WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 96: Time of Transition 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.120 This week on the Happy half Hour, there are going 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:06.880 to be a lot of guys popping up, whether it's 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:09.399 on the waiver wire, whether it's trade talk, whether it's 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:12.840 bringing in some veterans. I think there's an opportunity for 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:15.560 some movement inside that group. So if you're out there 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.079 trying to create your own fifty three man roster, I'm 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:23.840 just gonna promise you you're wrong. Touchdown, cow, right up, 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:27.560 It's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:36.199 Kristin Balboni, Augusta Stone, and Darren Gannon. Hello, friends, Welcome 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:39.680 to another episode of the Happy Half Hour. One hundred 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:44.199 percent pure Anthers content for me, Darren her Agusta Stone, 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.000 and even though I believe in truth and advertising, this 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:51.680 may not actually be an entire happy half hour. It'll 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.280 be entirely happy, but maybe not an entire half hour. 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:56.080 We'll just kind of see how it goes once we 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.200 start jabbering about all the latest and what's coming in 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:00.960 the next couple of day in the world of the 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:01.760 Carolina Panthers. 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:05.200 I gos Hello, Darren, and hello everyone. I think I 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.840 was telling Darren right before we hit record that we 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.120 could probably ramble on for thirty minutes about anything. It's 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.319 just a matter of whether or not we want to 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.160 record it for the world to hear. I know I 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.600 can talk forever about any topic. Just give it to 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.120 me and I'll find a stream of consciousness to ride 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:22.280 the wave of I fear. 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:23.240 Where a ware. 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.360 I am a chatty Cathy. Sometimes I can't lie, usually 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:29.320 at the most inopportune moments. I'm the type of person. 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.119 This kind of loops back to the last game because 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.440 we got back pretty late from the New York game 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:35.640 being a seven pm kickoff and getting on the plane 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:41.080 immediately after. And whenever I reach a certain point of exhaustion, 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:44.720 I get really really talkative. And that's usually the time 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:46.520 when I'm texting my friends and they're trying to go 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:49.200 to bed, and I'm like thinking about different ways to save, 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:53.120 like solve world problems or you know, new ideas here 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.920 in like like usually there's a point in my exhaustion 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.840 where I do just continue to ramble and ramble and ramble. 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.640 And that's relevant because I almost got to that point 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:07.880 when I got home at an unforseeable hour on Friday 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:09.520 morning or Saturday morning, I don't even know what day 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:10.040 of the week it was. 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.240 Yeah, that's a theme of this podcast. I think, what 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.760 day is this. We're almost there, almost there, We should 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.200 have a bit but it's yes, we're almost at the 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:22.919 end of the preseason, and we're almost at the point 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.920 where things normalize in terms of schedule and also the 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:31.079 football and perhaps the expectations. This has been I think 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.400 for a lot of people a really weird offseason because 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:38.280 you go through the process of hiring a new coach, 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.240 bringing in a whole new cast of characters, especially on offense, 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.680 basically a brand new set of skill position talent, knowing 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:47.840 what's to come into the draft, then trading for the 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.560 number one pick, then landing Bryce Young and all the 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.000 attendant excitement that came with it, and it's like, there's 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.640 been this four months of anticipation, and now when we 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.839 get to the preseason and Frank Craig and Bryce Young 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:04.040 in the Carolina Panthers offense do not look like Patrick 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.880 Mahomes and Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs, immediately, 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.440 I think people started freaking out. And I think that's 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.360 probably normal considering all the build up of the last 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:16.680 four months, but it always kind of makes me giggle 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.359 for lack of a better word, and sometimes I do 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.960 giggle that. You know, people get so lathered up about 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.239 the preseason. I was telling somebody the story the other day. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.520 In two thousand and one, when the Panthers won the 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.080 opener and proceeded to lose the next fifteen. The new coach, 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.280 John Fox comes in the door and says, you know, 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.840 everything's brand new, blah blah blah. John's bringing all this excitement. 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:43.960 They lose their first preseason game and I didn't tweet 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.520 out because tweeting wasn't a thing in two thousand and two, 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:48.840 but I wrote somewhere that the Panthers hadn't won a 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.560 game in three hundred and forty eight days. John took 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:53.840 a dimn view of that. He's like, you know how 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:57.400 unimportant these games are, don't you, Darin, And I said, yes, John, 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:59.320 I'm aware. And then they lost the next week and 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.600 it was three hundred fifty five days or whatever the 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:03.720 math turned out to be, and he didn't He took 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.480 a DM view of that as well. So anyway, the 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:10.760 results of these games are hardly important at all, the 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:15.400 Baltimore Ravens notwithstanding. But at the same time, there are 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.360 things that I think you can draw from this, I mean, 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.520 with this offense, everything is new, and frank Reich has 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.600 been offered a number of opportunities to talk about kind 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.080 of the goal for this offense, and he is pretty 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:33.440 steadfastly leaned toward we don't want to show a lot 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.200 more so than we need to get Bryce X, Y 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:38.640 and Z before the start of the regular season exactly. 