Not Groundbreaking Vid analysis, but I can dig it

[TD alt]

There's much of nothing coming out this time of year, but here's a vid that I believe that many fans need to internalize because it speaks to expectations for the 2024 season. 

 

There's nothing really new, but I'd like to point out that one of the few things that I personally learned is that D.J. Wonnum's contract is only guaranteed to the tune of 10 percent. The analyst in the vid is a Vikings guy, and he has seen all of  Wonnum's plays. He says that Wonnum disappears for big stretches, and of course, as a Panthers guy, I couldn't help but think of Brian Burns' disappearing act for stretches as well. 

To paraphrase and kind of give my two cents, Panthers fans should be somewhat optimistic about all of the potential on offense (but not crazily so), and be somewhat worried about the pass rush and defensive backfield. We're thin at both, but hopefully we can at least be competitive based on the offensive side of the ball. This is not to say that we won't be better on defense, but being so thin at rush and on the back end, we will be lucky to substantially improve. 

One more note is that I believe he's somewhat of a Young apologist, as he didn't really mention Bryce's bad play specifically, taking the position that we just don't know what we have in Young based upon the sh¡t show in 2023.  I could argue the point, but what's the point? We'll have to see what Bryce has got when surrounded by much-improved talent and coaching.

Check the vid out; it isn't so long, and though there are multiple reasons to be skeptical about the defensive personnel, last year produced a couple of stats that should indicate that Ej knows what he's doing. Like the analyst said, we'll hopefully do for the defense in the 2025 off-season, what we did for the offense this off-season.

[CanadianCat]

Yeah the thing about DJ and his production was that he played in a scheme that either rushed 6 or rushed 3. Almost nothing in between. 

So he's either 1 on 1 or a free rusher OR he's not rushing at all. 

That said, he cost very little compared to Burns with basically the same output. 

[BrianS]

It's a more realistic take than most.  He was far more honest about our defense last year than most pundits.

[pantherclaw]

We are thin at pass rush and the secondary.  

We're like Florida, just asking to be hit by a hurricane. 

I always pray we stay healthy, but I can't remember the last time either the pass rushers or secondary starters stayed healthy. 

[L-TownCat]

I’m fine with treating BY as an unknown.  I think there was enough dysfunction to warrant scrapping the data and starting fresh.  
It still doesn’t erase the same questions and concerns we had before last season. 

He has to show he can do this job at the level he was drafted to do it.  I really hope it won’t require a perfect setup around him to succeed.

[Jackie Lee]

3 hours ago, TD alt said:

 

To paraphrase and kind of give my two cents, Panthers fans should be somewhat optimistic about all of the potential on offense (but not crazily so), and be somewhat worried about the pass rush and defensive backfield. We're thin at both, but hopefully we can at least be competitive based on the offensive side of the ball. This is not to say that we won't be better on defense, but being so thin at rush and on the back end, we will be lucky to substantially improve. 

 

 Looking to our revamped offense to bail out our recently gutted Defense is definitely a take. I thought we were gonna be run first?

[ForJimmy]

7 minutes ago, Jackie Lee said:

 Looking to our revamped offense to bail out our recently gutted Defense is definitely a take. I thought we were gonna be run first?

We lost Burns, Luvu, YGM, and Jackson. We added Robinson, Clowney, Wonnum, Jewell, other Jackson, get Shaq back healthy, and upgraded our safety spot from Bell to Fuller. I don’t think we really “gutted” our defense in a sense, but it was overhyped last year and didn’t have any depth then either. Depending on how it all looks when we drop down to 53 I’d say it’s pretty similar to last year’s defense from a talent point. 

[OneBadCat]

Bryce deserves 1 more year I’ll grant that. He does have exceptional anticipation and potentially a good enough arm with the right foot mechanics. 
 

But part of me is dreading the first time he gets blasted again this season and the oh poo drops again like the Biden / Trump debate.  
 

With the right set up and weapons, yeah he might actually be a pretty effective player. But the moment the offense faces adversity and things don’t go as planned, I’m not convinced he can overcome. 

He has to prove he has some intangible to carry the team. He doesn’t have that physically. I’m hoping he proves to all of us he can do it though. 

[Jackie Lee]

This feels like a good no excuses take on the qb front

 

[TD alt]

6 hours ago, Jackie Lee said:

 Looking to our revamped offense to bail out our recently gutted Defense is definitely a take. I thought we were gonna be run first?

But I don't think that's what he's saying, as much as he's saying that the offense should be better and should actually make us more competitive on a weekly basis. 3-7 wins isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. The defense is a pretty big unknown, but only if we can stay healthy. If Jaycee goes down, which is better than a given at this point, we're essentially just screwed. The same can be said of Clowney to be honest. The analyst said that he doesn't know what the hell we're going to do if the injury bug bites. As for the run game, many seem pretty high on the rookie, and the analyst said that after Reich was canned, we went from 92 to 125 YPG, and he doesn't see any reason that the upward trajectory won't continue with Canales, whom he believes is a talented offensive-minded coach, and the fact that the guard play should be a lot better.

[WarPanthers89]

8 hours ago, TD alt said:

But I don't think that's what he's saying, as much as he's saying that the offense should be better and should actually make us more competitive on a weekly basis. 3-7 wins isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. The defense is a pretty big unknown, but only if we can stay healthy. If Jaycee goes down, which is better than a given at this point, we're essentially just screwed. The same can be said of Clowney to be honest. The analyst said that he doesn't know what the hell we're going to do if the injury bug bites. As for the run game, many seem pretty high on the rookie, and the analyst said that after Reich was canned, we went from 92 to 125 YPG, and he doesn't see any reason that the upward trajectory won't continue with Canales, whom he believes is a talented offensive-minded coach, and the fact that the guard play should be a lot better.

Greta points on our depth, we really couldn’t fix that in a single offseason and I believe Morgan will do a good job focusing on this over the next two years but to be fair, we had one hell of an injury bug on defense last year and still performed to a respectable level (not counting our run D)

[LinvilleGorge]

I'm hoping for the best while fully expecting the worst. Just in wait and see mode hoping to be proven wrong.

[Jackie Lee]