April 16, 2025 • 18 mins
Voice of the Panthers Anish Shroff joins Erin Summers to discuss the growth of Bryce Young, the Panthers offseason moves and upcoming draft.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints Podcast, present a
buy Seacake. You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters and writers
that cover the NFL on a daily basis. The New
Orleans Saints Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Aaron Summers here
back again with some more NFC South Draft previews. Also
getting caught up on what they did during the offseason
leading up to the draft, because of course that may
affect some of their needs and players that they're looking for.
We've previewed the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, We're looking at
the Carolina Panthers today, and then on Friday, we are
(00:50):
going to get into things with the Tampa Bay Bucks.
For the Panthers today, they do pick in that eighth
spot first round, right before the Saints do at number nine,
could have an effect on who's available for the Saints,
and what's happening with the Saints could have an effect
on what the Panthers do with their pick. So a
lot to get into here, and for that reason, I
(01:11):
am bringing in the Panthers radio play by play voice
of the Carolina Panthers Aniche Shiraff to help break things
down with me. Anish, Thank you so much for joining
me on the New Orleans Saints podcast. It's always good
to see you and catch up. Off season is here,
but it doesn't seem like much of an off season.
We've both been really busy as we're gearing up for
the draft here. But how are things going for you?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
It's just been topsy turvy. It's spinning, but I mean
that in the best possible way. With baseball and college
basketball being done, a little bit of lacrosse, college baseball,
and you know, obviously the NFL Draft right around the corner.
Exciting time, especially given how the Panthers finished last season,
(01:53):
what they were able to do in free agency, and
now you're kind of looking for that final layer of
the roster before you get into camp and certainly before
you get into the summer.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, looking at what they did last season, saw a
new level of Bryce Young at quarterback. So same things
seem pretty solid there. Offense looks good. Defense might be
the side of the ball that we're looking to continue
to bolster here through the draft.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
What are you.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Thinking as far as what the needs are coming out
of free agency and last season.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Well, what they were able to do last year. If
you go back, they needed to shore up the offensive
line a year ago, and they went out and they
signed Robert Hunt, who you guys know, having played his
college ball in Louisiana. They went out and got another
Louisiana guy, former LSU product in Damian Lewis, and all
of a sudden, it made a huge difference. The Panthers
(02:45):
went from an offensive line that didn't have a ton
of depth the year before that was ravaged by injuries
to this past season. It was a top ten unit.
They were able to run the ball. Touba Hubbard had
his best season and the bryce that we saw the
second half and guys probably remember and it's painful. He
started with that win against the Saints and that was
(03:05):
really the turn, that was the pivot point in his
brief two year career. He then beats the Giants, they
go into a bye week, everybody is still in a
half measure mode. Is this for real? Is it a mirage?
And then he goes to Tote with Patrick Mahomes almost
beats Philly and the way he ended the season with
(03:25):
the five touchdown game against Atlanta, people feel really good
about Bryce Young going into twenty twenty five, could they
use another skill player. I think you can make a
case that there's maybe a need for another wide receiver
or a pass catching tight end. But what they did
last year was kind of go all in on offense,
(03:46):
and they knew that they were gonna be a little
thin on defense. And when you're thin going into the year,
then you have injuries the way the Panthers did first
game of the year against the Saints. You lose Derek Brown.
He's the best player on the team. That was crippling.
They were never really the same upfront. So this offseason
they treated it much like they treated the old line
(04:07):
last offseason. They went out and they tried to get
Milton Armstrong, couldn't get him. But thereon Williams right, the
guy from Philly. But they did go out and they
got Bobby Brown, a guy who's young and still has
some pretty good upside. You get Derek Brown healthy coming back.
Ashawn Robinson is back. Now. They wanted to address the
(04:29):
pass rush, so you bring back Clowney and wantam Now
add Turk Wharton from the Chiefs. You go and add
Pat Jones coming over from the Vikings. So you've added
some pieces. You go get morg the safety from the Raiders.
So they put themselves in a position where, yes, defense
clearly is still going to be the need, but they
(04:52):
can go get the best available player or even maneuver
and possibly trade that eighth overall pick. They've given them
selves options by getting deeper through free agency defense.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
You mentioned kind of building that defensive line through free agency.
The first pick, though I've seen in a lot of
these mock drafts for the Panthers, is still on the
line as an edge that seems like a lot of
teams are after them, and there's a lot of good
ones in this draft. It's a very deep position, which
is good. The Panthers pick at eighth, right before the Saints.
