Panthers NFC South Champs!

[kungfoodude]

37 minutes ago, CarolinaLivin said:

I agree with everything except “our offense is loaded”. Too soon for me to say that, but OFF is trending up and should be fun to watch on sunday’s. 

Yeah, loades is a little bit of a leap. It COULD be loaded.

[MHS831]

Here is how I do it--consider that most teams improve (at least on paper) each year:

QB:  Can we say we improved here?  Bryce is trending up and we got him 3 weapons and no more protection.  WASH

RB:  Adding Dowdy and Eteinne is a pretty significant upgrade.  UPGRADE

TE: Adding a large TE with good hands and initial quickness over Thomas.  Tremble and Sanders should improve.   UPGRADE.

OT: Ickey is improving each season and Moton (we hope) will be healed up and ready to go.  WASH

OG:  No changes WASH

C  : No changes WASH

WR: Added the best WR in the draft, one that other teams tried to trade up to get.  Added Horn, and the Colorado WRs were scary good (making Shedeur look good).  XL and Coker will improve.  Lots to like.  UPGRADE

In my view, we needed to upgrade WR, TE, and RB.  We did.  I am guessing that C and OT are on the table to be upgraded in 2026.

Edge:  Nic and Princely replace Barno and Johnson and join Clowney, Wonnum, and Jones.  Strong room.  Biggest Need.  UPGRADE

DL:  We get Brown back, so upgrade without doing another thing.  Wharton, Brown III are both upgrades.  Cam Jackson as a rookie NT---depth and size we did not have.  UPGRADE

LB:  We added Rozenboom in free agency, and he was a decent addition.  I think we will add an UDFA.  I think our LB play will improve with better edge, DL, and S play.  SLIGHT UPGRADE

CB: Horn and Jackson are back, both following their best seasons.  We added a CB (Devonshire) off the waiver wire and there are a few UDFAs who could actually make the team.  WASH

S: Ransom and Moehrig will probably start, with Richardson and (maybe Nick Scott) as depth.  I think we are going to like these Safeties. UPGRADE

We had desperate needs for Edge players, IDL, and Safeties.  We upgraded them all.  I am not happy with the ILB situation or CB depth.

Special Teams:  Too early to tell.

BASICALLY, ON OFFENSE WE UPGRADED WEAPONS IN 3 AREAS WITH 4 PLAYERS.  THE OL IS UNCHANGED.

ON DEFENSE, WE UPGRADED DE, NT EDGE, AND S--4 AREAS WITH 4 DRAFT PICKS (edge, edge, safety, and nose) and  5 FREE AGENTS (nose, defensive end/DT, edge, corner, safety)  THAT IS A HUGE OVERHAUL, with starters at DE (2), NT, OLB Edge, and Safety--a total of 6 of 11 players who did not play last season (including D. Brown).

We won 5 games last season.  I think we can win 8.5 if all goes well.

[thennek]

Losing Derrick Brown last year was devasting to the defense, however, I also think losing Luvu was too.  I like the focus on the D-line during free agency and the draft, however, I would like to see the Panthers pick up a few more LB to battle it out during camp.  I still don't think this is a position of strength.  

[jfra78]

38 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Here is how I do it--consider that most teams improve (at least on paper) each year:

QB:  Can we say we improved here?  Bryce is trending up and we got him 3 weapons and no more protection.  WASH

RB:  Adding Dowdy and Eteinne is a pretty significant upgrade.  UPGRADE

TE: Adding a large TE with good hands and initial quickness over Thomas.  Tremble and Sanders should improve.   UPGRADE.

OT: Ickey is improving each season and Moton (we hope) will be healed up and ready to go.  WASH

OG:  No changes WASH

C  : No changes WASH

WR: Added the best WR in the draft, one that other teams tried to trade up to get.  Added Horn, and the Colorado WRs were scary good (making Shedeur look good).  XL and Coker will improve.  Lots to like.  UPGRADE

In my view, we needed to upgrade WR, TE, and RB.  We did.  I am guessing that C and OT are on the table to be upgraded in 2026.

