Observations from last night's Panthers practice/scrimmage

[Proudiddy]

2 hours ago, Tbe said:

Donte is a starter. Rhule said the current competition is for the spot opposite of donte.

With the fluidity of things regarding personnel that Rhule has spoke on so far, I'll just say we'll see.  But, I'm absolutely sure I saw the first group out there with the black jerseys, and then Donte came in on the final portion of the 2 minute drill also wearing one.  So, idk what that means...  I was certainly surprised to see Pride already out there with the 1s, but he was out there the entire time I watched, including when they brought Donte in...  i didn't see Burris at that point, but who knows what anything means at this point in camp.

[joemac]

10 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

Went back and looked again as best as I could... current def starters look to be:

Burns, Brown, KK, YGM

Whitehead, Taylor, Shaq

Pride Jr., Boston, Chinn, Burris

Edit: Not sure if it's based off of packages or what, but also just saw Donte in a black jersey as well.  May have been in place of Burris.

Donte going to be playing more in the slot this year?  I think that is the best place for him.  Outside ain't his thing.

[LinvilleGorge]

7 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

With the fluidity of things regarding personnel that Rhule has spoke on so far, I'll just say we'll see.  But, I'm absolutely sure I saw the first group out there with the black jerseys, and then Donte came in on the final portion of the 2 minute drill also wearing one.  So, idk what that means...  I was certainly surprised to see Pride already out there with the 1s, but he was out there the entire time I watched, including when they brought Donte in...  i didn't see Burris at that point, but who knows what anything means at this point in camp.

Was Pride playing on the outside or in the slot?

[Proudiddy]

22 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Was Pride playing on the outside or in the slot?

I'll have to look again, but it appeared to me he was on the outside, and the first group I listed was base package, so idk if both he and Donte are considered starters respective of the package they're running.

[MasterAwesome]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

I think that the sunshine crowd will take 3-4 games before the reality sets in.

But hopefully we will all be encouraged by guys like Chinn, Brown, Burns, YGM, etc. If we see great effort and play by our young, talented guys, I can stomach the shellings. 

The bulk of us realize what the score is this season. We aren't even close to being a built team. Show progress and pieces to build from, move on to 2021 offseason to plug other roster holes.

It’s honestly so surreal to me, seeing a prominent faction of the fanbase use the term “sunshine crowd” (basically people with a positive outlook on the team) as a pejorative lol.

Despite what the self-proclaimed “realists” on this board want to espouse, the factual reality is that there is an unprecedented amount of turnover on this team (top to bottom) that making any kind of definitive statements about how good or bad this team is and the outcome of this season is just downright foolish and ignorant. And that goes for both sides...the only difference is that the “doom and gloom” curmudgeons are the only ones trying to operate under the guise of “realism” and pass their opinions off as fact. Usually the “sunshine crowd” is saying things like “I think we’ll surprise people this year!” (while predicting something like a 6-10 season) or “I think Teddy Bridgewater will surprise people and have a solid season!” (while predicting like 20-25 TDs lol). Wow...what crazy delusional homers!!!!

[joemac]

15 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

It’s honestly so surreal to me, seeing a prominent faction of the fanbase use the term “sunshine crowd” (basically people with a positive outlook on the team) as a pejorative lol.

Despite what the self-proclaimed “realists” on this board want to espouse, the factual reality is that there is an unprecedented amount of turnover on this team (top to bottom) that making any kind of definitive statements about how good or bad this team is and the outcome of this season is just downright foolish and ignorant. And that goes for both sides...the only difference is that the “doom and gloom” curmudgeons are the only ones trying to operate under the guise of “realism” and pass their opinions off as fact. Usually the “sunshine crowd” is saying things like “I think we’ll surprise people this year!” (while predicting something like a 6-10 season) or “I think Teddy Bridgewater will surprise people and have a solid season!” (while predicting like 20-25 TDs lol). Wow...what crazy delusional homers!!!!

Yeah, in another thread I predicted 65% completion, 20-28 TDs, 8-10 INTs, and around 4,000 yards for Teddy B and I was called delusional and all kinds of other crap.  As if these numbers are absurd or something....

[kungfoodude]

24 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

It’s honestly so surreal to me, seeing a prominent faction of the fanbase use the term “sunshine crowd” (basically people with a positive outlook on the team) as a pejorative lol.