(05:27):
So in the draft mock drafts that you've seen names
that have been popping up, do you think they're going
to go with an edge or are they going to
kind of look in more into the secondary to start
things off?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah? I think so much of it will depend on
what happens one through seven. Right. If a Mason Graham
is available, boy, doesn't that look tempting. You can get
a d lineman like that, you pair him with Derek
Brown and Ayshawn Robinson and Bobby Brown All of a sudden,
that's a pretty formidable defensive front in a coach of
(06:00):
Arrow's three to four defense. Would an abdull Carter get
to eight? I would highly doubt it. But if he's there,
that's got to be tantalizing. And then you know, you
look at the Georgia guys, namely Jalen Walker, whose name
has been associated with that eighth pick quite a bit.
Just the pedigree of the Georgia defensive players going into
(06:20):
the draft and being successful in the NFL these last
few years. Look no further than you're defending Super Bowl
champions of the Eagles. I mean, how many Georgia guys
were on their defense. And Walker's unique because not only
can he rush the passer and he could play the
edge for you, he's a pretty good off ball linebacker
and he's pretty strong in run support, and a lot
(06:41):
of scouts see that as his strength right now and
almost see the edge rusher potential is something that is developing,
still a little raw and on polished, but certainly it's there.
And you know, some of the comps that I've heard,
one is Frankie Louvu, who you guys saw when he
played for the Panthers. That guy was a human tempest.
And Walker is a movable chess piece in that defense. Again,
(07:04):
if he's there, i'd imagine he's going to be an
option for Dan Morgan.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
After that. I've seen a lot of safety as a
position that pops later in the draft. You have nine
picks number eight and then second round it's fifty seven,
and he kind of scattered through the rest of the
draft from there. Safety secondary, How big of a need
do you feel like that is?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Well, again, they're not very deep there. So they re
signed j C. Horn, their cornerback, the son of Joe Horn.
He got a massive deal to stay with Carolina. They
re signed Mike Jackson, who had a pretty strong year.
They got him from Seattle for a seventh round pick.
Not a ton of depth behind those guys at corner.
And then the safety room's been totally rebuilt. They went
(07:47):
and got Mooring from the Raiders, who's really good against
the run. And then right now after that, you got
Demani Richardson, who was an undrafted free agent last year,
had a couple of strong games when he started, but again,
young guy not a ton of experience. They brought Nick
Scott back. He was up and down last year. I
(08:08):
think they view him more, at least now, as a
special teams piece. And you know, a guy who could
start at a pinch, but that is in need. And
what's unique is the NFL has sort of devalued the
safety position where you can't play that position the way
a Ronnie Lott or a Jack Tatum or a Steve
at Water or even a John Lynch played that position.
(08:31):
Otherwise you're just gonna get fined left and right, maybe
suspended and penalized a whole lot. So I think what
the Panthers would like as a ballhawk back there. They
haven't had that ballhawking safety in a few years. And
you know there's names out there. You get Malachi Starks,
another Georgia guy, Xavier Watts, who people saw at Notre Dame.
(08:51):
I think he had double digit interceptions over the last
two years. So there are some options there. The question
is when do you take them. Do you take them
early second round? Is that too early? Or can you
wait and take a safety and get a good one later.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
It's second season under head coach Dave Canals, so you
have an idea of what he likes players, and the
front office obviously came in at the same time. What's
that dynamic, like, how much, say, does Canals have in
who he thinks they should draft or the positions that
he feel is needed.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Well, the buzzword a year ago was alignment general manager, head, coach,
ownership all the way down. And there's a stream of
information and a flow of information that moves both ways.
So certainly Dave has a lot of input. He has
a long relationship with Dan Morgan going back to their
days in Seattle, so they're very much aligned in terms
(09:48):
of what fits, what do we need, what can we get,
what makes sense given the constraints of the salary cap
in the NFL. I think the biggest benefit of having
Dave and his staff back mostly intact for year two
is going to be to the offense in Bryce Young.
