Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! We’re at the bye week, players are healing up, and you have questions. Let’s dive right in!
Walker Clement: How much of Bryce Young’s resurgence (surgence?) is attributable to unpublished and probably spurious reports of him hiring Brenton Bersin as his life coach?
I would say about 50%. I’m sure Nick Scott being there to mentor him as the uncrowned captain of the defense also helps. Both Brenton and Nick know
all about excelling despite catching the vitriol of the fan base. So this era of Sunshine in Carolina can definitely be attributed to the devoted disciples of House Bersin.
TXPanther: Is this the worst hypothetical trade scenario you’ve ever seen? It’s at least top 5.
Yes. This is a reminder that fans of NFL teams can be very dumb. I would imagine a lot of non-Panthers fans don’t realize the Panthers just gave Jalen Coker a nice extension. A sick trade for an EDGE might get made, but Jalen Coker will not be a part of it.
Brice Guild: I am starting to see posts here and have seen talking heads from many national sports shows say, ” Bryce Youngs has increased his arm strength this year” .
What say you? Is that really a thing? Or could it be he is confident and more assertive with his throwing motion, or a better pocket to step up into or has BY actually increased his actual power and speed of his passes? ?
I’m sure Bryce Young has gotten objectively stronger since being drafted as part of an NFL training program. But I do think the zip and accuracy on his passes comes more from being more confident in the system and mechanically cleaning some things up. He’s still making some pretty crazy throws without having his mechanics in proper structure, so I attribute most of the change to just being decisive and trusting his reads. He’s been making a lot of checks at the line presnap as well so he’s clearly settled in to the snap to snap flow that a good quarterback in the league has to.
schrodingersblackcat: Say the stars align. Bryce emerges as a consistent QB1 this season with a few more flashes of Drew Brees 2.0, injuries don’t derail us any further, our offense becomes a major NFL storyline with Tet and Coker becoming household names. Maybe we even somehow end up winning a playoff game. What does Brad Idzik’s future look like?
Its an interesting situation, Brad Idzik is basically a direct extension of Dave Canales but if the offensive production continues as it has, I would imagine he’s interviewing at least for head coaching positions this off-season and likely gone following the 2027 season to a head coaching job. The NFL head coaching group is constantly churning and many organizations like to pair an offensive leaning head coach with a shiny young quarterback. I would love for him to stick around for as long as possible if the offense and Bryce Young continues on this pace, but I do believe Dave Canales is already developing his successor. Remember, Dave has made a point to give some of his positional coaches reps to call plays in the preseason, that is definitely by design for long term development.
DannyLimes: given the state of our injuries, the bucs falling apart and the saints wild inconsistency… are the falcons suddenly favourites for the NFC behind a currently health Mike Penix and Bijan Robinson?
I could definitely see the Falcons being a head of the Panthers at some point in the season, their defense has been very good minus the Panthers week 2 game, which mostly was a blowout because of the Falcons offense and a 3rd string QB. The NFC South playoff picture will likely be messy once again this season. The Bucs just won last night and that puts them only a game or two outside of the top of the division right now.
JakeNCVA: We are four games into the season. There are three undefeated teams, eight at 3-1, twelve at 2-2, four at 1-3, and five at 0-4 — so only 11 of 32 have winning records (I know its early!). The only team I have not seen play are the 49’ers — but everyone else looks beatable — including the 4-0 Minnesota Vikings. The Panthers remaining schedule all of the sudden looks easier than it did a few weeks ago — both because of how the rest of the league is playing and how well the Panthers are playing – even with 2 losses they look to be trending way up from the past.
What is your revised look at the W-L record? We only have Minn, Baltimore and Seattle left that are above 500 – at the moment. Do you think the teams have settled into their “personalities” for the season yet, or are they still working things out, and we may still see hot risers and plummeting disappointments.
I’m still sitting at around 9-10 wins. I expect the Panthers offense to come down to Earth against some of the better defenses on the schedule and the injury bug has already hit them very hard. Don’t get me wrong, 12 wins wouldn’t necessarily surprise me, but I expect the Panthers to be in more close games than blow outs, so the margin for error is much smaller there.
TXPanther: Since you miss food questions, what are your:
Favorite dessert orders at The Cheesecake Factory?
Top 3 fast food spots and favorite order at each one?
I’ve only eaten at Cheesecake Factory maybe twice in my life, so I’ll leave that one up for debate in the comments.
Top fast food spots are fun! In no particular order
- Wawa: Honey Smoked Turkey hoagie with all the usual sub fixin’s and spicy mustard. Or the Gobbler Bowl around Thanksgiving time.
- Popeye’s: Spicy Chicken Sandwich
- White Castle: Crave Case, easily. The restaurants are spread thin but I’ve found a way to them many times on a long road trip.
SmoothC: If panthers made 1 trade for a decent to good player, but only 1, would you get a pass rusher, CB or OL?
I’d probably go with a cornerback. EDGE rushers are always expensive to trade for and I think the Panthers have enough talent on the shelf that should be returning on the offensive line. They will likely just try to weather that storm, but it seems they’ll have some reinforcements coming after the bye.
WanderingJanusz: Which game(s) are you watching this Sunday and why
Chargers vs Broncos because I apparently hate myself and loaded up on Chargers in Dynasty fantasy with Justin Herbert (traded Javonte Williams for him, L) and I drafted Omarion Hampton 2nd overall in the rookie draft last year, and I drafted RJ Harvey in the first round of that same draft. So watching just to hate my dynasty squad. And I’ll probably have the Jets/Browns game on because I ALSO drafted Quinshon Judkins in the first round of that same rookie draft. Fantasy has not been kind to me this year. Don’t play dynasty.
KSUDD: You missed food questions, so top three cuisines? For me it’s Mexican, Japanese, and Greek in that order.
I would say Mediterranean Fish dishes, Japanese, and southern BBQ. I always enjoy the catch of the day when I am travelling overseas, sushi is one of my favorite things, and you just can’t beat some good old BBQ from the south. Green beans and bacon are my go-to side.
Bull123: All I’m really interested in asking for are injury updates
Lewis, Coker, Freeling, Phillips at top of list
Updates on brooks and XL as well…I guess
The last update we got on Damien Lewis is he would “miss a few weeks”. So I would assume he’s not going to be available for week 6. The Panthers are “hopeful” Jalen Coker will be available following the bye week. Canales also said that the injuries to both Monroe Freeling and Jaelan Phillips aren’t believed to be serious and they could suit up for week 6.
Jonathon Brooks was placed on IR so he is eligible to return around week 9/10, if he’s good to go following surgery. Xavier Legette could be back within the next 3 weeks.
That’s all for this week, Panthers fans! Join us next week for another edition of the mailbag!
