MHS831

I don't know why this bothers me, but I saw where Sanders is not working out at the Combine. He does not have a first-round grade, and his season was below expectations. I would participate.

I think he would add to Evero's system as well. I forget what famous coach said, "You don't force players into your system, you develop a system that maximizes the success of your players." I am looking forward to the combine--it seems things start rolling afterwards.

I think he is being looked at primarily as an edge, but I would use him like you suggest. His rating as a defensive player is very high, but if you take only the plays where he was an edge rusher, there are several who are better. Shaq (remember he was at Washington and they were on the quarter system when we drafted him, so he missed a lot of the OTAs) We went to the OTA (used to go to 1 per year) that was his first day in Panther gear. I am 6'1" but was listed as 6'2" as a player, so I get the nudging. However, he came up to my kids to sign their mini helmets and he was probably maybe 6 feet tall and weighed about 210-15. He looked like a DB. His frame is not thick; I am guessing it was tough to keep his weight at 225. Wear and tear. When the panthers have been successful, they have had a slobber knocker in the middle. We don't have that player now.

Waldo makes a good point about Atlanta, but I wonder if they did not create a self-inflicted wound. Signing Cousins to a four-year deal in March, 2024 at $180m ($90m guaranteed) means that the Falcons, if you include Penix Jr, will have nearly $70m in cap space at QB in 2025. I am not confident either QB is good enough to win the South, NFC, or Super Bowl, so it is as if they did this to themselves. By drafting a QB in the first behind your $100m veteran, you created a situation that would force a move if Cousins faltered, instead of letting him play through it. If Cousins struggles and you don't put Penix in, then the fans question the decision to draft a 24-year old QB who can't take over at the end of his rookie season. However, drafting a first round QB a few weeks after signing an established QB to a long contract with nearly $100m guaranteed is in itself a head scratcher because Cousins sighed a deal that indicates a trust in his ability. So it was not only financially questionable, it was emotionally questionable. It cast doubt not only on Cousins, but on the entire front office.

I would love to have some great center too, but Mays is not hurting us and his pass blocking is good. I am not sure of the finances, but Corbett should return if it saves us $$ and does not kick the can down the road. If I am the OC, I would start Mays over Corbett until Corbett earns it. If I were a team looking for help at guard entering the draft, I would make an offer for Zavala. He played very well this past season--too well to be sitting on the bench. Watch the Lions, Vikings, or Eagles. BC will shop his services and he will get some attention in free agency, but in my view, he is a backup swing T--time they spent making him a guard may have been do to his arm length, but his feet say, "I am a tackle." I don't expect him to return. Mays will be back and I pray Jackson will. In free agency, I don't see how Morgan avoids signing at least 1 safety. I am very curious to see what we do at WR. Imo, Higgins would be a mistake. I could have 1000 yards if I played with Burrow and across from Chase.

For the past several years, the Panthers were not boxed in due to QB (imagine if we signed Watkins), but we had the dead cap which had the same impact.

Reminds me of another Marshall player with some "Character issues" who dropped in the draft several years ago. Heck, I was a turd when I was 20--whatever it was, I might have him beat. (Inference here is that I am no longer a turd--something I can prove because it is on my resume)

When I hear "dawg," I think nasty, high motor, over achiever, frothing at the mouth, etc. I do not think of a guy who has all the tools yet disappears for long stretches should be a top 10 pick. Some players have always had better tools and athleticism and have not had to work hard to be the best in middle school, high school, college, etc. Williams comes across like that kinda guy. Give me Skattelbo and Jack Bech and Jeffrey Bassa and Darius Alexander--mid round dawgs who will stick on a roster.

I don't know either, but I can say that I heard something a few weeks ago (No details were provided) about a "character issue" and I have not heard anything about it since. I also think, after the combine, Shemar Stewart will be a top 10-15 pick.

I do believe that Stewart is going to turn heads at the combine. In my mind, he is sitting there around 20-25 right now. I would not be mad.

I went for broke. If I am right, I will start my own "mic drop" thread, and if I am wrong, which is pretty likely, I will call the person who brings it up petty and sad. Its a win win.

Not sure they made the whole thing up or that Incognito would have a chance in hell suing Martin--when Incognito leaves evidence like this: ""Hey, wassup, you half-niggxr piece of sh*t. I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. I'll sh*t in your fukking mouth. I'm going to slap your fukking mouth, I'm going to slap your real mother across the face [laughter]. Fukk you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you." I get the locker room hazing--it is rough at times. In college, I had to sing in front of the entire team, get Seniors milk in the cafeteria or training table, carry helmets to practice--but it was all 37 freshman, not just me. Eventually, I retaliated (toward the end of the season). I wrote and sang song about the Seniors that mocked them--I put salt in their milks, etc. But by then, we had bonded. There was a 6-8, 328 lb player who used to grab me after practice and squeeze me (hard to breath after practice). After our final practice, he threw me into the cold lake beside the practice field. It was never malicious in my mind. I encouraged it. HOWEVER, If I heard an upperclassman address one of my freshmen teammates like this, I would have taken some action on his behalf. It crosses several lines. I mean, at no time in any situation is it OK to call someone a racial slur, threaten him with physical abuse/assault, threaten his mother with physical violence, and then communicate a death threat. Humor? Sarcasm? No--this was part of a pattern. If I were Martin, I would not want to stay there after this alone, but if I already wanted an out, Cognito provided it. My point is not to state who did what and what was made up or not--this alone is criminal. You seem to imply that Incognito was falsely accused. Hard to defend that argument when they have evidence like this. This alone will prevent Incognito from suing anyone. Do you think a jury or judge would hear this and consider Incognito a victim? Nope. I get the impression that Martin did not love football and wanted out, and his heart was not in it. This became his golden ticket. Did Incognito increase his motivation for wanting out? Yes. there is an 11-year old Hispanic girl who was recently bullied at school. They called her immigrant and told her that she would be deported because her family is full of rapists and murderers. She committed suicide--at 11. Do you think the politicians will accept any responsibility? This is what THEY were saying. Do you think the teachers who may have witnessed this and dismissed it as trivial or "kids being kids". Will the bullies take responsibility? When you bully, what happens next is on you, and if it backfires, you can't sue.