Dave Canalis is also the offensive coordinator. Essentially, he's the
(10:08):
play caller, so Bryce, for the first time in his
pro career, will have that continuity from one offseason to
the next. And if we've learned anything about him, this
kid is a fast learner. And if we saw the
strides he made in the second half. I think it's
exciting to see what he can do now with a
full offseason in the same offense, not having to learn
(10:29):
a new language all over again.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
We might not bury the lead here, But how much
is the Panthers draft dependent on what we've been hearing
about the Saints and what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of truth to that,
because even though the Panthers are not in the market
for a quarterback, if the Saints are, and with New
Orleans holding the ninth pick overall, and even if there's
a team that picks after the Saints that might be
interested in a quarterback, well, now probably have to move
(11:01):
up at least to nine, probably into the top eight
to go get a quarterback. I think there's still this
prevailing sentiment that cam Ward is going to go in
the top seven picks. You know, Shador Sanders. We're kind
of saying projections all over the place. I still think
at the end of the day, with Tennessee, with the Giants,
some of the teams picking in the top seven, I
(11:23):
still think Shadoor Sanders finds himself on one of those teams. Now,
if he's off the board before the Saints pick. Are
they going to trade up to go get a Jackson Dart.
Is somebody else going to leapfrog the Saints and try
to move up to go get a Jackson Dart, maybe
even Shador Sanders, And all of a sudden, that eighth
pick now for the Panthers becomes prime real estate. Where
(11:46):
let's say you do decide to move down, and you
do decide to trade the pick. Teams that generally are
trading up with the intention of drafting a quarterback will
give you more draft capital for that pick.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
It's going to be really interesting to see how things
shake out because I remember being at the combine and
if dul Carter stood up there and said, I am
the best player in this draft and I should go
number one, and I just don't know if that's going
to be what happens. He is definitely talented, but there
are a lot of teams out here who do need quarterbacks.
(12:21):
You know, Tyler Schuck from Louisville has been climbing up
the board as well over the past couple of days.
So it's going to be a lot of movement, I
feel like, and a lot of surprises.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yeah, and Shuck to me is a real interesting case
because he was in college forever. I think he's twenty five,
twenty six years old. He's got a pretty lengthy injury history.
So is that a guy that you're going to mortgage
your first round pick on to go get If you're
the Saints and you're looking at Tyler Shuck, does that
(12:52):
make sense given that you know, Derek Carr hasn't exactly
been a poster child of health in who's his two
years with New Orleans and now, well, you know, might
be dealing with something. I feel like we don't quite
know the whole story there, but to me, there's you know,
a couple of the guys too, Jalen Milroe at Alabama.
(13:12):
I heard some rumblings at the combine where, you know,
a couple of people were saying, don't be surprised if
somebody gets enamored by his workout, because physically he can
do a lot of the things that Lamar Jackson does
and it's a copycat league. Now, does that mean he's
going to be the next Lamar Jackson? The odds are
(13:33):
probably slim, but it takes one team to believe that, Hey,
is there a spot where we can go get a
Jalen Milroe and maybe develop him for a year. He
sits for a year. And now if you have even
Lamar Light, he got a top ten quarterback in the NFL.
So you know, those things are interesting. And the other
(13:54):
thing is, you know, is there is a little bit
of a misinformation war that goes on and it ram
especially now you know, you start to listen to the
signal and the noise and decipher what's what. They're teams
and agents putting things out with a purpose and they're
hoping for people like us to pick up on it
and tweet it and post it and go on TV
(14:16):
and talk about it and say, hey, this guy Tyler Schuck,
this guy his draft stock is going up and down.
And a lot of these are smoke screens. A lot
of these are to throw other teams off the set,
and you got to really decipher what's real and what's not.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Right now, I think it's always so funny because there's
fifty players that are getting drafted in the top ten,
you know, and these agents are sure of it and
you better go out and get them. And it's like, okay,
let's think about this. I don't think the math adds
up here. Looking at the NFC South, I feel like
a couple of years ago, everybody was trying to solidify
their quarterback position and really looking at their offense. This
(14:53):
year seems like every team is really trying to make
their defense better across the board. The Falcons, the Bucks
like that is the area they need to get better,
and the Saints honestly as well. So it's going to
be an interesting year in the division. How do you
think things are going to shake out?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
You know, it's wild because for a while, you had
Drew Brees in New Orleans. You had those years where
Tom Brady was in Tampa and Matt Ryan Cam Newton.
You really had some established quarterbacks in the ANFC South.
