MHS831

This franchise is about 28 years old. Kerry Collins and Cam Newton are the only franchise QBs we drafted in the first round. No wonder we have no rings. We have been to 2 super bowls, 1 was a first overall pick and the other was an undrafted QB who sat the bench in NFL Europe before getting a bench job in the NFL behind the unimpressive Aaron Brooks. So who knows what the formula is. We have a big cap number available next year--so if we could get the QB now, we can sign the missing pieces in free agency in 2022. I see that as our best chance for a ring. I prefer moving up in the draft if Watson is not available. I think we should send 3 first rounders, Thompson, Bridgewater, CMC and maybe even CB Jackson to Jacksonville for Trevor. For Wilson, I might offer the same veterans and 2 first rounders. For Lance, same thing. For Fields, I have lost interest. I think he falls to us and I think we might take him at #8, (everyone thinks, what about Philly? Detroit? Philly and Detroit have better QBs than Fields right now, imo).

Relax. You fuse fact with opinion---in a league starved for QBs, you want to explain why 31 other teams did not sign him when he was released? If his supporting cast was the problem, then other NFL teams would agree and sign him, right? Right now, half the league is looking to change starting QBs---and he is not even in the conversation. Period. He wanted a contract here (commitment) and the Panthers were unwilling to gamble on him. It was a smart move, and the New England experiment proved it. About your comparison with the Panthers. The Panthers had one of the worst rosters if not THE worst roster. They had 25% of the cap in dead money. Lost their starting TE, MLB, QB, etc. several other key players. And you say New England's roster was worse-as if that was even a valid point. QUESTION For you--yes or no is all I need: Would you have given Cam the contract he was seeking (commitment) to stay here for 4 more seasons? A bargain contract would have been $130m with about $80 guaranteed. Nobody else did it, but you would have?

31 other teams were going a different direction as well. Only NE took him on a "prove it" deal. He proved that he is probably done. Not disrespecting Cam, but this makes sense if he left and took a team to the Super Bowl or something like that. Instead, the team he led did not make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. This was not about intimidation--it was business. I love Cam's fire. He should respect Rhule and Tepper--it was Ron Rivera who went 4 wheeling for 8 years with a Ferrari.

This is the question --is Lance worth trading away future #1 picks? Is Fields? Heck, is Wilson? If not, we will do what we have to do to get Watkins.

BUT we beat that team that whose name is not to be mentioned and our old coach, who could not put together winning seasons with a franchise qb. Hang that banner!!

It is probably more than being taught--it is like being reprogrammed--if that makes sense. Which is why it is so hard to do. To learn to do something from scratch, it is completely conscious memory until it becomes muscle memory--like typing. But something like this requires an adjustment of instincts--you have to deny the impulses to do what your brain tells you to do. It would be like changing / rearranging the keys on the keyboard ( in alphabetical order, for example) and asking you to avoid using your index finger on the right hand only. Sounds easy, I guess, but it is not. How long would it take you to return to normal typing speed?

All signs point toward Tepper calling the shots. Hope the QB's athleticism is not also Tepper's decision.

It really looks bad on paper, but in the grand scheme of things, Watson is the perfect QB to trade for--not old, proven, local--whatever the cost on paper, the benefit is tremendously obvious to me. So far, I am very impressed with Rhule's ability to develop the bottom of the roster. Look who played fairly well in their first NFL season (to speak of): Larkin, Roy, Hartsfield, Franklin, R. Smith, Cannon, Pride, Colin Thompson, etc. In addition, look at the role players that were developed and played well (something Rivera was not known for): Elder, Obada, Carter. So can we overcome the loss of some draft picks and a few good players? Yes---with the cap in 2022 as it is, we can. While some are looking at this as "selling the farm", we could look at it as getting rid of some expensive contracts. What if we have $130m in cap room next year? We may not miss the draft picks that much and we can replace the veterans we loss, if we shop wisely. Last year, after drafting Brown, we grabbed YGM, Chinn, and Pride on days 2 and 3. Not bad. If you consider that the 2022 pick is worth a second rounder, and that about 55% of first rounders become solid starters....it looks worse on paper than it is.