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:42.080 And like you mentioned before I or during when you 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:44.039 were speaking just then, I think it is one of 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.480 the times, ironically, because the Panthers really didn't have much 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.360 of an offseason, Like you mentioned, you went through kind 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.560 of the laundry list of new coaches, trading up, draft, 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:54.880 free agency, like all of the stuff that was going on. 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:58.840 It feels like things calmed down ironically during training camp, 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.360 just in terms of so much coming at us. It's 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:03.160 like you you were able to get into some sort 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.800 of rhythm, have an idea of what's going on, and 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:10.400 the preseason frank Reich has kept it really well in perspective, 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.400 I think, because like you mentioned, they really are meaningless 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:17.120 games in terms of result, In terms of points, of course, 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:19.280 I'll always say they want to win, but in terms 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.479 of just their evaluation, I mean, they're getting more time 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.520 for the guys that they're not Tuesdays. The roster cutdown 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.160 day is looming, and they're getting time to look at 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.960 those guys. I think too, that between when we were 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.880 here last week to now, there are more things to 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:37.799 talk about that you know happened. You know, you can say, Okay, 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:40.320 Bryce Young and the offense hasn't haven't reached the end 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:43.600 zone yet first teamers, but they did lead that field 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:45.640 goal drive, and there were some mistakes and I think 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.120 if you want to talk about that one drive that 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:51.599 got you know, pretty far down and then ended up 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:53.240 being pushed back and then ended up being a Matthew 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.880 right field goal. But I think one thing you can 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.440 talk about there is that, you know, it showed movement. 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.039 That's good. Show very very long drive. I don't remember 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.240 if it was seven minutes or ten minutes. It was 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.560 really long though, and I think that's the kind of progress. 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:08.000 But when you have those kind of things that where 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:09.200 you push back, you want to see that in the 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:11.800 preseason so you can go ahead and squash it. I 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:14.880 think that's you know, they can take positives from it, 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.039 and they have time before Atlanta. They'll also have you know, 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.800 a relatively a fuller cast of characters. You know, Eddie 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.520 Pinero talked yesterday. He sounds like he's going to be back. 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:28.719 I think there's pieces to maybe be concerned about. But 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.720 I think and I do think things have calmed down 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.320 to like between the Jets and the Giants game, I 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.200 think we're not as much so when you hear things 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:38.520 on the outside, it's not as panicked, which is good. 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:41.200 So because I remember last week we came in here 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:42.719 and we were like ugh, and this week is not 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:43.200 as bad. 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:47.120 So yeah, listen, in the course of a regular season, 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:51.400 a good old fifteen play, seventy yard ten minute field 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.239 goal drive. That's a good thing, not a bad thing. 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.520 I'm old enough that I appreciate that. And you know, 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.599 if you think back to second half of last year, 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.760 controlling the clock, keeping the ball on the ground was 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:06.120 a pretty big element of that. And listen, here are 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.000 things we've seen in the preseason. A little bit of 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:10.960 Bryce Shong, a little bit of this, a little bit 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:19.000 of that. Things we haven't seen. Game planning, strategy, Miles Sanders, 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.080 who is going to be a really big part of 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.440 this outfense. I think that as much as anything, you know, 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:28.000 they are going to lean on him. One of the themes. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.840 I've mentioned this with different people in interviews before, on 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:36.520 radio and podcast. If you're thinking about the overarching theme 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:40.600 of this offseason, everything's been about protecting Bryshong, even before 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.760 he walked in the door. What they do. They built 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.720 his staff full of all these elders, and I'm constantly 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.239 amazed when I walk in the Cafteria and Jim Calwell 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:51.840 stand there eating breakfast. It's just a great coach, not 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.920 a good coach with this extra job and ill defined responsibilities. 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.600 Jim Callwell, Josh McCown, Thomas Brown, Frank Craig. Was done 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.320 to protect that quarterback from a coaching standpoint. Then they 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:05.960 go out in free agency and they find the easy targets. 