And you know, age catches up to everybody. Cam is
(15:32):
out of the league, Matt Ryan retires, Breeze retires, Brady
retired for good, I hope, and now everyone's kind of
searching for that next guy. We saw what the Falcons
did last year taking Pennix. The Panthers traded up to
number one to go get Bryce Young. The Bucks were
able to resurrect Baker Mayfield's career. The Saints were hoping
(15:56):
that Derek Carr would be maybe an answer that seems murky,
But this division is still very open. The Saints are
a team you mentioned changes on defense, they were getting
older on defense. I think they're at a bit of
a crossroads. Tampa is a team they're getting older as well.
Atlanta's got a really great young corps of offensive players. Defensively,
(16:20):
we've been talking about the Falcons potentially taking a pass
rusher in the first round for I don't know how
many years they never do, and then you know the Panthers,
since they drafted Bryce Young, you have kind of been
in rebuild, retool mode. And this kind of seems like
a year for Carolina with what they've been able to
do in free agency and now with another draft where
(16:42):
they might have a chance to compete for a division title.
So I think everybody's sort of in that same boat
where all four teams probably look at the season and go, yeah,
we can win this division.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Kind of seems like that's how it's been for the
past couple of years here, where everyone's like, yeah, it's
there for the taking, but nobody goes out and takes it.
So maybe this year somebody will come on, start strong
and take over the division. We'll see what happens, But
thank you so much for giving me the insight on
the Panthers. Got to know everything about our opponents, make
sure that we're making the better moves when it gets
(17:18):
to the draft. So I appreciate it and we'll see
you here down the line pretty soon.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yeah, and if you want to trade up for Tyler Shuck,
I'm all for it.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Of course, thanks Adiche You got it a lot to
keep track of as the NFL Draft approaches, first round
April twenty fourth, second and third April twenty fifth, and
then Day three, rounds four through seven on April twenty six.
It all goes down just next week, so make sure
(17:47):
you're getting a look at all those mock drafts, familiarizing
yourself with the names, and of course listening to our
podcast right here on New Orleans Saints dot com or
wherever you get your pods. Friday, it is the Bucks,
they're up, so we're gonna get to know everything we
need to know about the last NFC South team.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Talk to you then, thanks for listening to the New
Orleans Saints podcast presented by Seat Geek. Join us three
times per week on New Orleans Saints dot Com. The
Saints Mobile app, or you can download the podcast on iTunes.
We'll see you next time right here on the New
Orleans Saints Podcast, presented by seat Geek
Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints Podcast, present a
buy Seacake. You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters and writers
that cover the NFL on a daily basis. The New
Orleans Saints Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Aaron Summers here
back again with some more NFC South Draft previews. Also
getting caught up on what they did during the offseason
leading up to the draft, because of course that may
affect some of their needs and players that they're looking for.
We've previewed the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, We're looking at
the Carolina Panthers today, and then on Friday, we are
(00:50):
going to get into things with the Tampa Bay Bucks.
For the Panthers today, they do pick in that eighth
spot first round, right before the Saints do at number nine,
could have an effect on who's available for the Saints,
and what's happening with the Saints could have an effect
on what the Panthers do with their pick. So a
lot to get into here, and for that reason, I
(01:11):
am bringing in the Panthers radio play by play voice
of the Carolina Panthers Aniche Shiraff to help break things
down with me. Anish, Thank you so much for joining
me on the New Orleans Saints podcast. It's always good
to see you and catch up. Off season is here,
but it doesn't seem like much of an off season.
We've both been really busy as we're gearing up for
the draft here. But how are things going for you?
Speaker 3 (01:32):
It's just been topsy turvy. It's spinning, but I mean
that in the best possible way. With baseball and college
basketball being done, a little bit of lacrosse, college baseball,
and you know, obviously the NFL Draft right around the corner.
Exciting time, especially given how the Panthers finished last season,
(01:53):
what they were able to do in free agency, and
now you're kind of looking for that final layer of
the roster before you get into camp and certainly before
you get into the summer.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, looking at what they did last season, saw a
new level of Bryce Young at quarterback. So same things
seem pretty solid there. Offense looks good. Defense might be
the side of the ball that we're looking to continue
to bolster here through the draft.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
What are you.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Thinking as far as what the needs are coming out
of free agency and last season.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Well, what they were able to do last year. If
you go back, they needed to shore up the offensive
line a year ago, and they went out and they
signed Robert Hunt, who you guys know, having played his
college ball in Louisiana. They went out and got another
Louisiana guy, former LSU product in Damian Lewis, and all
of a sudden, it made a huge difference. The Panthers
(02:45):
went from an offensive line that didn't have a ton
of depth the year before that was ravaged by injuries
to this past season. It was a top ten unit.
