Oh man. Oh boy. This team: A midseason review

[Rags]

Maaaan Sunday was rough. It was that annual reflection game. The game that shows us what we really are. And its ugly. Its not the worst I've seen, it was more grounding than anything. A reminder 

 

This posted way earlier than  I meant to because phones bugging out whoops. Editing asap.

Maaaan Sunday was rough. It was that annual reflection game. The game that shows us what we really are. And its ugly. Its not the worst I've seen, it was more grounding than anything. A reminder of why many were so cynical before the start of this season. We’re not ready to play big boy football yet. I don’t know if by next season we’ll be ready to play big boy football, we have too many holes around our team and we’re in cap purgatory. It’s a rough image based on where we were last month.

But hey....the season isn’t all bad. There’s a lot of flashes on this team. Few surprises. And hey coaching staff has looked really good. Let’s review where we’re at.
. 

QB – Teddy 2 yards.

Alright lets go ahead and get the most controversial position out of the way: Teddy.

I’ve been one of the more vocal defenders of Teddy. And I’ll stand by some of that. Teddy is good. He’s smart and accurate and he covers up a lot of issues on our offense. Signing him was a good move. Starting him was a good move. I’m glad this team got Teddy and moved on from Cam. 

But Teddy is not the future. At least not long term. And there’s two huge reasons why I’ve flipped to this side.

One of which are his checkdowns and field vision. Yes, his arm strength is blow par, but he looks downfield occasionally and he can take advantage of deep shots well enough. But he is remiss to take any intermediate area throws into any coverage. The windows are there about as good as they’re gonna get at times and he just doesn’t take them. He’ll check it to Mike or Curtis two yards infront of or behind the LoS in hopes they do the rest. It’s tiring. Its  boring. It’s damning us.

Second and more importantly he’s throttling D.J. Moore. Again it’s not even the deep shots, though that is a part of it’s not even the most upsetting thing about this. He ignores D.D.J. to an annoying extent. No, D.J. isn’t a contested catch kind of guy and some fault falls on D.D.J. but Teeddy is absolutely leaving points and yards on the field by tossing it to Robby, who is good in his own right, but not D.J, not really close either. 

I don’t know what it is with Teddy, maybe he knows his arm is weak and he doesn’t take some shots or he doesn’t trust D.J., but to be honest I don’t really care. It’s become a hindrance to this team and we cannot improve with him playing like this, and even if he does there’s still the limitations in general.

So…it’s stressful. Teddy’a hit a wall and there’s no promise he’ll get over it, and he doesn’t show enough to say it’s worth sticking with. However this is just portion *one* in an overview of our team and as meh as he’s been QB isn’t even top 5 of our position of neee. But with a possible generational QB class coming up its hard to turn your nose at the opportunity at one of them even with some really good players at position of need being available as well.

HB – Actually surprising results.

Our best player is hurt, and we don’t look totally dead on offense. This is…extremely promising. Before the Panthers would just roll over.

CMCs been hurt a lot this year, but I still trust him. I’ve actually been happy to be able to judge the offense without him. He’s still young enough where he can be a game changer on offense and a key contributor as well. As bleak as this overview will get, CMC is the shining beacon that can get us over our talent deficiencies even in possible January games. No rush to get him back this year.

The only other thing of note, and the other surprise, is Mike Davis. Mike Davis has been a serviceable stopgap and key contributor at times. He has been a tough runner and a capable receiver out of the backfield. He’s been a joy to watch and he’s made several key, high effort plays this season.

However…I’m not sold on him long term. He’ll ne 28 next year and has already been taken out of several games. He’s also been invisible at times this year, though the O-line is a mess. Not exactly the best candidate to back up Christian. Don’t know if I’d draft a HB in even rounds 2 or 3, but I probably value the back up halfback position more than most on here, so I don’t feel comfortable looking at Mike Davis long term.

WR – Holy poo our best position group.