You are quite the wordsmith. Mind if I steal this?

God I wish Marty Hurney were here. We need him during times of surplus cash. Where have you gone, Marty H--Panther nation turns its lonely eyes to you...

Is it just me, or are most small-market -- bigger market proposed trades always in favor of the bigger market? The Panthers would be better off trading CMC, Robby Anderson, and Brian Burns (according to this proposal) and using those picks to move up--saving the first rounders. I think you could get a first for CMC and Burns and maybe a third for Anderson. That would give you 3 firsts (2021 included) and a third to move up with Miami, for example.

Kids are kids--he was showing off. Maybe trying to get the attention of a great player. I mean, yes, Cam is a free agent--how many of us would love to say that we are? I get the impression that this kid might become a great player and the NFL will show clips from it in 10 years-- But in all likelihood, he will not make it out of high school sports.

I have a theory, based on my area of expertise. Only a theory, but there is evidence to support what I am saying--This is only for those who are interested in the relationship between the brain and performance during times of anxiety and stress-but we rarely hear this in relation to the job of the QB. Long--I hesitated to share and nearly deleted, so take it for what it is worth. This is my attempt to apply what i know in one field to the gridiron--I am sure it has some weaknesses, but since the Huddle is not a peer-reviewed journal, I will proceed. When a QB can run, often the run becomes their check down, which is what I said about Cam coming out of college. You know that your God given athleticism can save you, and those legs have become part of his weaponry for his entire life. From Pop Warner through high school through college, Cam's brain knew his legs were an option, and that was also true for Steve Young (who had much more time to understand the pro game that Cam or most athletic QBs did) Elway was a terrible passer his rookie season (under 50% completions) and did not experience success until late in his career. And if you read articles about these guys, their footwork was the thing that they worked on the most as they transitioned to becoming a more mature, successful, etc. NFL QB. Warren Moon actually worked with Cam because he is probably the best example of a QB that transitioned to the NFL style-after being in the CFL for a while after being a running college QB. Randall Cunningham had to get injured and he transitioned late in his career and had success. Here is what I think happens in the heat of battle: Your brain tells your feet to run before your eyes do--reason? Your brain's primary job is to protect you. The brain does not distinguish between real threats or fake ones (which is why you get scared and sweaty during a horror movie)--so it makes complete sense. Once your brain has experienced trauma (injury) it can cause adverse reactions to repeated events (complex trauma) and that can impact the brain's message to the body even more. I have researched this for 20 years, (related to children and trauma and how it impacts behavior), so trust me or challenge this if you want. I am simplifying it here to give it brevity and clarity. When the legs become slower and less reliable, and the brain cannot depend on them any longer, it adapts--in the case of Cam, perhaps too late--or the person becomes vulnerable to the lack of adaptation because the defense mode escape--legs--are no longer effective protection and it makes the player vulnerable. Young and Elway had more time to develop and learn, but watch film on how often they ran at the end of their careers vs. early on. Better example: Warren Moon in college vs. his time in Houston. Night and day. So when a QB relies on his legs, anxiety (pressure) moves his feet to prepare to run (my theory, but consistent with everything I have ever read about reflexes in relation to learned experiences). When the feet are unconsciously preparing to run before the conscious brain has decided to do so, and the QB throws the ball (perhaps as a conscious defensive maneuver), his mechanics are off-causing bad throws. Cam was very accurate when he dropped back, planted his right foot, and threw the ball. If he did not release the ball at that time, he would scramble/run, and his passes were much less accurate. Brady, on the other hand, can read the defense before the snap, and he is actually going through his progressions to anticipate the open WR during his drop back. When he plants his foot, he already knows what he is doing with the ball most of the time. Most QBs cannot anticipate like this, so they hold the ball too long and go through progressions while in the pocket, after dropping back. Brady's brain has never been conditioned to use "run!" as a way out of problems, so he had to develop in other ways to become effective and survive. Of course, this is not applicable all the time, but if it is applicable only 20% of the time, that makes a huge difference. We cannot see or coach the subconscious--the parts of the lymbic system that protect us all. They are always signalling the rest of our brain, even though we know the threat is manufactured and basically safe, we become different animals during a football game than we are in a shopping mall, for example. Think about Luke Kuechly, for example. What flips that switch? Football players are at war, and parts of their brains treat the experience no differently than if they actually were in Afghanistan or Vietnam. Soldiers are trained not to run from battle, which is why honor and pride are so important. They are trained to ignore the "flight" (run) command that the brain's amygdala is screaming through their skulls--and those who cannot get "run!" out of their heads are the most vulnerable. Maybe a bad comparison and not meant to trivialize what soldiers go through, but as stated, the amygdala is the alarm--it does not decide what is real and what is not--the rest of the brain--much slower in the processing---makes that determination, but not clearly until the adrenaline etc. has run its course. Disclaimers: Yes, this was long. No, this was not racist.

