Brian Answers: Your pre-training camp Panthers mailbag!

Welcome to Brian Answers, the second part of your weekly Panthers mailbag for everyone! To recap, every week we’ll post an article asking for fan questions, Panthers related, football related, or otherwise. You all comment with your questions, and we bring the answers. This week’s posed topic was training camp related inquiries. Let’s dive in!

@mealeylaffsFormerlyNunya: Last year Bryce got limited playing time during preseason games. I don’t think that was the reason we sucked. But what is your expectation and/or recomendation for how many drives/quarters...Bryce should get to prepare him for the actual season?

Jeff Maxwell had a great in depth answer to this question, but here’s my off the cuff answer to it as well; 7 drives. The problem with the modern NFL preseason is practices are already a lot more limited than they were in the early 2000s, so those game reps can matter. However, you always run the risk of getting a starter unnecessarily hurt, especially since most of the time the coaching staff is running a watered down, vanilla playbook. I think 7 drives between the 3 games, whether they are split between all 3 or condensed into 1 or 2, is a decent expectation. I think the joint practices matter the most since there’s a lot more reps to those, however.

Highmiles: I’m sure the coaches have an idea of who has bought into the new system. Is there a way to tell how they treat those who haven’t? I’m just curious if they will try to let them come around, or try anything different in how they practice? Or do they just dump them at first opportunity?

I don’t know if there’s really anybody on the offense who is in any sort of position not to “buy in” to the new system, aside from maybe Diontae Johnson. And he sure seems to be having a good off-season so far. I think the biggest indicator you can maybe analyze is how much the coaches praise a player when talking to the media. The most notable omission thus far for open praise is 2023 2nd round pick Jonathan Mingo, at least as far as guys who could have a much bigger role given they show a nice step forward during the offseason. But I don’t know if we can really read into much until we start seeing game day inactives during the regular season.

Bruce Guild: Since training camp is not at Wofford will the team stay at a near by hotel and away from family distractions or will they be staying at own residence?

I tried to find information on this briefly during the week and came up with nil. I would say I think it does make sense for the players to stay onsite in some capacity just from the standpoint of tradition in football. But these guys are pros, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they aren’t shacking up at camp.

panthersfan2018: Do you know what kind of System the team plans to run on Offense? I am asking because Spread offense does not seem to work for the team. Steve Wilks went back to the old style “Pound the Rock” style offense and it actually worked. Is the current coach plan on doing that?

Another great answer by Mr. Maxwell you can check out here. Canales is basically telegraphing that the run game will be the focus, and that seems like a good plan for the offensive line in front of Bryce Young. Young’s skill-set is also uniquely tailored to an offense that runs play action and run-pass options frequently. Canales’ one season as an offensive coordinator emphasized timing when it came to passing routes, and with Young’s anticipation skills, that seems like a great thing to focus on. So yeah, I expect a lot of ground and pound. Until the team is facing multi-score deficits, that is!

KSUDD: Aiyuk requested a trade officially. I don’t think the Panthers should (or could) trade for him, but it’s an interesting situation regardless given how late it is in the offseason. Who actually has the resources to make the trade and where do you see him ending up? Do any teams that can make the trade actually make sense as a fit? My best guess is Washington since they just drafted Aiyuk’s old QB in Daniels and he’s been posting on social media about them. Do you think the 49ers will want players back given how competitive they are, or will they need to take picks they might flip later?

Wide receivers request trades all the time! But for the 49ers, I don’t see them giving him up unless they get something in return (like you said, players) that’ll help them this season, or a first round pick and possibly more. Washington makes a lot of sense, the Bills could make sense if the 49ers think their first rounder next year won’t be at the very back end of the draft. A team like the Patriots has the resources AND the cap space to sign him. My money would be on them, but I don’t know if they’d offer their first since in all likelihood that will be a high first round pick next season. As far as player trades go, tough call, because I think the teams that could offer the players are in better contention to make the playoffs, such as the Ravens. The Chargers would be a good spot as well since they just lost their two best wide receivers in the offseason, if their cap situation can work.

And as far as the Panthers go, I wouldn’t make that trade unless they magically are still in playoff contention as we near the trade deadline. They need the draft picks and they have 3 guys on roster taken with higher picks that they need to see through at this point.

egon petri: This year, given our depth issues, lack of cap space, and being first on the waiver wire, I’d like to know what other teams’ pre-season should we watch for potential pick ups. Is there anyone out there with an overstock of young CBs or edge rushers that we might want to look at?

The Eagles seem to always have a war chest of defensive line talent, but honestly I’d just keep an eye on what players stand out in preseason highlights, much like CB D’Shawn Jamison last year. I don’t know if there is any one team that has players we can analyze right this second, but keeping up with the preseason/training camp chatter by the media is the best place to go dream of finding the next diamond in the rough starter.

Good_Ol_Boy: Is the point of International games just to sell more merch in foreign countries, or will there actually be an expansion city outside of the US at some point in the distant future?

