August 6, 2025 • 46 mins
In the second hour of the show, the guys look at the defense for East Carolina this year, tell you what they make of T-Mac receiving a lot of targets at today's joint practice and discuss Dave Canales saying the Panthers starter will play on Friday.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the West and Walker Show, Michael Peanuts that
was It's definitely.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's a couple of It's West coming on. You dry,
you're bahooney and you dry like what is he drying?
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Okay, Wow, I'm gonna start using that for sure. And Walker,
I can think of Joey Batts and Roughnet Odor. We
know the punches were thrown there.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What did I say?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
You will say that first name again, but Roughnet is
not his name, room Ned Odor?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Are you sure?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
But you also said Willie Stargle only on Sports Radio
ninety two point seven f.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
M w f n Z Willie Stargle.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
What o'clock hour on Wes and Walker the West Listen
Walker Show, Sports Radio ninety two seven WFNZ, No West
this week. He'll be back with us on Monday and
should be all ready to go for the upcoming football season.
It's been Floundy not only putting his producer hat on,
but also been putting his co host hat on. Holmes
back here, yeah, and if we got the pipe and everything,
(01:19):
and you are the smoking pipe, if you will just
so I don't see any of these dirty texts on
the text line. I gotta make sure that I'm correcting
that for the people and or you were going to
play that sound by just wanted to provide some clarity.
We're broadcasting from the Channel Vault to studio CV Injury
Law dot Com. CV Injury Law dot Com one call.
That's all the Carolina's personal injury lawyers, before we get
(01:41):
to Campus Corner and before we get to the defensive
ECU breakdown on Team Week. I did want to say
here we were talking about Fitty's outfit. He did walk
into the studio just I don't know, probably about twenty
minutes ago something like that, and he was mad at
us for talking about him the way that we were heard. Yeah,
the thing is I didn't say that he looked bad.
(02:02):
I was trying to clarify that to Kingdom and Militia.
I was trying to say that to Fitty as well.
But what I was just trying to say is he
does look like he's from the country, but he looks
like almost sexy country. He looks good. He can pull
it off sexy country. I think sexy sexy country Fitty,
And that was a real thing. He was questioning his
(02:22):
boot choice because it didn't match his shirt, but it's
they're brown boots. He's got a black hoodie.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I don't I don't understand. It's fine.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, he's trying to act like he has to match
to a tee if he's going to a wedding or
putting on a suit. No, I mean you, you should
always have your belt match your shoes. That's true. But
if you're talking about just working boots and you put
on a black hoodie, that's totally fine. Everybody does that.
He needs to stop tripping. He looks good. He just
looks like he's from Kataba County.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
I don't really understand why he's getting so frustrated. He
then took a shot of me for wearing high socks.
I have always been a high socks guy. You have
been a high socks guy.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I am.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I like it.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
I like the look. I don't know why. It also
protects my legs. So like today, if it was raining
out there, some people would say, why would you just
not wear pants?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I don't feel like wearing pants. How often do you
wear pants? That's a great question. Do you wear pants
in the Winner?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Okay, yeah, I'll wear him in The Winner, but uh,
the sweatpants guy. But the other thing is like we're
indoors most of the time, so I like being comfortable.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Man panther Bo says, we need a segment for Floundy
where he can't angry Ran. Do you think that's a capability?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Just don't bring up Nick Scott.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Smoke also writes in fandle TeX's line, I hope I
never meet a person that hates me as much as
Flounder hates next Scott.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I don't hate Nick Scott. I don't think nck Scott's
a good football player. And I don't understand I said
this during the break. You're telling me that you didn't
sign somebody in the off season at safety, had Julian
Blackman that was out there, some guys that you could
have gone out and got. You didn't sign somebody so
you could start Nick Scott.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Or demi Nick Scott, Who come on, you're trying to
get your log Greco going on a little bit.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I'm just saying I don't I don't think he's a
good football player.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So yeah, what's funny is at the beginning of that,
like tiny little mini rant, you were about to say,
I don't hate Nick Scott, and then at the end
it sounded a lot like you hate Nick Scott.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I just don't like you.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
He seems like a lovely fella, but as a football player,
he has not shown me what he needs to show me. Now,
maybe he's shown other people, but he hasn't shown me.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All right, So just to say flounders voice, it seems
like it's giving out a little bit. Will go with
a team week defense breakdown twenty twenty five. ECU Floundy,
let's hit it.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It's the sound you waited much to hear.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It's caused some of your greatest tryout I'm player.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
It's with a bitter team today and they win at
twenty seven to twenty two.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Damn your biggest heartbreak. Miss Johnson bounces offul one.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
He's doll up Johnson to the outside as a chance
foot plays goodbye.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
It's the option at Georgia Tech. It's Howard's Rock, the
smoke in Miami, and every Saturday you tap that sign
college football is here.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So you know all right.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Taking a look at ECU's defense this upcoming season, new
coordinator Josh Aldridge is in charge now. He's a former
Auburn assistant and liberty defensive coordinator. He is bat calling
plays for the Pirates where he'll work under another defensive
guy and Blake Harrell, who's now the head coach. We
don't know exactly at this time how the scheme is
going to look according to a couple people putting out
(05:42):
some previews of ECU football, but it does look to
be pretty similar base four two five. You got your
Nickel the Star. I love the college nicknames for the
positions out there. You don't really see that a lot
in the NFL. But looking at Nickel or the Star,
an outside linebacker in the front four for this two
four two five alignment, And if you look at what
happened last year, the defense wasn't great. I know, it
(06:04):
looks like the offense is going to be better than
the defense this season for the Pirates, but they were
very good in the red zone. They came up with
a ton of tackles for loss, and they allowed thirty
one points or fewer the offense. They did the rest
when they did allow thirty one or fewer, which is
a low bar, but still that's pretty good. If you're
just going to have your offense score more than thirty one,
(06:24):
that leads to wins. Flounder. I can do math every
once in a while. So the big position groups to
look at and evaluate what's going out of the portal
and what's coming in through the portal. Top linebackers, they're gone,
Mike Edwards gone from MECU Barker. I don't know how
he pronounced his last name, but Barker is leaving for SMU.
Damien Wilson, a former Missouri transfer. Shout out to Willie
(06:47):
p He will be in the middle at that linebacking corp.
And then Kevan Merrill. He's a safety sized outside defender
who can move. Raheem Craig is back at his starting
spot as a hybrid edge. So we'll take a look
at the secondary, which I think there's some interesting things
to discuss with the secondary for this squad. But you
take a look at this defense, how are you feeling
(07:08):
about them heading into this year?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Yeah, I mean there is a lot to replace. They
only have two starters coming back. You mentioned Raheem Craig,
you got jamar Lee Riddell who is also coming back
after a really strong year as a freshman. But the
thing is is that, I mean, yeah, they're gonna have
to replace a lot of guys. Gavin Gibson, their starting
corner left in the portal. They're starting nickelback left for Carolina.
(07:30):
Same thing with their big man in the middle, CJ.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Mims. I know he's at Carolina as well.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
So they've had a lot of guys that graduated and
they have a lot of guys that have left in
the portal. So now they've got to find guys that
can step up now. I do think there are some
guys on this roster. I really like Raheem Craig, former
Louisville player that now is back in his home state.
I think he's a guy that could have a big
season for sure. And you know, the secondary I still
(07:56):
think is a good shake. Teague in wilk is going
to start at safety alongside of Radell, and I think
both of those guys form a pretty good safety tandem.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
We'll just have to see, though.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
I think this group's going to be tested early on
in the season, especially in that game against NC State.
That's what kind of has me worried about them going
into that season opener is I just don't know with
all the new faces there, how they're going to be
able to hold up defensively, Because you look at the
end of last year, even with all the guys that
they still had on that roster at the time. In
(08:26):
the five wins, they allowed thirty four points, fourteen points,
thirty one points, twenty eight, thirty four and twenty one.
So they still it was a decent defense. They really
relied on takeaways and on tackles for loss. Are they
going to be able to rely on those same things
again this year? I'm just not sure.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Well, the big story about their defense right now, it's
not a good one. But in I think July twenty second,
but somewhere in the July twenties, Greenville police werecalled to
a house on Locus Drive over there in Greenville, and
it's about a mile off Camp and they were called
because a report of gunshots being heard. And yep, it
was a few ECU players responsible for said gunshots.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
J D.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Lampley, Preston Carr, brock Spalding all allegedly not even allegedly,
they all were I guess they all admitted to shooting outside,
and brock Spaulding, when the police were called, actually allegedly
refused to come out initially, but said the situation was
soon resolved. And so we don't know what's going to
happen with all of those players, but J. D. Lampley
(09:30):
and Preston Carr, they're both defensive players. And Lampley and Spalding,
by the way, rock Spalding was a wide receiver. They
were both named preseason All American Athletic Conference players by
Phil Steele magazine. So Lampley being a pretty big story
heading into this year. But I don't know if it's
going to be one of those things where they suspend
(09:52):
them for a game that doesn't necessarily matter and then
they bring them back.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Where it could be Campbell.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well, you're looking at NC State as the home opener,
so are they going to do the let's dodge this
really important game while we still quote unquote figured things
out and then Lampley misses a game that they would
deem less meaningful. But Lampley a big deal. Who's supposed
to help this defense on the defensive line.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Yeah, Neil Lampley is a guy that last year had
five tackles for loss two and a half sacks.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
They expect.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
The magazine that I have, the Athlon does not have
him listed as a starter. But I do think that
he is a guy that was going to play a
very significant role even if he wasn't a starter, similar
to what we saw last year. You remember my love
for bo Atkinson at Carolina wasn't a starter but played
a lot of snaps and was very effective. I think
that's the same way you would feel about Lampley even
(10:41):
if he wasn't going to start. And then Preston Carr,
he was supposed to be a starter for them. So
that's a big loss. And he's a defensive tackle as well.
It's a big loss on the defensive line. Man, he
got two guys that you're looking at right now and
you're saying, man, do we really are we really going
to be without these guys in the opener? So that
could be an area of concern, especially in that game
(11:02):
against NC State.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, he earned All AAC honors at the end of
last year. He is described as not necessarily a dominant
pass rusher, but pretty good player all the round. Now,
once we get to the secondary, I was talking with
Jim out there at Panthers joint practice, Jim Zoki, the
voice of ECU, and he said that the secondary is
(11:24):
all very new and so it's going to be interesting
to see how the defensive backfield plays this year. Jamari
Riddle is considered maybe their best player overall on this team.
