September 25, 2025 • 18 mins
Joe Person of The Athletic would join the show fresh off watching Panthers practice. He would inform us of all of the injuries that have been stacking up for the team, as well as if we, as fans, should be comfortable feeling optimistic after a blowout win over the Falcons. Joe Person also gives us some insight to if Xavier Legette might be losing the confidence of his QB, Bryce Young. Finally he covers the resurgence of Ejiro Evero and the Panthers defense and if we can plan on seeing a better defensive effort for the rest of the season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
West and walker Back Sports Radio ninety two to seven
WFNZ no Wes. Wes is still talking to the coaches
from Virginia Tech and getting ready for that NC State
Virginia Tech matchup over in Raleigh this weekend. So instead,
I guess we'll have to welcome Joe Person to the show.
You know him well. He writes for The Athletic. He
covers the Panthers, been doing so for a long time.
(00:28):
Follow him on Twitter at Joseph Person and subscribe to
the Athletic to read his latest article on the Panthers.
What I'm seeing from the Panthers juggling wide receivers and
secondary versus top ten quarterbacks. Joe, thanks so much for
the time, man. How are you doing doing well?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Man? Just leaving Panthers practice, so if it's hopefully the
reception's good. It's a little breezy out here.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Oh no, we love you being on site, babe. That's
why we're having you, so we appreciate it. And Joe,
it's been an interesting injury update week over there at Boa.
What should we be the most worried about health wise
heading into New England?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Probably the two edge rushers, uh, Pat Jones and DJ
want them both of them here we are on Wednesday,
And of course Patt didn't play last week, and now
Wanham has joined him on the side of these practices.
So look, I know we've all talked and written a
lot about the two rookie edge guys and they have
(01:23):
certainly looked promising and and look like they're going to
be good players. Talking about Nick Gordon and Princey, Princely
Uma and the Ellen. But you know, I don't know
that you want Princely being out there for sixty snaps,
and I don't think he will be. I think someone
like DJ Johnson or others will will kind of play
some rundowns. But uh, yeah, that you know, Xavier Leaguette
(01:48):
remains on the sideline with that hamstring. You know, they
didn't seem to miss him that much last week, wasn't
It wasn't a huge day for the offense. But yeah,
to answer your question, I'm keeping an eye on these
edge rushers as they get ready for you know former
Meyers part great Drake May.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That's right, and he knows the area so well that
he knew JJ Janssen was still on the roster. So unfortunately,
awesome it's unreal too. Yeah, it's it's crazy. Unfortunately, we're
gonna have to beat one of our own, hopefully with
Drake May being a former Panthers fan. It's Joe Person
joining us here on Weston Walker Sports Radio ninety two
to seven WFNZ. Joe obviously, Jayleen Cocher still on IR.
(02:29):
He has one more week to miss before he's eligible
to return. What are the vibes from what you're getting
right now on Jalen Coker's potential return?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Hard to tell. I've been I watched him a little
bit today, you know, running on the side, and uh,
you know, I don't know. That didn't look like he
was necessarily opening up one hundred percent. But maybe he's
doing that later today when we're not around. Dave Panalis
yesterday was asked about Coker and he was pretty noncommittal.
(03:00):
Canallis as we've gotten into regular season mode, he has
been a little more protective and less forthcoming with injury updates,
which most NFL coaches are, so no no fault there,
but he continued to call canal excuse me, canalics continue
to call Coker week to week yesterday, so hard for
(03:20):
me to get a real good read on that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Joe person joining us on Weston Walker Sports Radio ninety
two seven WFNZ, And look, Joe, I mean t MAC
has been very good to the first three weeks. I
want to tap into your history covering the Panthers, Like
when these guys come in and show you something like
this right away, do you feel like this is going
to play out for the long term with t mac?
