective: The playoffs are also places where discarded or forgotten QBs returned to take center stage--Goff, Tua, Purdy (discarded in draft), Love (called a bust for a few years), etc. made a good showing Take a retread and don't try to draft the next QB in round 2 of any draft. We can assume that the Bears will draft Caleb, leaving Fields available. We can assume Washington will take Jayden Daniels or Maye, leaving Howell available (had a bad situation in DC--could be developed by the right coach/system-Rivera sucked). New England? Not sure we want him, but Jones was playing with the pressure of BB and in the shadow of the GOAT on a team with modest levels of talent. Give Bryce his shot, but bring in a guy and allow him to sit for a while and think. Opportunity will present itself. If we are not going to take a QB in this draft and 2025 looks bleak at QB, and not many teams move on from their first round QB selections after 1 season, maybe we should go after Fields, offering a 2025 third rounder or something like that. I think Fields can be coached up and the right system could help him. He rarely had protection and only had 1 good WR part of the time. I would add that the second tier of QBs in this draft might be as good as the first tier last year. Nix, Penix, and McCarthy. This might be the year to take another QB, especially if the coach is not hired based on his love for Bryce's potential.

It would be easy to overreact, but injury, scheme, and lagging development devastated this OL--do they need to be replaced? Moved? Maybe, but an overreaction is as bad as doing nothing. OT: I think Moton needs to be restructured if possible. I can see him playing another 5 years and he is our best OL. If we can trade Moton, that would probably be the play, and I think BC could play RT in 2024. Ekwonu needs to be coached up. I may consider putting him at G, but his problems are mechanical. I would give him another season at LT. Am I happy about his development? Nope. The lack of development from the young players on this line speaks volumes about Campen. He may have been great in his day, but these kids today are a different breed. Maybe his ability to connect with them has faded. Personally, I think Brady Christensen could be the LT in 2024 if he is not moved to RT in the event of a Moton trade or cut (which would be stupid) and Ekwonu could be a G. People need to remember that BC has significant athleticism and he might be better at T than G--stay tuned. If we go with Moton and Ekwonu on the outside, and I think that is likely (depending on Ekwonu's development in the area of mechanics), BC is an average LG who was making progress. As an OL, he is entering his prime. Bozeman is difficult to analyze because he looked terrible at times. I think part of that was the backup guards beside him. I still expect to see him as center in 2024. Corbett is a good RG when healthy. Tough to say how he has recovered. His age is not a factor yet--most good OL peak between 28 and 32. We need depth at every position. With Moton, Ekwonu, and BC's ability to play T, I feel OK about Tackle and do not see it as an urgent need. Of course, Moton at $30m? Dang. I think I would bring in a free agent G who can play C. Not much more than that. As for drafting 2 solid OL, when? Rounds 4 and 5? I think I would develop the roster. I am not sure Zavala, Jensen, and Mays were coached up very well. I think there is some hope. I was excited about Campen when we signed him, but after watching the players demonstrate repeated mechanical and mental mistakes on the OL, I realize that he did nothing with the talent he was given. They all regressed, if you ask me. HOW DO YOU MAKE THE OL LOOK BETTER? 1. Get healthy. Our biggest problem was IR. The OL was pretty good in 2022, but when you lose your top 3 guards and have a 5-10 QB, defenses feasted on A gap. Our scheme kept Bryce in the pocket. 2. Get a YAK guy. A RB / WR who can catch screens and get yards after the catch. Our screen game was not good. 3. Get WRs who get open. Adam Theilen at this stage of his career should not be your team's top WR. He should be a Proehl, not a Smitty. I was pleased with Smith-Marsette and he has potential. Mingo has the makings of a #2 WR, with a quiet 400 yards on about 45 catches--not bad for a a rookie. We need 2 more, and I suggest that we draft a WR (good, deep draft at WR this year) and sign one not named Chark. We need a fast, quick, speedster who can get open--most of our WRs are on the big side. When Tua got Waddle and Hill, he got better quickly. 4, We need a TE that defenses have to respect. I am impressed with Tremble's potential --he will be 24. Hurst? He sucked, but we will probably keep him on the roster in 2024. I wonder about his heart after the concussion and his comments to the media. The other TEs? We do not need them. 5. Discipline. The OL's biggest weakness, aside from forgetting to block people, was stupid pre-snap mistakes. That is a sign that they are not prepared. Campen did us no favors, folks. 6. Clock management by the QB. How many times did we take the play clock to 1 second before snapping the ball? Tough on the OL to stay in stances that long, and it suggests that they are not prepared at the LOS. We are reacting to the defense instead of the defense reacting to us. 7. Communication. When the G waves his hand to let the C know the QB is ready, then the C snaps the ball to said QB, it is like signalling to the defense, "OK, we are getting ready to snap the ball." When this becomes routine, you can time the snap. The OL advantage of knowing when the ball is going to be snapped with the G waving his arm and the play clock at 00 is removed. When you remove the snap advantage, the better athlete (defensive linemen) wins. Duh. Just my rant.

