Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! The Panthers kicked off training camp this week. Not a lot came out of the first few days aside from highlights of rookie Princely Umanmielen making some plays and some highlight reel catches by Tetairoa McMillan and Hunter Renfrow. I’m here to field all your questions, whether the be Panthers related, football related, or even completely off topic. These are the answers to your comments earlier in the week,
let’s dive right in!
Bruce Guild: Would you take the over or under on BY finishing the year rated #15 QB in the league.
Over under on 3300 yards passing
Over under on 23 passing TD’s
Over under on 14 INT’s
I’m going to have to take the under on the 15th rated QB in the league, though that would depend on what exact metrics he’s being graded on. But if its purely just “who is the 15th best QB in the league”, I need to see continued momentum on his closing of the 2024 season before I’d comfortably put him in the top half of QBs in a vacuum.
I think he’ll go over 3300 yards passing, under on 23 TDs, and under on 14 INTs. Reason being is the Panthers are set up well to run the ball in goal line situations, and Bryce will take a few in himself on the ground. I think 3300 yards passing is very doable, and I think he’s going in the direction of avoiding turnovers without being too overly cautious. We’ll see what happens.
GooseCreek: I saw a recent article that called last season’s Panther defense the worst in NFL history. My question is, was the 1981 Colt defense the worst in NFL history? I’d like to see the other option retired.
The term “worst defense in NFL history” is a bit much for me. We're the Panthers a historically bad defense? Yes. But they also weren’t last in every defensive category, and the team still managed to amass 5 wins. I’d also like to see the term retired, as its going to end up being a subjective category with more games now and potentially even more games per season in the future.
Bruce Guild: Release Josey Jewell?
I know this wasn’t necessarily a question, but I wanted to cover it in this week’s mailbag anyway. Jewell was reportedly dealing with concussion symptoms as training camp opened, which means there’s something still going on over 6 months since he played his last football game. So I say, first of all, GET WELL Josey Jewell. This game is fickle and people will forget about this move in a few years. Go get healthy, and thank you for the time you gave us Panthers fans.
He was set to be the number one linebacker option, the guy with the green dot, meaning he’d be relaying play calls from Ejiro Evero to the rest of the defense. That role is now apparently going to fall on free agent signing Christian Rozeboom. But the bigger picture here is that linebacker is going to be a significant weakness in 2025, and likely the top of the needs list during the 2026 Offseason regardless of how this season goes. I’d expect them to clamp up a veteran linebacker after 53 man roster cuts, but if they don’t it’ll be a heck of a workload for Rozeboom and 2024 rookie Trevin Wallace.
Temujin07: Any guys on this list you guys might want us to sign?
In no particular order, Kyzir White, Eric Kendricks, De’Vondre Campbell, or Kamu Grugier-Hill. There's really no current linebacker available that would fill the void left by Jewell, but they can at least sign a one year stop-gap player and address next season. I could see Grugier-Hill coming back simply because he was in Carolina because he was here (and actually played pretty well) during Evero’s first season as defensive coordinator.
positivebob: How many rookies do you think will start week 1? 2 on defense, Scourton and Ransom. 1 on offense, TMac. Counting STers, could be Horn and Etienne as well.
I’m going to go with the traditional definition of starter as in “start the game and play the majority of snaps” rather than “guy who happened to be on the field for the first snap” for this question. I’d say Tetairoa McMillan is a surefire starter on offense. On defense, I agree with Nic Scourton getting the nod at EDGE. I think Lathan Ransom may take a starting role, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at least for week one, Demani Richardson lines up as one of the starting safeties opposite Tre’von Moehrig. Jimmy Horn and Trevor Etienne should certainly get looks as the returners. So I’d say 4, maybe 5 at most if Ransom works out quicker than I anticipate.
That’s all for this week, Panthers fans. Definitely hit me with your questions as we get further into training camp, and storylines blossom!
More from catscratchreader.com:
- Panthers at Broncos Final Score: Carolina falls to Denver 21-20
- Panthers at Broncos: Taking a look at Denver's new starting quarterback
- Panthers at Broncos Game Day Inactives: Dean Marlowe, Cameron Artis-Payne among players to sit out in Denver
- The Best 2015 Carolina Panthers Fantasy Team Names
- How Many Games Will the Panthers Win in 2016?