Are there any rookies that come to mind that wowed
(03:43):
you the way that t MAC has What are what
are you picking up from what t MAC has done
so far to the first three weeks.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Hey, you know, it's a great question, and I've I'm
getting old, so my memory's spotty. He certainly, to me
looks much more power and a guy that's gonna have
future success than like, let's say, Calvin Benjamin, who was
a first round pick way back when again, I'm you know,
(04:12):
certainly more recently. He looks a lot farther along than
Xavier Legette did this time last year. But and not
to not leget I mean, but you know, there's a
difference between taking a receiver number eight overall and thirty second,
which of course is where they took leget. But he
I did a piece last week with our Falcons writer
(04:33):
kind of looking at Bryce versus Michael Pennox, and part
of it was looking at the surrounding cast in Atlanta
and in Carolina. And I spoke to a personnel guy
with another team and he said, he said, look, I
really like the I really like the McMillan guy. He
just makes it look effortlessly. He just he's the real deal. Now,
(04:59):
this this particular executive was not all that fond of
the other pieces around Bryce Young, but he certainly was
was high on on t Mac. And for good reason.
He he you know, I'd like to see you know,
we haven't seen a ton of deep stuff. At least
one set of counties made some pretty spectacular catches that
(05:20):
you know that didn't you know, either out of bounds
or you know, trapped the ball at Jacksonville, so and
so forth. But he's the real deal, man, I really think.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So yeah, Joe, So we like what we're seeing from
t MAC. Obviously we love what we saw in week
three with that shut out victory. It was not good
the first two weeks. I guess my question is how
much are we allowed to change the calculus on what
we expect from Carolina the rest of the way. Because
of what they did in Week three against Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
You know, I think it's okay to be optimistic. And
I mean this is a team that has had very
little to tier about the fan base, I should say,
since David Tepper took over the team, the one exception
being that stretch in twenty twenty two when they had
it going with Steve Wilkes and Ben McAdoo was the
(06:10):
offensive interim offensive coordinator. And sure enough, Ben mcadow's the
he's on this Patriots coaching staff and a kind of
an off senior offensive role. But nevertheless, yeah, look the
defense gives you some hope, right because I know I
mentioned the two edge guys you know, being iffy this week,
(06:31):
but boy, the interior line, where you know where they
sunk a lot of that money has off season money
has looked really good. And that's really that's without getting
a ton of production from the new guys. It's really
been Derek Brown and Ashawn Robinson. And it just shows
you again the value of Derek Brown. Like I've said
(06:53):
this before and probably on your show, but I remember
watching that guy his senior year at Auburn, and I
mean in the in college football's toughest conference. He made
the Georgia offensive line, the Alabambama offensive lineman, he made
him look stupid because he was like throwing him around
like rag doll. He's doing that now. He didn't do
(07:13):
it his first couple of years. Here. I think he is.
I did a story this summer where he said he
was thinking too much. You know, he just was you know,
he put a lot of pressure on himself. And now
he's back to playing like that dude, that guy at
Auburn where he is just a game wrecker. And having
him back, I mean, yeah, you can dare to dream
this defense, you know, being like a top fifteen dare
(07:36):
we say top ten unit, which would be a huge
bounce back from where they were a year ago.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, Joe throwing fuel under the Panthers fandom fire that
have been trying to talk back here a little bit.
I love to hear it. Joe person from the athletic
joining us here on Weston Walker Sports raded ninety two
seven WFNZ, and I lied, what's his back?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
That's right? Okay?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, he is returned, and he's got a couple questions
for Joe and so the whole show is complete again.
Wes takeaway.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, Joe, I was going to ask you, man, what
if anything worries you about this New England matchup.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Well, I, first of all, I think Drake May is
the more accomplished quarterback than Michael Pennix. And back to
Walker's point, we should temper things a little bit with
the defensive expectations with the caveat that. Michael Pennix looked
just completely awful last week. So you know, Drake May
I think is going to cause a little more problems.
(08:34):
And you know, I like their tight end Hunter Henry.