Cam signed my son's jersey after an OTA. He was starting to walk away from the crowd and saw the #1 Jersey out of the corner of his eye. He stopped, grinned, and walked back to him and signed it. I remember thinking Cam was a show boat, playing it up for the crowds and cameras, but when we watched him at OTAs, he was like that all the time. He LOVED practice. Nobody LOVES practice. Ron Rivera used Cam to save his career. The fact that Rivera never had 2 winning seasons in a row with Cam at QB tells you all you need to know-Cam made Rivera coach of the year twice and got him a contract extension. Rivera cut 5 to 10 years off Cam's career by running him like a Fullback.

I remember when it was on the news that his house caught on fire (no injuries). I looked at my wife and said, "If I were investigating the cause of this fire, I'd start with the diehard Panther fans."

The Panthers might be making a mistake by assuming an OC is the best choice because our offense is so bad. First of all, with Fox and even Rivera, we had good offenses and stout defenses. Is Bryce going to win shoot outs or should be keep him in games by giving him short fields and turnovers? A defensive coach knows more about offenses that an offensive coach in theory because he must plan vs. different kinds of offenses every week. An offensive coordinator knows one offense well, and his challenge is to attack where he thinks the defense might be vulnerable. I am not sure that a defensive head coach and offensive coordinator are not the best combination for the overall offense because the defensive head coach can challenge the offensive coach during meetings and film sessions. He can reveal where the defense is vulnerable....Not sure about this, but an offensive coach and an offensive coordinator may not be able to see behind the curtain as well. Just a theory and I have not thought a lot about it, but I have coached and remember the exchanges during film sessions.

Texas to change if Mexico ever gets a team If accurate, it seems we truly do not have a rival.

I have only seen him play a few times, but when I did, I was impressed with his speed (deceptive), his intelligence, and his accuracy (72% completions, 22 TDs vs 4 Ints). His WRs were very young, and the offense was very run heavy--so they did not need him to stretch the field very often. I sorta see him as a diamond in the rough--worth the #33 pick? I think so. We need two WRs and some attention on the OL. However, you could argue that they are not going to give up on the #1 overall pick this quickly, and the best approach is to give Bryce and Andy another year while developing the OL WR and TE rooms.

I did not know--thanks.

Usually, look to find this answer in the draft. How they draft is the first step. I do not know a franchise that is well run that does not draft very well. We once had a draft (2001) that carried our franchise to a Super Bowl (38)--Morgan, Jenkins, and Steve Sr. We have not come close to that since.

If I am not mistaken, haven't all of our interviews been Zoom sessions? Not sure if that is the norm, but in my experience, Zoom interviews are screening interviews before setting up the serious interviews.

I like him, but he does not have sustained success--it would be a huge gamble, and I am not certain that we are in that position.

I agree. I think we spend too much time looking at the players' performances and giving credit to or blaming the coach. Look at the coach's performance. Game management is one aspect of the job, but it reveals a lot about the coach. Is he smart? Does he listen to the input from others?

Tepper knows that anyone with a choice is going to steer clear of Mint Street. We will hire someone then the PR dept will spend a few weeks pumping him up, telling us that is who we wanted all along.

By the way, the Kellen Moore comment was made with no qualifying evidence and it was sarcasm related to the vegas comments--to a point--because I cannot predict this team anymore. I think Vegas knows more than we do pertaining to issues involving sports gambling, however. I do think, however, this is going to be tough sell and there will be a lot of activity impacting what they Panthers do. I am not certain the next coach is one of the people they have reached out to at this point. They may be looking at a list of coaches who would be interested in the Panthers or any HC job, not who the Panthers are initially interested in.

But there is photographic proof and it is on the internet--2 indisputable evidence sources.

Yes--here is one of the articles about it--includes some names like Bienemy as well. https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/dallas-cowboys-ex-kellen-moore-favorite-hired-coach-carolina-odds-panthers

When the other team kicks a second quarter field goal to go ahead 3-0 and you realize 'game over."

