MrEpsYtown

Again I said this the other day, but this is the only position that has not had any overhaul, and only Trent Murphy fits the prototype of what these guys typically looked for in Carolina. Long limbed, tall, etc. Ansah fits that mold, as does Clowney. Ferguson fit that mold, Winovich did not....so I'm a bit surprised they did not grab Ferguson. But I think this is the final revamp for McDermott and Beane. They have overhauled every other position on the roster to fit what they want. Defensive end is next imo.

I was watching West Virginia vs Texas Tech last night on ESPN U. One of the things that I was surprised at watching Sill exclusively is how he blocked down field. He was pesky and pissing defenders off. I didn't see him struggling to get off press. I thought his initial steps and movements were okay, but need refinement, but he's a fun guy to watch. He goes up to get the ball and contorts his body to make good catches. He didn't get the ball a ton in this game, so I did enjoy watching him do some dirty work. You can tell how much he loves the game and loves his teammates as he wasn't getting many touches but ran his routes hard and was constantly congratulating his teammates. He also seems like a bit of a trash talker like Josh Allen. He honestly reminded me of Robert Woods a bit with the way he plays. I don't know if he makes it, but I like his game. A lot of people see tall, skinny, former quarterback and assume the guy can't play. This guy can ball. He has a chance.

Watching him play against Baylor right now on ESPN U

Yep

I'm telling you these guys are going to wind up with Trevor Lawrence in two years somehow. I hate them.

He's the best. He's not a primadonna and he always puts the team success first. Such a humble guy imo. He's confident in his game, but he does understand how important it is to see it as a team game. You can tell that he genuinely loves him teammates and really just wants to do everything to win. Maybe I've been drinking too much kool aid, but something special is happening here and we have a great opportunity to experience all of it.

While we do have cap space, allocated 14 million to Shaq is insane. Playing Jerry Hughes another 14-15 million per is also insane. People think paying Frank Clark 20 million is crazy. The dude is a dominant player. Paying 28 million to Shaq and Hughes is not happening. I don't care how much cap space we have. It's a terrible use and allocation of funds. The problem is that outside of Clowney, Mercilus and a few others, it is not an amazing FA class. Guys like Ngakoue, Vic Beasley, Dante Fowler still don't quite fit the mold of long ends. Clowney is the perfect fit going forward. I would try to build a trade with Houston. Hughes, Zay Jones and 2020's second rounder for Clowney. Then I would try to trade Shaq to the Cowboys for Taco Charlton, who has been a bust for them. Trade our disappointing end for someone else's putting the 5th year burden on somebody else and see if a change of scenery helps Taco. His 5th year option decision would come in 2020. We could have had Michael Thomas and Jarran Reed...pretty terrible draft, but some gems came from it.

Sounds like he has a chip on his shoulder. ?

I believe in Dion. He has the measurables and I think he can succeed at tackle. He sounds like he struggles a bit with staying motivated and he needs to get that straightened out. We will see how he responds with his job and career on the line. I believe he will respond strongly and I feel that Dion will show great improvement with Coach Johnson as his coach. The misconception is that he sucks, because of a bunch of PFF grades. The misconception is that he is a guard because Mike Mayock said he was. I think he struggled a bit last year, but he did flash some upside and he was not terrible. He's a young developing player facing the opposing team's best rusher with a terrible coach working with him. We just went through the same thing with Cordy Glenn for the last few years. Give Coach Johnson a chance to work with Dion and give him an opportunity to prove himself before moving his position.

I think that they will only move Dion if he is truly awful. It just makes no sense to move a 25 year old up and down player to stick a soon to be 34 year old journeyman in there. It does make sense if Dion shows no improvement though.

Gore and McCoy won't do any of that, though Gore strikes me as a "do whatever the team needs me to do guy." I could see Yeldon doing some of that. Depending on how the roster churns out, you don't have to have a back that plays special teams if you have extra guys at other position to do so. Like Milano and Lorax are starters who still play special teams. You have all of your backup linebackers, plus a bunch of corners and your backup safety, fullback, and tight ends. I do wonder who in the receiver bunch will help here, (I think Foster will still play some teams) but imo you don't absolutely have to get special teams play from your running backs.