We have seen the Panthers struggle the first two weeks,
especially not really so much last week. We saw them
really struggle at Jacksonville and Arizona to deal with tight
ends and you know, exposing the middle of the field
and that that was the knock on this safety group.
(08:55):
I think we all can agree that Merrig and a
Merrigan in particular in Leath and Ransom and do a
lesser degree Nick Scott our physical dudes against the run,
especially as I say, Merrigan Ransom, but a little bit
of a liability at least that was you know, the
knock on them in coverage, and so that that would
(09:17):
be a concern I have going up to Foxborough this weekend.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
So Joe New England, Miami, Dallas and the Jets, a
lot of Panther fans are really starting to get excited
about these upcoming matchups. What do you feel like is
a realistic way to look at this from a record standpoint.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I was taking to a guy last week when they
were sitting there at zero and two and looking at
the schedule, and I thought, if they got through week
five at two and three, that's that. And I know
they're bigger tests to come, but that's that's okay. Like that,
at least you don't have the fan base just like,
oh here we go again, same old Panthers. I'm going
(09:55):
to go spend my money and resources somewhere else, you know,
starting about mid October, like I have the last few years.
You know. Again, I mean it's a low bar. And
and like during the seat during the preseason when we
were asked to make our predictions at the Athletic, I
had the Panthers going eight and nine, And to me,
(10:16):
that's I know, it's small in this and the NFL
is all about. We all know the NFL worse the
first stories. There's there's one or two of those every year,
and and that's not what I was picking for the Panthers,
but I had them, you know, kind of like last year.
They go from two wins to five, five wins to eight.
They've got money to spend this coming off season. Uh
(10:37):
so we'll see. Maybe, you know, maybe I end up
being maybe I was too bullish, Maybe I wasn't optimistic enough.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
So Joe, like Walker was talking about changing calculus of things.
If they come out of this four game stretch with
a five hundred record or maybe even a little bit
over that, do you expect the Panthers to try to
make any moves via trade, like at line or any
other spots that they feel like could really help them
compete at a higher level.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah? Maybe, I mean a lot could happen between now
and then and will happen, and they'll there'll be some
injuries that that teams have to address. You know, you
do wonder if if Davi or Legett continues to be
kind of an afterthought in this offense, you know, is
he a guy that Dan Morgan might look to move
and you know, with the change of scenery, you know
(11:28):
type principle that that maybe some other team. I mean, hecky,
you know, he got got some decent pick for Jonathan Mingo,
so uh, you would think there would be some interest
in Xavier. Look at where A long way to that point,
let me make it clear. But yeah, Dan Morgan like
he and he was with Scott Fitter and and Dan's
(11:50):
shown himself since he took over that he's not afraid
to do things. And you know, even you know, even
like with the with the Adam feeling thing, which to
me made them worse in the short term, but it
was it was a tough situation for Dan Morgan because
I think Feelan could have made things and probably was
(12:11):
making things very difficult had they held on to him.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, Joe, you mentioned Excel and the possibility of trading him.
I know that we're a long way to that point,
but I did want to ask and check in on
your belief level and Excel at this point. And do
you know what their belief level is in right now
approaching week four with him on the sideline currently.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, I don't know how much believe Bryce Young has
in them. We saw that play in Jacksonville where when
the game was still in the balance and Bryce was
trying to throw the ball to a very open Xavier
Lagett in the flat and Xavier never turned around, and
he was the first read should have known to turn
his head around, didn't. And you know, we all were wondering, like, oh,
(12:55):
why was Bryce so ticked off when he got to
the sideline and throw his helmet. He wasn't mad at
Canalis or the play call. He I think he was
very frustrated Xavier Leget And so that's not good. You know,
if you if you got a quarterback, that's that's losing
faith in yet and again, listen, Bryce Young is a
team guy, like he is not going to be like
(13:16):
turn my back on Xavier log At every every Sunday.
But that you know, you're starting to see some warning
signs and and you know, Xavier was was okay last year.
