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I asked the sub a few questions yesterday about how much responsibility Young has to adjust protections and adapt to defenses presnap. I mentioned the importance of developing great communication with Idzik. Didn’t get much participation and the only analyses I could find online said he and Canales were too sluggish getting the plays figured out which prevented him from making presnap reads last year.

I found it fortuitous to see the above article today.

It illustrates an attention to better communication, relationships, and aggression. This will allow Young to really setup the o-line for success given what he sees at the line and what the offensive philosophy is in each situation.

Young says Idzik has been aggressive, that he likes that element. So if the communication and efficiency are improved, young will be able to make presnap adjustments and hopefully show that mental edge the FO saw in college.

A reminder of last years struggles that carried beyond week 1:

“Canales, who is the primary play caller, spoke at times last season about getting the play call in quicker to his quarterback. After evaluating Sunday's game, the coach attributed the disconnect to a combination of not sending in the call quickly enough and Bryce Young not exiting the huddle promptly.

The result was the Panthers running a play on average every 26.68 seconds against the Jaguars, save the kneel-down drive at the end of the first half. That includes three drives when the Panthers went two-minute, no-huddle. Excluding those three drives, Carolina averaged a play every 32.6 seconds. For comparison, the Jaguars averaged a play every 27 seconds.”

https://www.panthers.com/news/monday-brew-canales-landed-disappointed-and-encouraged-after-tape-review

I like the vision, like the awareness we’re seeing from these two. They know what needs improvement and they’re targeting it.

Saw this online (panthers on tap podcast if someone can tag them) and wanted to get everyone’s thoughts / predictions.

I’m so tired of the pointless slander and counting us out just because we’re Carolina. We beat multiple 1 seeds, win the division, and were the only team to truly push the Rams in a close game outside of Seattle, just for us to be listed as last in the division and with the Falcons making the playoffs. We had arguably the best offseason in the division, we have the best coaching in the division, and arguably the best QB in division while the Falcons can barely field a competent starter. This either has to be insane bait or complete hate by Nick

“My mom’s the one that likes to put the awards up in the house. I don’t really like having stuff of mine around the house, like pictures and stuff like that. I don’t know, just me I guess,” McMillan said. “No, all the awards is cool. I feel like I’ve been fortunate enough to win a lot of awards in my lifetime. So what’s another one, I guess.”

McMillan put together one of the most successful seasons in franchise history after the Panthers drafted him eighth overall in 2025. He caught 70 passes for 1,014 yards to break Kelvin Benjamin’s team rookie receiving yardage record (1,008), and became the first Panthers player to win Offensive Rookie of the Year since Cam Newton in 2011.

AJ Dillon, the recently acquired running back, watched McMillan’s season from afar as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. He arrived in Charlotte curious if he might find a receiver who was trending toward diva status, which is almost a rite of passage at the position.

“You would think a young guy, a lot of praise — the guy goes out there every day and goes all in, and looks amazing doing it,” Dillon said.

McMillan also looks bigger than he did a year ago, particularly in his lower body. He played every game as a rookie, but lost weight as the season wore on. McMillan added 17 pounds of muscle on his 6-foot-4 frame to get to 220, which Panthers coach Dave Canales believes will help him defeat press coverage and win battles downfield.

Am I late to the party on this? Cool thing to learn! I’ll let you guys be surprised when you see it.

Dang. Really rooting for him to succeed but I can’t imagine how tough it is for him

Like everybody apparently is meant to.

Because I tend to dislike individual players, rather than franchises as a whole. Few things bring more joy to my heart than when a camera pans to Baker Mayfield looking like he's about to burst into tears after a Bucs loss. But I don't think I 'hate' any of our divisional rivals in general, and the Falcons I actually quite like; if they won the division this year - I'd be rooting for them in the playoffs.

I also think that having stronger opponents makes teams better. Both of the last two SB winners, and three of the last five, have beaten teams from their own division in the NFC Championship game. If we want to be serious about winning a Super Bowl (at some undefined point in the future), then surely we want the NFC South to be strong all-round, I'd have thought...

[The clip I've attached here is just something I thought was quite classy from the Saints. They'd massacred us in Week 1 of the '24 season, and obviously it played a large part in BY getting benched. But then his first win after coming back was against them. And he immediately gets swarmed by Saints players and coaches coming to congratulate him.]

I’ve looked for this crewneck in my size for YEARS and never been able to find it, in a last ditch effort I am posting here hoping to be able to buy one!

If Bryce Young does not work out in Carolina this season, do the Panthers trade for a quarterback or just draft their guy for the future?

I’ll start… Plus I need to add more to my collection

I finally got my first piece of official Panthers merch! Tt’s very hard to find, or get, Panthers stuff where I’m from in Mexico. Usually it’s Chiefs, Patriots, 49ers, Steelers and Cowboys merch that you find in the official NFL shops, and these are mainly in the bigger cities, not in the small towns or cities where I live. I really hope McMillan becomes a legendary player for us. Overall, it's a 10/10 in comfiness, build and quality.