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:08.880 A tight end in Hayden Hurst, a slot receiver in 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.160 Adam Thielen, a high volume back in Miles Sanders who 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:15.560 can also catch the ball. Everything's been done to make 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:19.720 this guy's life easier from day one before he walked 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:23.600 in the door. So now this preseason has been about 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.920 continuing to protect him by a not leaving him out 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.320 there for too long, you know, not showing a lot 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:32.320 of the cool new stuff they want to try to do, 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.959 but also just kind of getting through this thing without drama. 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.079 Someone asked me one of my friends, Tom Pelsero from 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.160 NFL Network was in town the other day and he 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.480 asked how training camp was, and he said, hadn't really 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.920 been a lot of drama. I said, that's a good 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.360 that's good thing. Nobody likes drama in training camp because 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:54.160 usually training camp drama is bad. So if you get 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:59.400 through this entire process no gigantic injuries, no big upheavals, 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.080 no big contract drama or anything like that, I think 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:06.600 that's a great thing for everybody involved. So it's you know, 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:10.360 just mentioning the injuries. I think it's probably worth pointing out. 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:14.680 I've seen some concern online about the numbers of guys. 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.319 The one thing I know, and this isn't exactly breaking 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.319 news or anything, but just from talking to people around 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:24.240 the building, the only guy we know isn't playing in 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.840 Atlanta is Austin Corbett, who's coming off in acl and 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:31.160 wasn't expected to play in the opener anyway. None of 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.080 the other of this laundry list of injuries that you 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.720 see on Panthers dot Com on a daily basis, And 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.120 we appreciate you doing that are considered the kind of 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.960 big you know, long term, big, dramatic, miss a chunk 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.160 of the regular season kind of stuff. There's a lot 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.720 of things, the things that come at the end of 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.640 a long and fairly physical training camp. And they've gotten 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:57.360 after it this week, I mean the two practices Monday Tuesday, 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.680 I believe it was, or Sunday Monday or whatever the sequence. Again, 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:02.520 don't ask me what day of the week it is. 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.480 Those two practices this week were pretty intense. First one 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.160 in Pad's second one was long, even though it was 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.600 in shorts and shells. It guys are getting after it, 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.840 and there's a physical toll that comes with that. But 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.440 it's almost like building up a callous You know, they're 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.880 going to work them hard and then they're gonna pull back. 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.480 There's gonna be some breaks in this thing, and players 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:26.560 are about to get a three to four day break 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.440 before they go into the regular season and everybody needs it. 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:32.199 But before they got to that, they wanted to push them. 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:36.600 They wanted them conditioned because you know, I remember opening 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:39.880 seasons in Tampa Bay and seeing guys gassed on either 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.080 side of the field. Because if you're not conditioned to 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.800 go into what used to be a sixteen now seventeen 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.920 game regular season. It's going to be a long one exactly. 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.600 And another thing that has been mentioned, and I think 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:54.439 this is a good segue into the next kind of 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.200 big thing on the schedule after the preseason game is 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.600 when the cutdown date, which is two day and it's 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.400 all down to fifty three on one day versus last 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.440 year and years pat prior. But just kind of like 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.800 you mentioned with injuries one, they're inevitable too. They're not, 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:13.760 like you said, like overwhelmingly serious ones like I mean, 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.439 to be honest, like we saw last year at this point. 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:18.160 I think preseason kind of dinged them up quite a 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:21.520 bit last year. But also it gives you a chance 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:23.800 to see some depth pieces develop the depth pieces, and 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:25.960 then it's gonna inevitably happen, like you mentioned, with a 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.480 seventeen game schedule, regardless of how condition you get, you're 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:31.440 gonna have to look at those guys either way. And 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:34.280 I think that it's not necessarily the most negative thing 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:36.720 in the world to kind of be able to pull 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.199 back certain guys. I mean, we've seen a lot of 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.640 Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshir just thinking about Miles Sanders 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:46.160 getting back this week and just those opportunities now versus 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:50.000 you know, week six, week seven, whenever, it'll inevitably fall 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.679 that one guy might get a you know, a hamstring here, 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:54.600 one guy might get you know, a little sprain here. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.480 Like it's gonna it's gonna happen. But I was gonna 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.000 ask you, as the date kind of looms, who are 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.640 you looking for in this game specifically to kind of 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.120 make a splash or maybe have extra opportunities with with 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.760 the guys that that you're thinking that they might you know, 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:12.400 hold over other than your your obvious starters and your ones. 