Come see all the answers to YOUR fan questions from this week.
Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! We got a lot of diversity in the questions this week, which I think will keep us going throughout the off-season. Just as a recap, this mailbag is intended for you to get all your burning questions off your chest every week, whether they be Panthers related, football related, or even completely off topic! Join us next week with your answers in the comments of “Brian Asks” early on in the week.
Let’s dive right in!
@WTMealey: question 1
can we still come with meaningful questions every week until training camp?
My lame attempt to come up with a question I actually care about the answer
If Derrick Brown had not gotten hurt where do you think the Panthers Defense finishes?
Is there a game/play you can point to and say if we had DB that doesn’t happen and we would have had one more win
- I think we can! The mailbag has maintained momentum every week since we started it last year. This is part of why I encourage off-topic questions however, because the football Offseason hits a sluggish pace in the early summer months.
- I think the Panthers might have gotten a win over the Chiefs in week 12 or the Bucs in week 13 had Derrick Brown been in the picture. I still think their defense would have been bottom of the barrel in most categories, but DB would have probably elevated the front seven a bit just with his presence. But I think not having him around showed everyone this defense needed an injection of talent along the front seven, with or without him.
Good_Ol_Boy: Summer is coming:
What’s the hottest (temperature wise) place you’ve ever been? How hot was it?
I was in high school in Kentucky in 2007, part of the football team. I can’t remember an exact date, but that was one of the hottest summers in that state’s history. Those double sessions and practices under the sun were the absolute worst I can remember. Louisville set 12 record warm temperatures in August.
Bruce Guild: List your all time top 5 favorite Panther QB’s in order:
#1 Jake
#2 Cam
#3 Beuerlein
#4 Derek Anderson
#5 Kerry Collins
I’ll give some answers along with explanations;
- Cam Newton-Cam became a Panthers a year or so before I joined CSR as a member of the community and as a member of the writing staff. So for me, Cam’s journey in the NFL will always hold a special place in my heart simply because I saw just how good this guy was, and was out there expressing my opinion of him early in his career when the Skip Baylesses of the world were saying they’d rather have Tim Tebow as a quarterback. There was a kind of personal connection to his success as someone who felt he was special.
- Jake Delhomme-easy one here. Jake embodied Keep Pounding.
- Vinny Testaverde-that was a weird time, but a fun time!
- Matt Moore-watching him defeat Brett Favre’s Vikings in prime time is one of my favorite memories.
- Brian St. Pierre-dude almost delivered a win for the 2010 Panthers in his first start of his career. Always a fun little story. It was also the last game of his career.
Vashti2112: Okay, aside from obvious candidates like “Was Bryce’s growth last year real” or “Is T-Mac the answer” or “Will Derek Brown still be awesome”…..who are two players you feel could make a pivotal move this year?
I think Tre’von Moehrig might actually bring that “Dawg” mentality Dan Morgan has been looking for to this secondary. Both Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson are intense competitors, I think adding Moehrig as an enforcer who is going to lay some hits from his safety spot could absolutely be a tone setter for a defense that is clearly going to be committed to stopping the run. Every good run stopping defense needs one of those guys.
On offense, I think Xavier Legette will step back into the role he was having some success at now that the Panthers have filled that number one role in Tetairoa McMillan and he’ll have Adam Thielen to help take some pressure off, where in 2024 there were times XL was the go-to guy just out of necessity. Having less pressure on him should help with the drops, which were very uncharacteristic from him in college. He’s definitely not the best hand catching wide receiver out there, but I think fans might be pleasantly surprised by his role in the offense. He won’t need to beat the breaks off of opposing top corners as much as use his athleticism to make some plays. I could definitely be wrong about this, but I think the situation is much better for him to succeed now.
dayneB12: Who are some players that could be surprise cuts when it comes time to trim the roster down to 53?
I think there’s a very strong chance David Moore makes the 53 man roster which means somebody’s favorite 5th or 6th wide receiver isn’t going to make the cut. Hunter Renfrow, Jimmy Horn Jr, one of the other UDFAs, what they all don’t have over Moore (yet) is his rapport with Bryce Young from 2024, and his familiarity with Dave Canales’s scheme going back to 2023.