But he also had the Kiper seal of approval-what could go wrong? https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/mel-kiper-said-hed-retire-2018-jimmy-clausen-wasnt-successful-nfl-qb-well.html

Making us think---good work. Quite an accomplishment.

I am sold. I hope we draft him twice. Once in round 1, and again later for emphasis.

“The main concern is that Justin Fields stares down the primary target. He doesn’t look away from the primary target. He doesn’t process things as quickly as they want him to. During the Senior Bowl, I mentioned how there was one team who has broken down all of Justin Fields’ passes in 2020. They said that just seven times, he looked off the primary target. The other 200+ passes he threw to his primary target.” Do we have the coach who can help him? How long will it take? (Josh Allen--took 2 years)

I have a question, because I do not engage in Instagram or Twitter---so I really have to assume that "unfollowing" means disassociating. However, if I was player and I knew my name was being tossed around in trade rumors or cap casualty conversations and it was the offseason, I might not want that stuff flooding my phone day and night--is that a faulty position to take? I really do not get into social media, so I am flying blind here-

Someone in the crowd should have told the little punk to shut the hell up. I would have loved to see him get sucker punched Steve Smith style.

This is being discussed in a few other threads---the RUMOR thread for one. Probably not going to get much reaction here.

Man of the Year.

I am in the same camp with Teddy and Shaq--I have been promoting a Shaq departure for some time--I did not like the contract. Thomas, still on a rookie deal for a fourth round pick, I would keep for another season but he would be #3--not #1. ALTHOUGH he is slated to count over $2m toward the cap this season. Dang--you are probably onto something.

For those of you who have never transformed an organizational culture. You do not clean house--there are too many procedures and protocols that leave when the employee leaves. You bring in replacements, you watch and observe for a while so you can see the needs and deficiencies. Sure, you want everyone to be axed after year 1, but there is a slow, gradual transition to do it successfully. He is doing this correctly, based on my knowledge and assumptions about his methods.

Forged in the fires of research-based high risk, let the man work. Let's see what he can do.

My theory with Hurney--he had an inferiority complex about the Panthers--maybe he felt that a small market team would not be as attractive for free agents so he had to overpay. I remember when Charles Johnson (coming off his only good season) was a free agent and only Atlanta had a need for a DE enough to compete with the Panthers--they were strapped. CJ got a deal about $20m more than was necessary. When they interviewed CJ, he laughed about it. I will never forget it. Then I saw DWilliams and Stewart get big deals, I saw him pay Delhomme after Tommy John Surgery twice what anyone else might have paid him--then cut him soon afterwards, and I saw him give Charles Godfrey a sweet deal--then let Julius Peppers walk (probably because he was fed up). Hurney has always rewarded his picks, and he has always overpaid certain positions. THAT is why we never had much at DT or OL--he could sign street free agents to play there. DBs? Not his area either. QB? After Cam, nothing much. So glad to see him gone.