Are you buying into the media's narrative that we are third tier

[CanadianCat]

12 hours ago, CRA said:

Don’t care about wins/losses this year.  Just care about how Young looks. 

This. 

[gakonline]

Not sure why the media is downplaying the Panthers. We have a better roster this year on both sides of the ball and one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL.

The only major player we lost is Moore but I think we have an overall better WR core. Saunders will help the passing he game with his catching ability out of the back field and Hurst is an upgrade at TE. The QB room has been upgraded even if Dalton is QB1. The same OL is back, which will be tops in the league. The defense has a few key additions on an already good defense from last year. 
 

Media has ranked the Panthers off-season as one of the best but rank the team overall lower than the Bucs, Saints and Falcons in the worst division in the NFL. WTF!!!

[csx]

This time of year the media is likely using AI to create content so no... not at all.

[Toker Smurf]

I don't think so but as fans, we tend to be overly optimistic on the whole. Bryce's first year, Reich's first year, I get it. I feel like we could go 10 or 11 wins but 7 wouldn't surprise me. I do feel like (barring major injuries) we are setting up nicely by year three.

[CRA]

13 minutes ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

It's Bryce Young's rookie season.   I care more about how he looks and his development.   So an example would be.....

I'd rather Bryce Young look like a he was good pick and on a good development track yet the team be 6-10 over a season we make it to 9-8 and we question if Bryce was the right pick and struggles and doesn't' progress well. 

 

[UnluckyforSome]

Some doomsday scenarios to ponder amid the sunshine..

Young looks like a rookie and makes plenty of rookie mistakes.

Oline is just ok. 

Offense is not dynamic enough and frequently puts the defense in tough spots.

Health and ability of cbs is an ongoing problem through the season.

Defense is consistently overmatched by the better offenses.

Team is frustrating to watch by having a good game followed up by bad performances.

Record is 6-11, 3rd in South.

I think something along those lines is what the national view of the team is about.

 

[Ricky Spanish]

I have said it in another thread, but I expect us to be this year's Jaguars and have a slow start out of the gate and then turn into a contender as the year goes on. 

There will be growing pains with the new staff and new personnel, that's inevitable. Also Reich has a history in Indy of starting seasons off slow for whatever reason, I have read Colts fans warn us about that.

But the staff in general is too strong to be a bad team. The roster is better than our record was last year because we had a joke of a coaching staff set the foundation, and then once we brought in a grown-up with Wilks we started competing. That's with Darnold as our starter, McAdoo as our OC, Al Holcomb as our D-Coordinator, and a short-staffed coaching staff after Wilks fired everyone. 

Every Receiver we brought in is better than Robbie Anderson, even if they aren't better than Moore. It's a net positive of being solid with little drop-off between people on the depth chart.

We brought in interior depth with Williams and Tuttle to help our run defense. We brought in secondary help with Bell. We have a DC that seems to know what to actually do with Jeremy Chinn. 

We took the #1 QB in college football in Bryce Young. 

There is no reason we shouldn't be contending for this division. Our only true net negative loss the entire offseason was getting rid of Moore. We got better in literally every other area of our team minus CB and Pass rusher where we remained stagnant But even then there's still the opportunity to fill those needs through roster cuts and available Vets who want to skip Camp. 

I am normally very reserved with my predictions and or outlook each season due to the conservative history of our Owner, Coaches, and GMs of the past, but this just absolutely feels different. 

[grimesgoat]

14 hours ago, Jmac said:

Most of the stuff I read on line says that we will be a third tier team (at best). I know it's impossible to know at this point, but just looking over the roster at this point. Are they right?

Are you expecting a wild card or .500 team or bottom dweller.

What's the gut feeling on here...

I can't be upset about being tier 3 because I don't know how many tiers there are.  3, 5, 30?  If there are 30 tiers, I'm feeling pretty good.

Worse case: 7-10.  Best case 11-6.  Likely: 9-8.  I'll take it.  

Young's second year should be the start of a long period of good times and inflated expectations.

[Ricky Prickles]

They have us where we should be currently until we prove otherwise. New coach, nq rookie QB and unknowns all over. Would much rather be low expectations and flying under the radar anyhow as it puts less pressure on the young guys.

[Carl Spackler]

12 hours ago, panthers55 said:

We started last year as a bottom feeder but actually finished pretty strong once Darnold came in. So if we went 6-6 under Wilks why should we revert to worse. Coaching is much better. Players have been upgraded. Bryce reportedly isn't processing or practicing like a rookie. So why won't we do better and contend for the division.

I expect to be better, but this is a thin team, even at its strongest positions. I'd say 7-8 wins is a success but below that, it's a bad look for this staff. Need a good finish to the year and a respectable start. 

[ickmule]

15 hours ago, Tbe said:

I know this staff is exciting, but Frank has a lot to prove in my book. 

This thing could go either way.

I agree. I’m not totally sold of coach Frank. Time will tell.  

[Sgt Schultz]

The media narrative is based on big splash FA signings.  We did not really have any "OMG" signings.  Don't get me wrong, the FA and draft classes look good on paper, but the closest thing we had to a big splash was drafting Young, and there are a lot of skeptics looking at him and I would not call their concerns nonsense.

As far as the coaching staff, it is impressive but again, not a huge splash in the media's eyes.  The biggest splash in the media's eyes was probably Evero, not Reich.

This is a roster and coaching staff that, by design, is based on the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  That does not get the media's attention.  There are some analysts that dive into that deep enough to recognize it, but overall, not very many. 

I see a couple of things that lean in our favor.  First, Reich is coming into a situation that was not at rock bottom and has no need to go there.  About the only slack I ever cut The Process was that in his first year, the team was jettisoning salary cap mistakes (while creating some new ones), and had very little NFL-level talent.  5-11 was actually a good outcome for that team.  Reich and company had to replace a lot of pieces, but they also have some established talent (not past talent that is over the hill, guys that should be in the sweet spots of their careers).  So, he is not sentenced to hard labor in year one, but it will not be easy, either.

Second, for the first time (maybe ever) we have a coaching staff that has the potential to steal some wins.  I don't remember Fox ever stealing a win.  Nor Rivera.  I remember The Process stealing a few losses.  If this team is around a 7 or 8 win team based solely on talent, IF "the whole being greater than the sum of the parts" plays out and the coaching staff is able to steal a win or two from the jaws of defeat, that could push us over the .500 line and maybe into double digit wins.  I'm not listing that as an expectation, but I also would not be surprised to see that play out.  In this division, 9-8 could carry it even with the changes elsewhere.

None of that stuff is glitzy enough to get the media's attention until it happens a few times.  By then, if it happens, the glitz will be fading from the Cowboys and maybe Jets, and suddenly it will dawn on them that something is happening in Carolina. 

[Tomcatn]

21 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I just think we're a gigantic question mark with an all new staff, all new schemes, a new #1 overall pick QB, etc. It's gonna be exciting to find out. But as far as expectations go? Honestly, I don't have any. I just hope we show that we're heading in the right direction.

This is exactly how I feel at this point. Excited, but still have my foot hovering over the brake pedal. It's hard to get the taste of the last few years out of my mouth.

[RJK]

I’m not buying into anything but I do feel we need to temper expectations. There will be growing pains especially on offense.