They were able to run the ball. Touba Hubbard had
his best season and the bryce that we saw the
second half and guys probably remember and it's painful. He
started with that win against the Saints and that was
(03:05):
really the turn, that was the pivot point in his
brief two year career. He then beats the Giants, they
go into a bye week, everybody is still in a
half measure mode. Is this for real? Is it a mirage?
And then he goes to Tote with Patrick Mahomes almost
beats Philly and the way he ended the season with
(03:25):
the five touchdown game against Atlanta, people feel really good
about Bryce Young going into twenty twenty five, could they
use another skill player. I think you can make a
case that there's maybe a need for another wide receiver
or a pass catching tight end. But what they did
last year was kind of go all in on offense,
(03:46):
and they knew that they were gonna be a little
thin on defense. And when you're thin going into the year,
then you have injuries the way the Panthers did first
game of the year against the Saints. You lose Derek Brown.
He's the best player on the team. That was crippling.
They were never really the same upfront. So this offseason
they treated it much like they treated the old line
(04:07):
last offseason. They went out and they tried to get
Milton Armstrong, couldn't get him. But thereon Williams right, the
guy from Philly. But they did go out and they
got Bobby Brown, a guy who's young and still has
some pretty good upside. You get Derek Brown healthy coming back.
Ashawn Robinson is back. Now. They wanted to address the
(04:29):
pass rush, so you bring back Clowney and wantam Now
add Turk Wharton from the Chiefs. You go and add
Pat Jones coming over from the Vikings. So you've added
some pieces. You go get morg the safety from the Raiders.
So they put themselves in a position where, yes, defense
clearly is still going to be the need, but they
(04:52):
can go get the best available player or even maneuver
and possibly trade that eighth overall pick. They've given them
selves options by getting deeper through free agency defense.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
You mentioned kind of building that defensive line through free agency.
The first pick, though I've seen in a lot of
these mock drafts for the Panthers, is still on the
line as an edge that seems like a lot of
teams are after them, and there's a lot of good
ones in this draft. It's a very deep position, which
is good. The Panthers pick at eighth, right before the Saints.
(05:27):
So in the draft mock drafts that you've seen names
that have been popping up, do you think they're going
to go with an edge or are they going to
kind of look in more into the secondary to start
things off?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Yeah? I think so much of it will depend on
what happens one through seven. Right. If a Mason Graham
is available, boy, doesn't that look tempting. You can get
a d lineman like that, you pair him with Derek
Brown and Ayshawn Robinson and Bobby Brown All of a sudden,
that's a pretty formidable defensive front in a coach of
(06:00):
Arrow's three to four defense. Would an abdull Carter get
to eight? I would highly doubt it. But if he's there,
that's got to be tantalizing. And then you know, you
look at the Georgia guys, namely Jalen Walker, whose name
has been associated with that eighth pick quite a bit.
Just the pedigree of the Georgia defensive players going into
(06:20):
the draft and being successful in the NFL these last
few years. Look no further than you're defending Super Bowl
champions of the Eagles. I mean, how many Georgia guys
were on their defense. And Walker's unique because not only
can he rush the passer and he could play the
edge for you, he's a pretty good off ball linebacker
and he's pretty strong in run support, and a lot
(06:41):
of scouts see that as his strength right now and
almost see the edge rusher potential is something that is developing,
still a little raw and on polished, but certainly it's there.
And you know, some of the comps that I've heard,
one is Frankie Louvu, who you guys saw when he
played for the Panthers. That guy was a human tempest.
And Walker is a movable chess piece in that defense. Again,
(07:04):
if he's there, i'd imagine he's going to be an
option for Dan Morgan.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
After that. I've seen a lot of safety as a
position that pops later in the draft. You have nine
picks number eight and then second round it's fifty seven,
and he kind of scattered through the rest of the
draft from there. Safety secondary, How big of a need
do you feel like that is?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Well, again, they're not very deep there. So they re
signed j C. Horn, their cornerback, the son of Joe Horn.
He got a massive deal to stay with Carolina. They
re signed Mike Jackson, who had a pretty strong year.
They got him from Seattle for a seventh round pick.
Not a ton of depth behind those guys at corner.