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.440 I think there's a couple of guys, and again with 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.440 cuts looming, there's always those guys on the bubble, and 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.480 people want to hear about guys on the bubble. I 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.120 think when you think about a situation where djhart Terrace 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.400 Marshall probably aren't going to play tomorrow night, then you 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.360 start looking down the line and Derek Wright is going 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.439 to get a lot of play in time. Javon Wims 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:33.800 is going to get a lot of play time. I 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.520 know you you like a dog on the roster, so 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.680 Wims is Wims has been interesting and where I think 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.880 he's got an opportunity here. If you look over the 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:48.000 scope of all these wide receivers that everybody's playing on 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.360 making the team, there aren't a lot of them that 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:53.040 you think of as a core special teams kind of guy. 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.040 And Wims is a big, physical dude who, as we 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:00.920 are aware, is not afraid of contact. So I think 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:05.000 the opportunity for guys like that to show, Okay, Chris Tabor, 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.319 you can trust me, I can be one of your 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:11.360 guys and also contribute during the regular season, potentially some 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.640 on offense. Frank's talked about, you know, guys he's had 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.199 in the past who make teams that way as special 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.720 teamers and end up being parts of offense. So I 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.240 think Wims is a guy who's got an opportunity there. 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.120 Derek Wright has always had good hands and knows how 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.680 to get himself open, and he's been a little dinged 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.880 up himself, but he's shooting to come back this week. 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.560 You know, you see him walking around the facility and 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.440 he's upbeat and ready to go after being you know, 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:40.160 kind of on the mend a little bit. So I 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.199 think there are a number of those guys, whether it's 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:45.600 those two on the offensive line. Young guys like some 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:48.840 of the undrafted rookies Nashins and Ricky Lee, or guys 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:50.800 who have caught some eyes. You know, there are a 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.160 couple of them out there. And with defensive linemen, whether 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.320 it's Nick Thurman, Lebryan Ray, some of those guys who 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:01.320 aren't necessarily household names are going to have opportunities to 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:05.400 create roles for themselves with what happens this week in 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.920 the game and then coupled with the body of work 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.800 they presented so far in training camp. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:14.200 I think Grey ray Kwan Williams, Goodness gracious, his name 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.960 is dificult to say sometimes, but ray Kwan Williams is 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:18.160 one of those guys that I feel like, if he 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:20.080 has a similar showing to he did last week in 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:22.240 New York, that he's really going to make a good 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:24.520 case for himself. He was all over the field, especially 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.400 against the Giants second team up in New York. I 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.080 was reading writing his stat line last night. I think 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.440 he had two where he had a tackle for loss 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.520 of sack kind of paired together, and then two quarterback pressures. 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.760 I think just kind of making the day really really 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.360 tough for them. And he was one of those guys 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:44.640 that I think, at least here in camp, that I 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.320 didn't pay too much attention to, and then saw him 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:49.880 kind of flash like that. I think if he gets 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.480 another preseason game flash, I mean, look, it's kind of 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:54.920 like what Frankraik has been saying. You know, you say 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.640 these preseason games and you're so concerned about the the 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.280 the point totals, but in his experience won it playing 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:02.920 in the league but also coaching in the league, he 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.040 said that his memories aren't necessarily about the score. They're 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:08.040 more or less about you know, oh, I remember this 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:09.920 guy flashing. I remember this player. I remember this kind 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:11.200 of thing, and he's a guy I think that could 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:13.960 really capitalize on it and find himself some sort of role. 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:15.360 He's been here for a minute. He was a practice 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.080 squad holdover, I believe, and I think he looked really 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.520 comfortable and I mean just very splashy along that defensive line. Again, 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:23.560 like you said, on top of the Brian Rays and 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:27.560 the Nick Thurmans of the roster, I think that there's 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.840 there's a lot of opportunity there behind those guys to 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:33.080 really see what they have to do. But I agree, 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.520 I was also going to make a mention of Nashjinsen 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.400 and Ricky Lee. I think this game is also really 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.280 really important for them just to see what their role 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.560 will end up being, especially with Caid Mays and that 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.680 next thing are just now getting back to practice and 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.080 you know the role that they have to fill in 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:49.800 at right guard. There's a lot of opportunities for guys 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.520 to maybe get some more plays and more looks, and 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.480 they hadn't they wouldn't have had previously, so I think 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.400 it's another big game for them too. I think the 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.800 lines are some really good places to look at guys 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.680 where oh, maybe this guy will be, like you said, 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:05.320 a bubble guy just making it in. Those are two 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.240 groups that I've kind of honed in on with opportunities, and. 