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If a short to mid passing game becomes our staple, then maybe. But truth be told, I would never bet on Bryce to be good at this point.

You are very much so blowing Shedeur up. Unless something drastically changes, I don't want him by himself, or with his daddy.

Hell, it makes me more optimistic. Can't put money on Bryce though.

I mean, I'm not going to complain. Until Baker went Baker, they were almost in the NFC championship this past season. They kept defenses honest by running the ball, even though their backs were pedestrian at best. I don't think that we'll smell the conference championship this year, but perhaps we'll be competitive. If we have an undoing it will be Bryce in the passing game. It's wait-and-see.

I respect the Rams though. They got their guy. Scouts really liked Braden Fiske. Sometimes---probably all the time---you can't pay those value charts any mind.

While I agree that Chuba is an early down runner, and perhaps the Panthers hopefully thought that Sanders could be an early down runner, the Panthers found out that Sanders does not have the power or the vision to be an early down back. That idea was practically flushed down the can.

"Hubbard likely will enter training camp as the lead back because Brooks isn't expected to be medically cleared from his knee surgery until just prior to training camp. There is a fair chance Brooks will be eased into the lead role." https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/40093559/what-panthers-plans-rookie-rb-jonathan-brooks

Hubbard and Sanders are no where near the same back. They're different type of backs. One is way more finesse and requires an open space to do anything if we're being honest. The other makes something out of nothing and can run between the tackles more effectively. It is fact that Penny has a better average running and receiving the football than Sanders (and Chuba for that matter). It is also fact that Penny has been way more injured. It's injury that has been his downfall, not a lack of talent. But the best ability is availability, and so we can't bet on Penny being anything more than depth. That doesn't mean that he can't relegate other players to the bench if he can somehow stay healthy.

Crystal balls are overrated.

The only reason---which is a significant reason---that Penny is not miles (no pun intended) ahead of Sanders is due to health. Availability is the best ability in this case. When Penny is able to play, he has been the better back. His career averages in both running and receiving are markedly better, and Miles has arguably been playing behind a better line.

Oh, I don't know. He's not exactly the poster child of health. Could be just insurance. If he wows out in camp, could make it interesting before cuts.

I'll know it when I see it.

David Tepper approves.

Struggles versus press? Needs to be schemed open? Where did you get that bit of information? Legette gets to his spot and detaches from the defender, albeit not as gracefully as some. He's a bull in a china shop with defenders in different coverages. With footwork development and more nuanced movement, he may not be a bull, but a monster against the press. He plays bigger than his size, as is evidenced by his jump balls, which is huge (not some afterthought as you framed it). Where he doesn't play "big" thus far is on screens, but perhaps a better O-line will help that. As for being schemed open, that's not really true either, at least at USC (East). But I'd say that it's a good thing to get your weapons open in space and let them do what they do. You just find things that work, and that's what successful coaches do.

Yeah I don't know who will be the best, and I can assure anyone that hype will not make them the best. Legette will play with a decent QB (not saying that it's going to be Young) and will be playing amid decent weapons---NFL-caliber receivers and what looks to be a decent O-line. Circumstances do make a difference. Honestly, you had so many guys this year who could turn out being the best of the class. You don't earn that honor during the draft.

Not because he's scared to play.

This was a good one.

If nothing else, X is muscular and dense. LOL @ getting drilled by an NFL caliber player. You think that playing in the SEC that he wasn't hit by an "NFL caliber player?" X is in the pros now. He'll likely get denser and stronger. When those NFL caliber players are out there making business decisions, you remember this response.

Size probably. To be fair, that O-line was terrible. He's a better receiver for sure.

Much smaller? What 10-15 pounds and two to three inches shorter? He'd be a heavyweight in boxing, just like D.K. He's maybe much shorter, and some might consider that a stretch. His speed alone may make him much more dangerous than Deebo. It appears to me that Legette is very much a threat to take it to the house if you hit him in stride, especially on those slants.