It wasn't like a complete bust that has some very
crucial drops, obviously Philly being the biggest one, but that
(13:37):
you could still kind of look at him and say, Okay,
there's some upside here. And maybe with the addition of
a true number one receiver in McMillan. Maybe the pressure
comes off la get and and he starts to thrive
as a secondary receiver. And again that could still happen,
just haven't seen it here in the early going.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Joe, We'll get a couple more questions in before we
get you out of here. Joe Person from the Athletic
follow him on Twitter at Joseph Person. Speaking of belief levels,
Jaro Vero has done a decently nice job, I would
say in the last certainly six quarters of football. What
are your takeaways from what Avo has done with a
revamped defense through free agency? But how are you feeling
about the way that a Varos called game so far?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Pretty good? Yeah, they they are his system as such
that it is never going to be just like hair
on fire, let's let's blitz, you know, let's go at
you with with seven guys and play, you know, man
on the outside. It's it is a it is a
defense that wants to make keep offenses drive down the
(14:43):
field and they kind of play that deep shell in
the secondary where they're trying to keep everything in front
of them, and that can be a little frustrating at times,
and because you know, you see teams start to pick
up first downs and move down into Panthers territory, although
Atlanta never got past the Panthers thirty last week. But
(15:03):
at any rate, I kind of do I do respect
to Gerro that he has stuck to his guns and
he has not changed who he is, and I think
he's a guy too. It might not be to the
level of Steve Wilkes kind of respect in the locker room,
but talking to guys in this Bank of America home
(15:25):
locker room Sunday after that win, there were more than
a couple that pointed to Wilkes and you know, kind
of shouted, excuse me, Pap shouted out of arrow after
the first shutout in five years.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I would ask you too about Lathan Ransom. How much
longer do you think fans will have to wait before
we see him on the field, even more possibly in
a starting capacity.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You know, I don't know. I don't say. Listen, if
they thought he was ready, he'd be out there. I mean,
these guys are in the business of winning games, and
I know everyone's kind of banged on Nick's guy, and
I get it. I think Nick's playing better, you know,
than he did last year. But you know, you don't
want to just roll rookies out, and not every rookie
(16:14):
is Teteroa McMillan like. They're not all just wind them
up and play from day one. They're just not. And
I think Lathan Ransom is going to be very good
in this league, and probably sooner rather than later. And
and so will it will that transition happened this year probably,
you know, I can't sit and put a number on it.
(16:35):
They like him that, I do know. They feel like
there's some things in his game he still has to
clean up. I don't know if that's he seems like
no one has told me this, but he does seem
like the kind of guy who, because so much of
his emphasis is coming forward and coming forward with an attitude.
You wonder if he could be someone that gets burned
with dirty eyes, as they say, you know, trying to
(16:59):
just come up and make a big play on a
play action or something. But I've liked what I've seen
of them, and I like his attitude. It's very much
like Trayvon Marry, who has really been a big addition
to this defense.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Last thing I got for you, man, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
They're banged up right now. With what we've seen from
Atlanta and the Saints as will. I mean, is it
out of the realm of possibility to think that the
Panthers could have a chance to make some noise in
this division?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I mean, they've been in the right division to make
noise for like the last five years. It seem that
whenever Brady left Tampa Bay, so what three years and
they haven't, So, you know, fool me once kind of thing,
I know, I mean, I don't. I'm not ready to
proclaim this team a division contender. I just not. I
(17:51):
think there's still there's still a process they're going through.
And but I mean, again, we talked about this a
minute ago. The way they set up this leg and
the salary cap and the parody like it. It is
designed for a team like the Panthers to jump up
and win this division. And they are in the right division,
(18:12):
as I said, to do so, so who knows? Crazier
things have happened.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Joe Person joining us on Wesson Walker from The Athletic.
Follow him on Twitter at Joseph Person, and then again
subscribe to The Athletic to read his latest article and more.
