NFL: 2018 NFL off-season news & notes thread (Vikings sign Hunter to big extension)

[Marc the Habs Fan]

 

[What the Faulk]

Unsurprising after their win. They won in spite of him, not because of.

 

[Voight]

 

[Voight]

 

[John Price]

Shula fired @What the Faulk

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Matt LaFleur should be on Carolina's radar. John DeFillipo as well.

 

[What the Faulk]

Shula fired @What the Faulk

OMG YES. This is a long time coming. Shula can be very good when he gets creative, but he's way too conservative in situations he doesn't need to be. I am definitely on board with this.

 

[SnS]

OMG YES. This is a long time coming. Shula can be very good when he gets creative, but he's way too conservative in situations he doesn't need to be. I am definitely on board with this.

It’s party time.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

So I assume Shula and Dorsey are scapegoats for Newton's poor play over last two years?

 

[What the Faulk]

Looks like this was Rivera's call

 

[Blitzkrug]

The fact the Panthers had like 400 yards of offense and still lost was probably enough for Rivera to make a decision.

The defense certainly wasn't at its best either, but they did enough to the point where the offense should have been able to blow the doors off of the Saints.

That Panthers offense could be scary next year. Another year of growth for McCaffery, healthy receivers. All they need to do is find a way to add a more appropriate lead WR and the Panthers are probably 1/2 seed level good. (draft seems likely to address that i would imagine)

 

[SnS]

So I assume Shula and Dorsey are scapegoats for Newton's poor play over last two years?

BWC please stop.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I mean is Newton to blame for offensive struggles in any way? I would say yes

And if its coaches paying price for his struggles then it is infact them being used as scapegoats

Newton hasn't been good QB these last two years

 

[Blitzkrug]

Cam Newton also hasn't been healthy since his MVP season. Concussions all in 2016, and then the shoulder injury which according to Newton himself still isn't 100% after surgery in the offseason.

Dave Shula is a crappy coordinator, they have very few weapons offensively outside of Olsen/McCaffrey. Cam certainly isn't blameless, but to pin the offense's struggles all on him is incredibly misguided.

I wonder what reason you could possibly have for blaming Newton. Hmm....

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Its more on Gettleman and his outdated ideas on skill players.

 

[SnS]

I mean is Newton to blame for offensive struggles in any way? I would say yes

And if its coaches paying price for his struggles then it is infact them being used as scapegoats

Newton hasn't been good QB these last two years

Again, please stop.

The bigger issue on offense is having three weapons. CmC, Olsen and Cam.

We dealt the deadweight, Benjamin.

Funchess needs to be better.

We need to keep developing Samuel and Byrd.

Bersin. Shepard. Clay. A broken funchess who made no effort on the play in the end zone where he could have done something more than he did.

We need to just continue developing. Carolina surpassed my expectations and I thought this game against the saints was going to be way worse.

Newton isn’t the problem in any stratosphere.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

I mean is Newton to blame for offensive struggles in any way? I would say yes

And if its coaches paying price for his struggles then it is infact them being used as scapegoats

Newton hasn't been good QB these last two years

Kinda like coach killer and average Jay right?

 

[What the Faulk]

Not a fan of this.

The fact the Panthers had like 400 yards of offense and still lost was probably enough for Rivera to make a decision.

The defense certainly wasn't at its best either, but they did enough to the point where the offense should have been able to blow the doors off of the Saints.

That Panthers offense could be scary next year. Another year of growth for McCaffery, healthy receivers. All they need to do is find a way to add a more appropriate lead WR and the Panthers are probably 1/2 seed level good. (draft seems likely to address that i would imagine)

They absolutely could not punch it in in the redzone down the stretch. In the last three games, Carolina kicked FGs of 25, 28, 30, 27, and 29, with a 25-yarder being missed against the Saints and a few more from 30-39 yards away. Part of that is personnel with Olsen and Funchess being the only possession targets, but part of that is predictable play calling that resulted in wasted downs.

If they hire the right guy, they definitely could be 2015-level good on offense. Cam showed you against NO what he can still do when he's dialed in and with limited talent on offense. With a healthy Samuel and Byrd, which should open up more down the field shots, I think WR might be okay. I think they need a replacement for Stewart and a TE that's better than Ed Dickson and then maybe another big bodied WR that can be a bit more of a safety valve in the redzone. But IMO all of that is behind addressing the secondary. There's no talent there.

