WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 90: On The Clock 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.240 This week on The Happy Half Hour. Part of the 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.600 reason you make this move is okay, you didn't hire 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:10.720 Frank Reich and Jim Calwill and Josh McCown and Thomas 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:14.159 Brown and Seawan Jefferson and Dow Staley. You run a 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:18.520 pedestrian offense. Your goal was to modernize and catch up 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:25.520 to the NFL in terms of offense. Tutto, It's time 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:28.560 for the Happy Half Hour with your friends. Kristin Balboni, 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:35.920 Augusta Stone, and Darren Gannon. Welcome to a special emergency edition. 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:37.879 I guess emergency makes it sound bad, but this is 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.839 a great time to be having a special edition of 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.720 the Happy Half Hour podcast with your friends Kristen and Darren. 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:50.120 Augusta is out on special assignment at Pro Days. Even 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:53.120 though augusta fan favorite, can't be here, we decided to 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:56.080 get in the podcast booth to discuss some of the 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.560 news that has been happening in the Panthers world. Darren 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:06.520 what news news? Someone should Yeah, Darren got some things 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:10.280 to update you on. So as every NFL fan, certainly 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:14.679 every Panthers fan knows. Friday afternoon, the Panthers, let's say, 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:21.240 according to reports and probably the safest way to say it, 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:26.080 according to many, many, many reports, which will become official 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:30.920 in about twenty six hours at four o'clock on Wednesday. Yeah, 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:35.040 the Panthers entered into a huge blockbuster trade with the Bears, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.759 which resulted in them trading up to the number one 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:42.319 overall pick in the draft. And just to explain for 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.920 everyone who has questions or maybe you say, okay, why 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:47.600 does some of this news look different on Panthers dot 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:49.920 com or why are you guys saying according to reports? 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:54.320 As Darren just said, the official new league year starts 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:58.919 Wednesday at four pm. It is right now Tuesday afternoon, 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:03.000 so at least in this building, right as Panthers employees, 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:06.160 we will be saying according to reports until the new 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.760 league gear starts, which is when these deals are allowed 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:12.040 to go through and be official. Yeah, I think we've 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:14.679 now said it enough times to give ourselves blanket immunity. 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.120 We're okay. From this point we can just speak about 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.960 it as if it is one blanket according to reports 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.400 for the entire podcast. I like it. Yeah, that covers 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.720 us from that. So yeah, big move and number one 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:27.560 pick in the draft hadn't had that in a while 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:31.160 since oh twenty eleven can seem to remember that that 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.200 was a thing back then, and this one took a 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:36.920 little I mean, they earned that number one pick in 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.000 the organic way, which wasn't necessarily fun for anybody in 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:41.880 two thousands one way to say they earned it in 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.600 the organic way. Oh, this one was a little bit 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.399 harder to come by, and the price was steep. I mean, 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:51.080 to go the ninth pick in the draft, the sixty 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.160 first pick in this year's draft, which was one of 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:55.560 the twos you got from the Christian McCaffrey trade from 0:02:55.639 --> 0:03:00.160 San Francisco, and then next year's one and a twenty 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:04.240 twenty five second rounder plus Dj Moore. And that's the 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.160 part that I think Scott everybody feeling some sort of 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.320 way about it, and I think it would probably be 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.080 celebrated even more. I mean, it's an incredible thing to 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.880 be in position to take whatever quarterback you want. But 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.760 because Dj was included in it, I think that's giving 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.960 some people pause. But you know, honestly, when you look 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:25.040 at what the market rate was to go from nine 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.080 to one, and it's not just trading up for the 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.480 first pick. You had to convince the Bears, you know, 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:36.760 who ostensibly had opportunities to go to four to seven, 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.120 to different places in the draft. You had to convince 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.120 them to make it worth taking your deal as opposed 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.119 to someone else's. And that's why DJ became a thing. 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.720 I mean, effectively, the Bears aren't interested in doing this 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:52.800 if the Panthers don't throw DJ more into the mix, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.040 because they've got a young quarterback of their own in 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:57.000 justin fields and they want to see if he's good 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.280 at football, and so the best way to do that 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.520 is given up oportunity with someone we know is a 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.720 top shelf wide receiver as DJ is m and again 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:08.040 not to throw in another according to reports, when you 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:09.800 said that we had the one blanket statement, but it 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.840 does seem like, uh, you kind of just alluded to 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:16.400 it that for the Bears, DJ Moore was almost a 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.239 non negotiable that was certainly not initially part of something 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.839 the Panthers wanted to do, nor did anyone certainly in 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:24.920 this building want to see him leave. He is such 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.159 a part of the fabric of this team and has 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.400 been since twenty eighteen. But that was part of it. 