Where was this even once this past decade? A group with this talent when we have a QB that’s not the Food Lion brand version of Cam. God we’d have won 15.

Anyway this group is great from 1-3. We can’t afford injuries really but there’s not many 1-3s that can. 

We’ll start with Curt, since his contract is coming up. He’s finally being used well. No longer the reach to replace Ted Ginn, Curt has been used anywhere and responded with consistent production as a response. He’s been a great catcher, smart at finding holes in zone., and very surprising after contact both as a receiver and as a runner. I’d love, love to retain Curtis but I think Moton and FA take a bit of a precedent though. If we can get him at a good price at like a two/three year I’ll be stoked.

I really hope we’re able to retain Curtis, because I like him more long term than Robby, but that’s wholly personal because Robby has been balling out. Easily our best free agent addition this year, Robby has been a consistent target for us and is one of the top producers in the NFL. He’s been great for us all over the field and a much needed veteran presence. I am a bit concerned because I don’t know how much of it is just being Teddy’s favorite target, and how much of that will transition over to another QB, but Robby is a great pro who keeps working to be a better pro so this feels nitpicky.

And that leaves D.J., and he’s our best player not named Christian and it’s not close. D.J. has been a play maker for us and holy fug that’s with him being missed for even bigger plays. He’s not great beating press on short routes but who fuging cares. He has 739 yards on 39 fuging catches. He’s only 23. He’s fuging amazing. He’s OBJ with Chris Gambles personality. Please god let’s not waste him. 

We’re so talented here, so there’s not a lot we need to do this offseason. A veteran presence at 4th string would be nice. Find some talent in the draft to replace Curtis. Stay away from John Ross in FA.

Please feed D.J.

OL – Its still bad!

Is anyone surprised?  I mean if there’s one thing Teddy’s play has masked is just how poo we actually are. Moton, who is still unsigned is our best lineman. Okung is injury prone, what a surprise. So he shouldn’t be considered anything more than a bandaid . Pardis isn’t as bad as last year but he’s still not good either, but there’s a real chance he’s our C going into next year. Daley is also injury prone snd just serviceable when he is able to play. Greg Little is out matched, unfortunately, think it’s safe to call him a bust. And Chris Reed should be fired. Out of a cannon. Into the sun.

So…what one guarantee returning starter next year? And its not even the one everyone wants? How do we even address this next season? Risk getting burned by another FA lineman? Ignore the QBs and take Sewell if he’s available? I don’t even know, but man we have to put some serious focus here.

TE – Oh, right.

I almost forgot this was a position. To be fair it does seem like we’re trying to get Ian involved more but Teddy’s hesitant to throw to him and honestly I don’t know if I blame him. Manhertz is Manhertz. Just…target Njoku in the off-season. I like that more than falling in love with Pitts.

DL – Promising Potential 

The only defensive group I can praise, or at least hold out hope for. We have three young players here that I have nothing but glowing reviews for, and also our best FA signing this class that isn’t Robby Anderson. 

I’ll start with Derrick Brown. And honestly I’m hype. He’s been what Star was for us his rookie season with far more flashes as a rusher than Star ever did. Unlike Star he doesn’t have the LB or D-line Star had so I don’t think we’re appreciating it as much. He’s made some boneheaded mistakes, and I’m not surprised, he played a bit reckless in college, but the talent he’s displayed is real and there’s no doubt he’ll get better.

Yetur has been surprising with how well he’s come on and how quickly he’s done it. The play between him and Wetherly have been night and day as far as pass rush has gone, but his ability as a run defender has also been an improvement. I had high hopes for YGM but I’m surprised how good he’s looked when he’s been in and healthy. 

And Burns has been everything we could’ve asked of him. Because of what we’ve asked of him and this pass rush in general he doesn’t just purely pass rush anymore but he is great at contain and boy if we could cover even just a little bit better he’d have more sacks. Great at contain, improving in coverage, and becoming a leader for our defense, Burns is having a quality sophomore season.

