Give me a reason to be excited about the future of this team

[Seltzer]

4 minutes ago, CarolinaRideorDie said:

If you're logging on to the Huddle to find optimism, this is the wrong place my friend. You'll find more joy and optimism at a funeral. 

This is just a group therapy session for me.  I've been conditioned by years of disappointment... It's only Week 3, and I'm on past anger and denial and have already reached the acceptance phase.

[frankw]

Some great replies around here wish I wasn't out of pie.

Tepper is ultimately the problem.

[Proudiddy]

3 minutes ago, UNCrules2187 said:

I think the thing that chaps most Panthers fans' asses is not just the draft capital but the proven talent we sent out as well. Chicago traded a 1st, 5th, 1st, and 4th for Fields. The sequence of events that got us to Bryce (+ DJ Johnson, a 25yo rookie that got 0 snaps week 1 and a healthy scratch week 2) was basically trading CMC, Moore, 2 firsts, and a 2nd. That's actually a helluva lot more capital than what Chicago invested in Fields.

Yeah, I was just thinking after the game last night...  had we just signed Carr or a guy like Huntley or Brissett, played the year out, we would've hovered around the Top 10 again next draft, and then could've traded up (likely wouldnt require moving up to #1 so wouldve been much cheaper) for Williams, Maye, or Sanders, etc., all coming out, all of whom I would feel way more confident about over trading up to 1 for Bryce this year, AND one of those guys could come in and sit behind the aforementioned vet options, much like Mahomes did.  But nope, we had to shoot our dick off for a glorified game manager this year and give up a Top 5 WR and invaluable draft capital to do so.

Again, AR, Stroud, or Hooker were all infinitely better options than Bryce translating to the pro game, so the sting would be so much less had we taken one of those other guys versus what we're seeing now.  And this poo is compounded because when you trade that much and push all your chips in the table for a guy at 1, you are forced to play him whether he is ready or not, so we're stuck with at least two years of this poo.

[HPPantherzfan]

1 minute ago, frankw said:

Some great replies around here wish I wasn't out of pie.

Tepper is ultimately the problem.

We sucked before Tepper, I'm starting to feel like we will suck after him as well!

[Newtcase]

6 minutes ago, UNCrules2187 said:

I think the thing that chaps most Panthers fans' asses is not just the draft capital but the proven talent we sent out as well. Chicago traded a 1st, 5th, 1st, and 4th for Fields. The sequence of events that got us to Bryce (+ DJ Johnson, a 25yo rookie that got 0 snaps week 1 and a healthy scratch week 2) was basically trading CMC, Moore, 2 firsts, and a 2nd. That's actually a helluva lot more capital than what Chicago invested in Fields.

How are you connecting the CMC trade to the expense of Bryce?

[Newtcase]

5 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

Yeah, I was just thinking after the game last night...  had we just signed Carr or a guy like Huntley or Brissett, played the year out, we would've hovered around the Top 10 again next draft, and then could've traded up (likely wouldnt require moving up to #1 so wouldve been much cheaper) for Williams, Maye, or Sanders, etc., all coming out, all of whom I would feel way more confident about over trading up to 1 for Bryce this year, AND one of those guys could come in and sit behind the aforementioned vet options, much like Mahomes did.  But nope, we had to shoot our dick off for a glorified game manager this year and give up a Top 5 WR and invaluable draft capital to do so.

Again, AR, Stroud, or Hooker were all infinitely better options than Bryce translating to the pro game, so the sting would be so much less had we taken one of those other guys versus what we're seeing now.  And this poo is compounded because when you trade that much and push all your chips in the table for a guy at 1, you are forced to play him whether he is ready or not, so we're stuck with at least two years of this poo.

Processing

[WhoKnows]

2 minutes ago, Newtcase said:

How are you connecting the CMC trade to the expense of Bryce?

Pick 61 was the best pick we got from SF for CMC and that was part of the Young trade. He mentions DJ Johnson because we used the 3rd and 4th from CMC (basically the rest) for Johnson. The CMC trade was used up in getting Young and Johnson.

[Harbingers]

45 minutes ago, TN05 said:

It feels like any progress we made last year towards being even half decent is just gone. I’ve never been more demoralized in my entire time as a fan of this team. When’s the light at the end of the tunnel?

Our defense actually appears to be above average. 

[DeAngelo Beason]

Eventually they'll be so bad that you stop caring.  That's something to look forward to.

[Newtcase]

3 minutes ago, WhoKnows said:

Pick 61 was the best pick we got from SF for CMC and that was part of the Young trade. He mentions DJ Johnson because we used the 3rd and 4th from CMC (basically the rest) for Johnson. The CMC trade was used up in getting Young and Johnson.

Yeah...no

This is too loose for me.  CMC was already gone whether we took Bryce or not.  It was just a 2nd round pick at that point, nothing more, nothing less.

The impact DJ might have had on a hypothetical 2025 2nd swing is also tough to judge when the "hope" in the original argument is that like Chicago we could swing again in 2025 if we suck hard enough this year and next.  I still think that argument holds water.