He's a terrific young free safety. As written here with
the College Football News outlet, Jamari Riddle is their free
safety that's going to start for them. You have a
(11:44):
veteran playmaker in Tiaguan Wilk, a four year starter over
there with ECUs. He's back after going to Houston last year,
so he's actually back with the Pirates. And then Tamir Brown,
a corner who is a senior, is described as a
key guy for them if he balls out after On
Revel leaves for the NFL a big loss. Excellent excellent
player last year. Could their secondary beat the driving force
(12:07):
for this defense where they have a key guy in
Tamir Brown as that outside starting corner, but also a
couple of transfers and holding on to what is maybe
their best player overall than Jamari Riddle.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
It could be, And I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
I think the former tar Heel Timer Brown is probably
the key to that secondary. Is he a guy that
can take over for Chavon Revel. That's asking a lot.
I mean Revel was a guy that remember before the injury,
he was considered a first round NFL corner, so I
don't know if he's necessarily going to be that, but
can he be a guy that creates some turnovers? Is
(12:41):
you know, maybe not a lockdown corner, but serviceable enough
on the outside if he can do that. And then
Jordan Lowry, the transfer from Western Carolina, also expected to
play a big role for them this year. So I'm
interested to see both of those guys at corner because
I think safety they're fine.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You know, Teagan wilk sort of chased a dream.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Going up to the Power Conference level, see if he
get worked out there. He didn't, so he comes back
him alongside of Riddle, probably gonna be one of the
better secondaries, one of the better safety tandems rather in
the AAC this year. So I think there are areas
to like about this defense. If they can get everybody
back on that defensive line relatively early in the season,
(13:21):
if they're not suspended for that long or whatever they're
gonna end up doing, then I think you like what
the defensive line brings, You'll like what the corners and
safeties bring to the table in that secondary, And then
the question becomes, what about your linebacking court where you
don't have anybody coming back from last year. Does Damian
Wilson really show out now that he's back home. He's
(13:42):
a guy that went to Kings Mountain High School. Maybe
going down to the group of five level helps him
out a little bit more than with his time at
Missouri where he just really wasn't able to get on
the field. So that's gonna be the biggest question I
think for ECU going into this year. What does that
linebacking court all.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I will pick up the ECU conversation a little later
in the week, maybe we take a break from it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
We do have again Jim Zochi Friday two pm and
we can give you our schedule breakdown. We'll project how
we feel like each of those games on the schedule
are going to go. But coming up next we'll get
back to some Panthers training camp storylines. Bryce is throwing
to t Mac a lot. What does that mean? Do
you have any concerns over some of the drops by
(14:24):
t Mac in the first couple of weeks of training camp.
It's coming up next to Wes and Walker Sports Radio
ninety two to seven wfn Z. Welcome back to Wes
(14:50):
and Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven wfn Z
T MAC being targeted a lot at joint practice today.
Bryce Young, I think was pretty good. I think for
me above solid from what I saw, But I went
out there all day long. Flounder was out there for
the most part seeing not mixed reviews in terms of
anything negative about what Bryce Young did today. It was
(15:11):
just basically altering between do you think that he was solid?
Do you think that he was really good? It's a
good space to be in. So overall, I think Bryce
did have what everybody would describe as a positive day
against the Cleveland defense, Jalen Kocher getting involved, JT Sanders
had a reception. We did see some stuff from Adam
(15:32):
Thielen being targeted quite a bit as well. So the
wide receivers I think, for the most part, had a
nice day out there as well.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
And this is important.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Mike Kay and Joe Person both tweeting out that the
Panthers run defense looked good. Perhaps that's the most important
football thing to discuss. It's not the most fun. I
want to talk about my top ten wide receiver as
much as everybody wants to listen to it, and for
the most part. If the demand is as high as
it seems to be on the text line and the
what a timeline, then I'm trying to supply that demand
(16:03):
with top ten wide receiver talk. But in terms of
what has to change going into twenty twenty five, the
most important update might be that the Panthers run defense
looked very good against Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Yeah, and this is comforting because they did not look good.
I did not think the other night at Panthers FanFest.
Now they were without Derek Brown. Also, a Sean Robinson
was not available that night. So those are two really
big pieces that you would like to have in there.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
But that's good to hear. It's good to hear that.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Okay, these guys have adjusted and now they're making plays
out there in the run defense.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I mean, that's also big for the linebacking corps.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Man, and I thought I saw a couple of pass
breakups from the linebacking corps. Now, one thing to be
concerned about with the linebackers is that Claude and cher
List did go down today and was carted off. Not
from the field, but I saw him being carted back
to the locker room when I was leaving They said
that it is a groin injury that they are monitoring
with him. Pretty big loss because he is a guy
(17:02):
that was in the too deep, was going to be
in the two deep at linebackers. So not great on
that front. But I think everything else that you heard
from the front six or seven was really pretty good today,
especially on the run defense side of things.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Big Cat Dan riding in on the Fandel Techs line.
You know the number by now, but just in case
you don't, it's seven oh four five, seven oh ninety
six to ten, big Cat Dan riding in. What about
the defense versus Shador Sanders today, I didn't see any
of that, Flounder, what about you?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, I didn't really see a ton of it either.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I was really focused on the offense, mainly because the
offense was a lot closer to us with where we
were standing. The defense was on the far end of
the far field, and so that was what made it
a little bit difficult some of the throws that I saw.
I did see a couple of nice pass breakups when
Chador was throwing the ball, But I do know that
(17:55):
you know, there were a couple of plays made mostly
by the veteran quarter it seemed like Joe Flacco was
the one that was making throws downfield. Kenny Pickett had
a nice throw that beat Shaw Smith Wade to I
forget which wide receiver it was it was. I think
about might have been Judy or it might have been
Cedric Tillman, one of the two. I think you know
(18:16):
that both of those guys you know, had their moments
today against the Panthers secondary. But I I think for
the most part, the Panthers did a really had a
really solid day overall. That's what I would say, And
I'm saying that about a lot of things, But I
think I wouldn't say they definitively won the practice, just
because I didn't get to watch enough of the defense
(18:36):
to give you that side of it. But I do
think that we saw good reports from just about everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
The only area that you know, we saw one guy struggle.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Princely got buried today out there against I've.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Bened got him.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
He got So there was a one on one rep.
It wasn't in seven on obviously, not seven on sevens,
but it wasn't in eleven's. It was one on one.
Princeley tried to go outside Dewan just said, Nah, this
isn't happening. You got to go through me, and he
tried and Princeley got stonewalled and immediately fell straight to
the ground. So Princelely not going to be bragging about
(19:12):
that rep on Twitter. What did happen though afterwards was nice.
Mike Kye did say that Princely Umnbiel and actually making
a nice play in the run game in eleven on eleven,
So while he might not be getting into the backfield
and winning his rep against Dewan Jones, who just the
size difference between those two if you go on Twitter
and check out that clip, big, big difference between those
(19:33):
two guys. Princely clearly the speed player, but again making
a nice run stop in eleven. So like seeing that,
especially from somebody where that was a question mark coming
out of college. I want to take a little bit
of a closer look at the t Mac targets. I
think that's a big storyline today in terms of what
might be able to play out in twenty twenty five.
(19:54):
T Mac getting thrown to quite a bit. I don't
know if it's just to get t Mac up to
because he's a rookie, or if it's because it's foreshadowing,
we can expect this once we hit the regular season
football field. So I look at just going with the
last three years, looking at each of the wide receivers
that were drafted in the top ten. If you go
(20:16):
back to twenty twenty four, there were three guys selected
in the top ten, Marvin Harrison, Malik Neighbors, and Romadonsay.
So if we're looking at the most targets from all
of the rookie wide receivers taking and taken in twenty
twenty four, Malik Neighbors had one hundred and seventy. Just
couldn't stop throwing to him up there in New York.
Brian Thomas Junior, no one else. Brian Thomas Junior, not
(20:37):
a top ten pick, but very gifted first round selection,
one hundred and thirty three targets. Marvin Harrison Junior, fourth
overall pick, had one hundred and sixteen. Lad mcconkee won twelve,
Roma Duneesa one oh one. So you had three guys
in the top ten all reach one hundred targets or more.
You go back to twenty twenty three, you look at
some of the top ten wide receivers taken and that
(21:00):
draft class, there were none zero. Jackson Smith Nijigba was
number twenty, Quentin Johnson twenty one, Zay Flowers twenty two,
Jordan Addison twenty three. So there was just a real run.
But those top four guys. Zay Flowers was second in
targets one oh eight, Jordan Addison tied for second in
targets with one o eight. Phukanakua had one hundred and sixty,
(21:20):
just out of nowhere as the fifth round pick. And
then finally, not to belabor this, but you look at
the twenty twenty two top ten picks at wide receiver,
those guys included Drake London and Garrett Wilson. Those are
the only two. Chris Elive Jamison Williams. They were eleven
and twelve. So if you go back to twenty twenty two,
Wilson had one hundred and forty seven, Alive had one
hundred and nineteen, Drake London had one seventeen. Okay, I
(21:43):
think a good mark for t Mac if we just
compare him to other top ten wide receivers, because that's
what you do. You drafted him with that high of
a pick. That means you believe a lot in him.
Do we expect him to hit the over on one
hundred targets this year? I will xavierly Get had eighty four.
To put him as a comparison.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
I would definitely say t Mac gets over that. If
Xavier had eighty four.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Last year, Drake London eight overall selection as well compared
a lot because of the big bodies that they each possessed.
To t Mac, Drake London had one seventeen. Where should
we set the number for targets? Should we set it
at one fifteen?
Speaker 4 (22:22):
That's where the exact number that I thought in my head.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I think the thing that might be different from some
of these other guys is you mentioned it with Malik.
They threw to him a ton because they didn't have
anybody else, So that makes sense. Brian Thomas Junior down
in Jacksonville last year, they threw it to him a
ton because it didn't really have anybody else.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
That'd some. But he's not as bad as the giants,
but it was not great, clearly not as many. Right.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Marvin Harrison Junior over in Arizona. They got some guys,
but Marvin is your top five pick. Now you start
to cut that in half. You're talking top five, Okay,
Marvin Harrison's gonna get thrown to a lot. He hit
that one to fifteen threshold one over at one sixteen.
That's why I think t Mac is gonna get hit
a lot. You do have other options that you can
throw to here in Carolina, I think, more so than
(23:10):
those other teams that we just discussed. But I think
maybe a nice comparison for him would be Roma Doonza,
who goes to Chicago last year as that ninth overall selection.