Also marks to Zach Kerr. He’s quietly been an impact player on our d-line, and a solid rotational lineman not unlike Dwan Edwards for us. Great locker room presence too. I’ll also shout out Marquis Haynes too has been a very solid role player for us.

Defensive line has the least amount of concern going into next season. Wetherly shouldn’t be a starter but he’s very solid depth going into next year. Could upgrade starting UT with Short being unreliable and overpaid. But overall I think we should have high expectations going into next season for them.

LB – fug Tahir Whitehead.

Oh my god I miss Luke. Hell I miss Jon. Hell I miss Sean Witherspoon.

I’m just gonna yell about Tahir Whitehead. 

His play will scar me for life. His play has already left a blemish on Rhules legacy that I can only hope will end up miniscule. He’s so bad. And this isn’t in comparison to Luke, it’s in comparison to basic LB play. How many times can on man gamble on his instincts and be so wrong so fuging often? Just fill your fuging gap. I know people poo on Tre for lumbering to Ronald Jones on that 98 yard TD run but at least he was in bad portion by fuging design. It’s not his fault he had to cut across and downhill to a Ronald Jones running straight at him with full momentum because the fuging Mike wasn' t there to fill the gap because! Not only did he crash the line he crashed the line to the wrong area. I don’t get it. I mean, yeah I have to constantly look up the names of our other linebackers that we have because they’re forgettable, but Christ they cannot possibly be worse than Whitehead. I’ve seen him have good man coverage and still panic his way to getting a PI called. He’s the Haruki Nakamura of Linebackers. Please leave my life Tahir Whitehead.

We can move on from Shaq in 2022 and even then, his flaws aren’t damning. He was one of the few bright spots in defense yesterday. He’s bad in coverage but at least he can tackle and pursue well so. Could be worse.

I guess Chinn goes here as well. I love him. Sideline to sideline player. Very much is a rookie but gives us the most hope for the future at this position as he gets stronger and smarter. Remember what Gronk did to you and make sure no one else ever does it again.

Linebacker is weak but I don’t think it’s as bad as a whole as some others do. Just Whitehead is that bad that we need to upgrade from him asap. Micah Parsons is another strong, not QB possiblity for us in the first, but I like Chazz Surat a ton and this isn’t me being a homer, I just think he’s a really good football player.

Secondary – It’s also still bad!

Thank God the last position group. But surprise the last line of defense is the worst so. Let’s just burn it all down.

First, a big shiny “you tried” star to Rasul Douglas. For being such a late addition he’s been. Solid. I mean his athletic limitations are obvious but he’s been dependable when we ask him to things he probably shouldn’t be doing every down but still doing well. I think he’s worth bringing back as a solid, low end #2 corner.

I’m also gonna go light on Troy Pride. Dude got cooked by AB and mind jacked by Tom Brady, but he’s looked good for a 4th round rookie. He has a ton of things to improve on but he’s almost always been in good position and shows value as a depth player.

Corn Elder is…pretty okay too actually. Which is surprising. He’s a more than willing tackler and he’s okay in coverage.  Not anything that’s a cornerstone but again a promising depth piece.

Everything else is garbage.

Tre is the least smelliest poo pile, and that’s not saying much. He’s a less slow Roman Harper but with all the frustration of a Roman Harper. I think he can contribute on the right team, but that team isn’t us and we need to move on.

Juston Burris…exists. He’s there. He’s unremarkable. You see him do a little thing wrong or is slightly late and you just go “yeah that makes sense.”, it’s hard to hold it against him. He shouldn’t be starting but years of neglect at the S rears its head yet again.

And Donte...man what a disappointment. He’s competitive and has athletic gifts.  And they show themselves sometimes. But he’s a combination of frail and bad at corner. He holds. He gets PIs. He doesn’t have a short memory. It’s hard to hold to hold this bust against Marty, I think many of us liked the pick at the time, but Donte just isn’t reliable. 