Despite what the self-proclaimed “realists” on this board want to espouse, the factual reality is that there is an unprecedented amount of turnover on this team (top to bottom) that making any kind of definitive statements about how good or bad this team is and the outcome of this season is just downright foolish and ignorant. And that goes for both sides...the only difference is that the “doom and gloom” curmudgeons are the only ones trying to operate under the guise of “realism” and pass their opinions off as fact. Usually the “sunshine crowd” is saying things like “I think we’ll surprise people this year!” (while predicting something like a 6-10 season) or “I think Teddy Bridgewater will surprise people and have a solid season!” (while predicting like 20-25 TDs lol). Wow...what crazy delusional homers!!!!

I mean, it isn't hard to look at the roster, look at the coaching staff, look at the situation and then look at the history of similar or somewhat similar scenarios in the history of the NFL to see what is likely to happen in year one.

Almost everyone from the sunshine crowd or the doom and gloom crowd are going to agree that there are more unknowns than knowns. 

That we aren't likely to be a good team is not some earthshattering assumption. Most of the pundits, fans and book makers are pretty much in agreement on that. 

There is nothing wrong with hoping for the less likely scenarios to happen, but it probably is going to make for a tougher season for that crowd. I'm prepared to suck and have been for months. I am sure not going to enjoy watching it, so I hope we see some encouraging signs of being headed in the right direction. That's my bar for "success" right now.

Doesn't mean I'll be butthurt if the general consensus is completely wrong and we are world beaters.

[stbugs]

16 hours ago, MHS831 said:

It seems that Little is a G--these quick ends are eating his lunch---Of course, a few plays do not make or break anyone-but I am not hearing the word "pancake" much with Little. 

Hurney tried to trade up in Round 1 to get him--very Clausenish.

Can you imagine if Washington wasn’t stupid and took Burns over Haskins? What would it have been like if Little went 16th? I shudder to think about it. Still hurts that we had McCoy and Evans and with one extension our C to RT could have been set for 3+ years with only LG (way easier) and LT to sort out. God forbid we don’t extend Moton. Paradis will be our only starting OL signed in 2021.

[Navy_football]

54 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Can you imagine if Washington wasn’t stupid and took Burns over Haskins? What would it have been like if Little went 16th? I shudder to think about it. Still hurts that we had McCoy and Evans and with one extension our C to RT could have been set for 3+ years with only LG (way easier) and LT to sort out. God forbid we don’t extend Moton. Paradis will be our only starting OL signed in 2021.

I get where you're going, but don't you think Marty would have picked Montez Sweat instead? They were on a mission to improve the pass rush - by any means necessary. 

[Waldo]

1 hour ago, Navy_football said:

I get where you're going, but don't you think Marty would have picked Montez Sweat instead? They were on a mission to improve the pass rush - by any means necessary. 

It was posted here that Hurney would have taken Little if Burns wasn't there. Not sure who else could have been a substitute for Burns in that situation mentioned. It's a terrifying thought. I want to say Verge and Igo where the sources but not 100% sure. 

[Waldo]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

I mean, it isn't hard to look at the roster, look at the coaching staff, look at the situation and then look at the history of similar or somewhat similar scenarios in the history of the NFL to see what is likely to happen in year one.

Almost everyone from the sunshine crowd or the doom and gloom crowd are going to agree that there are more unknowns than knowns. 

That we aren't likely to be a good team is not some earthshattering assumption. Most of the pundits, fans and book makers are pretty much in agreement on that. 

There is nothing wrong with hoping for the less likely scenarios to happen, but it probably is going to make for a tougher season for that crowd. I'm prepared to suck and have been for months. I am sure not going to enjoy watching it, so I hope we see some encouraging signs of being headed in the right direction. That's my bar for "success" right now.

Doesn't mean I'll be butthurt if the general consensus is completely wrong and we are world beaters.

Fan how you want but I don't understand looking at our team this year and thinking we are going to do a lot of winning. Any given Sunday and all but still. I am so happy to be developing raw and young guys that losing that way really isn't an issue for me this year. It will be frustrating to see some bad ball but to think that we could be building around some youth and not just parking it on the bench and special teams is so exciting. After what we lost the last couple of years, I am happy to watch a rebuild...as long as there is forward progress and not BS excuses. 

[MasterAwesome]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

I mean, it isn't hard to look at the roster, look at the coaching staff, look at the situation and then look at the history of similar or somewhat similar scenarios in the history of the NFL to see what is likely to happen in year one.

Almost everyone from the sunshine crowd or the doom and gloom crowd are going to agree that there are more unknowns than knowns. 

That we aren't likely to be a good team is not some earthshattering assumption. Most of the pundits, fans and book makers are pretty much in agreement on that. 

