Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! We’re coming off a really rough week, and I could see in the comments for part one of this mailbag, fans have been processing what was a really terrible start to the season all week. Join us next week for another edition of the mailbag, Brian Asks, and let’s just dive right into all your questions.
KSUDD: If a QB can’t develop chemistry with any other receivers despite working out with them over the summer, is he actually
developing?
I’m not ready to say that Bryce Young didn’t develop chemistry with his wide receivers after one week of football. But pretty much every wide receiver dropped a good pass while Bryce also didn’t hit as many throws as you’d like to see. I think we can table this question for a few weeks down the line, give them time to shake off rust since they didn’t get a ton of live action in the preseason.
facepalmjedi: Was trading AT for peanuts right before the opener a favor to Thielen or did the team really think pulling a developing QB’s favorite target away with no time to adjust before the season starts was a good idea?
While I was one of many who initially reacted negatively to trading Adam Thielen, in a vacuum it did make sense. They acquired assets for a player who wasn’t going to be on the team next season, at 35 years old. I know moving up a round in each or the next two drafts wasn’t exactly game changing return, it seemed like smart business for a team that definitely wasn’t going to be competing for the Super Bowl this season. Unfortunately, Jalen Coker getting hurt in the days following the trade exacerbated the issue of missing Thielen. I personally don’t think anyone will look back in a season or two and care that much about Thielen not being on the team in 2025, but if the Panthers passing offense struggles, it will be on “present us” to deal with the anger and sadness.
Bruce Guild: Behind closed doors, what do you think the conversations were Monday between Dave C and Evero? Do you think DC feels enough pressure for his job security or just the embarrassment of another 200 yard rushing day to influence Evero and if so what would he be pushing Evero to do?
I think the conversation would have been pretty much the same as what Dave Canales told us about his experience with the players was this week; everybody is upset with week 1. Canales pretty openly stated this week he’d like to see more of the younger players getting snaps on defense, and we saw between the edge rushers and the safeties that the younger guys didn’t get as involved as we’d have hoped. I don’t know how much “pushing” Canales is going to really do, since he hasn’t meddled with the defense a lot since he got here. But, I think we’re going to see more of Nic Scourton, Princely Umanmielen, and Lathan Ransom in the coming weeks. If the defense continues to struggle and last week wasn’t a week 1 anomaly, it doesn’t really make sense not to throw the younger guys out there more and see what happens.
Find Ethel: As someone who has been a fan of the Panthers since the inaugural season 30 years ago, I’ve basically taken the past two years off from watching games. I took advantage of a rainy Sunday this past week to check out the first game of the season. I didn’t turn it back on after the rain delay. What reason would I have to take 3 hours out of this coming Sunday to tune in again?
Well, if I can give you one reason; its the Cardinals. This is not a slight against that team by any means, but man have the games been entertaining over the last few seasons. Last season, the Panthers beat them in an overtime thriller to knock them out of playoff contention. In previous years, the games tended to be in the Panthers favor, as they’ve gone 9-3 since that unfortunate 2008 playoff game. Weird stuff happens with the Cardinals, might be worth tuning in!
TLGPanthersFan: Bryce Young was never physically an NFL QB. One of the great processors was Payton Manning and he was 6 feet 5 inches and that helps with his meh arm. So why did our scouting department let think a 5’10” QB with a meh arm could be as good as Payton Manning, which a lot of people conspired him too?]
The Panthers scouting department was not the only one that had Bryce Young as the top QB in that Draft, so let’s not forget that little detail. I think Bryce still had some moments on Sunday where you could see exactly what made him the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, unfortunately those throws for a first down were overshadowed by his turnovers, which is what will always happen. But the tape was there in college, he put the solid tape on to end last season. I’m not giving up on the guy just yet. I don’t think he’ll be Peyton Manning by any stretch, but I’m not writing him off completely when the offense around him didn’t exactly help on Sunday. Bad snaps, drops, and missed toe drags definitely didn’t help an already rough day for him. Let’s see if the Corgi Bowl is a place for him to rebound.