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.520 And it's a it's a steep price to pay to 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.440 go up to number one overall, and it's the cost 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.360 of doing business. I mean, we've talked about it around 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:41.600 here for the last couple of years. And it's interesting 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.640 that in bringing in Frank Wright to be a head coach, 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.159 part of the reason he was available and part of 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.799 the reason he's here and not in his previous place 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:52.720 is a couple of teams who couldn't get off that 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.720 wheel of veterans and just constantly churning and looking for 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.760 that next guy in line. And you could tell both 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:02.160 the Colts and the Carolina Panthers the last four or 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:06.160 five years have been desperately searching for an answer. And 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.200 everybody kind of knew the best way to get off 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.320 that we always to draft one. And when you end 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.640 up picking ninth in the draft, then you look around 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.159 and start doing the math and start looking at the 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.640 map ahead of you, and it's like, oh, no, Houston, 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.680 they're gonna want one. The Colts at four they're gonna 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:26.600 want one, The Raiders at seven they'll probably want one. 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.280 The Falcons, God only knows what they're doing at eight. 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.719 And there was an uncertainty, so you knew that sitting 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.799 at nine, you were either going to take the third 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.000 or fourth quarterback on the board, whoever that may turn 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.440 out to be, or not get one at all. And 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.400 that wasn't a place anybody had to be. So you 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.560 swallow hard, you make the move. And is that why 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.920 you mentioned the Texans because we had heard some things, Well, 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:55.000 they might look to trade up to three, they might 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.000 look to get up a couple of places, but you 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.760 think it just had to be number one. Well, I 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.680 mean that gives you the control over the process more 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:06.960 than anything else. And there have been some allusions to, oh, 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:09.039 maybe they would trade back. And I think if you 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.599 go through this process and if you find out that 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.839 Houston it has their heart set on X, then maybe 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:18.840 you bluff the Texans out of something. I don't know. 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.800 I mean, we'll see. And I think one of the 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:25.000 things that's interesting to me as a reporter, standing back 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:29.400 and knowing certain things and watching the ecosystem play itself out, 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.880 you hear reports in every single direction. I've read stuff 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.279 already today that all the Panthers secretly love filling the 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:39.800 blank or this, and we've pretty much covered the top 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.400 four over the last couple of months. We've now seen 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.680 reports that I have seen reports for all four of 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:47.800 the right that who you would say were the top 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.800 four quarterbacks? Absolutely, yeah, you've seen. Oh the Panthers love 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:52.920 Bryce Young, Oh they love c. J. Straut. Oh they 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.200 love Anthony Richardson. Really. Oh no, actually it's will love us. 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:01.320 And right now they're still The one thing, as I 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:06.480 take my momentary journalism soapbox dietribe, the one thing that 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.320 too many people are afraid to say out loud is 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:11.560 I don't know what they're doing yet. And there's a 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.440 reason that that's probably the best answer right now, because 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:16.640 I don't think they know what they want to do 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.600 right now. And that's why you know they're gonna go 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:21.600 out over the next couple of weeks and see all 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:23.840 these guys. They're gonna sit with them, They're gonna eat 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:28.200 dinner with them. They will probably come here for visits. 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.240 They get teams get to bring in thirty guys for 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.240 individual visits before the draft. I would anticipate all four 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.880 of those guys probably show up here for a meal 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.080 at some point. And so I think the next couple 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:40.920 of weeks are going to be big, because when they 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.480 get out on that pro day circuit, those things clomp up. 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:48.800 It's gonna be Ohio State on Wednesday, Alabama Thursday, Kentucky 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.520 on Friday, and then Florida the following Thursday, and your 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.960 hardworking Panthers dot Com staff will be there at all 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.440 of those sites to bring you the latest Thursday tuned. 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:04.600 I mean, I think they're absolutely still investigating and still 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:06.880 trying to figure out who they like and what they 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.080 want to do. And it's a great point. It's it's 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.440 hard to put that nuance into a tweet, let's say, 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.240 and I don't think that anyone on the face of it, 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.040 if you're a Panthers fan, without any context, you don't 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:21.200 want to hear Darren Gan say I don't think they 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.040 know what they're going to do yet. But it's a 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.520 great point. We have almost a month left to the draft, 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:30.800 So why would you not take every available opportunity when 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.800 you were in the driver's seat to make sure that 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.400 when you make that number one overall pick, you are 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:40.200 absolutely certain you use all of this time, you use 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:44.079 every resource available to make sure that you feel one 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.000 hundred percent confident in that person. Right, and even if 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.200 you might know set we don't know, we don't know, 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.720 but you might, you know, feel seventy five percent convicted 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.520 eighty five percent, ninety five percent convicted about a certain person. 