Our DBs are easily our worst part of our defense (but Whitehead still takes worst player on defense, amazing.) and the reason we run cover 3 so much is because, well, our DBs suck at man most of the time. Rasul is big and technically sound, but slow. Tre likes to hit stick. Donte likes to hold. It’s a goddamn mess. Be it free agency, trade, or draft we need to upgrade the Defensive Back position asap. We’re in a division with Mike Evens, Chris Godwin, Michael Thomas, Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones. Devante Adams. Justin Jefferson, Terry McLaughlin, D.K. Metcalf, Alarm Cooper, Kenny Golloday and Deandre Hopkins are all in our conference. We need massive talent upgrades asap.

Coaching – Oh my god we play like an NFL team.

For the first time ever in my time as an NFL fan I feel like the Panthers are playing consistent football. They’re running modern schemes. They’re adapting and adjusting. Holy poo. It feels so good. It almost feels okay to foolheartedly trust them. 

Rhule has been. Thoroughly entertaining for me his time here in Carolina. There’s a few things to worry about, but it’s hard to say what’s flaw and what’s him doing the best with what he has, but either way they’re minor and given the…extreme state of 2020 and the 2020 offseason I say he’s done a wonderful job.Full confession, I love post game interviews. I love watching them and getting a read on the team, players and coaches. And Rhule seems…refreshingly honest as a coach can be. He’s not happy he’s losing and I don’t think he’s just patting the players kn the back for almost plays or being a good locker room guy. He’s getting the most out of even our bad players and in almost every game. I’m excited for our future under him.

Joe Brady has been as promised. Young and flawed but very good. He got the most out of Teddy. And I think teams are adjusting to what he’s asked of our offense and now it’s really on Teddy for not delivering. He’s had a few drives and calls that were head scratchers but he’s been more good than bad. God I hope we don’t lose them.

Phil Snow is calling some boring, vanilla defenses but I honestly think given what we have, could be worse. We’re somehow not the Absolute Worst defense this year and his scheming and playing to our defense’s strengths is a big reason for that. Most of the fault on the defense falls on the players moreso than the play call more often than not. I’ve actually been encouraged by how our defense had adjusted early on in the season.

Overall I think what we’ve seen from the coaching staff has been very promising. The NFL is a small vacuum of football talent, both simultaneously the best of the best here, but also the perfect storm of one or two bad links can make a whole team look like complete trash. It’s amazing we don’t look worse than what we’ve seen sometimes with our roster, and I think that bodes well for our future.

Unless we lose Brady. Idk how we replace Brady.

General Manager – Marty’ s swan song.

I’m…honestly a little glad we brought back Marty when we did. He’s not a good GM. He’s not even an elite talent scout. He’s terrible at contracts. He was absolutely, rightfully fired when he was. However I think there’s one underrated talent for Marty that I think is very underrated.

Marty is a great judge of Character.

The NFL is full of personalities, youth, old ways and bravado. It’s a perfect storm of drama, and in the age of social media that drama can be so fast. But rarely this ever involves us. And I think that’s in no small part thanks to Marty. And at least in the first round, that often correlates to a talented player with no baggage. And with what happened with Jerry Richardson I’m glad the locker room had Marty guys signed.

That is the end of good things I have to say about Marty.

I do think Marty gets blasted for things unfairly like 2nd round busts and some short term signings not working out. But he’s not a good GM. We absolutely need to move on from Marty this season…but also I get why Tepper would want him to have some position in the organization. He’s not always gonna get choir boys, and he’s not gonna shy away from people who want to speak up for better or worse, but he fills the locker room with quality football players.

But yeah get him away from contracts and talent eval he’s terrible at both. We need better now.