JakeNCVA: Will Canales ever properly use the starters in preseason or are the first couple of games of the regular season going to be his preseason games?
This is certainly a valid criticism and question to ask. I’m very frustrated by Canales’s comments about the guys needing to “earn playing in the preseason” only for the offense to look completely off kilter in the first game. For an offense that bases a lot of what they do on timing, having so many timing miscues is a problem. I would hope he learns from this next season, but I guess it depends on how long the offense looks like this. If they suddenly fix things and look competent this week, he might follow the same route.
DannyLimes: Why must we suffer so much?
It’ll all be worth it when the Panthers lose another Super Bowl, Limey.
brake23: If Bryce struggles up until the trade deadline do you think he gets traded? If so, which QB would be best for our team in the upcoming draft?
I don’t even want to begin doing the research on the next QB just yet if this Bryce thing completely flames out in 2025. Let’s table that one for after the trade deadline this year. As far as the first part of the question, if Bryce Young struggles at this level up to the trade deadline, can we really expect anything significant in compensation in return? I would think it makes more sense to hold onto Bryce and bring in competition next season since his trade value would be at an all time low. But again, this might be a conversation to revisit after the Panthers have played a few more games.
Revshawn: Serious question this week. How big of a responsibility is this loss between Bryce Young and Dave Canales if you were to assign a percentage to it? I hate on Bryce Young quite a lot, but Dan Canales’s vanilla answers in his press conferences and his lack of willingness to allow anyone to take responsibility for their failures or go too deeply into his answers is starting to bug me.
I’m with you Rev, this has been a long week and I hope we can have some more positive conversations in the coming weeks. I actually assign more of the blame to Dave Canales than Bryce Young, as the offense as whole looked very unprepared and it showed in the several miscues across the board. I think Canales’s answers in the press conference is moreso about trying to move forward from this loss rather than try to hold anyone seriously accountable. Whether or not that strategy works will depend on how the team responds this week, and in the next few. But I have Canales as over 50% as far as blame goes for this loss.
SwampPanther: Q: I’m on PTO tomorrow but working today remotely. When is an appropriate time to start drinking? (I’m looking for an answer between 5-6:00 a.m.)
Game time baby, only time I know. Also, yes.
TXPanther: – Will TMac or Harrison Jr. have more yards?
– Which 0-1 teams will fall to 0-2 this week?
– Which Cardinals player would you most like to have on the Panthers?
- I think Tetairoa McMillan will have the receiving yards lead. The one thing the Panthers did do well on Sunday was contain Brian Robinson Jr and Travis Hunter. Doesn’t mean someone else on the Cardinals won’t out produce T Mac.
- Titans, Browns, Jets, Dolphins, Saints, Giants, Bears, Texans. I’m not going to jinx it and give my ruling on the Panthers.
- I’d love to have Will Johnson for this secondary, as he’s already grading out quite well for a rookie. On offense, Trey McBride would be the Greg Olsen replacement we’ve sorely missed.
KeepPounding88: Obviously it’s only been one week, but what does Bryce/this team need to do to avoid drafting another QB in the 1st round? For example, Bryce could play well, but if we continue to lose games and get a top 3 pick, chances are he’s still getting replaced.
The offense needs to be the reason the Panthers aren’t losing. That would be a great start. If the offense is putting up 24+ points a game and still losing, it probably isn’t a Bryce Young problem all the time.
TXPanther: What’s the lowest amount of $ it would take for you to watch the Dolphins-Pats game this weekend from start to finish?
$5. But I have De’Von Achane stock, so I’m biased.
dayneb12: What will it take for Canales to show any sort of negative emotion towards this team?