I think its more about expanding the brand and the sport across the globe. The NFL has created its own international program (remember Efe Obada?) to start a pipeline of NFL athletes into the NFL from outside of the country and college system. Still, there’s plenty of money to be made getting more eyes on the product who might not otherwise watch it. I’m sure an expansion team would be on the table in the future, just not the near future. They’d need to be able to properly gauge consistent fan interest from a country that has never had an NFL team, which is a little unprecedented. Sure, countries have their own American football programs, but not remotely close to the scale of an NFL franchise.

bolshy: Before we knew him as Walker, he was simply Terrible Metaphor Guy and he would throw out some randomly bizarre metaphors for the state of the team. What is the likelihood that Terrible Metaphor Guy rises to the occasion to provide a splendidly irreverent metaphor in article form for the current state of the team?

It is a new era upon us here at CSR ;P

rtb2850: Who is going to be this preseason’s “surprise” waiver/release at the final 53 roster cutdown?

The spicy take in me says OL Brady Christensen, though at the moment he still seems to be valuable depth. Second spicy take is DJ Johnson, even though Dan Morgan and Ejiro Evero did have some kind of hand in drafting him last season.

Realistic take, CB Dicaprio Bootle or safety Alex Cook, who had a ton of meaningful snaps last season. The secondary battle for the depth spots is going to be quite the thing to watch.

Marsha Jackalone: Do you see a Siefert to Fox or a Fox to Rivera type of improvement from the team or do you see a Wilks to Reich regression?

I’d go with Fox to Rivera on this one. The 2011 Panthers were fun to watch on offense but as a whole the team just wasn’t good and very much got let down by their defense. I could see a similar situation here in 2024, and I would be very happy if that’s what we get.

Mozzie11: I see that we have the 3rd least amount of cap space available heading into training camp. It seems that our yearly MO is to have a roster that is full of holes and lacking depth while having no cap space. What are the odds that we have a year where we run out of cap space due to having a good/excellent roster? Is it greater than 0%?

Right now per Overthecap, the Panthers have approximately 16 million in cap space in 2025, however they also have 141 million in 2026. Translation? That 2026 money is likely being spent in 2025 unless Bryce Young craters hard and the team hits reset again in 2025. That said, the chances are always there for them to be really good heading into 2026 or 2027 and having very little cap left. But, I don’t foresee it anytime soon.

dayneb12: Which UDFAs have the best chances of making the 53-man roster? I’ve heard Coker and Mevis as players to watch, but are there any other UDFAs that may be flying under the radar?

Harrison Mevis is the easy answer with the hang-ups with kicker right now. The rest I’m basically picking out of a hat until training camp starts, but LB Jackson Mitchell, CB Willie Drew, and DE Kenny Dison based purely on how little depth the Panthers have at those positions.

kimbersdad: Picking only 1 player, who on the current roster would you put on the Panthers Super Bowl teams (SB 38 & 50) to help them win the Super Bowl.

My answer to the question: For SB 38 Id take a Healthy Horn. Brady carved up the secondary in the last half. For SB 50, Id probably take some extra oline help (probably Icky or Moton both would be upgrades) as that was the obvious reason the Panthers lost. Maybe receiver help.

SB 30: CB Jaycee Horn is pretty obvious. You could make an argument for Derrick Brown too because, bah gawd, that defensive line would be insane.

SB 50: OT Taylor Moton to replace Mike Remmers would have been huge, though that field would make it difficult for most offensive tackles to block Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware. I’d also say Diontae Johnson even though we haven’t seen him play for the Panthers yet. They could have really used an elite separator against the Broncos, especially after Philly Brown got knocked out. Still mad about that.

Sportsdonnie: Will Canales bench Bryce if he repeats last year’s inability to score TD’s?

The insistence of keeping him on the field regardless of the results was frustrating to watch for a whole season. I’m hoping he gets a much shorter leash with a new regime that did not give up the farm for an undersized QB.

I think unless Bryce is actually WORSE than 2023 Bryce, he’s not getting benched unless he is clearly a danger to himself out there or in danger of being severely hurt. The clear direction here is to get an objective look at Bryce Young for the future.

facepalmjedi: 1. Is Tepper truly removed from football operational decisions or does he still influence the roster, start/sit decisions, staff, etc.?

2. How long of a leash does Caneles have? Is he going to coach in a way that makes sense for the long term or is he going to be worried about his job after the first couple losses?

3. If Bryce shows no meaningful improvement will he still start the rest of the season (I guess that’s tanking?) Or will at see Dalton get some starts?

1. I know the media came after Tepper all offseason, but I genuinely haven’t seen much since the end of 2023 to make me think he’s meddling much if at all in actual decision making. I think he has his opinions but there really weren’t any big decisions this offseason that made me think he had any say in them or pushing them through.
2. Canales' should have at least 3 years. I don’t think you hire a guy as young as Canales and expect him to hit the ground running. I think Rhule would have had more time if it didn’t become very obvious he was in way over his head as they got to season 3.
3. If Bryce shows no meaningful improvement, that means he’s regressed, which would lead me to think that if 4 games are left and he’s still not improving in a meaningful way, he does get benched. There just isn’t a part of me that thinks he won’t show some kind of marked improvement just based on the conviction the Panthers had in improving his offensive situation.

That’s all for this week, Panthers fans! Join us next week for another mailbag round up of questions!