I don't think there is any way they pick up the option. I just don't think they love him as a player, and I as I said yesterday on the board somewhere, I don't think they want to tie up funds to guys who don't truly fit their vision. I like Shaq and I think there is still some upside there. But you really can't justify giving him 11-14 million on a 1 year deal. Picking up the option on Shaq and extending Jerry is going to tie up 25-30 million in cap for 2020. I think they use those funds and try to acquire a different group of defensive ends. I'd rather sign Clowney and give him 30 million up front than sign those two guys.

I'm in the "blame the terrible receivers like Zay Jones" camp on this question. I feel like Allen tried to get too cute sometimes because his dudes can't catch. You have to zip that slant in there with some pretty good power, but knowing that guys weren't going to catch it may have made him take some zip off leading to those awkward throws. I hope that changes this year and some of these guys can catch.

They are definitely going to keep four. We had so many injuries that we had to rely on Keith Ford late in the season. I think they are going with the NE approach of using multiple guys in multiple situations.

Kiper gets a bad rap and has said some stupid things over the years. But the one thing about him, and DJ, and Mayock, and even Charles Davis is that those guys are actually grinding film. KIper doesn't seem to interested in playing favorites and hyping the teams ESPN loves so much. He just talks about what he sees on film and seems to analyze the situation without too much bias. I actually wanted to hear more from him during the draft, but we mostly got corny Trey Wingo jokes and talks of Josh Rosen trades. Wingo is a humongous douche. McShay I don't love. I did liek Riddick's analysis, but he did seem to be hyping up certain guys and pushing for them to get drafted. But I would have been fine with the show if it was just Kiper and Riddick. I really wish they could clone Mike Tirico.

I dunno. I just think it is a mindset thing. When people doubt you, I think you get a little extra mustard in there. It isn't implying that he would hold anything back effort wise. I think it's a real thing. We can all agree to disagree. Motivated to do your best, but also motivated to prove some people wrong. It's an extra source of motivation. Bulletin board material etc. To me that's real, not a stupid sports cliche. Ask Tom Brady.

At 10 eastern Houston vs Navy 2017 is on. Oliver had 9 tackles and 2 sacks in the game if anyone cares to watch. Although watching Navy's offense is not much fun. BTW it's on ESPN U

I love the fact that he felt a connection with our OL coach. A lot of us were skeptical of the hire, but after seeing the adds in free agency and Ford's comments, it is clear that Bobby Johnson is well respected around the league. I'm excited. And make sure you change it to Cody before everyone kills you on here. ?

I guessing maybe he did not interview well. His numbers and workout stuff was okay, nothing earth shattering,

It was a roid joke ?

Looks like he is on the Brian Cushing regiment.

I mean that Shaq option is going to cost like 14 million. Extending Jerry will probably take 12-14 million per. Does the regime want to tie up 28 million to two guys who don't quite fit the mold of what they are looking for? I'd rather give 20 million to Clowney. I just think there will be a good amount of turnover in the position in the next year or so.

I am interested to see what this position brings over the next year or so. McDermott seemed to have a type in Carolina, long armed tall and heavy guys. That isn't Hughes, or Shaq, or Eddie Yarborough. He inherited a lot of what is here outside of Murphy. I don't love Ansah, but he seems to be the prototype of what coach wants. 6-5, 271, 35 inch arms and twitched up athleticism. Long limbed, tall athletic guys. Now he did have Charles Johnson for years who was solid and similar in size to Shaq. My point is, this is the last position to be overhauled. Secondary, linebackers, and interior d line have been overhauled into what coach is looking for. DE really hasn't been touched aside from the Murphy addition, and so I wonder if they even bother bringing back Shaq or Hughes, because neither of them fit and it gives him the opportunity to overhaul the position instead of tying money into guys he doesn't really love. I might be wrong as Carolina put a ton of time into scouting Shaq Lawson a few years back. But I think they might want to remake the position next. I do wonder if they are still having discussions on Clowney, but they only have 6 picks next year.

This guy was super productive and most people seem to think he would have been a 2-3 round pick if he didn't run such a terrible 40.

I think what I have seen around is: Beasley 10 (Not confirmed but he tweeted a photoshopped picture) Gaines 26 Gore 28 Alexander 36 (not confirmed but he posted a picture with it on) Wade 45 Feliciano 76 Nsekhe 77 Kroft 81 Duke 82 I figure Victor Bolden will give 13 to Brown. Roberts will probably take 18. Morse is maybe 61, Long 60, Spain 67 (just assuming)