And then the safety room's been totally rebuilt. They went
(07:47):
and got Mooring from the Raiders, who's really good against
the run. And then right now after that, you got
Demani Richardson, who was an undrafted free agent last year,
had a couple of strong games when he started, but again,
young guy not a ton of experience. They brought Nick
Scott back. He was up and down last year. I
(08:08):
think they view him more, at least now, as a
special teams piece. And you know, a guy who could
start at a pinch, but that is in need. And
what's unique is the NFL has sort of devalued the
safety position where you can't play that position the way
a Ronnie Lott or a Jack Tatum or a Steve
at Water or even a John Lynch played that position.
(08:31):
Otherwise you're just gonna get fined left and right, maybe
suspended and penalized a whole lot. So I think what
the Panthers would like as a ballhawk back there. They
haven't had that ballhawking safety in a few years. And
you know there's names out there. You get Malachi Starks,
another Georgia guy, Xavier Watts, who people saw at Notre Dame.
(08:51):
I think he had double digit interceptions over the last
two years. So there are some options there. The question
is when do you take them. Do you take them
early second round? Is that too early? Or can you
wait and take a safety and get a good one later.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
It's second season under head coach Dave Canals, so you
have an idea of what he likes players, and the
front office obviously came in at the same time. What's
that dynamic, like, how much, say, does Canals have in
who he thinks they should draft or the positions that
he feel is needed.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Well, the buzzword a year ago was alignment general manager, head, coach,
ownership all the way down. And there's a stream of
information and a flow of information that moves both ways.
So certainly Dave has a lot of input. He has
a long relationship with Dan Morgan going back to their
days in Seattle, so they're very much aligned in terms
(09:48):
of what fits, what do we need, what can we get,
what makes sense given the constraints of the salary cap
in the NFL. I think the biggest benefit of having
Dave and his staff back mostly intact for year two
is going to be to the offense in Bryce Young.
Dave Canalis is also the offensive coordinator. Essentially, he's the
(10:08):
play caller, so Bryce, for the first time in his
pro career, will have that continuity from one offseason to
the next. And if we've learned anything about him, this
kid is a fast learner. And if we saw the
strides he made in the second half. I think it's
exciting to see what he can do now with a
full offseason in the same offense, not having to learn
(10:29):
a new language all over again.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
We might not bury the lead here, But how much
is the Panthers draft dependent on what we've been hearing
about the Saints and what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, I think there's a lot of truth to that,
because even though the Panthers are not in the market
for a quarterback, if the Saints are, and with New
Orleans holding the ninth pick overall, and even if there's
a team that picks after the Saints that might be
interested in a quarterback, well, now probably have to move
(11:01):
up at least to nine, probably into the top eight
to go get a quarterback. I think there's still this
prevailing sentiment that cam Ward is going to go in
the top seven picks. You know, Shador Sanders. We're kind
of saying projections all over the place. I still think
at the end of the day, with Tennessee, with the Giants,
some of the teams picking in the top seven, I
(11:23):
still think Shadoor Sanders finds himself on one of those teams. Now,
if he's off the board before the Saints pick. Are
they going to trade up to go get a Jackson Dart.
Is somebody else going to leapfrog the Saints and try
to move up to go get a Jackson Dart, maybe
even Shador Sanders, And all of a sudden, that eighth
pick now for the Panthers becomes prime real estate. Where
(11:46):
let's say you do decide to move down, and you
do decide to trade the pick. Teams that generally are
trading up with the intention of drafting a quarterback will
give you more draft capital for that pick.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
It's going to be really interesting to see how things
shake out because I remember being at the combine and
if dul Carter stood up there and said, I am
the best player in this draft and I should go
number one, and I just don't know if that's going
to be what happens. He is definitely talented, but there
are a lot of teams out here who do need quarterbacks.
(12:21):
You know, Tyler Schuck from Louisville has been climbing up
the board as well over the past couple of days.
So it's going to be a lot of movement, I
feel like, and a lot of surprises.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yeah, and Shuck to me is a real interesting case
because he was in college forever. I think he's twenty five,
twenty six years old. He's got a pretty lengthy injury history.
So is that a guy that you're going to mortgage
your first round pick on to go get If you're
the Saints and you're looking at Tyler Shuck, does that
(12:52):
make sense given that you know, Derek Carr hasn't exactly
been a poster child of health in who's his two
years with New Orleans and now, well, you know, might
be dealing with something. I feel like we don't quite
know the whole story there, but to me, there's you know,
a couple of the guys too, Jalen Milroe at Alabama.