This thread is about helping the dude hope, not dashing it.  LOL  The cupboards are bare, I'm trying.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Newtcase

[UNCrules2187]

7 minutes ago, Newtcase said:

How are you connecting the CMC trade to the expense of Bryce?

CMC = 23 SF 2nd, 23 SF 3rd, 23 SF 4th, 24 SF 5th

Trade up to Chicago for 1: DJ Moore, #9, 23 SF 2nd (#61), 24 CAR 1st, 25 CAR 2nd

DJ Johnson: Package 23 SF 3rd and 23 SF 4th

So essentially, CMC + DJ Moore +  24 CAR 1st + 25 CAR 2nd = Bryce Young, DJ Johnson and 24 SF 5th

Edited September 19, 2023 by UNCrules2187

[BIGH2001]

I don’t feel like we are any closer to being a playoff team than we were 5 years ago. We missed the playoffs from 97-02 in what was previously the worst and most depressing run in franchise history, capped off by 1-15 in 2001. We are now well past that with little reason for optimism. fug you Tepper.

[Seltzer]

4 minutes ago, BIGH2001 said:

I don’t feel like we are any closer to being a playoff team than we were 5 years ago. We missed the playoffs from 97-02 in what was previously the worst and most depressing run in franchise history, capped off by 1-15 in 2001. We are now well past that with little reason for optimism. fug you Tepper.

Good point.  We are rapidly approaching objectively the worst period in franchise history in terms of winning/losing.  To a level where in 2001 Richardson said all the energy had been sucked from the franchise when he fired Seifert...

Think about that, we are beyond the point in 2001 in terms of how long we have sucked.  5 years of sucking in the NFL is remarkable... only the trifecta of bad coaching, bad drafting/free agency, and bad luck can get you there.  And here we are...

And I know all this baggage ain't fair to Reich and especially Bryce, but the baggage exists.

Us fans should not have to feel bad... we have given our support to this team, and the return on our investment has been almost zero.  Tepper wouldn't tolerate this in the financial world.

It is on Tepper to fix it

[beo]

21 minutes ago, HPPantherzfan said:

We sucked before Tepper

Not trying to single you in particular out or anything but in general I am so, so tired of seeing remarks like this because they just aren't true and in a way it's sort of excusing what David Tepper has done to this team since he has bought it. We absolutely didn't suck. For an expansion team we have done quite well for ourselves if anything. Let's take a look at other expansion teams in the NFL and also other North American sports leagues since 1995...

Carolina Panthers all-time win loss record prior to being bought out by David Tepper- this was our lifetime win-loss record up until the 2019 season: 185-194 (.488). Our record since? 27-45 (.375) and our worst stretch in franchise history. At one point before Cam's shoulder fell off we were actually in the positives, but we all know how that season ended. 4 NFC Championship game appearances (what i'd characterize as deep runs). 2 Super Bowl Appearances. Is this world beating? No. But for a new franchise it's far from the worst you could do. For comparison, lets look at some other expansion teams from 1995 onwards: 

Houston Texans: 142-197 (.419) 0 CCG or SB appearances
Jacksonville Jaguars: 190-262 (.420) 3 CCG appearances, 0 SB appearances
Cleveland Browns (yes they are an expansion team, the Ravens kept their players and more importantly their executives):  127-258-1 (.330). 0 CCG or SB appearances

In other sports...
NBA: 
Memphis/Vancouver Grizzlies: 971-1258 (.436). 1 appearance in the WCF
Toronto Raptors:  1071-1157 (.481). 2 appearances in the ECF, 1 Finals App. and championship
Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets (2004 onwards): lol, lmao. 0-0.

NHL:
Nashville Predators: 1 conf finals app. , 1 cup app.
Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers: 1 conf finals app.
Columbus Blue Jackets: 0-0
Minnesota Wild: 1 conf finals app.
Vegas Golden Knights: 2 conf finals app., stanley cup win
Seattle Kraken: Too early to say but they seem to be on a good track

I don't care enough about the MLB to know how their playoff system works but they've only added two teams since 1995. Diamondbacks won a title in 2001. Rays made a run fairly recently but haven't gotten a chip yet.

Among these teams the only ones i'd say that clearly have a step on us are Toronto, Vegas and perhaps the DBacks. If you go further back, the Ducks (1993), other Panthers (1993), Marlins (1993) and Heat (1988) have done well for themselves. But historically we're pretty easily top half among other newer franchises in NA Sports Leagues. Tepper didn't inherit suck. He inherited a team that had flashes of greatness in the past which weren't fully realized due to ineptitude from our higher ups. We were hoping these would finally be fixed with JR gone, yet they've merely been exacerbated. From 1995-2018 we were the most volatile team in NFL history by a mile if you go by yearly win fluctuation.

Chaotic mediocrity. Since, we haven't even had a winning season. We weren't the best but it was a far cry from the joke we've turned into now. We're the sort of team people groan about when they're on primetime, an absolute laughing stock to the general NFL fan and our fans should be unhappy with the atrocious product that has been on the field ever since we ruined Cam.