He's got to compete with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen
for targets with a rookie quarterback that did have to
throw a decent amount because they were behind quite a
(23:30):
bit as a bad football team. And Romadonza he hit
the one hundred threshold, but just barely one hundred and
one targets. He was injured a little bit though, so
maybe that played into it. I think I think one
one hundred and one fifteen is what I would be
anticipating for Temac this year, and you would say maybe
even slightly over that despite having Thielan Cocher and xavierly
(23:54):
get on the roster.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Well, one to fifteen was what popped into my head.
But I think you make a good point when you
compare the receivers that Roman Duneesa had to play with
to the ones that are on this roster currently. Because
we know that Adam Thielen is gonna get his fair
share of targets, there's no doubt about that. We know that,
you know, xavierly Get is a guy that they're going
to try to get involved.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
He's a big play threat down the field.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Maybe doesn't get nearly as many targets, but they're gonna
want to get him some throws.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
And then the tight end position.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
We believe that Jatavian Sanders is destined to take a
step forward. We know what Tommy Tremble brings to the
table and how comfortable Bryce became with him towards the
end of last year. So yeah, maybe it is more
close to that. I would say maybe one oh five
is the number of targets that you're looking at, And
I don't think that would necessarily be a bad thing.
(24:43):
I don't think that's too many. I don't think it's
too little. I don't think he's going to be dissatisfied
with his role here. I think that would probably be
around the perfect amount and that's probably enough to get
him in the neighborhood of being a guy that could
get you know, eight hundred yards receiving. That's kind of
what I I've said, and I think early in the
year there will still be some comfortability with going to
(25:06):
Adam Thelen, But as the year goes along, your top
target in these games will eventually become ted Roha McMillan.
And that's why I think eventually he reached reaches that
hundred target mark and has a pretty good season.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Just looking at the wide receiver group, continuing to look
at it, I feel like Adam Thelen, a Ngalen Cocher,
two guys that we feel are pretty short handed, have
had relatively quiet training camps. Now Coker had a pretty
good day to day, especially early on in seven on sevens.
Had two touchdowns in seven on sevens, one contested catch
one he was wide open at the back of the
end zone. Bryce placed it perfectly with a nice lead
(25:42):
pass there. I think got involved also as the day
went on. So Coker feels like maybe he had his
best day in a while at camp. He's popped up
here and then here. Every now and then but Coker
had a good day. Thelan you said also was targeted
after I left quiet.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Yeah, a couple he had a couple thrown his scooped
one off the turf. That wasn't a great throw. I
forget which quarterback it was from. I think it might
have been Bryce, but it could have been Andy as well.
Either way, nice catch by Adam Thielen. Thing about theling
is we ain't gonna hear about dealing, right, He's a
veteran man. They ain't paying attention to him. They know that,
they know what he brings to the table. It just
(26:20):
is what it is. They're trying to learn about everybody else.
Cocker is interesting because Cocker. I don't think that Cocker
has done enough to be considered a veteran, but I
also think that he might be a guy that just
sometimes kind of gets lost because oh, Jalen Coker made
a play.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Okay, that's normal. We're used to that.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
We saw that last year, so you know, it's not
being followed like Ted. Every play that tedor Roha McMillan
is thrown to is charted, is tweeted about. There's always
somebody that's watching that same thing with xavierly Get because
of the drop issues last year. So I don't know, Man,
I would say both guys probably are having the types
(26:59):
of care that they need to have because we haven't
heard any concerns come out about him.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
So you mentioned the rep with Cam Jackson, who just
blew up.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
He destroyed somebody, blew up.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
A center in one on ones, Cam Jackson probably the
least talked about draft pick overall.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I won't even say probably.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I think Cam Jackson absolutely is the guy that we
don't talk about nearly as much. That includes the two
guys taken after he was taken Mitchell, either him or
Mitchell Evans Mitchell Evans the tight end, and also Jimmy Horn,
both of those guys taken after Cam Jackson. Do you
think every single rookie that was selected makes the team this.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Year, Well, Mitchell Evans will definitely make the team because
of where they're at a tight end right now.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Now.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
I will tell you that I believe just from seeing
the two practices that I have seen, which is fan
Fest and today's practice, I think James Mitchell has actually
been better than him. So I still think Mitchell Evans
probably makes the raw because they did draft him, but
that would be a guy to certainly keep an eye on.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Cam Jackson I think will do enough.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I would Now that's another one that I don't know
if I would necessarily read into the fact that he's
a four stringer.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Maybe you do. To me.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I think with the amount of reps that he played
at FanFest with the second team, I feel like you're
probably gonna see him make the roster as well. It
really comes down to, in my opinion, Jimmy Horn and
Mitchell Evans. But I do think Mitchell Evans will probably
make it, and Jimmy Horn, I just don't know. Man.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I want to say yes, But with the I mean
when you're hearing J. C.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Horn call Hunter renfro unguardable, and you know the rapport
that David Moore has with this coaching staff and the
success that he's had in the couple of practices that
I've been to, I think there's a chance Jimmy Horn
doesn't make this roster, or at least initially, maybe they
do the exact same thing that they did last year
with Jalen Cocher. But I would not be shocked if
(29:02):
he's the guy that ultimately gets left off. Because they
want to trust the veterans a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Is there anyway you keep seven wide receivers. You can't
do it.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
You can't do it. It's hard enough to keep six.
But I think they are going to keep six. I
can't see them keeping seven, even though they may love
Jimmy Horn.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Yeah, the only reason you would do it is because
you wanted to hold on to him as much as possible. Apparently,
I'm trying to look at how many teams actually will
keep seven, like how much that happens, and I can't
find any. I see some questions about the Packers going
into last year's season possibly keeping six or seven.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
That was a question, but I don't really.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Feel like I see that all too often, and it
always usually is a question of five or six. And
we've had that question million times here in Carolina. Are
they going to keep five or six? I don't know
full well too is people.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Even if they keep him on the roster, and let's
say they do decide to go with seven, there's a
good chance that he's a guy that's without a hell,
you can only give out what is it, forty eight helmets.
I think there's five guys that are all the active
roster but technically aren't active for the game. So yeah,
I just I can't see it. I think they have
other needs. They have guys that have to play special
(30:16):
teams on you know, kickoff, punt return, punt coverage, all
that kind of stuff. So I don't I don't see
any way they keep seven saying Jimmy Horn is making
this team. I would say so too. I just who's
getting cut? It'd be more it'd be David Moore. See,
I think I think at this point it's between renfro
and Jimmy Horn. I think David Moore safely on this roster.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
If you keep David Moore over Jimmy Horn, then it's
simply because you know him so well as the head coach.
David Moore can have a nice camp, which I think
he did for for all intents purposes. I think I've
seen for the most part, positive enough stuff about him.
But he's not getting as talked about nearly as much
as Jimmy. Is that just because though are the tweets
(31:00):
that are worthy of being put out there by beat
reporters who know that they're going to get the clicks?
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Maybe?
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Is it just because Is it because Jimmy Horn actually
is producing at a high enough level. We hear from
Dave Canalis on the way that Jimmy Horn has performed.
I guess not a lot of people are asking about
David Moore. But we did this last year where we
almost we almost messed up, and it was when they
decided to keep David Moore over Jalen Coker. And then
(31:27):
they did. Eventually, after the first wave of cuts, Jalen
Coker survive for an extra day or two. Finally they
cut him. They bring him back on the practice squad.
And who was the better player last year as a receiver?
Is it David Moore Jalen Coker? So's not. Can we
just not do that again?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Would be my question. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
Look, I don't agree with the choice, but I'm thinking,
I'm thinking what Dave Canalis and these guys are thinking,
is that he's a veteran. He also brings the special
team's ability because he can return kicks, he can return punts,
although you probably don't want him doing that. That's what
scares me about the fact that they could keep David Moore.
Here's the thing about David Moore. He might be a
(32:07):
solid player for this season. But we've talked about it.
You're looking to win in the future, not now. Why
are you keeping David Moore is a now move. We're
trying to win now. And even so, you're right, how
much is he really helping you? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:24):
So, I just if it's special teams. Maybe there's some
glue guy stuff I just don't know about. But David
Moore last year had his second most productive season ever
in the NFL with thirty two receptions.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Holy crap, the.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Second most productive year depending on how you look at it.
It's the third most amount of yards that he's ever
put up, it's the second most amount of receptions he
ever put up. But he had seven touchdowns combined in
twenty eighteen twenty nineteen. He did have six touchdowns in
twenty twenty, so he was a useful part of that
Seattle team. Zero receptions in twenty one, zero receptions in
(33:04):
twenty two, five receptions in twenty three. Reunited with Dave
Canalis in Carolina, thirty two catches, and he's thirty years old,
so I.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
I would much rather go with the younger receiver, but
I'm not sure that they.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Do, and I haven't heard anything about David Moore being
unguardable like I have with Hunter renfro No. So, if
you're going to keep six wide receivers and David Moore
is going to be on the team, is it just
special teams that is that valuable? And I don't even
mean that facetiously, to be honest with you, Special teams
is valuable. I get it, especially if you're talking about
the back end of a wide receiver room where you're
not depending a ton on the fifth or sixth wide
(33:41):
receiver that you might keep. But if it comes at
the expense of a talented, fast fun says all the
right stuff, works hard, and also has a role on
special teams Guy and Jimmy Horn, I just can't get
down with that.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
See, I got Nick Scott, you got David Moore.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
You have David Moore too, I thank you.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
I mean, if he makes the roster, it is what
it is. I mean, thirty two catches last year, was
I mean? And that's at least something. I'm a I'm
a little more open to him making the roster than
Nick Scott being the starter, but I would not be
crazy about the move.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I will I will say that, Okay, let's continue to
talk about it. I have more t Mac comments, more
Panthers training camp updates. We can get to some sound
as well. That we have Dave Canalis speaking to media
after joint practice concluded today. We'll get some updates on
JC Horn's injury, all that stuff coming up next. Westn
Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ. Okay, I
(34:48):
can tell people won Jimmy Horn on the roster pretty
badly on the text line a little bit. That's the
thing that has people fired up. Flounder is fired up
about Nick Scott. I'm a little fired about David Moore.
