MHS831

It made me sick. I told TA (I was the only coach who played football in college) that they were not doing him favors. In college, they will make you....then he goes to play for Amato, who was just as bad. He was done before he knew it, before he was 20. He could have been a beast.

Very true--I saw it in high school. I coached TA McLendon. I liked him, but he learned that he could miss practice, did not have to work hard in the classroom, and there were people who could get him out of trouble (I talked to an attorney who told me some stories). The town went crazy over the team (state champs). When TA took the SATs, he drove to South Carolina to a testing facility 100 miles away when they were offering the SAT at the high school he attended. (Reason? Believed that the head coach had "a guy" who could help--his scores were very good.) I might be the only teacher/coach who ever disciplined him (A teacher asked him to be quiet during an assembly and he told her "I talk if I want to. I am famous.") I took him to the office and told him that his attitude sucks, and they are not preparing him for success. etc. I was at a track meet that spring, and I talked to TA--he was being recruited, and he was appreciative of the time I took him to the office. I talked to a scout from Tennessee who was there, asking him if he was there to talk to TA. He said, "TA needs a babysitter. We don't do that at Tennessee." Amato, however, signed TA and the HS coach's son to babysit TA at State. I saw that attorney again, and he told me that he (while TA was at State) had to get him off a DUI charge. I told him that the town ruined TA--he agreed. When TA was a JR at NC State, he never went to a class--he told me that. He thought that he would be drafted. He was not. Atlanta signed him as an UDFA. Gave him $10,000 to sign. TA took his buddies to ATL and they partied during OTAs. I ran into a guy I knew who was with an Atlanta assistant coach in Charlotte. The Assistant coach for the Falcons said that TA would come to film sessions/meetings hung over, late, and he would sleep during the meeting--as an UDFA. The scout said that TA was allowed to do the same thing at State. I saw TA about 5 years late and he was about 280 and supposedly has several kids from different mothers. He was very nice. Told me, "you were the only one who gave a poo about me. I did not like you." TA was a good kid who was ruined by the people who somehow benefited from his play--so they tolerated him and created a double standard that became his norm. Again, I do not blame TA. He was naturally a stud and was always better than others. I watched him play basketball in middle school--he was beast. They were babying him then too (I knew his coach). These small town enablers ruined him, in my view. To your point.

I am thinking he would be the Panther's version of Micah Parsons and we would still draft an edge.

Based on his comments and the list of visits, I am thinking they feel that they are going to find a WR later in the draft--and that is probably smart. Wildcard--he has not ruled out TE, but I think he is going with Tremble and Sanders and some UDFA or something like that.

this could mean we are not announcing our pick to the pick before the draft this year, trying to keep it close to the vest, or it could mean they just don't know yet. Based on what you have shared, I see no TE, no Large, unproductive OLB/Edge like Williams or Stewart (could that be a smoke screen? I doubt it--why would you trick folks into not believing you were going to draft an unproductive college player? Jalon Walker is the pick, but if he is gone, they would like to move back and take Emmanwori or Starks (S) or Johnson or Barron (CBs). I also think bad boys Green (Edge) or Nolen (DE) could be on the menu--but they are a longer shot. That is about all I see on the defensive side of the ball...

I might speculate--Walker at 8, but we prefer a trade back where the two top safeties will be sitting there like plump, juicy melons ready for the picking to take to the picnic. I have been working on my extended metaphors

before he said this, he said, "I agree with what Dave said...." I hope he was referring to Canales and not Tepper.

As always, thanks for all you do to make the huddle productive. Now I feel bad for throwing a zinger at you on my Rumors Draft thread. Ok, I am over it.

OLB/Edge or ILB?

If he has bad knees as Joe Person suggests, could this keep the OL from blowing up? We don't know--but I read this thread and did not arrive at the same conclusion you did.

I have to think that is the plan. Maybe round 3 or 4.

You rarely post, and this topic should not ignite sarcasm or taunting comments. Some posters (and they know who they are because I call them out--so they double down) make everything about the poster and not the post. They can click out of the thread and be done with it since their comments offer nothing to the facts of the conversation--but they feel compelled to do some cyber chest pounding. Probably not breast fed and sporting small penises. Mr. Scot made a good point about getting rid of a talent too soon over too late. Here we have to determine when too late is going to be. We need to keep developing Young so even if we aren't in the playoffs this year, we need his progression to continue and not have a setback. A lot of people would have conditionally agreed if we did not have so many more pressing needs--so I get it. Just ignore those scholars who troll here--they have blow holes on the tops of their heads and their necks get long and stiff when they watch porn---they have nothing to offer.

My point was simply, we do not know the extent of his knees. If they are shot, as Joe Person referenced after the season (referring to the reason he missed week 17) I am not seeing that as an asset or selling low--it is complicated, I know. But if you consider what we actually know, you are absolutely right.

Great points. Moton missed one game, I think? Week 17? It is only through rumor and hearsay that I even know about his knee issues--and that is from Person. How reliable is his intel?

Last year (going from memory) we were 4-5 in our last 9 games, with 2 close losses in that span to the Super Bowl teams. Our defense was abysmal during that time. So if we get the d overhauled (as we have already done to some degree, we think) and add a WR, could we be ready? I think so, depending on what the other teams do, but I do not fear the other teams. We are not on the level of the Lions, Vikings, Eagles, Commanders right now, but we can play with the NFC South. New Orleans has Rattler and Atlanta has Penix (not sold yet), and Tampa has streaky Baker. Could Bryce emerge as the best QB in the NFC south?

