Answering all your questions in this week’s mailbag!
Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of our weekly Panthers mailbag for everyone! We hit over 100 comments on this week’s Brian Asks post, and I am very grateful that this mailbag continues to keep up the steam and momentum. To recap, Brian Asks is our weekly mailbag post where YOU can comment with your questions, and Brian Answers is the follow up where we answer your questions! Let’s dive in!!
Bull123: want to see injury updates
already saw where adam is out for a few weeks…that sucks
very anxious about Lewis OG & our starting safeties
Adam Thielen is gone for at least 4 weeks due to going to IR. LG Damien Lewis missed both Wed and Thurs practices, which isn’t a great look for a start Sunday, but could change from now to then. He’d be replaced by 2023 4th round pick Chandler Zavala. Jordan Fuller went to IR at safety, meaning Nick Scott should take his place in the starting lineup.
Bruce Guild: Brian
Is Andy Dalton actually Kris Kringle. I believe there is a strong possibility since he gifted Panther fans a early gift with an impossible beat down on an actual professional NFL team.
Andy Dalton has already been known to bring joy to non-Bengals fans, considering his illustrious win that brought the Bills their first playoff berth in some time a few seasons ago. So I would say yes, this is the perfect week to bring the Panthers fans joy, and give Bengals fans some coal while he’s at it.
MtndancerSr: I only remember one pass to Tremble and one attempt to J. Sanders. Will we see more TE involvement this game?
It is very possible with Adam Thielen out for the foreseeable future. However, so far in the one game of actual decent offensive football, the wide receivers and running backs were the stars. But I would imagine a greater focus will be placed on Diontae Johnson this week after racking up a career high in receiving yards last week, so the tight ends in the middle of the field could see a lot more throws go their way.
Deej_93: If we decided to actually trade Bryce, what’s a realistic trade offer that you think we could get?
I really don’t expect the Panthers to realistically consider this without receiving a first round pick (or maybe second) for him. He’s currently at the lowest as far as trade value is concerned. Realistically, a day 3 pick, which I don’t expect the Panthers to take.
schrodingersblackcat: Win or lose, how many more well-played games do we need to see from Dalton before we try to sign him for another year or two? And if we lock a well-playing Dalton in for at least one more season, will our FO be able to resist the trap of reaching in the first (or second) round to draft a QB1 in a weak/questionable 2025 QB draft class?
I said it last week even before he went off in week 3, but I believe the ball is in Andy Dalton’s court for next season, no matter the results of this season. But if he does come back after a relatively successful year, I do think they aren’t locked in to take a QB with their first pick. They may even sit on Bryce for another season if that ends up being the case.
KeepPounding88: Barring an injury to Dalton, do you think we see Bryce start for us again (whether it be this season or ever)? If not, does he get traded before the deadline, or in the offseason?
Start this season? No, not unless the wheels really fall off with Dalton or he gets injured. Ever? I would say that’s a strong maybe, as I haven’t seen any indication the Panthers are rushing to move on from Bryce. He hasn’t caused any problems and appears to be a model teammate despite this challenging time for him. I do not expect him to get traded this season. The off-season is kind of a toss up without having seen what the Dalton move results in for the rest of this season. Hopefully we enjoy the ride.
erickbuck: Your level of concern, out of 10, for Thielen missing a few games?
Who is your vote going towards to take his reps?
My concern is a 7. Thielen still showed to be a good and reliable weapon despite a slowdown last season, and hasn’t dropped off much this season. Now, Diontae Johnson seems to be the most reliable guy and the rest are unknowns. My pick for his reps would actually be David Moore, as Thielen’s role was mainly to find open space and give the QB a quick window, which is something that only comes with veteran savvy. Moore still being around and getting snaps on offense is telling, and he may find himself in that role. I doubt he would have it full time, as I’d expect Jonathan Mingo and Xavier Legette to see a fair amount of the leftover snaps, but Moore definitely fits that profile for “savvy veteran to just go get the chains” like Thielen could.
facepalmjedi: Has David Tepper finally learned his lesson?
I was tempted not to answer this question, but I think letting Canales control who starts at QB and seeing the results last week shows Tepper isn’t sticking his hand in the cookie jar as much as people might have thought. But we’ll see what happens as I’m sure the Panthers will hit a bump or two in the road in the near term.
right_turn_clyde: What’s your projected win/loss total with Dalton as our starter? I expect us to play competitive ball moving forward but not rack up a bunch of wins. There are just too many holes on the defense. Of course, my perception couldl change if they manage to shut down what will be a Bengals offense on a mission this Sunday.
Interesting question. I really haven’t made up my mind as far as what I think of this team yet, as that win on Sunday is still baffling to me. I think we’ll see some regression once teams have a grasp on the things this offense is trying to accomplish schematically. But I think maybe 5 more wins is achievable.
Shifty Fish: Convinced muh girlfriend to bet in on Dalton CPOY too, now she’s forced to be a Panthers fan.
Not a question, but wanted to shout out Eric Buck anyway for getting that vet opened by Fanduel. Us Panthers fans can do amazing things.
Marsha Jackalone: What if the Panthers had kept all their picks and players and just rode with Andy Dalton the whole time?
We’d probably still have Frank Reich as the head coach. For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.
Bruce Guild: What is our record today if Dalton started from day one?
Maybe 2-1, but I’d lean towards 1-2 still, if only because the Chargers and Raiders would both have a bit more tape on Dalton than the Raiders did in the real life scenario, as the surprise starter nobody really expected that early in the season.
SwampPanther: What’s the more annoying chant, Who Dat or Who Dey?
Who Dat will always annoy me a lot more than Who Dey. Mainly because I associate it with Sean Payton and Drew Brees, guys more NFL fans should dislike.
KSUDD: The Bengals defense looks really bad through 3 games. I haven’t paid much attention to Cincinnati so far this year, what’s going on with their defense and how will it match up to the Panther’s offense with Dalton under center?
Jon and I covered this in this week’s edition of the Keep Sounding podcast (I told you all it would be back) which will either be up at the publishing of this article or shortly after. But Jon’s point made a lot of sense, aside from Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals defense doesn’t really have a ton of talent that makes you think its a great defense. They don’t do anything particularly well, and the team as a whole always starts slow.
e4*: How much will the Bengal’s familiarity playing against Diontae Johnson from his time with the Stillers work to their benefit?
I don’t think it will mean that much. Dave Canales’ system is not something the Steelers really ran. They may have some familiarity with the nuances of his route running style, but a lot of what we saw last week was simply the scheme and Dalton trusting him.
That’s all this week, Panthers fans! Enjoy Sunday, tune in next week for another edition of our mailbag, and KEEP POUNDING!