The latest one is what he's hearing what he's seeing
from the Panthers juggling wide receivers and secondary versus top
ten qbs. He's out at Bank of America Stadium right now. Joe,
thank you so much for the time. As always, Man,
(18:37):
we appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thanks guys. See
West and walker Back Sports Radio ninety two to seven
WFNZ no Wes. Wes is still talking to the coaches
from Virginia Tech and getting ready for that NC State
Virginia Tech matchup over in Raleigh this weekend. So instead,
I guess we'll have to welcome Joe Person to the show.
You know him well. He writes for The Athletic. He
covers the Panthers, been doing so for a long time.
(00:28):
Follow him on Twitter at Joseph Person and subscribe to
the Athletic to read his latest article on the Panthers.
What I'm seeing from the Panthers juggling wide receivers and
secondary versus top ten quarterbacks. Joe, thanks so much for
the time, man. How are you doing doing well?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Man? Just leaving Panthers practice, so if it's hopefully the
reception's good. It's a little breezy out here.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Oh no, we love you being on site, babe. That's
why we're having you, so we appreciate it. And Joe,
it's been an interesting injury update week over there at Boa.
What should we be the most worried about health wise
heading into New England?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Probably the two edge rushers, uh, Pat Jones and DJ
want them both of them here we are on Wednesday,
And of course Patt didn't play last week, and now
Wanham has joined him on the side of these practices.
So look, I know we've all talked and written a
lot about the two rookie edge guys and they have
(01:23):
certainly looked promising and and look like they're going to
be good players. Talking about Nick Gordon and Princey, Princely
Uma and the Ellen. But you know, I don't know
that you want Princely being out there for sixty snaps,
and I don't think he will be. I think someone
like DJ Johnson or others will will kind of play
some rundowns. But uh, yeah, that you know, Xavier Leaguette
(01:48):
remains on the sideline with that hamstring. You know, they
didn't seem to miss him that much last week, wasn't
It wasn't a huge day for the offense. But yeah,
to answer your question, I'm keeping an eye on these
edge rushers as they get ready for you know former
Meyers part great Drake May.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That's right, and he knows the area so well that
he knew JJ Janssen was still on the roster. So unfortunately,
awesome it's unreal too. Yeah, it's it's crazy. Unfortunately, we're
gonna have to beat one of our own, hopefully with
Drake May being a former Panthers fan. It's Joe Person
joining us here on Weston Walker Sports Radio ninety two
to seven WFNZ. Joe obviously, Jayleen Cocher still on IR.
(02:29):
He has one more week to miss before he's eligible
to return. What are the vibes from what you're getting
right now on Jalen Coker's potential return?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Hard to tell. I've been I watched him a little
bit today, you know, running on the side, and uh,
you know, I don't know. That didn't look like he
was necessarily opening up one hundred percent. But maybe he's
doing that later today when we're not around. Dave Panalis
yesterday was asked about Coker and he was pretty noncommittal.
(03:00):
Canallis as we've gotten into regular season mode, he has
been a little more protective and less forthcoming with injury updates,
which most NFL coaches are, so no no fault there,
but he continued to call canal excuse me, canalics continue
to call Coker week to week yesterday, so hard for
(03:20):
me to get a real good read on that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Joe person joining us on Weston Walker Sports Radio ninety
two seven WFNZ, And look, Joe, I mean t MAC
has been very good to the first three weeks. I
want to tap into your history covering the Panthers, Like
when these guys come in and show you something like
this right away, do you feel like this is going
to play out for the long term with t mac?