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:14.040 I think to one of my favorite malapropisms say, I 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.280 think people use this time of year when cuts come 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:18.800 down next Tuesday, people will say the final fifty three 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.920 man roster. It is nothing resembling final. This thing is 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.200 going to be a work in progress over the course 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.840 of seasons, as we've all seen, but I get the 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:33.520 impression that this year has the opportunity for a little 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:37.160 more of that movement. Next Wednesday, Thursday Friday as they 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:41.160 go into the holiday weekend break, which is the last 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:43.280 one for a long time. But I think there is 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.720 an opportunity for movement because when you're trying to put 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:50.280 together something brand new, you know. I go back to 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.160 the very start of free agency of the in the 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:55.840 first week they go out and Seinshoy tuttle into Shawn 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.120 Williams immediately because they needed lineman to be able to 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.040 line up in a three four, and there's a particular 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.840 body type they're looking for. They would love to find 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.479 some guys who were in that six foot five, three 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:12.400 hundred and twenty pound, long armed kind of profile. Now 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:14.920 that's not necessarily what Shie and Sean are, but those 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.920 are guys who have proven they can play this kind 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:20.240 of football. I mean, especially to Shaun. He was out 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:25.760 there in Denver with this coaching staff and playing pretty well. 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.080 So they've got a couple of parts in those two. 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.280 In Derek Brown obviously, who's going to be a big 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.520 part of this defense. But they need to supplement that 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.520 and that's why I mentioned Thurman and Lebrin Ray a 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.520 second ago. There are going to be a lot of guys, 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:44.439 a lot of names popping up, whether it's on the 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.679 waiver wire, whether it's trade talk, whether it's bringing in 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:51.119 some veterans who are kind of on the street for 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.919 different reasons right now, I think there's an opportunity for 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:58.000 some movement inside that group. So trying to project, if 0:17:58.040 --> 0:17:59.960 you're out there trying to create your own fifty three 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.800 you may and roster, I'm just gonna promise you you're wrong, 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:06.240 because that thing's going to be moving quite a bit 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:10.719 between next yeah know. I mean honestly, between today or 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:14.760 between tomorrow whenever what day is this, the day after 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.639 the game and then going into Tuesday's final cuts, is 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.640 thing's going to be fluid. So stay tuned to Panthers 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.040 dot com for all the latest, as we like to say. 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:26.600 And we heard that right from Dan Morgan when he 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.120 spoke with the media this week. He mentioned, I think 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:32.840 twelve hundred was his estimate of names that the scouts 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.840 have put together of guys that they expect to see, 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:39.439 you know, kind of out and ready to be taken 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:41.600 to be evaluated, to be looked at after the fifty 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.800 three man cuts across the league, and he mentioned how 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:46.960 having one cut down day is actually pretty beneficial to 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:49.600 his process and his staff's process. So Jah found it 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:51.639 to be a very interesting perspective about how it kind 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:53.280 of all happens at once and you don't have to 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:55.520 kind of spin your wheels. You have it all happen 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:57.320 at once. Okay, now we can look and see where 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:59.800 we're going. But yeah, that all the indications from when 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:01.960 we talk to him where that you know, they're always looking, 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.040 like he said, to upgrade, and there's always the opportunity 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.600 to kind of look and see what they've been evaluating, 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.520 see what they have. But yeah, no, to call that 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:13.600 I think a final fifty three man is a questionable term. 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.240 I think we could call it a preliminary. It's the 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:16.760 first one. 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:17.480 Initial. 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:20.920 I think initial is good. That's good, the first one. 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.040 So don't use the final word. It's it would be 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:24.639 you would be remiss to do. 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.199 So. Yeah, and that twelve hundred number that's based on 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:32.160 thirty seven dudes times thirty two rosters eleven eighty four 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:36.960 if you're specific. I didn't do long multiplication here while 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.760 we're recording The Happy Half Hour. I used my calculator 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.159 app on my phone because that's the kind of modern 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:45.159 person I am. So yeah, it's that time. This is 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.879 a rough week. By the time we talk to you next, 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.600 there will be cuts, there will be a roster, and 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:53.840 we will be on the verge of a regular season. 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.320 Then a lot of people are looking forward to for 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:58.920 a lot of reasons. But this is a grueling week 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.720