I could also see them releasing EDGE Amare Barno or EDGE DJ Johnson (that one would probably be less of a surprise to fans). They added a lot of talent to that room and should have DJ Wonnum fully healthy this time around to start the season.
right_turn_clyde: how many times will we see this in 25?
Hopefully more rushing touchdowns and less rushing attempts. I like Bryce Young’s willingness to take off and make a decision quick, but let’s not make it a regular thing. Thanks Dave!
ALLSTATSANDNOPLAY: What is the best movie you’ve ever seen that you hated the ending of?
Mine is either Million Dollar Baby or Chinatown.
Edit. Just thought of another one. Gone Baby Gone
Someone else said it in the comments, but The Village is definitely up on my list. I’d also go with Interstellar. I love that movie so much but the ending just didn’t do it AT ALL for me.
CluckNRoar: Has Scourton signed yet? Is he the only unsigned rookie?
He has not signed yet, and you can thank the Houston Texans for that. After signing WR Jayden Higgins to a fully guaranteed contract as a 2nd round pick, we’ll probably see future second rounders pushing for more guaranteed money because they’ve set a precedent now. I don’t hate it at all for the players, get the money when you can, but that’s the reason most likely why Nic Scourton is still unsigned. He’s the last Panthers draft pick left to sign, but he’s one of a handful of other 2025 2nd round picks who have also yet to sign. His fellow Texas A&M teammate and first round pick Shemar Stewart is also unsigned as of this writing.
Snarky_Comet: Is there a chance we pick Shaq back up, possibly on a cheap vet contract? Or has that ship sailed?
I absolutely think signing Shaq Thompson is still on the table. He definitely has an injury history, so I’m sure whatever contract he signs isn’t going to be anything huge, but he’d be a fine addition from a pure leadership standpoint. I think Carolina will sit on that idea for a bit though while they gauge what they have in the current group, and see what their overall health looks like going into the preseason.
sportswatcher: Two lists of who were the Panthers five worst mishandled players? One list of who improved significantly once they were released, traded, etc (left the team), and one list of who should not have been added to the team in the first place.
I’m going to add this one to my growing list of “separate article ideas”. Stay tuned in the off-season, but feel free to sound off below with YOUR takes on this one!
LouWillVille: Since it’s the boring part of the offseason this seems like an appropriate time as any to ask. As someone who recently moved to the city and adopted the Panthers as their team, can you give a summary of how the Panthers got to their current state? I never followed them closely but I loved some of the old players. Steve Smith, Kuechly, Cam, Norman, Olsen, the duo of DeAngelo and Stewart etc. They had the super bowl run and then it seems like they dropped to the bottom of the league very quickly and have stayed there. Has it just been the inability to find a QB? Poor drafting? Ownership? Tepper doesn’t seem popular. Fill me in please.
The Panthers are mainly in their current state due to poor decisions following the 2015 Super Bowl season. Letting Josh Norman go turned CB into a major need that they decided to try and address with mid round draft picks. They got very lucky in 2015 with the health of their offensive line and the performance by Michael Oher as their left tackle, which all went the other direction when he got knocked out for the 2016 season and subsequently his career ending after that. In the following years, they never really made offensive line or weapons around Cam Newton a priority. As their top tier players started aging out and their drafting and free agency decisions were head scratchers at times, what was a strong core unit in 2015 looked very different come 2019. In 2020, they moved on from Cam Newton, and the staffs proceeded to try and band-aid the QB position with journeymen QBs, which could have worked had they stuck with the plan for more than one season at a time. Poor drafting and coaching maneuvers also followed all the way up until the 2024 Offseason. The Panthers very much have seemed to right the ship as far as their decision making, and they’ve been very intentional about their plans in each of the last two offseasons from a personnel and drafting standpoint. It also helps that David Tepper is now seemingly letting the football guys do football things.
That’s all for this week, Panthers fans. Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend, be safe, be healthy, and KEEP POUNDING!