Are there any rookies that come to mind that wowed
(03:43):
you the way that t MAC has What are what
are you picking up from what t MAC has done
so far to the first three weeks.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Hey, you know, it's a great question, and I've I'm
getting old, so my memory's spotty. He certainly, to me
looks much more power and a guy that's gonna have
future success than like, let's say, Calvin Benjamin, who was
a first round pick way back when again, I'm you know,
(04:12):
certainly more recently. He looks a lot farther along than
Xavier Legette did this time last year. But and not
to not leget I mean, but you know, there's a
difference between taking a receiver number eight overall and thirty second,
which of course is where they took leget. But he
I did a piece last week with our Falcons writer
(04:33):
kind of looking at Bryce versus Michael Pennox, and part
of it was looking at the surrounding cast in Atlanta
and in Carolina. And I spoke to a personnel guy
with another team and he said, he said, look, I
really like the I really like the McMillan guy. He
just makes it look effortlessly. He just he's the real deal. Now,
(04:59):
this this particular executive was not all that fond of
the other pieces around Bryce Young, but he certainly was
was high on on t Mac. And for good reason.
He he you know, I'd like to see you know,
we haven't seen a ton of deep stuff. At least
one set of counties made some pretty spectacular catches that
(05:20):
you know that didn't you know, either out of bounds
or you know, trapped the ball at Jacksonville, so and
so forth. But he's the real deal, man, I really think.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So yeah, Joe, So we like what we're seeing from
t MAC. Obviously we love what we saw in week
three with that shut out victory. It was not good
the first two weeks. I guess my question is how
much are we allowed to change the calculus on what
we expect from Carolina the rest of the way. Because
of what they did in Week three against Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
You know, I think it's okay to be optimistic. And
I mean this is a team that has had very
little to tier about the fan base, I should say,
since David Tepper took over the team, the one exception
being that stretch in twenty twenty two when they had
it going with Steve Wilkes and Ben McAdoo was the
(06:10):
offensive interim offensive coordinator. And sure enough, Ben mcadow's the
he's on this Patriots coaching staff and a kind of
an off senior offensive role. But nevertheless, yeah, look the
defense gives you some hope, right because I know I
mentioned the two edge guys you know, being iffy this week,
(06:31):
but boy, the interior line, where you know where they
sunk a lot of that money has off season money
has looked really good. And that's really that's without getting
a ton of production from the new guys. It's really
been Derek Brown and Ashawn Robinson. And it just shows
you again the value of Derek Brown. Like I've said
(06:53):
this before and probably on your show, but I remember
watching that guy his senior year at Auburn, and I
mean in the in college football's toughest conference. He made
the Georgia offensive line, the Alabambama offensive lineman, he made
him look stupid because he was like throwing him around
like rag doll. He's doing that now. He didn't do
(07:13):
it his first couple of years. Here. I think he is.
I did a story this summer where he said he
was thinking too much. You know, he just was you know,
he put a lot of pressure on himself. And now
he's back to playing like that dude, that guy at
Auburn where he is just a game wrecker. And having
him back, I mean, yeah, you can dare to dream
this defense, you know, being like a top fifteen dare
(07:36):
we say top ten unit, which would be a huge
bounce back from where they were a year ago.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, Joe throwing fuel under the Panthers fandom fire that
have been trying to talk back here a little bit.
I love to hear it. Joe person from the athletic
joining us here on Weston Walker Sports raded ninety two
seven WFNZ, and I lied, what's his back?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
That's right? Okay?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, he is returned, and he's got a couple questions
for Joe and so the whole show is complete again.
Wes takeaway.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, Joe, I was going to ask you, man, what
if anything worries you about this New England matchup.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Well, I, first of all, I think Drake May is
the more accomplished quarterback than Michael Pennix. And back to
Walker's point, we should temper things a little bit with
the defensive expectations with the caveat that. Michael Pennix looked
just completely awful last week. So you know, Drake May
I think is going to cause a little more problems.
(08:34):
And you know, I like their tight end Hunter Henry.
We have seen the Panthers struggle the first two weeks,
especially not really so much last week. We saw them
really struggle at Jacksonville and Arizona to deal with tight
ends and you know, exposing the middle of the field
and that that was the knock on this safety group.