Edge:  Nic and Princely replace Barno and Johnson and join Clowney, Wonnum, and Jones.  Strong room.  Biggest Need.  UPGRADE

DL:  We get Brown back, so upgrade without doing another thing.  Wharton, Brown III are both upgrades.  Cam Jackson as a rookie NT---depth and size we did not have.  UPGRADE

LB:  We added Rozenboom in free agency, and he was a decent addition.  I think we will add an UDFA.  I think our LB play will improve with better edge, DL, and S play.  SLIGHT UPGRADE

CB: Horn and Jackson are back, both following their best seasons.  We added a CB (Devonshire) off the waiver wire and there are a few UDFAs who could actually make the team.  WASH

S: Ransom and Moehrig will probably start, with Richardson and (maybe Nick Scott) as depth.  I think we are going to like these Safeties. UPGRADE

We had desperate needs for Edge players, IDL, and Safeties.  We upgraded them all.  I am not happy with the ILB situation or CB depth.

Special Teams:  Too early to tell.

BASICALLY, ON OFFENSE WE UPGRADED WEAPONS IN 3 AREAS WITH 4 PLAYERS.  THE OL IS UNCHANGED.

ON DEFENSE, WE UPGRADED DE, NT EDGE, AND S--4 AREAS WITH 4 DRAFT PICKS (edge, edge, safety, and nose) and  5 FREE AGENTS (nose, defensive end/DT, edge, corner, safety)  THAT IS A HUGE OVERHAUL, with starters at DE (2), NT, OLB Edge, and Safety--a total of 6 of 11 players who did not play last season (including D. Brown).

We won 5 games last season.  I think we can win 8.5 if all goes well.

Who we gonna tie with?

[tukafan21]

3 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah, loades is a little bit of a leap. It COULD be loaded.

I like to look at it as we have our offensive skill positions of the future set in place, IF they pan out like we think/expect them to, as we won't need to address those positions (outside of backups) for at least 5 years pending cap issues.

QB: Bryce

RB: Chuba/Brooks/Etienne

WR: T-Mac/XL/Coker

TE: Sanders

If these guys become the players we think they can become, putting aside being able to find a way to afford them all, that grouping has potential to be one of the best offensive groupings in the league in 3 years from now.

Yea, it all hinges on Bryce becoming that guy, but there is a crazy amount of potential in that group, and Chuba at 4 years of experience is the vet by a country mile as even Bryce is the only one there with more than 1 year of experience and he only has 2 himself.

Edited 59 minutes ago by tukafan21

[kungfoodude]

39 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

I like to look at it as we have our offensive skill positions of the future set in place, IF they pan out like we think/expect them to, as we won't need to address those positions (outside of backups) for at least 5 years pending cap issues.

QB: Bryce

RB: Chuba/Brooks/Etienne

WR: T-Mac/XL/Coker

TE: Sanders

If these guys become the players we think they can become, putting aside being able to find a way to afford them all, that grouping has potential to be one of the best offensive groupings in the league in 3 years from now.

Yea, it all hinges on Bryce becoming that guy, but there is a crazy amount of potential in that group, and Chuba at 4 years of experience is the vet by a country mile as even Bryce is the only one there with more than 1 year of experience and he only has 2 himself.

Yeah but our recent history is probably less than a 20% "panning out" rate on Rounds 1-3. I am firmly in the prove it stage as far as that goes. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the guys we drafted a lot but I still need to see them develop and produce.

[tukafan21]

7 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Yeah but our recent history is probably less than a 20% "panning out" rate on Rounds 1-3. I am firmly in the prove it stage as far as that goes. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the guys we drafted a lot but I still need to see them develop and produce.

Totally agree, BUT..........

I do think what we've already seen out of XL, Coker, and Sanders in year 1 is better than what we saw out of our past skill position picks that haven't panned out, KB's rookie year as the outlier.  Especially since adding T-Mac pushes all 3 of them down in the pecking order and in turn, makes them a better player for the role they'll be taking on.

Chuba has shown he can be a legit back and obviously, I'm as confident as anyone can ever be about a player panning out as I am with T-Mac.

Nothing is guaranteed, but I really do think we've finally brought the right guys in and we're looking at our future offensive weapons already on the roster, it all hinges on Bryce thought of course.

Edited 11 minutes ago by tukafan21

[CRA]

I say about 7ish wins.  Give or take. 

I think the Panthers are still fundamentally in no mans land on offense where the QB doesn't match the playcaller/talent. 

I think the D moves from horrible to average.