In Conclusion…we’re bad. There’s a lot of promise here, especially at WR and DL, and have an elite play maker at HB. But we’re so garbage at some positions, OL, DBs and Tahir fuging Whitehead that it’s going to be hard to realistically improve at them all in one offseason, add onto that with this year having a very promising QB class, and our hands still tied with cap it’s…hard to see paths to contending next year.

However, it hard not to have optimism under Rhule. We have been constantly competitive and we could’ve won some games this year. It’s not hard to think with whatever moves he makes will get us over that hump.

In any case I think it’s fair to call it this season. Minimize damage to our players, see what we have on our roster and start scouting hard for next year. Shame we’re not in the NFC east.

Please keep Brady.
 

[Rags]

Okay its...actually finished now. And Christ it ended up long but golly gee I had a lot to say about this team and wanted to get it out.

[GoPanthers123]

Fair assessment.  I think Hurney doesn’t get credit for good decisions, it is rather one sided.  If you believe letting Cam go was a good decision then Hurney did well as that was the most important choice of the year.

[bababoey]

Just pied you for making the longest post since the season started.

[Panthera onca]

It was an ok read until you started the Marty section. Marty is the ultimate sycophant and has no business being employed by the Panthers.

[SmittysLawnGuy]

Disagree on Davis. Think he is a great backup for CMC and could be the starter on a lot of teams. For god sake with our holes, please no drafting a RB. Thanks for the read.

[JawnyBlaze]

You lost me at “Teddy is good, Teddy is accurate, I’m glad we replaced Cam with him”. That’s just ludicrous on all counts. 

[LinvilleGorge]

Not finding a lot to seriously disagree with. You're starting to see the reality with Teddy, but you're giving Marty too much credit.

[Mr. Scot]

In summary...

 

[MHS831]

Rags

I enjoyed this--at first, I thought it was going to be a rant---but it had too much deep thinking and objective (ish) analysis in it--I agree with 95.7% of this.

What you describe here is a team with 25% of its salary cap in dead money.  A team that lost its franchise QB to wear and tear, the best MLB in NFL history, and its greatest TE ever.  You described a team full of drifters and gap fillers.

We are going to be OK.  This is the first draft of the blueprint.

[manu4t]

Good post.

I am not sure Brady will get a HC position this year but certainly will in the next 2-3. He will definitely get interviews. 
 

I pray Hurney has the checkbook snatched away from him by Tepper before the merciful end of his tenure, god knows we dont need any more bad contracts.

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, manu4t said:

Good post.

I am not sure Brady will get a HC position this year but certainly will in the next 2-3. He will definitely get interviews. 
 

I pray Hurney has the checkbook snatched away from him by Tepper before the merciful end of his tenure, god knows we dont need any more bad contracts.

What? You mean you don't think Boson and Whitehead need an extension? Mike Davis doesn't deserve a big contract to give us our new "Double Trouble"? Let Moton walk because we don't need no stinking OL! Gotta pay LBs and RBs! 

[manu4t]

1 minute ago, LinvilleGorge said:

What? You mean you don't think Boson and Whitehead need an extension? Mike Davis doesn't deserve a big contract to give us our new "Double Trouble"? Let Moton walk because we don't need no stinking OL! Gotta pay LBs and RBs! 

LOL.

I would actually be ok with an extension for the Milk Dud. Moton ... we need to get him but I am scared we will overpay.

Those other two guys should be mopping the local jackshack by this time next year, or playing for the Jets (about the same skills required).

[LinvilleGorge]

3 minutes ago, manu4t said:

LOL.

I would actually be ok with an extension for the Milk Dud. Moton ... we need to get him but I am scared we will overpay.

Those other two guys should be mopping the local jackshack by this time next year, or playing for the Jets (about the same skills required).

I'm fine with extending Mike Davis for a couple of years for backup RB money. The reality though is that backup RB money is practically nothing. It's very possible some team will want him as a stop gap starter. He's not gonna get big money by any means, but someone will probably be willing to pay him more than we should.