(08:55):
I think we all can agree that Merrig and a
Merrigan in particular in Leath and Ransom and do a
lesser degree Nick Scott our physical dudes against the run,
especially as I say, Merrigan Ransom, but a little bit
of a liability at least that was you know, the
knock on them in coverage, and so that that would
(09:17):
be a concern I have going up to Foxborough this weekend.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
So Joe New England, Miami, Dallas and the Jets, a
lot of Panther fans are really starting to get excited
about these upcoming matchups. What do you feel like is
a realistic way to look at this from a record standpoint.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I was taking to a guy last week when they
were sitting there at zero and two and looking at
the schedule, and I thought, if they got through week
five at two and three, that's that. And I know
they're bigger tests to come, but that's that's okay. Like that,
at least you don't have the fan base just like,
oh here we go again, same old Panthers. I'm going
(09:55):
to go spend my money and resources somewhere else, you know,
starting about mid October, like I have the last few years.
You know. Again, I mean it's a low bar. And
and like during the seat during the preseason when we
were asked to make our predictions at the Athletic, I
had the Panthers going eight and nine, And to me,
(10:16):
that's I know, it's small in this and the NFL
is all about. We all know the NFL worse the
first stories. There's there's one or two of those every year,
and and that's not what I was picking for the Panthers,
but I had them, you know, kind of like last year.
They go from two wins to five, five wins to eight.
They've got money to spend this coming off season. Uh
(10:37):
so we'll see. Maybe, you know, maybe I end up
being maybe I was too bullish, Maybe I wasn't optimistic enough.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
So Joe, like Walker was talking about changing calculus of things.
If they come out of this four game stretch with
a five hundred record or maybe even a little bit
over that, do you expect the Panthers to try to
make any moves via trade, like at line or any
other spots that they feel like could really help them
compete at a higher level.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah? Maybe, I mean a lot could happen between now
and then and will happen, and they'll there'll be some
injuries that that teams have to address. You know, you
do wonder if if Davi or Legett continues to be
kind of an afterthought in this offense, you know, is
he a guy that Dan Morgan might look to move
and you know, with the change of scenery, you know
(11:28):
type principle that that maybe some other team. I mean, hecky,
you know, he got got some decent pick for Jonathan Mingo,
so uh, you would think there would be some interest
in Xavier. Look at where A long way to that point,
let me make it clear. But yeah, Dan Morgan like
he and he was with Scott Fitter and and Dan's
(11:50):
shown himself since he took over that he's not afraid
to do things. And you know, even you know, even
like with the with the Adam feeling thing, which to
me made them worse in the short term, but it
was it was a tough situation for Dan Morgan because
I think Feelan could have made things and probably was
(12:11):
making things very difficult had they held on to him.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, Joe, you mentioned Excel and the possibility of trading him.
I know that we're a long way to that point,
but I did want to ask and check in on
your belief level and Excel at this point. And do
you know what their belief level is in right now
approaching week four with him on the sideline currently.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, I don't know how much believe Bryce Young has
in them. We saw that play in Jacksonville where when
the game was still in the balance and Bryce was
trying to throw the ball to a very open Xavier
Lagett in the flat and Xavier never turned around, and
he was the first read should have known to turn
his head around, didn't. And you know, we all were wondering, like, oh,
(12:55):
why was Bryce so ticked off when he got to
the sideline and throw his helmet. He wasn't mad at
Canalis or the play call. He I think he was
very frustrated Xavier Leget And so that's not good. You know,
if you if you got a quarterback, that's that's losing
faith in yet and again, listen, Bryce Young is a
team guy, like he is not going to be like
(13:16):
turn my back on Xavier log At every every Sunday.
But that you know, you're starting to see some warning
signs and and you know, Xavier was was okay last year.