 

[Live in the Now]

Yeah I mean it's totally Cam's fault when they have one receiver who is worth anything at all.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Holy ####

If Ron Turner is hired I feel sorry for you

He has been nothing but disaster everywhere he has coached

Only in 1995 did his offense have some level of success but that was because Erik Kramer carried his ass

 

[Blitzkrug]

Not a fan of this.



They absolutely could not punch it in in the redzone down the stretch. In the last three games, Carolina kicked FGs of 25, 28, 30, 27, and 29, with a 25-yarder being missed against the Saints and a few more from 30-39 yards away. Part of that is personnel with Olsen and Funchess being the only possession targets, but part of that is predictable play calling that resulted in wasted downs.

If they hire the right guy, they definitely could be 2015-level good on offense. Cam showed you against NO what he can still do when he's dialed in and with limited talent on offense. With a healthy Samuel and Byrd, which should open up more down the field shots, I think WR might be okay. I think they need a replacement for Stewart and a TE that's better than Ed Dickson and then maybe another big bodied WR that can be a bit more of a safety valve in the redzone. But IMO all of that is behind addressing the secondary. There's no talent there.

That makes sense. I just figured the draft is likely a bit more cost effective for adding a WR, though that is def a good point about how awful the Panthers secondary is.

 

[Canes]

Cam has admittedly had some horrendous games over his career, but more often than not he's basically the whole offense. That he has been able to do what he has done so far in his career with a bad OC and mostly bad supporting talent is nothing short of amazing.

I'm ecstatic they may be hiring a better OC for him, but the offense also still needs long term solutions at a few OL spots, a few WR spots and at RB.

 

[What the Faulk]

Cam has admittedly had some horrendous games over his career, but more often than not he's basically the whole offense. That he has been able to do what he has done so far in his career with a bad OC and mostly bad supporting talent is nothing short of amazing.

I'm ecstatic they may be hiring a better OC for him, but the offense also still needs long term solutions at a few OL spots, a few WR spots and at RB.

The OL is fine. Norwell/Turner are two of the best guards in the game, and Daryl Williams has been one of the best-graded RTs this year. They're not cutting Matt after just signing him to a large deal (which probably wouldn't sit well with Ryan). They also just drafted Taylor Moton last year. They could maybe use a center to develop, but for better or worse, this is who they're going to roll out. The problem is none of their backs are at all capable of pass blocking, so if they're not getting it done with 5 (plus whatever TEs they keep in), they're probably not getting it done.

 

[SnS]

Not a fan of this.



They absolutely could not punch it in in the redzone down the stretch. In the last three games, Carolina kicked FGs of 25, 28, 30, 27, and 29, with a 25-yarder being missed against the Saints and a few more from 30-39 yards away. Part of that is personnel with Olsen and Funchess being the only possession targets, but part of that is predictable play calling that resulted in wasted downs.

If they hire the right guy, they definitely could be 2015-level good on offense. Cam showed you against NO what he can still do when he's dialed in and with limited talent on offense. With a healthy Samuel and Byrd, which should open up more down the field shots, I think WR might be okay. I think they need a replacement for Stewart and a TE that's better than Ed Dickson and then maybe another big bodied WR that can be a bit more of a safety valve in the redzone. But IMO all of that is behind addressing the secondary. There's no talent there.

With you not liking it. That doesn’t sound good.

I think we can get by with the right calls with what we have, and obviously less usage of Stewart. Obviously that is key on developing the players what we have. I really like Samuel and Byrd. Of course Olsen still needs to play at a high level, which I feel he can for at least a few more years as long as he avoids injury.

Cmc showed what he can do, we just need to utilize it a bit more. It seemed whenever he was on the field; he was a threat.

Regarding the line, I agree with you. Williams played well, Norwell and Turner are solid players. And the Kalil brothers are here too. We just need to draft and develop there too. If one of our backs could block or even chip block a little more I feel we’d be better off.

Cam showed a lot working with the core down the stretch. I just hope we get some secondary help and dont draft another lineman in the first round.

 

[Avs_19]

As someone who loves watching Cam play, I suggest they don't hire Norv. That's not the way to go if you want to run a more modern and creative offense.