Everybody else is fired up about, Yes, David Moore, but
also because they want Jimmy Horn on the roster. It's
Wes and Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ
(35:10):
discussing Panthers Browns joint practice. We're getting set for the
game this weekend. It will be the first preseason game
and Dave Canal has talked a little more about the
starters participating in the first couple of preseason games. He
says that they're going to play. The starters are going
to suit up. You'll see them out on the field
except it's only going to be for maybe one to
(35:31):
two series, and maybe this would be a good conversation
to have when Wes is back in that co captain's
chair next week. He is a big believer in playing
your starters in preseason. I am not nearly as big
of a believer. I think that there are plenty of
studies to suggest that it doesn't matter as much if
you look at what the Rams do as soon as
Sean McVeigh set the precedent on just not playing any
(35:52):
of his starters, especially his starting quarterback.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
I think the.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Rams have only lost two season openers over the last
like seven years or something like that, and one of
their season opening losses was to the Lions, who are
just a great football team or were going to chalk
that up to Matthew Stafford not getting enough preseason snaps.
And the other time that they lost an opener was
there like five win season where they just weren't very good.
Are you going to chalk that up to them not
(36:16):
being ready or just not being good because they lost
a lot in the back half too. So I think
the thing that matters for starting your ones in preseason
games is if they're younger and that's where I think
you had some leg to stand on last year. If
you're Dave Canalis and you decide not to play Bryce Young,
(36:38):
and then the fan base is mad because we haven't
seen him play good football yet. Quite frankly, we have
the Green Bay Packers game as really the only game,
full sixty minute length type of game that we had
that we could hold onto, and that was it of
good football from him. Hey, I actually would like to
see a couple of series. I'd like to see a
couple of drives from Bryce last year. And that's why
(37:00):
I think it's okay to play your younger guys this
time around. But it is hard for me logically to
get behind the idea of Bryce. Let's take the high
end of how many series that the starters are going
to play? Okay, two because he says one to two, right,
So let's take the high end. If Bryce plays four
(37:20):
series in the preseason, is that enough to say, yep,
I'm ready to go Week one, got all the jitters out?
Maybe like four series isn't nothing. That's probably a quarter
and change worth of work. You're probably talking about maybe
even two quarters worth of work there. If you're talking
four series and that's fine. I just yeah, Jack says,
(37:41):
we don't have a fifteen year vetic QB like the
Rams do, and that is understood, and I think that's
a good point to make. I don't know how old
your quarterback has to be. I think there's value in
sitting some of those older starters. But I think here
for Carolina, I think it's just it all depends on
the situation. Dave Kanal is telling you he's going to
play the star up to one or two series in
(38:02):
this game against Cleveland, I think the next game two
preseason game number two, And I think that is a
good mix. I really like this strategy from Dave, still
working with a relatively young team with tamac with Excel
in a second year, Cocher in a second year, Bryce
Young in his third. I think when you have this
kind of young of a team, that's when it makes
(38:22):
sense to play the preseason or the starters in the
preseason just a handful of series.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
Yeah, and especially based off of what happened last year.
I mean, you look back at last year, they got
off to a horrendously slow start because it did not
feel like this offense was in rhythm. So you want
to be able to try to get this offense in
some sort of you know, in some sort of rhythm
before the season begins.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
And I think this is the perfect opportunity to do that.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
The number of snaps that he's talking about probably around
where I would be. To me, if I'm the coach,
I'm probably playing my guys for two drives in each game.
It doesn't matter how long those drives are. I just
think it's good to play them for two drives and
then let's get them out of there. Let's establish a
little bit of a rhythm here, fellas, and then we'll
(39:09):
get out of there. We'll let the other guys take over,
and we'll leave the field feeling decent about ourselves or
at least knowing where we are as an offense. I
think that's what you need to do where Yeah, when
you get later on in a career, dude, Matthew Stafford,
I mean, let's be honest, he could not show up
for practice for the entirety of the offseason. They could
put them out there for Game one and he'd probably
(39:31):
be all right. Now, there's certain guys where they can
just do that. I don't know if Bryce's young and
this young team. Is you necessarily apt to be able
to do that? And the thing is is that you
don't have if you had joint practices all the time.
Let's say these joint practices with the Browns, you had
two or three of those, like just back to back, Okay, yeah,
(39:52):
then you probably don't have to put the starters out there.
But when you do what you did today little over
an hour and a half practice against the Browns, yeah
I want to see a little more.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
A tweet from Joe Person saying Dave Canalis commented on
the starters playing one or two series, which we've already mentioned,
but eight to twelve plays against Cleveland is what you
can expect from the starters.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
It's not very many. Eight to twelve plays is not
very many.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Speaking of some of these younger guys, Mike Kaye joined
the Kyle Bailey Show. I believe that this was on Monday,
and he talked about the realistic expectations surrounding Temac heading
into his rookie year.
Speaker 5 (40:27):
He's got a high four. I think he will be
productive this year. Cow productive kind of there's like kind
of a weird long spectrum because you know, he needs
to do well as a route runner, he needs to
be able to separate. Well, everything can't be a contested catch.
Because that's the case, then you're not probably not going
(40:48):
to get some big place you were hoping for. And
this team has last speed at wide receiver for years
and that was a concern of mind heading into this
you know draft. But we've also seen him seen him
flash like he got open a couple of days ago
on a post route where it looked like he was
running a four to three like he looks like he's
(41:09):
running fast when he runs, and he was able to
get touched on about forty five yards untouched. So I
think you're gonna take the good with the bat. He
is a guy who's still learning. He doesn't his elite
trait is not something that he's gonna allow him to
get in sund of separation, but you will see that
he is able to break down the ball.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
I completely agree with all of that. I don't see
a guy that looks really slow out there on the
football field, and daf Knaalis has been quick to buck
that trend, that narrative trend as well. He's a four
or five guy at that size that's not slow when
you're I don't even know how tall he is. Six'
FOUR i think is the. Measurement he's not slow if
you're running a mid four five at that kind of,
(41:53):
height and he does look. Smooth i'll say this that
today was my first time getting to see him in.
Person watching him out there on the football, field there
didn't seem to be an issue with him getting. OPEN
i didn't see where he got jammed at the line of.
Scrimmage they weren't paying, Press so that's something to take note.
Of guys are going to, learn let me get into his,
body let me be physical with. Him i'm sure that's
(42:14):
going to be a scouting, report especially with you know
that every one of these teams has moles out there
listening To wes And, walker listening To Kyle bailey And
mack And, bone and they're all having the beat reporters
on And Mike kay And Joe Person Vashti herder all saying,
yay it gets jammed up at the line of scrimmage
if they're playing, press and sometimes they do. That so
all these OTHER nfl teams they're listening in Their sherlock
(42:35):
homes and they're, Like, okay well this is what we'll.
Do the scouting report will be out there. TODAY i
did not think it was a real issue For Team
mac getting. OPEN a lot of it is. SCHEME a
lot of it is BECAUSE i didn't See Denzel award ON.
TEAC i don't, think AND i saw.
Speaker 4 (42:51):
He didn't seem like he was out there nearly as.
MUCH i know he was out there for one of
the catches THAT i Think Jalen kocher made on a
play against, Him but other than, THAT i, mean him
And greg knew some seem like they were kind of
standing off to the.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Side they're known. QUANTITIES i think it makes a little
bit of sense.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
All that to say that was not an. Issue LIKE
i Watched TEAM ac today and despite some of the
drops that he, HAD i you, know drops are always
one of those. Things analytics nerds will tell you those
things even out for a lot of the rookies that come,
in and we can all think Of Jamar, chase remember
how many drops?
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Here oh my, god he can't catch a.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Football it was really the people were really scared About
jamar because he was this generational talent that just couldn't
hold onto the. Football and then he just catch his
touchdown passes. Constantly T mac is Not jamar Like jamar
is maybe my favorite player in THE nfl right. NOW
i just think he's, amazing and so he's Not, jamar
not that, explosive but TEAM ac dropping these. PASSES i
(43:48):
think a lot of that has to do with him
only playing football in THE nfl for two weeks and.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
Change, NOW i think a lot of that can even. Out,
YEAH i think you're. RIGHT i think you're certainly. RIGHT
i thought he did a really good job of getting
him so.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
Open you saw on the one short slant route it
looked like it was against man. Coverage just does a
really good job of getting out of his break quick
and a good hands catch of the. FOOTBALL i thought
he did what he needed to do at times today
there were some areas that you've got to clean up
with the drops trying to one hand the one pass
(44:22):
now again it looked like it could have been a
little bit out of his. Reach it is what it,
Is SO i Don't i'm not the expert that's gonna
break it. Down you, know that's up To Dave canalis
to tell him whether that should have been caught or.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Not the other one in the back of the end.
Speaker 4 (44:34):
Zone it just seemed like he was kind of surprised
that he was getting thrown to. THERE i don't know
if he thought he wasn't open enough or what it.
Was but that's one of those things you'll adjust do.
Too there's a difference between being college football open and
BEING nfl. Open these windows are tighter because you have
much better players at THE nfl, Level so he'll, learn
(44:55):
it'll be it'll be.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Fine and last, THING i think either the maybe second
or third play seven on sevens that we, WATCHED i
was actually directly in front of T. Mac you, know
PROBABLY i don't, know forty yards fifty yards. Away But
Bryce young did have one play where he looked to
the left and that was the read and that's where
he was going with the football. Team mac was wide
open on the. Right but if that's not how the
(45:16):
play is, designed it's just not designed that. Way BUT
i just think we're going. Over but the last point on,
this it is hard to project how things are gonna
go from training camp to THE nfl when t mac
is wide. Open you see another tweet about T mac
grabbing a twenty yard pass From Bryce young WHERE i
(45:38):
don't know if it's not like he beat.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Anybody one on one on that.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Route but you see the, tweet you see t mac
catch twenty twenty five yards. Downfield that's another positive feeling
in that, bucket which then alters the way that you
think about these guys going into the regular. Season when
he was wide, open he just didn't get thrown. To
you don't get you don't get to put that positive
(46:02):
feeling in the. Bucket we were lost so much on.
Tweets it's, Hilarious, like which is WHY i despite texts
From Joe ovius and not am making fun of. Me it's, like,
Hey i'm not relying so much on it more as
here's the. Information you guys get to do what you
want to with. It but here's what we're hearing right.
Now It's Western Walker Sports radio ninety two to SEVEN
wfnz One More hour To go ninety two to SEVEN.