Maybe you answered your own question. One site has him the favorite in Carolina--I hope not. What if they are not interviewing him virtually because they interviewed him last season? I can't answer, but he is a name that is flying around with no evidence (as you state) only speculation at this point,

Here is what I think will happen: Mike Vrabel: If (or I could probably say 'when') the Eagles lose, they will interview Vrabel and offer him the job. Word on the street (and I run the streets, as many of you are aware) is that Vrabel wanted more control in Tennessee. That alone will cause Tepper to look elsewhere. So what would be my choice? Call me crazy (not literally--you are not qualified--my psychoanalyst is the only person who did that with validity), but I have a short list, and these rank in order of my preference at the time. Dave Canales is my dark horse favorite. He worked under Pete Carroll at USC and he followed him to Seattle. At Seattle, he worked with a smallish QB with scrambling ability who became all pro (Russell Wilson) and he is credited for helping turn Geno Smith into a legit NFL starter. Moving on to Tampa Bay, he took Baker Mayfield and turned him into a playoff QB who has found success there. This guy has the midas touch, and if he can do that with QBs, he can do that with the 53 man roster. He is a college WR, and the Panthers need growth in that area as well. Russell Wilson faced adversity (size) and Carroll went after him and the Seahawks dominated for years. Geno Smith? Who saw that coming? Baker in Tampa was a joke, but they found a way to utilize his talents. Could he save Bryce? I doubt it, but I would not put it past him. I think he'd start with the OL. Dan Quinn, DC Dallas. I would take Quinn. He is a locker room guy and he went to a Super Bowl (28-3) with the dirty turds. His record there was over .500. You might say, "But he is a defensive coach and we are going offense in Carolina?" We do not know what we want or need. As a head coach, it helps to know how a defense might attack the offense and its players. He is liked and has HC experience and has played games as a head coach on the biggest stage. He is a winner, and I would understand and rejoice if he is the hire. Frank Smith, Dolphins OC. If we go this route, it is because we are "all in" on Bryce Young. It would also mean we will probably be drafting an "after the catch" speed demon at #33. Do I like the hire? If we are going with Bryce, yes. Avero's defense and Smith's offense could be a winning combination. Ejiro Evero, Panthers DC. Evero has proven to be an effective DC on teams with the lowest scoring offense in the league in Denver and Carolina. The Panthers turned down a request by the Jags to interview him, so that means they are keeping him. To me, that suggests as the DC, not the head coach. They had plenty of time to interview him (following the hiring of Frank R) and they have already Zoomed with him. With Ryan's success in Houston, maybe they go copy cat and hire him, but I do not have a great feeling about him. However, Evero was without Thompson (LB) and Horn (CB) most of this season and was still pretty dang respectable. I think the play is to hope to retain him and bring in a good HC who will hire his choice for an OC. Mike McDonald, Ravens DC. Along the lines of the new age, analytical coach (see Mike McDaniel, Miami), McDonald is from the "House of Harbaugh" having served as DC at Michigan under Jim and then Baltimore under John. He is 36. Not my first choice, he has interviewed in LAC, Atlanta, Tennessee, Seattle, and maybe one other team (going from memory). Ben Johnson, OC in Detroit. I don't want this turd. Demanding $15m, turning us down (probably smart to do so). Goff was pretty good when he got him, and he developed a good OL and they added a solid WR. Nothing that special. I give Campbell the credit in Detroit. Kellen Moore? Probably who we hire. Not a fan of it though.

I can't remember breakfast and its 8:30. Thanks for sharing. I mean, we really are on the same page and I always find it very difficult to argue against your points---not sure I ever have. I think they make it more complicated than it has to be. Young was always playing with the lead, had a great ground attack, good WRs, defense, etc. McCarthy, to me, is a pick for the future. You really have to look at the situation. We overpaid for Sanders running behind the best OL in the NFL. THAT money should have gone to OL and we could have gone out back and picked a RB off the "dime a dozen" tree. I liked the Theilen hire, with reservations, but signing Chark, who led the league in time in the Blue Tent in Detroit, was stupid--and that was to be the #1. WR. We reached for Mingo. I am most disappointed in Campen. Ekwonu is not good yet, Zavala, Mays, and Bozeman seem to have regressed. Sure, he had injuries, but on paper, we had depth. Fitterer was a complete and total joke, and I hope Tepper learned that in terms of football, he is an owner, and we need his dollars, not his brain power. Jeez. And my hope for Young is to get all the way up to mediocre.

I was coming here to see if there was a thread about this. I see him as a developmental QB with a good arm and good speed. I would take him. I am not sure I would start him in 2024, but I would take him and let him compete with Andy and Young. I still think there is a glimmer of hope for Young, with a better OL and WRs, but I really think they let him go past the point of no return--experience is good, but getting humiliated again and again is how you break a 22 year old kid. Still, with 3 QB options (when nobody has shown they deserve a job) is better than 2. I wanted a WR, but they can be found later. I do not think Fitterer and the team / Tepper could have had a worse off season. Horrible. As if they were trying to lose.