We are a CHAOS team per Brooks, but some see us as a team in chaos

[ickmule]

I have zero faith in coaches so I’m going 7-10.  

[Pimpdaddy]

37 minutes ago, CRA said:

2020ish would be a better team.   We were in every game that season except to the Super Bowl champs. I acknowledge we got better on O vs 2021.   But we don’t have he coaching or QB IMO to get us from competitive to a winning season. 

I don’t think the D is improved.   We lost our best pass rusher.  We also lost our best corner.  Gilmore might not of played every snap but locked it down when he did and plus he brought a poo ton with him to help not just players but coaches too.   Those are 2 big dings to the pass defense.  And the pass defense is what the D was last year. 

 

We're prolly splitting hairs... but we are getting Horn and CMC back...got a hungry rookie on the left side... a QB that is capable.... upgrade in coaching especially in Wilks which... I think he will have some input with Snow...when we blitz... we'll actually be able to tell it. we're way better than 2020..

[Jon Snow]

The Panthers are a bottom 5 team until they prove otherwise. It doesn't matter the amount of spin or hype nothing changes that until they prove it in the field. 

[joemac]

We're a QB away from being a legit team. We've got enough great talent at the positions to make some real noise.  QB is the issue.  If they trot Sam out there again, im not fuging watching.  Simple as.  However, I know they did not deal for Baker with the idea of him riding the pine.  That makes no sense.  Baker starts, plays well, and leads us to wildcard contention

[Pejorative Miscreant]

13 hours ago, FattyFatFat said:

I don’t agree with the narrative of a top 5 defense. Our D-line looks to be worse than last year…which got ran on quite heavily. 

Yeah. Definitely was an overreach with that statement. 

[Khyber53]

This was probably the nicest anyone's going to write about us before the first of the year -- thanks Bucky, we appreciate it.

Still, I'm not optimistic and I'm tired of being that way. I just something to believe in with this team. 

[SteveSmithTD89]

I've long since maintained with a healthy CMC and Baker returning to his pre injury 2020 self we are a playoff team. 

The offensive line is night and day compared to last year. Went from easily a bottom 3 line to potentially a top 10 line almost overnight. 

WR group still has its stud in DJ, TMJ with another year under his belt, Higgins brining some familiarity with Baker and a (hopefully) hungry Anderson makes for a solid group that is more talented than half the league.

RB - CMCs health is paramount because when he's right he's unquestionably the best in all of football. I love the Foreman pickup to spell him. 

TE - We may have the worst TE room in the league but Tremble and Thomas have looked decent as blockers. TEs have always had an important role in McAdoo offenses - hope ours are up for it. 

 

The Defense you know what you have. There are absolute studs at every position. 

DL -Burns coming off his pro bowl season, Brown and YGM entering year 3 lost of young serviceable depth in Nixon, Roy and a vet pick up in Ionnadis. Haynes enters as a pass rush specialist that jusy flashes every time hes on the field. Hopimg for a similar jump from another former tweener who flashed pass rush ability and went on to be a solid DE for us for a number of seasons - Mario Addison. We could stand to add another DE and thing we will as training camp winds down and/or final cuts are made. 

LB - Shaq finally playing up to that contract and now we pair him with someone like Littleton who can lay the wood and shore up running lanes. If Wilson even makes the team there'd be some more speed but I won't be pulling for him after his arrest this off-season. I'm intrigued by the size speed combo from the rookie LB (more edge) from VT and the more traditional LB from Penn State. Both those kids can move and Smith absolutely hammers people. 

Secondary - Chinn and Horn are absolute studs and would start somewhere on every team in the league. Action Jackson gets to slide into that number 2/slot spot that he looked good in last year and with the addition of Xavier Woods we finally have a competent safety to pair on the backend. Personally would like to see Chinn move back to the hybrid role he excelled at in his rookie season but with Wilks back I'll trust his judgement. 

ST - Finally and we'll keep it brief. Went from a bottom 5 punter last year to arguably one of the top 5 punters of all time. Zane was solid all year for us and we added a legit return man in Andre Roberts. Weve got the best ST unit we've fielded since 2015.

[panthers55]

23 hours ago, Khaki Lackey said:

Our front four featured two undersized pass rush specialist DEs. Losing Reddick might be a blessing in disguise. 

Losing Reddick was a result of going in a different direction with the pass rush. Which meant focusing on bringing more pressure up the middle instead of selling out on the pass rush making up vulnerable to the run.  Dunlop is going to be added once training camp is over.

[Bostonheelfish]

If Brady didn't come back, we would have been in the best position to win the division (down year) now that we have Baker. If Brady's age finally shows, we could surprise.  We should be able to beat the Falcons and Saints.