Hard to say before free agency. 2 needs at DE/DT; 1 or 2 at Edge

Shemar Stewart will blow everyone away with his size, agility, speed, etc and be the talk of the combine. This will throw him into the top 10. The Panthers will draft him.

Warren (TE) will run slow and drop to second round.

We know little about it--of course, if it is still a knee on which he can play but the Panthers don't feel good about it over the next few years, acknowledging that would kill trade value---this is all speculative, mind you, and Moton (the person and player) might be my favorite player--but bizness is bizness.

I am not sure about Mays' ceiling--it is not that high, but I saw some sideline footage that showed he and Hunt seemed to have a strong relationship. Mutual respect of teammate you work beside, if that is what it is, is a pretty good indicator. I dont understand the cost of keeping Corbett vs the alternative, but I can say that if Corbett is better than Mays, he has not shown it here yet. In the limited time both have been on the field (and I used to coach OL in high school--it changes the way you watch the game--everything is focused on the first few steps of the OL and then your eye works back to the ball. I was stunned that Bozeman was as bad as he was--not the right offense for him, I suppose. Corbett was very disappointing, but at times, he was good. Mays was not firing off on run plays like he should, but in pass pro he got better each game--I think he had a lot to do with Young's rebirth. Run blocking is a concern, but not a major one. He just needs help with a NT or someone in his gap. Still, Corbett is old and oft injured. Take the cheapest way out, but I do not see him starting here. And since Mays has experience at all 5 positions (going back to Bama and Tennessee) he is the ideal OL sub (to your point). Pay attention to Kingston--he caught my eye on a play or two and I had to google his number to see who it was.

I think the experts overthink it at times. I am also not sure they measure things that matter, and if you measure things that don't really matter, it can cause your board to fluctuate--you are creating bias using facts that are assumed to equate to performance. Football is an emotional game, and if I were a GM, I would measure emotional intelligence. I would measure (if this can be measured) the speed of conversion from a concept (technical/mechanics) to muscle memory. I would watch film and time how long it takes a qb to get to their second and third reads--how long does it take an ILB to make the first step and how often do they false step. How often does a WR bobble a pass vs. clean catches? Examples, but there has to be something we are not measuring that would improve our success rates in drafts.

If we are going to spend the money anyway, maybe the signing is not as bad as it seems. Mays outperformed Corbett (before his injury and if you go back to last year, Corbett has been below average) and then Christensen took the job and Mays quickly took it from him and never looked back. He could use improvement reaching to the next level (LBs) but picking up stunts and blitzes---he was surprisingly good. Run blocking needs some work, but he is 25. Corbett, in my view, should be G/C depth and if Mays steps back, he is there. Mays should start because this team is building for the future and 30 year old players are not building blocks. We shall see. That is how I think about it, but there are many factors we do not know. Having said that, I like what Zavala is doing, and I do not want to bring in someone who would take opportunities away from him. Zavala was really good at RG down the stretch, and in limited duty, was awesome. In fact, we have a guard from the PS who played briefly and did well, but he only played a few plays. He is 25 and I recall that fans of his former team were upset when we signed him. Maybe as the backup center only (Corbett). You need 2 centers to run practices efficiently. I cannot say enough about the OL coaches on this staff. What they have done is overshadowed by the Lewis / Hunt signing. Mays, Ekwonu, Zavala--impressive growth.

I think picks 3-5 were on point--nothing spectacular, but solid. But XL was the WR I was hoping we would not pick--to me, he was the fool's gold--and I would never have drafted a Rb with the second round pick--we had other more pressing needs.

Mays played well. I watched him, expecting a let down, and he got better each week. Mays was a better pass blocker than both guards.and Corbett. Discuss.

Ice is right--this says more about Morgan than Dane.

kinda like Tito.

You can protect 4 players on the PS from week to week. I had to Google it.

I watch it as much as a I can. I think this year, you will see some risers at the QB and WR positions. I like it because it gives us more info on the prospects and then a week or two later, free agency--after free agency, we have a lot better idea of needs and mocking gets real. Mocking in April is something you have to prepare for. You have no excuses. It is mock, or be mocked.