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.199 Why do you have to know one hundred percent right 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.800 this second and you've got a month and you are 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.680 in the driver's seat. Yeah, And I think if you 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.520 look at it from a different perspective, Christen, this is 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.520 kind of an extension of the entire offseason. I mean, 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:14.600 what was the criticism of the process that led to 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:17.400 the previous head coach being here? It went too fast. 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:19.959 They fell for one guy in a hurry. When they 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.600 were looking for a guy to fill that role. They 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:27.360 interviewed nine guys as head coaching candidates. They picked one, 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:31.280 and then they were interviewing three, four or five, six, 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.800 seven guys for each of the jobs underneath him. I mean, 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.920 this was an exhaustive search. So I think what you 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:41.200 could say is they have learned the benefit of being thorough. 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.320 They have learned how to, you know, go through a 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:48.440 process in a more mature way to really investigate, to 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.880 really analyze this thing deeply, to make sure you're making 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.320 the right decision. And you know, I know people would 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.400 love to know who's going to be the first pick 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.200 in the draft on March fourteenth. We don't know to 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:02.480 pick it on March fourteen. We got six and a 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.079 half weeks or so before we get to that point, 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:09.280 So I think it's probably the smart play to exhaust 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.120 all your time, to exhaust all your resources, to go 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:15.560 through the process and make sure you know, because you 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:19.240 can't get this one wrong. You've got to be absolutely 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:21.440 You're going to hear the word conviction a lot over 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.120 the next six weeks, and you've got to make sure 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:26.680 you have that conviction about whoever it is, because it's 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:29.520 such a huge investments. And it's a great point too, 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:35.880 about the thoroughness in which David Tepper has been conducting 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:40.640 hiring of anyone. I'd say since Scott Fitterer. On Darren, 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.920 I remember you and I sat with him when he 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.480 talked us through the process of hiring Scott Fitterer, and 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.440 you just talked about the process of hiring Frank Reich 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.000 and his staff. And we've heard the jokes, you and 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:54.079 I have heard them of just how thorough those processes 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.040 have been. As you said, they made a joke. Dan 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.000 Morgan was probably ready to fall over at a certain 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.520 point when they were going through the head coaching search 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.400 because they conducted so many interviews. It is such a 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.320 thorough process. And Scott was what one of fourteen to 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:11.720 interview for the GM job. Yeah, and that's what Dave 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:13.720 told us that at that time. I remember him telling 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.320 you and I, Darren, we're going to go through all 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:19.320 of the processes that we need to go through, and 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.679 it's not going to be for lack of getting to 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.880 know people and for lack of vetting and making sure 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:29.000 that we know things. And yeah, so it does make sense. 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.800 It is in keeping with the ethos that he has 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:35.160 established with his more recent hires that we're going to 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.320 take all the time available yea, and they'll probably take 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:39.280 the full ten minutes on the clock on the first 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:40.880 night of the draft too. We're gonna take all the 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.240 time available to us to make sure that when that 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:46.040 pick comes there are no questions. And that's what you've 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.120 got to do. Because again, and Scott even laughed and 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.160 kind of admitted it when he was talking about this 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:54.360 at the combine before they made the move, because there 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:56.880 was so much conversation even then about what it would 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.640 take to be in position. And every time he's asked 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.640 about it, he says some version of you better be right, 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:07.280 because I mean, let's be honest, gms don't get many 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.960 chances to pick first overall. If you're ever in position 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:14.280 to do that more than one time, usually some things 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:18.040 have gone poorly. So yeah, I mean they just they 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.520 know the stakes of this thing. Yes, that was I 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.720 completely agree with you listening to Scott Fitterer talk at 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.720 the combine. As you said, they know the stakes. This 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:31.160 is a very bold move. And as he said, and 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:33.559 as Darren said, you'll hear a lot over the next month, 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.400 you have to have conviction about it. And so they 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.600 know that this is a big thing and you gotta 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.960 get it right. So with that being said, what are 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:45.840 they looking for? What do they need to have in 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.080 this quarterback? We've heard them talk a little bit about 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.199 the traits. What are you looking for with this person 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:55.760 who is going to be picked first overall? I mean, 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.199 he's got to be a leader first and foremost. I mean, 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.120 this guy's becoming the face of your friend Chase. Whether 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:02.760 you want to put that kind of pressure on him 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.560 or not, it's undeniable. That will happen. That's the thing 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.120 that comes with it. I mean, it happened to Cam Newton, 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.199 and it will happen to whether it's Bryce Young or C. J. 