Speaker 5 (46:23):
Fm listen to The wes And Walker show tweet teas
from noon to three only On Sports radio ninety two
point SEVEN.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
Fm COM, ufnz the official home of The Charlotte Sports
fan
This is the West and Walker Show, Michael Peanuts that
was It's definitely.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's a couple of It's West coming on. You dry,
you're bahooney and you dry like what is he drying?
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Okay, Wow, I'm gonna start using that for sure. And Walker,
I can think of Joey Batts and Roughnet Odor. We
know the punches were thrown there.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
What did I say?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
You will say that first name again, but Roughnet is
not his name, room Ned Odor?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Are you sure?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
But you also said Willie Stargle only on Sports Radio
ninety two point seven f.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
M w f n Z Willie Stargle.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
What o'clock hour on Wes and Walker the West Listen
Walker Show, Sports Radio ninety two seven WFNZ, No West
this week. He'll be back with us on Monday and
should be all ready to go for the upcoming football season.
It's been Floundy not only putting his producer hat on,
but also been putting his co host hat on. Holmes
back here, yeah, and if we got the pipe and everything,
(01:19):
and you are the smoking pipe, if you will just
so I don't see any of these dirty texts on
the text line. I gotta make sure that I'm correcting
that for the people and or you were going to
play that sound by just wanted to provide some clarity.
We're broadcasting from the Channel Vault to studio CV Injury
Law dot Com. CV Injury Law dot Com one call.
That's all the Carolina's personal injury lawyers, before we get
(01:41):
to Campus Corner and before we get to the defensive
ECU breakdown on Team Week. I did want to say
here we were talking about Fitty's outfit. He did walk
into the studio just I don't know, probably about twenty
minutes ago something like that, and he was mad at
us for talking about him the way that we were heard. Yeah,
the thing is I didn't say that he looked bad.
(02:02):
I was trying to clarify that to Kingdom and Militia.
I was trying to say that to Fitty as well.
But what I was just trying to say is he
does look like he's from the country, but he looks
like almost sexy country. He looks good. He can pull
it off sexy country. I think sexy sexy country Fitty,
And that was a real thing. He was questioning his
(02:22):
boot choice because it didn't match his shirt, but it's
they're brown boots. He's got a black hoodie.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I don't I don't understand. It's fine.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, he's trying to act like he has to match
to a tee if he's going to a wedding or
putting on a suit. No, I mean you, you should
always have your belt match your shoes. That's true. But
if you're talking about just working boots and you put
on a black hoodie, that's totally fine. Everybody does that.
He needs to stop tripping. He looks good. He just
looks like he's from Kataba County.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
I don't really understand why he's getting so frustrated. He
then took a shot of me for wearing high socks.
I have always been a high socks guy. You have
been a high socks guy.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I am.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I like it.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
I like the look. I don't know why. It also
protects my legs. So like today, if it was raining
out there, some people would say, why would you just
not wear pants?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I don't feel like wearing pants. How often do you
wear pants? That's a great question. Do you wear pants
in the Winner?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Okay, yeah, I'll wear him in The Winner, but uh,
the sweatpants guy. But the other thing is like we're
indoors most of the time, so I like being comfortable.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Man panther Bo says, we need a segment for Floundy
where he can't angry Ran. Do you think that's a capability?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Just don't bring up Nick Scott.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Smoke also writes in fandle TeX's line, I hope I
never meet a person that hates me as much as
Flounder hates next Scott.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I don't hate Nick Scott. I don't think nck Scott's
a good football player. And I don't understand I said
this during the break. You're telling me that you didn't
sign somebody in the off season at safety, had Julian
Blackman that was out there, some guys that you could
have gone out and got. You didn't sign somebody so
you could start Nick Scott.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Or demi Nick Scott, Who come on, you're trying to
get your log Greco going on a little bit.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I'm just saying I don't I don't think he's a
good football player.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So yeah, what's funny is at the beginning of that,
like tiny little mini rant, you were about to say,
I don't hate Nick Scott, and then at the end
it sounded a lot like you hate Nick Scott.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I just don't like you.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
He seems like a lovely fella, but as a football player,
he has not shown me what he needs to show me. Now,
maybe he's shown other people, but he hasn't shown me.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All right, So just to say flounders voice, it seems
like it's giving out a little bit. Will go with
a team week defense breakdown twenty twenty five. ECU Floundy,
let's hit it.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
It's the sound you waited much to hear.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
It's caused some of your greatest tryout I'm player.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
It's with a bitter team today and they win at
twenty seven to twenty two.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Damn your biggest heartbreak. Miss Johnson bounces offul one.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
He's doll up Johnson to the outside as a chance
foot plays goodbye.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
It's the option at Georgia Tech. It's Howard's Rock, the
smoke in Miami, and every Saturday you tap that sign
college football is here.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So you know all right.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Taking a look at ECU's defense this upcoming season, new
coordinator Josh Aldridge is in charge now. He's a former
Auburn assistant and liberty defensive coordinator. He is bat calling
plays for the Pirates where he'll work under another defensive
guy and Blake Harrell, who's now the head coach. We
don't know exactly at this time how the scheme is
going to look according to a couple people putting out
(05:42):
some previews of ECU football, but it does look to
be pretty similar base four two five. You got your
Nickel the Star. I love the college nicknames for the
positions out there. You don't really see that a lot
in the NFL. But looking at Nickel or the Star,
an outside linebacker in the front four for this two
four two five alignment, And if you look at what
happened last year, the defense wasn't great. I know, it
(06:04):
looks like the offense is going to be better than
the defense this season for the Pirates, but they were
very good in the red zone. They came up with
a ton of tackles for loss, and they allowed thirty
one points or fewer the offense. They did the rest
when they did allow thirty one or fewer, which is
a low bar, but still that's pretty good. If you're
just going to have your offense score more than thirty one,
(06:24):
that leads to wins. Flounder. I can do math every
once in a while. So the big position groups to
look at and evaluate what's going out of the portal
and what's coming in through the portal. Top linebackers, they're gone,
Mike Edwards gone from MECU Barker. I don't know how
he pronounced his last name, but Barker is leaving for SMU.
Damien Wilson, a former Missouri transfer. Shout out to Willie
(06:47):
p He will be in the middle at that linebacking corp.
And then Kevan Merrill. He's a safety sized outside defender
who can move. Raheem Craig is back at his starting
spot as a hybrid edge. So we'll take a look
at the secondary, which I think there's some interesting things
to discuss with the secondary for this squad. But you
take a look at this defense, how are you feeling
(07:08):
about them heading into this year?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Yeah, I mean there is a lot to replace. They
only have two starters coming back. You mentioned Raheem Craig,
you got jamar Lee Riddell who is also coming back
after a really strong year as a freshman. But the
thing is is that, I mean, yeah, they're gonna have
to replace a lot of guys. Gavin Gibson, their starting
corner left in the portal. They're starting nickelback left for Carolina.
(07:30):
Same thing with their big man in the middle, CJ.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Mims. I know he's at Carolina as well.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
So they've had a lot of guys that graduated and
they have a lot of guys that have left in
the portal. So now they've got to find guys that
can step up now. I do think there are some
guys on this roster. I really like Raheem Craig, former
Louisville player that now is back in his home state.
I think he's a guy that could have a big
season for sure. And you know, the secondary I still
(07:56):
think is a good shake. Teague in wilk is going
to start at safety alongside of Radell, and I think
both of those guys form a pretty good safety tandem.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
We'll just have to see, though.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
I think this group's going to be tested early on
in the season, especially in that game against NC State.
That's what kind of has me worried about them going
into that season opener is I just don't know with
all the new faces there, how they're going to be
able to hold up defensively, Because you look at the
end of last year, even with all the guys that
they still had on that roster at the time. In
(08:26):
the five wins, they allowed thirty four points, fourteen points,
thirty one points, twenty eight, thirty four and twenty one.
So they still it was a decent defense. They really
relied on takeaways and on tackles for loss. Are they
going to be able to rely on those same things
again this year? I'm just not sure.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Well, the big story about their defense right now, it's
not a good one. But in I think July twenty second,
but somewhere in the July twenties, Greenville police werecalled to
a house on Locus Drive over there in Greenville, and
it's about a mile off Camp and they were called
because a report of gunshots being heard. And yep, it
was a few ECU players responsible for said gunshots.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
J D.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Lampley, Preston Carr, brock Spalding all allegedly not even allegedly,
they all were I guess they all admitted to shooting outside,
and brock Spaulding, when the police were called, actually allegedly
refused to come out initially, but said the situation was
soon resolved. And so we don't know what's going to
happen with all of those players, but J. D. Lampley
(09:30):
and Preston Carr, they're both defensive players. And Lampley and Spalding,
by the way, rock Spalding was a wide receiver. They
were both named preseason All American Athletic Conference players by
Phil Steele magazine. So Lampley being a pretty big story
heading into this year. But I don't know if it's
going to be one of those things where they suspend
(09:52):
them for a game that doesn't necessarily matter and then
they bring them back.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Where it could be Campbell.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well, you're looking at NC State as the home opener,
so are they going to do the let's dodge this
really important game while we still quote unquote figured things
out and then Lampley misses a game that they would
deem less meaningful. But Lampley a big deal. Who's supposed
to help this defense on the defensive line.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Yeah, Neil Lampley is a guy that last year had
five tackles for loss two and a half sacks.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
They expect.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
The magazine that I have, the Athlon does not have
him listed as a starter. But I do think that
he is a guy that was going to play a
very significant role even if he wasn't a starter, similar
to what we saw last year. You remember my love
for bo Atkinson at Carolina wasn't a starter but played
a lot of snaps and was very effective. I think
that's the same way you would feel about Lampley even
(10:41):
if he wasn't going to start. And then Preston Carr,
he was supposed to be a starter for them. So
that's a big loss. And he's a defensive tackle as well.
It's a big loss on the defensive line. Man, he
got two guys that you're looking at right now and
you're saying, man, do we really are we really going
to be without these guys in the opener? So that
could be an area of concern, especially in that game
(11:02):
against NC State.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, he earned All AAC honors at the end of
last year. He is described as not necessarily a dominant
pass rusher, but pretty good player all the round. Now,
once we get to the secondary, I was talking with
Jim out there at Panthers joint practice, Jim Zoki, the
voice of ECU, and he said that the secondary is
(11:24):
all very new and so it's going to be interesting
to see how the defensive backfield plays this year. Jamari
Riddle is considered maybe their best player overall on this team.