(13:12):
I heard some rumblings at the combine where, you know,
a couple of people were saying, don't be surprised if
somebody gets enamored by his workout, because physically he can
do a lot of the things that Lamar Jackson does
and it's a copycat league. Now, does that mean he's
going to be the next Lamar Jackson? The odds are
(13:33):
probably slim, but it takes one team to believe that, Hey,
is there a spot where we can go get a
Jalen Milroe and maybe develop him for a year. He
sits for a year. And now if you have even
Lamar Light, he got a top ten quarterback in the NFL.
So you know, those things are interesting. And the other
(13:54):
thing is, you know, is there is a little bit
of a misinformation war that goes on and it ram
especially now you know, you start to listen to the
signal and the noise and decipher what's what. They're teams
and agents putting things out with a purpose and they're
hoping for people like us to pick up on it
and tweet it and post it and go on TV
(14:16):
and talk about it and say, hey, this guy Tyler Schuck,
this guy his draft stock is going up and down.
And a lot of these are smoke screens. A lot
of these are to throw other teams off the set,
and you got to really decipher what's real and what's not.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Right now, I think it's always so funny because there's
fifty players that are getting drafted in the top ten,
you know, and these agents are sure of it and
you better go out and get them. And it's like, okay,
let's think about this. I don't think the math adds
up here. Looking at the NFC South, I feel like
a couple of years ago, everybody was trying to solidify
their quarterback position and really looking at their offense. This
(14:53):
year seems like every team is really trying to make
their defense better across the board. The Falcons, the Bucks
like that is the area they need to get better,
and the Saints honestly as well. So it's going to
be an interesting year in the division. How do you
think things are going to shake out?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
You know, it's wild because for a while, you had
Drew Brees in New Orleans. You had those years where
Tom Brady was in Tampa and Matt Ryan Cam Newton.
You really had some established quarterbacks in the ANFC South.
And you know, age catches up to everybody. Cam is
(15:32):
out of the league, Matt Ryan retires, Breeze retires, Brady
retired for good, I hope, and now everyone's kind of
searching for that next guy. We saw what the Falcons
did last year taking Pennix. The Panthers traded up to
number one to go get Bryce Young. The Bucks were
able to resurrect Baker Mayfield's career. The Saints were hoping
(15:56):
that Derek Carr would be maybe an answer that seems murky,
But this division is still very open. The Saints are
a team you mentioned changes on defense, they were getting
older on defense. I think they're at a bit of
a crossroads. Tampa is a team they're getting older as well.
Atlanta's got a really great young corps of offensive players. Defensively,
(16:20):
we've been talking about the Falcons potentially taking a pass
rusher in the first round for I don't know how
many years they never do, and then you know the Panthers,
since they drafted Bryce Young, you have kind of been
in rebuild, retool mode. And this kind of seems like
a year for Carolina with what they've been able to
do in free agency and now with another draft where
(16:42):
they might have a chance to compete for a division title.
So I think everybody's sort of in that same boat
where all four teams probably look at the season and go, yeah,
we can win this division.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Kind of seems like that's how it's been for the
past couple of years here, where everyone's like, yeah, it's
there for the taking, but nobody goes out and takes it.
So maybe this year somebody will come on, start strong
and take over the division. We'll see what happens, But
thank you so much for giving me the insight on
the Panthers. Got to know everything about our opponents, make
sure that we're making the better moves when it gets
(17:18):
to the draft. So I appreciate it and we'll see
you here down the line pretty soon.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yeah, and if you want to trade up for Tyler Shuck,
I'm all for it.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Of course, thanks Adiche You got it a lot to
keep track of as the NFL Draft approaches, first round
April twenty fourth, second and third April twenty fifth, and
then Day three, rounds four through seven on April twenty six.
It all goes down just next week, so make sure
(17:47):
you're getting a look at all those mock drafts, familiarizing
yourself with the names, and of course listening to our
podcast right here on New Orleans Saints dot com or
wherever you get your pods. Friday, it is the Bucks,
they're up, so we're gonna get to know everything we
need to know about the last NFC South team.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Talk to you then, thanks for listening to the New
Orleans Saints podcast presented by Seat Geek. Join us three
times per week on New Orleans Saints dot Com. The
Saints Mobile app, or you can download the podcast on iTunes.
We'll see you next time right here on the New
Orleans Saints Podcast, presented by seat Geek
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