There is nothing wrong with hoping for the less likely scenarios to happen, but it probably is going to make for a tougher season for that crowd. I'm prepared to suck and have been for months. I am sure not going to enjoy watching it, so I hope we see some encouraging signs of being headed in the right direction. That's my bar for "success" right now.

Doesn't mean I'll be butthurt if the general consensus is completely wrong and we are world beaters.

That's the thing though...lots of people are straw-manning the "sunshine crowd" and criticizing this entirely made-up sentiment that we're gonna have some great season or something.  Even among the most diehard insane homers on here, I haven't seen a single person predict we even make the playoffs.  Maybe @panthers55 can chime in if I'm misrepresenting the mission statement of the Homer Coalition (just kidding buddy, I appreciate you ).  But I'm fairly certain even the sunshine crowd expects a rough season with regards to wins and losses, but a season full of promise and excitement for the future of the franchise.  I personally think we'll end up in the 4-5 win range myself (at best), but I have enough self-awareness to recognize that this is simply my opinion.  I have issue with this holier-than-thou, snooty, condescending "faux wokeness" arrogance that leads to criticizing people as delusional for thinking Teddy Bridgewater is gonna have a good season or Kawann Short is gonna bounce back or we're gonna get 6 wins or *insert mildly optimistic scenario here*.

History and precedent have their role in making predictions, sure...but every player, every coach, every variable needs to be granted independent evaluation on their own merits.  You don't just establish as fact that Rhule is going to suck his first season because X% of first-year coaches sucked.  It's not that simple.  These kinds of arguments give merit to arguments like Christian McCaffrey is going to fail in the NFL cause there are very few successful white running backs.  Or Brian Burns will be a bust cause Florida State DEs tend to be busts.  Those are pretty lazy, superficial arguments.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, MasterAwesome said:

That's the thing though...lots of people are straw-manning the "sunshine crowd" and criticizing this entirely made-up sentiment that we're gonna have some great season or something.  Even among the most diehard insane homers on here, I haven't seen a single person predict we even make the playoffs.  Maybe @panthers55 can chime in if I'm misrepresenting the mission statement of the Homer Coalition (just kidding buddy, I appreciate you ).  But I'm fairly certain even the sunshine crowd expects a rough season with regards to wins and losses, but a season full of promise and excitement for the future of the franchise.  I personally think we'll end up in the 4-5 win range myself (at best), but I have enough self-awareness to recognize that this is simply my opinion.  I have issue with this holier-than-thou, snooty, condescending "faux wokeness" arrogance that leads to criticizing people as delusional for thinking Teddy Bridgewater is gonna have a good season or Kawann Short is gonna bounce back or we're gonna get 6 wins or *insert mildly optimistic scenario here*.

History and precedent have their role in making predictions, sure...but every player, every coach, every variable needs to be granted independent evaluation on their own merits.  You don't just establish as fact that Rhule is going to suck his first season because X% of first-year coaches sucked.  It's not that simple.  These kinds of arguments give merit to arguments like Christian McCaffrey is going to fail in the NFL cause there are very few successful white running backs.  Or Brian Burns will be a bust cause Florida State DEs tend to be busts.  Those are pretty lazy, superficial arguments.

The "sunshine crowd" exists every season and in every fanbase. You interpreting it as an attack isn't really anything I can fix.

I have said 2-5(or some variation of that range) wins. Seems reasonable considering the things we are up against and in what could be an extremely tough division. 

I only attack the Teddy homers when they are being completely ridiculous. He is an above average, journeyman QB so he isn't likely to be the savior of the franchise. He can very well be a solid, game manager can win games here. Have never said otherwise.

Also on record with not understanding the level of vitriol thrown at KK. IMO, still a very good player.

History, precedent and statistical analysis are very good tools to predict future results. When you just throw out strawman arguments to counter conventional thinking, it isn't really a compelling case for anything.

I think you are just upset that people are being, in your mind, "negative."

[stbugs]

3 hours ago, Navy_football said:

I get where you're going, but don't you think Marty would have picked Montez Sweat instead? They were on a mission to improve the pass rush - by any means necessary. 

As Waldo posted, the guys who nailed our draft said that Little was our second option. Unfortunately, based on Hurney’s history of reaching for guys he likes, I believe them. Hurney said they had a first round grade on him and they over traded (pick 77 could have gotten us into the first), so I don’t doubt that Little would have been the pick.

As much as we wanted pass rush, we wanted LT as well. I think at least they were smart enough to realize that Burns would go before Little. I know, everyone knew that.