I was going to say something similar. But I think we'd be remiss not to acknowledge that the O-line leaves a lot to be desired...to say the least. Yeah, Rattler looked very shaky at times.

I did a lot of research on Xavier Legette for the past few weeks, and as some of you know, I was in favor of making him our first pick. I must say that I got tired of going back and forth seemingly every other day about X, and was so ready for the draft to come in order for the team to "put up or shut up" where X was concerned, and enable discussions on X to move forward. X was (is) the most polarizing player discussed on the Huddle in terms pick 33, and that brought a lot of contentious discussion as well as information. See, you never know what to believe during the draft season, and ever since the Senior Bowl, hints and outright stories of the Panthers' and X's mutual attraction appeared and ramped up so easily, that it was almost unbelievable. So, even though I liked X, and really figured that he should be the pick, the ease of which everything fell into place and the outside noise of different analysts made me lose a little conviction. But one ex-scout developed unshakable conviction all the way through. Dan Kelly, who used to scout for the Jets back in the day, chose Xavier Legette as the top receiver in the 2024 draft class. I came across his thoughts weeks ago, but I'm sharing them now just to give you some positive food for thought since X is indeed a Panther. There is no boom-or-bust aspect to X in Kelly's estimation, as X is reminiscent of a damned good one. "This Gamecocks receiver conjures memories of how Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Art Monk — the former Washington star — ran his routes." "Legette's sudden and spontaneous moves win initial route leverage against corners and then he wins again at route breakpoints." For as critical as some have been of X's release off the line, when I look at X work, I can't say that Kelly is wrong here. X certainly seems to get open (though admittedly sometimes he just out-physicals the DBs ). "Legette is the best in this draft class at "Mossin'" defenders — that is acrobatically outjumping corners for passes and coming down with circus catches. Legette isn't the next Moss, but he is darn good. He can go deep or sell the deep route well before settling back underneath and making those vitally important chain-moving intermediate-level receptions (11-19 yards)." https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/scouts_view_the_top_receiver_in_the_nfl_draft_isnt_who_you_think/s1_13132_39987216 On Kelly's own site, First Round Mock, he was a little more specific: "Legette has this spontaneous and impulsive ability to put little moves on corners, whether releasing from the line of scrimmage...or...when going deep. Either way, it’s enough to earn Legette route leverage (position advantage against the cornerback he’s matched up against)." There's that term again: route leverage. Say what you want about X, but he knows how to get it. Lastly, within the scouting report, Kelly really mentions the term again without saying it. "Strong target who showed high-level receiving skills beyond his years...Runs routes to get open rather than well-defined routes which makes him tough to cover. Gets to the spot..." That's ironic, no? X in his roughness makes it ugly for defensive backs to cover him. For me, this was an epiphany when I was looking at some of his clips. Yeah, he may not be the technician that a Diontae Johnson or (dare I say) a Ladd McConkey is, but he always seemed to get where he needed to be. He just simply is not built to be bullied or redirected from the task at hand, and I don't think that's a characteristic or talent (if you will) that can be taught. Sure, he'll be polished up as best that the coaches can, and perhaps that will allow him a smoother release. And I'm sure that the coaches will devise ways to scheme him open, but he's built---physically and mentally to get to where he's going. You saw it last season, and you're going to see it in the pros. Watch what I'm saying. https://firstroundmock.com/2024/02/xavier-legette-reminds-former-nfl-scout-of-these-legends/

We made our choices. WR was needed. RB was needed. LB was needed. TE was needed. After the fourth round, it becomes more of a crapshoot than it already is. It looks like we went BPA at positions of priority. Sorry, OL didn't make the cut this time. We can probably get similar talent in free agency to late round picks if need be. Moreover there will be final cuts that we can shop from as well if necessary. I'm just not gonna worry and second guess picks. The decisions were made and we have to move on. If any adjustments need to be made, I'm sure they'll address it.

It was kind of a sexy draft, and you really didn't even have to get drunk to realize it.