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:14.920 Strout or whoever it happens to be, that'll be the thing. 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.880 Fair unfair. He's going to walk into that situation. Now again, 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.520 does is it fair to a rookie to have that 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.040 put on him? Not necessarily, but that's the landscape. That's 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.240 why it's look, it's it's also what comes along with 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:29.400 being the first overall picking. I would think that any 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.400 of those guys that it might potentially be want that right. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.520 I mean, it's it's not an easy transition to go 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:37.800 from college to the NFL. But is it fair? Maybe not, 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.520 But it comes with the job, I think. And again, 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.839 I think when you look back over the last five years, 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.079 there was pressure on Teddy Bridgewater being the guy after 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.240 Cam Newton. There's pressure on anything. Then there's pressure on 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:51.880 Sam when you make a trade for Sam Darnold to 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:53.960 come in. And then there was pressure on Baker Mayfield 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.920 to revive his career, which didn't exactly work out. So 0:13:57.240 --> 0:13:59.560 there's pressure on all these guys. But I think what 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.840 they want first and foremost is to kind of modernize 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.880 the offense. And I think, you know, as I wrote 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:09.640 the other day on Panthers dot Com, the part of 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:13.240 the reason you make this move is, Okay, you didn't 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:17.880 hire Frank Reich and Jim Calwell and Josh McCown and 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:22.440 Thomas Brown and Sean Jefferson and du Staley to run 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:27.880 a pedestrian offense. Your goal was to modernize and catch 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.520 up to the NFL in terms of offense. When you 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.240 heard it a lot when they hired Frank, it was 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.800 the very first coach in franchise history to come from 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.440 an offensive background. And you know, when you back it 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:42.880 up with that degree of assistant coaching experience, and they're 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.920 over two hundred years of NFL experience on this coaching 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:49.480 staff right now, most of it clumped up on the 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.760 offensive side of the ball. And that's on purpose. And 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:57.640 they didn't hire old those guys to coach a seventh 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:00.480 round pick. You want to take a big sw all right, 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.040 here's the people you want to work with him. And 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:07.080 that's the thing. While that quarterback, whoever he may be, 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.840 and depending on what time you're looking at Twitter, you'll 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.120 be convinced at somebody else, whoever it is, that kid's 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.080 going to be backstopped by a great coaching staff. And 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.960 after yesterday's news, which we are allowed to talk about Yes, 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.480 he's going to have Bradley Boseman snapping in the ball 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.880 and that means an intact offensive line. I was downstairs 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.800 earlier today ran into Taylor Moten and it's like, you 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.480 got your guy back in. The band's back together. And 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.560 Taylor's been around here for a long time of not 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.120 knowing who's going to be next to you sometimes from 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:40.480 game to game, from game to game or play to play, 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.840 and so he was kind of laughing about it. He said, 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.400 it's just an opportunity to grow. It's a chance to 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.840 build on something that was already pretty good and to 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.200 become more cohesive and to stay together for a little 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.960 bit and really be something to build upon. Speaking of 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:59.720 building to James, Campin also did a great job with 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:03.600 the line last year. Was retained by Frank Reich on 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.200 his staff. And you're right, I mean that quarterback is 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.880 coming in, at least in terms of the offensive line, 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:14.520 in a very good position. Which, again, if you're the 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.240 number one overall pick, as you said, sometimes you don't 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:20.040 come into that if you're a quarterback with a great 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:22.280 offensive line, because a lot of a lot of the times, 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.560 as you said, you're you're going to the team that 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.160 was worse last year. So and we are going to 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.720 exhaust and a lot of Cam Newton comparisons because Cam 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.760 be in the first pick in eleven. Cam went through it. 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:39.000 I mean after Jordan Grosser retired, Cam never had the 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.960 same left tackle going from one year into the next. 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:45.040 Cam always had a revolving door. I mean, he had 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.600 good lines on the interior. They were usually stronger at 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.920 guard and center than they were outside. But Cam was 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.920 able to make stuff work without the benefit of having 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:59.120 anything resembling this five. And you know, I think that's 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.080 going to be a benefit, whether it's to Bryce, whether 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.800 it's CJ or Will or Anthony or whoever it happens 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.000 to be. They walk into a little more comfortable play. 