He's a terrific young free safety. As written here with
the College Football News outlet, Jamari Riddle is their free
safety that's going to start for them. You have a
(11:44):
veteran playmaker in Tiaguan Wilk, a four year starter over
there with ECUs. He's back after going to Houston last year,
so he's actually back with the Pirates. And then Tamir Brown,
a corner who is a senior, is described as a
key guy for them if he balls out after On
Revel leaves for the NFL a big loss. Excellent excellent
player last year. Could their secondary beat the driving force
(12:07):
for this defense where they have a key guy in
Tamir Brown as that outside starting corner, but also a
couple of transfers and holding on to what is maybe
their best player overall than Jamari Riddle.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
It could be, And I think you're right.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
I think the former tar Heel Timer Brown is probably
the key to that secondary. Is he a guy that
can take over for Chavon Revel. That's asking a lot.
I mean Revel was a guy that remember before the injury,
he was considered a first round NFL corner, so I
don't know if he's necessarily going to be that, but
can he be a guy that creates some turnovers? Is
(12:41):
you know, maybe not a lockdown corner, but serviceable enough
on the outside if he can do that. And then
Jordan Lowry, the transfer from Western Carolina, also expected to
play a big role for them this year. So I'm
interested to see both of those guys at corner because
I think safety they're fine.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You know, Teagan wilk sort of chased a dream.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Going up to the Power Conference level, see if he
get worked out there. He didn't, so he comes back
him alongside of Riddle, probably gonna be one of the
better secondaries, one of the better safety tandems rather in
the AAC this year. So I think there are areas
to like about this defense. If they can get everybody
back on that defensive line relatively early in the season,
(13:21):
if they're not suspended for that long or whatever they're
gonna end up doing, then I think you like what
the defensive line brings, You'll like what the corners and
safeties bring to the table in that secondary, And then
the question becomes, what about your linebacking court where you
don't have anybody coming back from last year. Does Damian
Wilson really show out now that he's back home. He's
(13:42):
a guy that went to Kings Mountain High School. Maybe
going down to the group of five level helps him
out a little bit more than with his time at
Missouri where he just really wasn't able to get on
the field. So that's gonna be the biggest question I
think for ECU going into this year. What does that
linebacking court all.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I will pick up the ECU conversation a little later
in the week, maybe we take a break from it.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
We do have again Jim Zochi Friday two pm and
we can give you our schedule breakdown. We'll project how
we feel like each of those games on the schedule
are going to go. But coming up next we'll get
back to some Panthers training camp storylines. Bryce is throwing
to t Mac a lot. What does that mean? Do
you have any concerns over some of the drops by
(14:24):
t Mac in the first couple of weeks of training camp.
It's coming up next to Wes and Walker Sports Radio
ninety two to seven wfn Z. Welcome back to Wes
(14:50):
and Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven wfn Z
T MAC being targeted a lot at joint practice today.
Bryce Young, I think was pretty good. I think for
me above solid from what I saw, But I went
out there all day long. Flounder was out there for
the most part seeing not mixed reviews in terms of
anything negative about what Bryce Young did today. It was
(15:11):
just basically altering between do you think that he was solid?
Do you think that he was really good? It's a
good space to be in. So overall, I think Bryce
did have what everybody would describe as a positive day
against the Cleveland defense, Jalen Kocher getting involved, JT Sanders
had a reception. We did see some stuff from Adam
(15:32):
Thielen being targeted quite a bit as well. So the
wide receivers I think, for the most part, had a
nice day out there as well.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
And this is important.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Mike Kay and Joe Person both tweeting out that the
Panthers run defense looked good. Perhaps that's the most important
football thing to discuss. It's not the most fun. I
want to talk about my top ten wide receiver as
much as everybody wants to listen to it, and for
the most part. If the demand is as high as
it seems to be on the text line and the
what a timeline, then I'm trying to supply that demand
(16:03):
with top ten wide receiver talk. But in terms of
what has to change going into twenty twenty five, the
most important update might be that the Panthers run defense
looked very good against Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Yeah, and this is comforting because they did not look good.
I did not think the other night at Panthers FanFest.
Now they were without Derek Brown. Also, a Sean Robinson
was not available that night. So those are two really
big pieces that you would like to have in there.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
But that's good to hear. It's good to hear that.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Okay, these guys have adjusted and now they're making plays
out there in the run defense.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I mean, that's also big for the linebacking corps.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
Man, and I thought I saw a couple of pass
breakups from the linebacking corps. Now, one thing to be
concerned about with the linebackers is that Claude and cher
List did go down today and was carted off. Not
from the field, but I saw him being carted back
to the locker room when I was leaving They said
that it is a groin injury that they are monitoring
with him. Pretty big loss because he is a guy
(17:02):
that was in the too deep, was going to be
in the two deep at linebackers. So not great on
that front. But I think everything else that you heard
from the front six or seven was really pretty good today,
especially on the run defense side of things.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Big Cat Dan riding in on the Fandel Techs line.
You know the number by now, but just in case
you don't, it's seven oh four five, seven oh ninety
six to ten, big Cat Dan riding in. What about
the defense versus Shador Sanders today, I didn't see any
of that, Flounder, what about you?
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, I didn't really see a ton of it either.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I was really focused on the offense, mainly because the
offense was a lot closer to us with where we
were standing. The defense was on the far end of
the far field, and so that was what made it
a little bit difficult some of the throws that I saw.
I did see a couple of nice pass breakups when
Chador was throwing the ball, But I do know that
(17:55):
you know, there were a couple of plays made mostly
by the veteran quarter it seemed like Joe Flacco was
the one that was making throws downfield. Kenny Pickett had
a nice throw that beat Shaw Smith Wade to I
forget which wide receiver it was it was. I think
about might have been Judy or it might have been
Cedric Tillman, one of the two. I think you know
(18:16):
that both of those guys you know, had their moments
today against the Panthers secondary. But I I think for
the most part, the Panthers did a really had a
really solid day overall. That's what I would say, And
I'm saying that about a lot of things, But I
think I wouldn't say they definitively won the practice, just
because I didn't get to watch enough of the defense
(18:36):
to give you that side of it. But I do
think that we saw good reports from just about everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
The only area that you know, we saw one guy struggle.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
Princely got buried today out there against I've.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Bened got him.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
He got So there was a one on one rep.
It wasn't in seven on obviously, not seven on sevens,
but it wasn't in eleven's. It was one on one.
Princeley tried to go outside Dewan just said, Nah, this
isn't happening. You got to go through me, and he
tried and Princeley got stonewalled and immediately fell straight to
the ground. So Princelely not going to be bragging about
(19:12):
that rep on Twitter. What did happen though afterwards was nice.
Mike Kye did say that Princely Umnbiel and actually making
a nice play in the run game in eleven on eleven,
So while he might not be getting into the backfield
and winning his rep against Dewan Jones, who just the
size difference between those two if you go on Twitter
and check out that clip, big, big difference between those
(19:33):
two guys. Princely clearly the speed player, but again making
a nice run stop in eleven. So like seeing that,
especially from somebody where that was a question mark coming
out of college. I want to take a little bit
of a closer look at the t Mac targets. I
think that's a big storyline today in terms of what
might be able to play out in twenty twenty five.
(19:54):
T Mac getting thrown to quite a bit. I don't
know if it's just to get t Mac up to
because he's a rookie, or if it's because it's foreshadowing,
we can expect this once we hit the regular season
football field. So I look at just going with the
last three years, looking at each of the wide receivers
that were drafted in the top ten. If you go
(20:16):
back to twenty twenty four, there were three guys selected
in the top ten, Marvin Harrison, Malik Neighbors, and Romadonsay.
So if we're looking at the most targets from all
of the rookie wide receivers taking and taken in twenty
twenty four, Malik Neighbors had one hundred and seventy. Just
couldn't stop throwing to him up there in New York.
Brian Thomas Junior, no one else. Brian Thomas Junior, not
(20:37):
a top ten pick, but very gifted first round selection,
one hundred and thirty three targets. Marvin Harrison Junior, fourth
overall pick, had one hundred and sixteen. Lad mcconkee won twelve,
Roma Duneesa one oh one. So you had three guys
in the top ten all reach one hundred targets or more.
You go back to twenty twenty three, you look at
some of the top ten wide receivers taken and that
(21:00):
draft class, there were none zero. Jackson Smith Nijigba was
number twenty, Quentin Johnson twenty one, Zay Flowers twenty two,
Jordan Addison twenty three. So there was just a real run.
But those top four guys. Zay Flowers was second in
targets one oh eight, Jordan Addison tied for second in
targets with one o eight. Phukanakua had one hundred and sixty,
(21:20):
just out of nowhere as the fifth round pick. And
then finally, not to belabor this, but you look at
the twenty twenty two top ten picks at wide receiver,
those guys included Drake London and Garrett Wilson. Those are
the only two. Chris Elive Jamison Williams. They were eleven
and twelve. So if you go back to twenty twenty two,
Wilson had one hundred and forty seven, Alive had one
hundred and nineteen, Drake London had one seventeen. Okay, I
(21:43):
think a good mark for t Mac if we just
compare him to other top ten wide receivers, because that's
what you do. You drafted him with that high of
a pick. That means you believe a lot in him.
Do we expect him to hit the over on one
hundred targets this year? I will xavierly Get had eighty four.
To put him as a comparison.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
I would definitely say t Mac gets over that. If
Xavier had eighty four.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Last year, Drake London eight overall selection as well compared
a lot because of the big bodies that they each possessed.
To t Mac, Drake London had one seventeen. Where should
we set the number for targets? Should we set it
at one fifteen?
Speaker 4 (22:22):
That's where the exact number that I thought in my head.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I think the thing that might be different from some
of these other guys is you mentioned it with Malik.
They threw to him a ton because they didn't have
anybody else, So that makes sense. Brian Thomas Junior down
in Jacksonville last year, they threw it to him a
ton because it didn't really have anybody else.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
That'd some. But he's not as bad as the giants,
but it was not great, clearly not as many. Right.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Marvin Harrison Junior over in Arizona. They got some guys,
but Marvin is your top five pick. Now you start
to cut that in half. You're talking top five, Okay,
Marvin Harrison's gonna get thrown to a lot. He hit
that one to fifteen threshold one over at one sixteen.
That's why I think t Mac is gonna get hit
a lot. You do have other options that you can
throw to here in Carolina, I think, more so than
(23:10):
those other teams that we just discussed. But I think
maybe a nice comparison for him would be Roma Doonza,
who goes to Chicago last year as that ninth overall selection.