Probably the team giving up on the season, which doesn’t seem to be in the cards unless this train from week 1 keeps rolling. Dave is an eternal optimist and I just don’t see him going after his team like that.
bolshy: Can you name something this team has gotten right?
Absolutely! I think signing Chuba Hubbard to an extension, and then building on the running back room behind him cheaply with Rico Dowdle and a 4th round pick was very smart. They awarded a deserved extension but clearly don’t intend to run him into the ground. Spending a lot of money on the offensive line seems to have worked out okay, even if the offense around them hasn’t. Getting Tetairoa McMillan seems to have been a major victory. And I think adding young edge rushers with 2nd and 3rd round picks to develop will also work in their favor.
schrodingersblackcat: It’s obviously early, but it sure looks like Dan’s first draft class hasn’t panned out so well. Who (if anyone) from the 2024 draft class do you expect to take a significant step forward in their second season? Is there anyone we will see develop into a steady contributor for this team long term?
I think CB Chau Smith-Wade has the chance to play out his rookie contract and then some as a contributor on the starting defense. Unfortunately the defense playing with a negative game script didn’t allow for a ton of plays by a nickel corner. Ja’Tavion Sanders had a bad game, but I saw enough flashes as a receiver last year to not write him off after one game either.
Panthers75: Just read an article that the team worked out 10 guys yesterday, none of which were linebackers. Is the LB position that barren out there?
I think if you’re looking for a starting linebacker to play 80-90% of the snaps at this point, its already a losing battle. There’s a lot of veterans out there, but I’d expect them to sign on with teams they’d reasonably expect to see playoff chances with. The Panthers are not that after one week, until proven otherwise. Maybe you can coax a Bobby Wagner of Lavonte David onto the squad once the team has shown more life.
Senanima: Nick “Hit Stick” Scott. The great communicator. Is it the growing pains in a new role and learning to micromanage? This feels an awful like we just like the guy and curious how long this lasts. Options are absolutely limited but if you were playing for a job, at what point do you also try something different on this side of the ball?
Nick Scott really wasn’t that bad for the Panthers on Sunday. He wasn’t particularly great, but aside from one blown play where many hats on the defense missed their role, he wasn’t the reason the Panthers lost by any means. I do think Ransom will start getting more snaps, but defensive communication was an issue everywhere but the second level on Sunday. I know Nick Scott isn’t a popular player with fans, but he was far from their biggest problem on Sunday. Linebacker and the rush defense were way bigger issues.
storybook: Where do you expect Bryce Young to rank among NFC QBs by the end of the season?
I’m still hoping for a top 8 finish, but right now he’s trending towards bottom 6.
hyrulelegend: Can we all agree Evero is the actual issue. We do not have the speed nor depth to be running a 3-4 scheme.
The current personnel is built for a 3-4. But honestly, whether the base defense is a 3-4 or a 4-3 really doesn’t matter that much in the NFL. The Panthers run a hybrid defense and whether the edge guys are standing or have a hand in the dirt doesn’t change much.
ThePirate: What was ya’lls opinion on Renfrow’s performance? He got dogged out a couple times by Bryce, but does he fit what we need on offense?
I think Hunter Renfrow did about as best he could given the circumstances on Sunday. He had a couple catchable balls he didn’t bring in, while being underthrown on what probably would have been a TD if thrown a tad bit further down the field. He definitely gives them the slot receiver skillset they don’t have from T Mac or Xavier Legette, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see more “Big Slot” concepts thrown in this week.
schrodingersblackcat: Looking forward to getting Coker back. Do you suppose XL has any trade value?
I’d talk to the Cowboys first. But I don’t think the Panthers trade Legette this season, not after trading Thielen away. I still have hope Legette can turn it around, he seemed solid to start 2024 but we’ haven’t seen that since middle of last year.
That’s all for this week folks, hopefully the discourse can be a little more positive next week. But the Panthers have to go out and earn that. Stay tuned, and KEEP POUNDING!