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.119 Let's talk about some of the positions that we that 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.840 are not as as sure as the offensive line and 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.800 where things stand. Again, this is Tuesday afternoon, so by 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.359 the time you listen to this, things could have changed. 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.680 But just as things stand right now, Darren with DJ 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:27.840 Moore no longer with the Panthers, that leaves some questions 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.119 at receivers. Yeah, that's a thing and they could really 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.200 use and I think it even goes beyond wide receiver. 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.639 You've got a lump tied end in with this, and 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:38.760 Augusta did a good job the other day kind of 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:42.640 summing up what's available in the market, and I think 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:44.960 you've got to turn over every rock. You've got to 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:47.520 talk to all the free agents. They are not a 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.520 ton of free agents at wide receivers, so I think 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:54.360 you're going to be looking for guys who you may 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.000 have to trade for, guys who may get cut in 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:59.640 the coming days. I mean, there are certain positions, there's 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.640 certain teams. Usually if somebody signs with a team big 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:07.520 free agent contract, somebody ends up leaving who might be 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.240 on a big salary. And I think they're probably looking 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:12.520 at around at a few of those situations right now. 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:16.440 So I think you're curious about how they're going to 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:18.760 fill those jobs. But they've said flat out. I mean 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.399 even before they traded DJ, they were talking about adding 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:26.440 to the receiver position. Now obviously it's it's hugely important. 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.720 I mean, you need a for Terrace Marshall Junior to 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.920 become something greater than he has been, and you've got 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:34.639 to go find help. I mean, they're going to be 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.440 multiple new faces at that position. But I think tight 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.360 end is as important as a wide receiver because if 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.679 you had that kind of safety blanket target for a 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:49.919 rookie quarterback, that works out again Cam Newton reference alert 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:52.760 first thing they did for Cam Newton when he comes 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.080 here as a first pick in eleven, trade for some 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.640 guy named Greg Olsen and then back him up with 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.040 Jeremy Shockey. I would say, though it feels like from 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.640 that time to now you're talking about not a lot 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.879 wide receivers being available. There's there's a certain number of 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.119 pass catching tight ends, right, and they're not easy to 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.359 come by, you know, ones that are putting up certainly 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:17.400 not that are putting up numbers like Greg Olson, right. 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.120 Greg Olson's are rare for a reason. I mean, Greg 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.159 was great at what he does. But and I'm not 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.760 saying they're going to be able to find a Greg 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:28.119 Olsen caliber, but they just have to have more production 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:29.920 out of that position. I mean, they've got a bunch 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.480 of guys who are good blockers. They've got people who 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.720 are developing and may turn into something somewhere down the road. 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.200 But for the most part, these are guys who haven't 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.680 been big factors in the passing game. And Bryce or CJ. 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:44.680 Or Anthony or will you know, we'll just say those 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.320 four names as a as a conglomerate for the next 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.560 six weeks, that guy's going to need one of those 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:52.760 guys or a little bit more from that position. So 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:54.680 I think it's kind of a two pronged approach to 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:57.720 fix in this thing. And then let's talk a little 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:01.440 bit about what else the Panthers have, according to reports, 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.920 been doing in free agency, some of the early news 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:07.600 that has come out and where things stand, and it's 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.359 kind of a ah by the way, you know, the 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:13.840 team has reportedly allegedly traded for the first pick in 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:17.399 the draft. They're also turning over an entire defense, I 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:19.560 mean going from a four to three base. You talk 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:23.840 about always having defensive coordinators and defensive coaches in charge 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.040 of the place, it's always been a four to three 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.280 for the most part since the early years. Before we 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:30.320 go into what that Personnella is starting to look like. 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:32.560 Can because we haven't talked about this on the podcast, 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:35.159 we talked with a Vero a little bit about it 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:37.160 or I have, I know you have as well, and 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.080 what he has said is, yes, we are going to 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:43.760 a three four, but that's the base package we're very multiple. 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.280 So as as far as what we're seeing now in 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:51.439 free agency and really just the philosophy, how much is 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:57.879 this changing everything? I think it's it's reasonably, it's sort 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:00.600 of substantial. I think Derek Brown's going to be doing 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.080