Newtcase

Yeah, a few guys here eager to jump on me in defense of "Keep Pounding". I am emotionally connected to it, and it does mean something to me as I'm sure it does many fans on this board. I never said it was a gimmick. The only point I'm making is NFL players are plucked from all over the country, the vast majority have never heard of Sam Mills until they get here. While his story may be inspiring, if you weren't here for it then it's not much different than any other inspiring survivor story. It's mostly a memory and a mantra for the fans that remember him at this point. It's been pointed out that Frank and Dom shared office space with Sam when he was an active player there's also Dan Morgan. I'll admit my oversight there as I'm sure those guys have fond memories of Sam. Doesn't change my mind one bit about the average player on our roster though.

You're saying things I didn't say at this point. I didn't say anything about the last two decades. Keep Pounding has definitely been part of the culture over that time span, without doubt. I said, and this is in my opinion, that it's lost on this current roster. There's no emotional connection to it for them.

I wouldn't say I didn't know. I've certainly followed the Panthers since day one. I suppose Frank and Dom being there at the beginning just didn't connect for me with Sam and his battle and "keep pounding" coming long after their departure. But fair play, they are def connected to Sam.

No, there's no way to be sure not a single person has no connection. I suppose restated I could say I'm sure it doesn't mean anything to most. Dan Morgan is still in the building but technically an executive. Who else still has direct ties?

There's not a single player or coach on the team with an emotional connection to Keep Pounding, it's no more meaningful than Jack Del Rios "Keep Chopping" is in Jacksonville anymore, or Rhule's DBO. It stuck because Sam Mills was a great man and an icon for this team and to not honor that tradition would piss a lot of people off. But the inspiration of it doesn't mean anything more to this crop of players than it means to any other athlete on any other team that didn't know or play with Sam. Other than that, I'd say any fan on this board still participating, bitching or otherwise after the last six years is indeed STILL POUNDING even if they're doing it wrong in your estimation.

There's no denying it's a dumpster fire, the only real debate is where to place how much blame.

We are Browns level dysfunctional for the last six years, they've had 3 playoff games (1 win) in 20 year. That's just the reality of where we're at right now. We've had the same issue they've had for much longer, no answer at QB. They've busted on two #1 overalls in Tim Couch and Baker Mayfield and have taken multiple others in 1st round, Brady Quinn (07' 22nd overall), Brandon Weeden (12' 22nd overall), Johnny Manziel (14' 22nd overall). Even with all that they've been less dysfunctional than us over the last six years with only 6 different starters, Mayfield largely stabilizing the franchise between 2018-2022. We've had 9 different starting quarterback in the last six seasons: Newton, Heinicke, Allen, Grier, Bridgewater, Walker, Darnold, Mayfield and Young. So I understand why we went all out for BY, there's belief in the building that he can stabilize the most important position in football for us. We shot our shot and now we have to see what comes of it. Like the Browns for the last two decades, and like any other organization in QB purgatory, we are going nowhere until we have competent play behind center.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2023/passing_advanced.htm Stepping back through the last 3 seasons the longest pocket time of any QB by season end was 2.7 seconds and that's only 1 or 2 QBs tops.

I didn't say they were. I said he had the 3rd longest pocket time....for whatever reason. The point of my reply is that if you're going to paint the picture that BY is being pressured heavily then part of that picture is how damn long he's standing in the pocket with the ball, WHICH ISN'T ON THE GRAPH.

Yeah what's lost in this is pocket time. Bryce has the 3rd longest pocket time among all QBs at 2.6 seconds. Of course they're going to get pressure eventually if you keep holding the ball.

Well if you haven't actually watched the press conference you absolutely should before having an opinion on this.

Hey Tom Brady was Superbowl MVP at 43! If everyone can compare Bryce to Peyton Manning for no good reason then we can certainly compare Dalton to Brady for the same no good reasons.

Thank god, someone with sanity.

+ Whoever we took with the returned pick.

My god. Defense is the only functional unit on this team. A single WR, much less one a team is willing to part with is not going to solve the offensive issues. We just need to play some game managing ball like Atlanta is doing with Ridder and let our defense give us a chance. Give Bryce & Co time to get better. Trading away players from our defense is NOT the answer at all.

I appreciate how you take a loose logical conclusion to a more specific conclusion, truly I do. I could have a beer with you. I also think the spirit of my comment holds up, no matter how small it actually is, 2, 5, 10, hell even 20…./it’s a small sample size. You can’t use it defend BY anymore than a two game sample can indict him.

That’s probably like 2 passes worth of data tbh, you know because our receivers are never open.

We have four and you're correct it could easily be seven in two games. One fumble was saved by a defensive penalty and two other balls were thrown into direct jeopardy last night. We have to protect the ball better. In reality, I'd wager we're performing worse than our 27th ranking in turnover margin, we've just gotten a little luckier.

Left one out... Turnover differential -3 tied for 27th

Yeah...no This is too loose for me. CMC was already gone whether we took Bryce or not. It was just a 2nd round pick at that point, nothing more, nothing less. The impact DJ might have had on a hypothetical 2025 2nd swing is also tough to judge when the "hope" in the original argument is that like Chicago we could swing again in 2025 if we suck hard enough this year and next. I still think that argument holds water. This thread is about helping the dude hope, not dashing it. LOL The cupboards are bare, I'm trying.

Processing

How are you connecting the CMC trade to the expense of Bryce?

Not to make it worse, but it's effectively down 2.5 games to Atlanta and New Orleans at the moment.

This season was always going to be difficult. No one really thought we were going to light it up with a new staff and rookie QB, they just didn't expect it to look as bad as it has early. The good news is we're going to know a lot more by the end of the season and the jury is definitely still out. ...however, let's consider scorched Earth and a Bryce bust...we may not be as mortgaged as it would seem... It's looking like Chicago is going to have two very high picks just 3 short seasons after selling out for Justin Fields. They traded their 20th overall and 5th rounder + 2022 1st and 4th round picks to move up to 11th in 2021 to take Fields. That's about the same mortgage we took out on Bryce. So, much like Chicago, if we missed, it's not going to be hard to try again in 2025 we just have to commit to sucking for two years. If we didn't miss, then hooray! Hopeful Football!

No frills sensible take.