I think that had his knees been in good shape, he would have been extended by now. My opinion is based on the fact that they do not to seem very confident about his knees, so should we? On the other hand, all veterans are playing with some chronic injury of some sort, so how much weight do you give it? And in today's market, Moton's salary is not overblown. Unless your concern becomes a problem, you stay the course, I would think. But Moton will probably not be our tackle when we are a playoff team, so the time to start grooming his successor is probably this year.

Yeah--but I get the idea or thought and it is a fair discussion to have--but Moton is solid--he is not irreplaceable--no pro bowls or anything--just solid and a great locker room guy. I want to keep him--chemistry on the OL is important. The issue with Moton: "Taylor Moton, Carolina Panthers' right tackle, suffered a knee injury that led to him being listed as doubtful for the Week 17 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to Yahoo Sports. The injury prevented him from participating in practice throughout the week. According to Sports Illustrated, Moton was also listed as inactive for the game. Joe Person from The Athletic, reported that there were concerns about the health of Moton's knees, potentially impacting his future with the team." (Interesting that Person mentioned "knees"--plural--and not a specific reference to the knee he injured. That suggests that Moton's knees are deteriorating, a problem some linemen have--so if the OP had included this in his original point, it might have solicited more favorable reactions. This is an issue we have to address in some way--and maybe signing BC was that) Since then, Person has stated that his opinion was that the Panthers would not extend Moton to get cap space, taking a "wait and see" approach to determining his future with the team.

The only way I would trade him is after the draft if we took a RT because he was the BPA--or if they know something about his knee--in fairness, a bad knee on a big man can be career ending--but if that is the case, nobody would trade for him. I worry that the panthers keep trading core veterans (McCaffery, Burns) and we become a farm team. However, instead of mocking the OP, state a countering opinion. His points: 1. Moton is old. 2. Moton is in the last year of a contract, 3. We are not going to the playoffs in 2025. Argue against those points instead of acting like the beacon of all that is football knowledge. Some folks on here are dickheads and they can't help being personal when they disagree with you--so instead of offerning a counterpoint using data, they make it personal using sarcasm. Insecure people do that on the internet. They don't think they are dickheads, so they keep doing it. It is in their DNA. Sorry you have to endure that to throw out an option---and I disagree unless BPA is a T in round 1. Ideally, I would take a T in the 3rd or 4th and develop them a season under Moton. We have BC, fwiw, but he too is on a one-year contract. That RT from BC (Tripoli, sp?) would be a good fit, imo, because he is a great pass pro guy, meh in the run game. The OL coaches deserve praise for what they did in 2024--Zavala, Mays, and Ekwonu were much improved. The way Zavala played at the end of the season for Hunt, I am surprised that teams are not trying to get him--

Wow. That is interesting. Yesterday it was announced that Shedeur would not be in the Green Room. I wonder if there are things we do not know that those directly involved know? If Dart went before Sanders, the cameras would be on Shedeur more than Dart. And then there is some reason Milroe thinks he needs to be in the Green Room. I cannot wait for April 24. It is not natural, but I look forward to it more and more every year. Love it.

It sure is.

this is going to sound flaky and corny--but not corn flaky--but some of us have been around kids in our professions to learn a lot about them. I used to think, "That kid needs discipline, so he needs detention or some form of punishment." I realized that it was not working in the long term--it was hurting. So I researched it for 20 years. To overly simplify it, I studied the trauma that kids grow up in that is beyond their control. I studied their developing brains and how they are often stunted by the trauma around the kids. I came to the conclusion--you don't fix the kid by trying to change him/her, you try to fix their environments. Bad or violent behavior is nearly always a reaction to the situation that surrounds the kid. It is more about random chance (circumstances he was born into) that some plan to be evil or mean. Yes, he was wrong to run from the cops and to argue with the family, and to be holding a firearm, etc. But suicide is usually the choice when the victim does not see another way out. I feel for him, his family, his victims and their families. I have a fair idea of what might have happened to cause this. If you are middle class, white, and surrounded by a loving, supportive family, judging him would be easy. If you are from a home that is victimized by bigotry, poverty, and violence--from a broken home characterized by alcohol and drug abuse and incarcerations--you live by a different code. It is tragic because in all likelihood, we failed him more than he failed us, but society does not think that way.

Yeah, it is not a professor thing, but that is the role where I noticed it. A CEO sitting in a brainstorming session tends to leave the room confirming what he thought instead of taking the best ideas and rethinking the position. So it might be more about how he is in the room more than if he is in the room.

I would love to know how many trades are set up in advance, conditionally.

It depends on needs and depth at a need position, but as a general rule, you are probably right. For example, he has not been mentioned in the top 10, but if the Raiders take Jeanty and a team like Dallas or da bears wants a top RB, moving up for Hampton would be wild, but it could happen. Dallas knows the Bears just had Hampton in for a visit and they want a RB....Jones might pull the trigger. All trades are unlikely, but the point is there are so many variables and teams that think one or two pieces is all they need to become immortal!!