It wasn't like a complete bust that has some very
crucial drops, obviously Philly being the biggest one, but that
(13:37):
you could still kind of look at him and say, Okay,
there's some upside here. And maybe with the addition of
a true number one receiver in McMillan. Maybe the pressure
comes off la get and and he starts to thrive
as a secondary receiver. And again that could still happen,
just haven't seen it here in the early going.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Joe, We'll get a couple more questions in before we
get you out of here. Joe Person from the Athletic
follow him on Twitter at Joseph Person. Speaking of belief levels,
Jaro Vero has done a decently nice job, I would
say in the last certainly six quarters of football. What
are your takeaways from what Avo has done with a
revamped defense through free agency? But how are you feeling
about the way that a Varos called game so far?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Pretty good? Yeah, they they are his system as such
that it is never going to be just like hair
on fire, let's let's blitz, you know, let's go at
you with with seven guys and play, you know, man
on the outside. It's it is a it is a
defense that wants to make keep offenses drive down the
(14:43):
field and they kind of play that deep shell in
the secondary where they're trying to keep everything in front
of them, and that can be a little frustrating at times,
and because you know, you see teams start to pick
up first downs and move down into Panthers territory, although
Atlanta never got past the Panthers thirty last week. But
(15:03):
at any rate, I kind of do I do respect
to Gerro that he has stuck to his guns and
he has not changed who he is, and I think
he's a guy too. It might not be to the
level of Steve Wilkes kind of respect in the locker room,
but talking to guys in this Bank of America home
(15:25):
locker room Sunday after that win, there were more than
a couple that pointed to Wilkes and you know, kind
of shouted, excuse me, Pap shouted out of arrow after
the first shutout in five years.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
I would ask you too about Lathan Ransom. How much
longer do you think fans will have to wait before
we see him on the field, even more possibly in
a starting capacity.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You know, I don't know. I don't say. Listen, if
they thought he was ready, he'd be out there. I mean,
these guys are in the business of winning games, and
I know everyone's kind of banged on Nick's guy, and
I get it. I think Nick's playing better, you know,
than he did last year. But you know, you don't
want to just roll rookies out, and not every rookie
(16:14):
is Teteroa McMillan like. They're not all just wind them
up and play from day one. They're just not. And
I think Lathan Ransom is going to be very good
in this league, and probably sooner rather than later. And
and so will it will that transition happened this year probably,
you know, I can't sit and put a number on it.
(16:35):
They like him that, I do know. They feel like
there's some things in his game he still has to
clean up. I don't know if that's he seems like
no one has told me this, but he does seem
like the kind of guy who, because so much of
his emphasis is coming forward and coming forward with an attitude.
You wonder if he could be someone that gets burned
with dirty eyes, as they say, you know, trying to
(16:59):
just come up and make a big play on a
play action or something. But I've liked what I've seen
of them, and I like his attitude. It's very much
like Trayvon Marry, who has really been a big addition
to this defense.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Last thing I got for you, man, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
They're banged up right now. With what we've seen from
Atlanta and the Saints as will. I mean, is it
out of the realm of possibility to think that the
Panthers could have a chance to make some noise in
this division?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I mean, they've been in the right division to make
noise for like the last five years. It seem that
whenever Brady left Tampa Bay, so what three years and
they haven't, So, you know, fool me once kind of thing,
I know, I mean, I don't. I'm not ready to
proclaim this team a division contender. I just not. I
(17:51):
think there's still there's still a process they're going through.
And but I mean, again, we talked about this a
minute ago. The way they set up this leg and
the salary cap and the parody like it. It is
designed for a team like the Panthers to jump up
and win this division. And they are in the right division,
(18:12):
as I said, to do so, so who knows? Crazier
things have happened.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Joe Person joining us on Wesson Walker from The Athletic.
Follow him on Twitter at Joseph Person, and then again
subscribe to The Athletic to read his latest article and more.
The latest one is what he's hearing what he's seeing
from the Panthers juggling wide receivers and secondary versus top
ten qbs. He's out at Bank of America Stadium right now. Joe,
thank you so much for the time. As always, Man,
(18:37):
we appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thanks guys. See
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