He's got to compete with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen
for targets with a rookie quarterback that did have to
throw a decent amount because they were behind quite a
(23:30):
bit as a bad football team. And Romadonza he hit
the one hundred threshold, but just barely one hundred and
one targets. He was injured a little bit though, so
maybe that played into it. I think I think one
one hundred and one fifteen is what I would be
anticipating for Temac this year, and you would say maybe
even slightly over that despite having Thielan Cocher and xavierly
(23:54):
get on the roster.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Well, one to fifteen was what popped into my head.
But I think you make a good point when you
compare the receivers that Roman Duneesa had to play with
to the ones that are on this roster currently. Because
we know that Adam Thielen is gonna get his fair
share of targets, there's no doubt about that. We know that,
you know, xavierly Get is a guy that they're going
to try to get involved.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
He's a big play threat down the field.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Maybe doesn't get nearly as many targets, but they're gonna
want to get him some throws.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
And then the tight end position.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
We believe that Jatavian Sanders is destined to take a
step forward. We know what Tommy Tremble brings to the
table and how comfortable Bryce became with him towards the
end of last year. So yeah, maybe it is more
close to that. I would say maybe one oh five
is the number of targets that you're looking at, And
I don't think that would necessarily be a bad thing.
(24:43):
I don't think that's too many. I don't think it's
too little. I don't think he's going to be dissatisfied
with his role here. I think that would probably be
around the perfect amount and that's probably enough to get
him in the neighborhood of being a guy that could
get you know, eight hundred yards receiving. That's kind of
what I I've said, and I think early in the
year there will still be some comfortability with going to
(25:06):
Adam Thelen, But as the year goes along, your top
target in these games will eventually become ted Roha McMillan.
And that's why I think eventually he reached reaches that
hundred target mark and has a pretty good season.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Just looking at the wide receiver group, continuing to look
at it, I feel like Adam Thelen, a Ngalen Cocher,
two guys that we feel are pretty short handed, have
had relatively quiet training camps. Now Coker had a pretty
good day to day, especially early on in seven on sevens.
Had two touchdowns in seven on sevens, one contested catch
one he was wide open at the back of the
end zone. Bryce placed it perfectly with a nice lead
(25:42):
pass there. I think got involved also as the day
went on. So Coker feels like maybe he had his
best day in a while at camp. He's popped up
here and then here. Every now and then but Coker
had a good day. Thelan you said also was targeted
after I left quiet.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Yeah, a couple he had a couple thrown his scooped
one off the turf. That wasn't a great throw. I
forget which quarterback it was from. I think it might
have been Bryce, but it could have been Andy as well.
Either way, nice catch by Adam Thielen. Thing about theling
is we ain't gonna hear about dealing, right, He's a
veteran man. They ain't paying attention to him. They know that,
they know what he brings to the table. It just
(26:20):
is what it is. They're trying to learn about everybody else.
Cocker is interesting because Cocker. I don't think that Cocker
has done enough to be considered a veteran, but I
also think that he might be a guy that just
sometimes kind of gets lost because oh, Jalen Coker made
a play.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Okay, that's normal. We're used to that.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
We saw that last year, so you know, it's not
being followed like Ted. Every play that tedor Roha McMillan
is thrown to is charted, is tweeted about. There's always
somebody that's watching that same thing with xavierly Get because
of the drop issues last year. So I don't know, Man,
I would say both guys probably are having the types
(26:59):
of care that they need to have because we haven't
heard any concerns come out about him.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
So you mentioned the rep with Cam Jackson, who just
blew up.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
He destroyed somebody, blew up.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
A center in one on ones, Cam Jackson probably the
least talked about draft pick overall.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I won't even say probably.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I think Cam Jackson absolutely is the guy that we
don't talk about nearly as much. That includes the two
guys taken after he was taken Mitchell, either him or
Mitchell Evans Mitchell Evans the tight end, and also Jimmy Horn,
both of those guys taken after Cam Jackson. Do you
think every single rookie that was selected makes the team this.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Year, Well, Mitchell Evans will definitely make the team because
of where they're at a tight end right now.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Now.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
I will tell you that I believe just from seeing
the two practices that I have seen, which is fan
Fest and today's practice, I think James Mitchell has actually
been better than him. So I still think Mitchell Evans
probably makes the raw because they did draft him, but
that would be a guy to certainly keep an eye on.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Cam Jackson I think will do enough.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
I would Now that's another one that I don't know
if I would necessarily read into the fact that he's
a four stringer.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Maybe you do. To me.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I think with the amount of reps that he played
at FanFest with the second team, I feel like you're
probably gonna see him make the roster as well. It
really comes down to, in my opinion, Jimmy Horn and
Mitchell Evans. But I do think Mitchell Evans will probably
make it, and Jimmy Horn, I just don't know. Man.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I want to say yes, But with the I mean
when you're hearing J. C.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
Horn call Hunter renfro unguardable, and you know the rapport
that David Moore has with this coaching staff and the
success that he's had in the couple of practices that
I've been to, I think there's a chance Jimmy Horn
doesn't make this roster, or at least initially, maybe they
do the exact same thing that they did last year
with Jalen Cocher. But I would not be shocked if
(29:02):
he's the guy that ultimately gets left off. Because they
want to trust the veterans a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Is there anyway you keep seven wide receivers. You can't
do it.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
You can't do it. It's hard enough to keep six.
But I think they are going to keep six. I
can't see them keeping seven, even though they may love
Jimmy Horn.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Yeah, the only reason you would do it is because
you wanted to hold on to him as much as possible. Apparently,
I'm trying to look at how many teams actually will
keep seven, like how much that happens, and I can't
find any. I see some questions about the Packers going
into last year's season possibly keeping six or seven.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
That was a question, but I don't really.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Feel like I see that all too often, and it
always usually is a question of five or six. And
we've had that question million times here in Carolina. Are
they going to keep five or six? I don't know
full well too is people.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Even if they keep him on the roster, and let's
say they do decide to go with seven, there's a
good chance that he's a guy that's without a hell,
you can only give out what is it, forty eight helmets.
I think there's five guys that are all the active
roster but technically aren't active for the game. So yeah,
I just I can't see it. I think they have
other needs. They have guys that have to play special
(30:16):
teams on you know, kickoff, punt return, punt coverage, all
that kind of stuff. So I don't I don't see
any way they keep seven saying Jimmy Horn is making
this team. I would say so too. I just who's
getting cut? It'd be more it'd be David Moore. See,
I think I think at this point it's between renfro
and Jimmy Horn. I think David Moore safely on this roster.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
If you keep David Moore over Jimmy Horn, then it's
simply because you know him so well as the head coach.
David Moore can have a nice camp, which I think
he did for for all intents purposes. I think I've
seen for the most part, positive enough stuff about him.
But he's not getting as talked about nearly as much
as Jimmy. Is that just because though are the tweets
(31:00):
that are worthy of being put out there by beat
reporters who know that they're going to get the clicks?
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Maybe?
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Is it just because Is it because Jimmy Horn actually
is producing at a high enough level. We hear from
Dave Canalis on the way that Jimmy Horn has performed.
I guess not a lot of people are asking about
David Moore. But we did this last year where we
almost we almost messed up, and it was when they
decided to keep David Moore over Jalen Coker. And then
(31:27):
they did. Eventually, after the first wave of cuts, Jalen
Coker survive for an extra day or two. Finally they
cut him. They bring him back on the practice squad.
And who was the better player last year as a receiver?
Is it David Moore Jalen Coker? So's not. Can we
just not do that again?
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Would be my question. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
Look, I don't agree with the choice, but I'm thinking,
I'm thinking what Dave Canalis and these guys are thinking,
is that he's a veteran. He also brings the special
team's ability because he can return kicks, he can return punts,
although you probably don't want him doing that. That's what
scares me about the fact that they could keep David Moore.
Here's the thing about David Moore. He might be a
(32:07):
solid player for this season. But we've talked about it.
You're looking to win in the future, not now. Why
are you keeping David Moore is a now move. We're
trying to win now. And even so, you're right, how
much is he really helping you? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:24):
So, I just if it's special teams. Maybe there's some
glue guy stuff I just don't know about. But David
Moore last year had his second most productive season ever
in the NFL with thirty two receptions.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Holy crap, the.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Second most productive year depending on how you look at it.
It's the third most amount of yards that he's ever
put up, it's the second most amount of receptions he
ever put up. But he had seven touchdowns combined in
twenty eighteen twenty nineteen. He did have six touchdowns in
twenty twenty, so he was a useful part of that
Seattle team. Zero receptions in twenty one, zero receptions in
(33:04):
twenty two, five receptions in twenty three. Reunited with Dave
Canalis in Carolina, thirty two catches, and he's thirty years old,
so I.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
I would much rather go with the younger receiver, but
I'm not sure that they.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Do, and I haven't heard anything about David Moore being
unguardable like I have with Hunter renfro No. So, if
you're going to keep six wide receivers and David Moore
is going to be on the team, is it just
special teams that is that valuable? And I don't even
mean that facetiously, to be honest with you, Special teams
is valuable. I get it, especially if you're talking about
the back end of a wide receiver room where you're
not depending a ton on the fifth or sixth wide
(33:41):
receiver that you might keep. But if it comes at
the expense of a talented, fast fun says all the
right stuff, works hard, and also has a role on
special teams Guy and Jimmy Horn, I just can't get
down with that.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
See, I got Nick Scott, you got David Moore.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
You have David Moore too, I thank you.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
I mean, if he makes the roster, it is what
it is. I mean, thirty two catches last year, was
I mean? And that's at least something. I'm a I'm
a little more open to him making the roster than
Nick Scott being the starter, but I would not be
crazy about the move.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
I will I will say that, Okay, let's continue to
talk about it. I have more t Mac comments, more
Panthers training camp updates. We can get to some sound
as well. That we have Dave Canalis speaking to media
after joint practice concluded today. We'll get some updates on
JC Horn's injury, all that stuff coming up next. Westn
Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ. Okay, I
(34:48):
can tell people won Jimmy Horn on the roster pretty
badly on the text line a little bit. That's the
thing that has people fired up. Flounder is fired up
about Nick Scott. I'm a little fired about David Moore.
Everybody else is fired up about, Yes, David Moore, but
also because they want Jimmy Horn on the roster. It's
Wes and Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ
(35:10):
discussing Panthers Browns joint practice. We're getting set for the
game this weekend. It will be the first preseason game
and Dave Canal has talked a little more about the
starters participating in the first couple of preseason games. He
says that they're going to play. The starters are going
to suit up. You'll see them out on the field
except it's only going to be for maybe one to
(35:31):
two series, and maybe this would be a good conversation
to have when Wes is back in that co captain's
chair next week. He is a big believer in playing
your starters in preseason. I am not nearly as big
of a believer. I think that there are plenty of
studies to suggest that it doesn't matter as much if
you look at what the Rams do as soon as
Sean McVeigh set the precedent on just not playing any
(35:52):
of his starters, especially his starting quarterback.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
I think the.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Rams have only lost two season openers over the last
like seven years or something like that, and one of
their season opening losses was to the Lions, who are
just a great football team or were going to chalk
that up to Matthew Stafford not getting enough preseason snaps.
And the other time that they lost an opener was
there like five win season where they just weren't very good.
Are you going to chalk that up to them not
(36:16):
being ready or just not being good because they lost
a lot in the back half too. So I think
the thing that matters for starting your ones in preseason
games is if they're younger and that's where I think
you had some leg to stand on last year. If
you're Dave Canalis and you decide not to play Bryce Young,
(36:38):
and then the fan base is mad because we haven't
seen him play good football yet. Quite frankly, we have
the Green Bay Packers game as really the only game,
full sixty minute length type of game that we had
that we could hold onto, and that was it of
good football from him. Hey, I actually would like to
see a couple of series. I'd like to see a
couple of drives from Bryce last year. And that's why
(37:00):
I think it's okay to play your younger guys this
time around. But it is hard for me logically to
get behind the idea of Bryce. Let's take the high
end of how many series that the starters are going
to play? Okay, two because he says one to two, right,
So let's take the high end. If Bryce plays four
(37:20):
series in the preseason, is that enough to say, yep,
I'm ready to go Week one, got all the jitters out?
Maybe like four series isn't nothing. That's probably a quarter
and change worth of work. You're probably talking about maybe
even two quarters worth of work there. If you're talking
four series and that's fine. I just yeah, Jack says,
(37:41):
we don't have a fifteen year vetic QB like the
Rams do, and that is understood, and I think that's
a good point to make. I don't know how old
your quarterback has to be. I think there's value in
sitting some of those older starters. But I think here
for Carolina, I think it's just it all depends on
the situation. Dave Kanal is telling you he's going to
play the star up to one or two series in
(38:02):
this game against Cleveland, I think the next game two
preseason game number two, And I think that is a
good mix. I really like this strategy from Dave, still
working with a relatively young team with tamac with Excel
in a second year, Cocher in a second year, Bryce
Young in his third. I think when you have this
kind of young of a team, that's when it makes
(38:22):
sense to play the preseason or the starters in the
preseason just a handful of series.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
Yeah, and especially based off of what happened last year.
I mean, you look back at last year, they got
off to a horrendously slow start because it did not
feel like this offense was in rhythm. So you want
to be able to try to get this offense in
some sort of you know, in some sort of rhythm
before the season begins.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
And I think this is the perfect opportunity to do that.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
The number of snaps that he's talking about probably around
where I would be. To me, if I'm the coach,
I'm probably playing my guys for two drives in each game.
It doesn't matter how long those drives are. I just
think it's good to play them for two drives and
then let's get them out of there. Let's establish a
little bit of a rhythm here, fellas, and then we'll
(39:09):
get out of there. We'll let the other guys take over,
and we'll leave the field feeling decent about ourselves or
at least knowing where we are as an offense. I
think that's what you need to do where Yeah, when
you get later on in a career, dude, Matthew Stafford,
I mean, let's be honest, he could not show up
for practice for the entirety of the offseason. They could
put them out there for Game one and he'd probably
(39:31):
be all right. Now, there's certain guys where they can
just do that. I don't know if Bryce's young and
this young team. Is you necessarily apt to be able
to do that? And the thing is is that you
don't have if you had joint practices all the time.
Let's say these joint practices with the Browns, you had
two or three of those, like just back to back, Okay, yeah,
(39:52):
then you probably don't have to put the starters out there.
But when you do what you did today little over
an hour and a half practice against the Browns, yeah
I want to see a little more.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
A tweet from Joe Person saying Dave Canalis commented on
the starters playing one or two series, which we've already mentioned,
but eight to twelve plays against Cleveland is what you
can expect from the starters.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
It's not very many. Eight to twelve plays is not
very many.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Speaking of some of these younger guys, Mike Kaye joined
the Kyle Bailey Show. I believe that this was on Monday,
and he talked about the realistic expectations surrounding Temac heading
into his rookie year.
Speaker 5 (40:27):
He's got a high four. I think he will be
productive this year. Cow productive kind of there's like kind
of a weird long spectrum because you know, he needs
to do well as a route runner, he needs to
be able to separate. Well, everything can't be a contested catch.
Because that's the case, then you're not probably not going
(40:48):
to get some big place you were hoping for. And
this team has last speed at wide receiver for years
and that was a concern of mind heading into this
you know draft. But we've also seen him seen him
flash like he got open a couple of days ago
on a post route where it looked like he was
running a four to three like he looks like he's
(41:09):
running fast when he runs, and he was able to
get touched on about forty five yards untouched. So I
think you're gonna take the good with the bat. He
is a guy who's still learning. He doesn't his elite
trait is not something that he's gonna allow him to
get in sund of separation, but you will see that
he is able to break down the ball.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
I completely agree with all of that. I don't see
a guy that looks really slow out there on the
football field, and daf Knaalis has been quick to buck
that trend, that narrative trend as well. He's a four
or five guy at that size that's not slow when
you're I don't even know how tall he is. Six'
FOUR i think is the. Measurement he's not slow if
you're running a mid four five at that kind of,
(41:53):
height and he does look. Smooth i'll say this that
today was my first time getting to see him in.
Person watching him out there on the football, field there
didn't seem to be an issue with him getting. OPEN
i didn't see where he got jammed at the line of.
Scrimmage they weren't paying, Press so that's something to take note.
Of guys are going to, learn let me get into his,
body let me be physical with. Him i'm sure that's
(42:14):
going to be a scouting, report especially with you know
that every one of these teams has moles out there
listening To wes And, walker listening To Kyle bailey And
mack And, bone and they're all having the beat reporters
on And Mike kay And Joe Person Vashti herder all saying,
yay it gets jammed up at the line of scrimmage
if they're playing, press and sometimes they do. That so
all these OTHER nfl teams they're listening in Their sherlock
(42:35):
homes and they're, Like, okay well this is what we'll.
Do the scouting report will be out there. TODAY i
did not think it was a real issue For Team
mac getting. OPEN a lot of it is. SCHEME a
lot of it is BECAUSE i didn't See Denzel award ON.
TEAC i don't, think AND i saw.
Speaker 4 (42:51):
He didn't seem like he was out there nearly as.
MUCH i know he was out there for one of
the catches THAT i Think Jalen kocher made on a
play against, Him but other than, THAT i, mean him
And greg knew some seem like they were kind of
standing off to the.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Side they're known. QUANTITIES i think it makes a little
bit of sense.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
All that to say that was not an. Issue LIKE
i Watched TEAM ac today and despite some of the
drops that he, HAD i you, know drops are always
one of those. Things analytics nerds will tell you those
things even out for a lot of the rookies that come,
in and we can all think Of Jamar, chase remember
how many drops?
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Here oh my, god he can't catch a.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Football it was really the people were really scared About
jamar because he was this generational talent that just couldn't
hold onto the. Football and then he just catch his
touchdown passes. Constantly T mac is Not jamar Like jamar
is maybe my favorite player in THE nfl right. NOW
i just think he's, amazing and so he's Not, jamar
not that, explosive but TEAM ac dropping these. PASSES i
(43:48):
think a lot of that has to do with him
only playing football in THE nfl for two weeks and.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
Change, NOW i think a lot of that can even. Out,
YEAH i think you're. RIGHT i think you're certainly. RIGHT
i thought he did a really good job of getting
him so.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
Open you saw on the one short slant route it
looked like it was against man. Coverage just does a
really good job of getting out of his break quick
and a good hands catch of the. FOOTBALL i thought
he did what he needed to do at times today
there were some areas that you've got to clean up
with the drops trying to one hand the one pass
(44:22):
now again it looked like it could have been a
little bit out of his. Reach it is what it,
Is SO i Don't i'm not the expert that's gonna
break it. Down you, know that's up To Dave canalis
to tell him whether that should have been caught or.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Not the other one in the back of the end.
Speaker 4 (44:34):
Zone it just seemed like he was kind of surprised
that he was getting thrown to. THERE i don't know
if he thought he wasn't open enough or what it.
Was but that's one of those things you'll adjust do.
Too there's a difference between being college football open and
BEING nfl. Open these windows are tighter because you have
much better players at THE nfl, Level so he'll, learn
(44:55):
it'll be it'll be.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Fine and last, THING i think either the maybe second
or third play seven on sevens that we, WATCHED i
was actually directly in front of T. Mac you, know
PROBABLY i don't, know forty yards fifty yards. Away But
Bryce young did have one play where he looked to
the left and that was the read and that's where
he was going with the football. Team mac was wide
open on the. Right but if that's not how the
(45:16):
play is, designed it's just not designed that. Way BUT
i just think we're going. Over but the last point on,
this it is hard to project how things are gonna
go from training camp to THE nfl when t mac
is wide. Open you see another tweet about T mac
grabbing a twenty yard pass From Bryce young WHERE i
(45:38):
don't know if it's not like he beat.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Anybody one on one on that.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Route but you see the, tweet you see t mac
catch twenty twenty five yards. Downfield that's another positive feeling
in that, bucket which then alters the way that you
think about these guys going into the regular. Season when
he was wide, open he just didn't get thrown. To
you don't get you don't get to put that positive
(46:02):
feeling in the. Bucket we were lost so much on.
Tweets it's, Hilarious, like which is WHY i despite texts
From Joe ovius and not am making fun of. Me it's, like,
Hey i'm not relying so much on it more as
here's the. Information you guys get to do what you
want to with. It but here's what we're hearing right.
Now It's Western Walker Sports radio ninety two to SEVEN
wfnz One More hour To go ninety two to SEVEN.
Speaker 5 (46:23):
Fm listen to The wes And Walker show tweet teas
from noon to three only On Sports radio ninety two
point SEVEN.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
Fm COM, ufnz the official home of The Charlotte Sports
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