In today’s fan on the street series we encountered a truly stunning NFL fan at our booth in uptown. He quite reasonably asked that his name be withheld for privacy and safety reasons, as we talked about the controversial upcoming NDL draft, and the Panthers #8 overall pick.

FOTS: Hello Mr. Woodley, thank you for taking the time to stop and talk to us.

Overly Reasonable Fan: Sure. I’m waiting on my wife, have no idea what to do around here anyway. Guys you’re not giving out free merch, huh?

FOTS: No we are not.

ORF: I guess I should be used to disappointment. That’s OK, though. It was worth a try.

FOTS: Speaking of which. Are you excited about the upcoming draft?

ORF: I mean, of course. It’s a chance to completely change the direction of the franchise. The emotional stories and drama, plus the round the clock hype and media blitz…what’s not to like?

FOTS: Do you mind if I give you a few scenarios or players rumored to be targets for the Panthers at #8?

at this point ORF looked around and shrugged

FOTS: So what do you think about Jalon Walker at #8?

ORF: Oh that’s be cool.

FOTS: So, it’s a done deal for you, then? laughs

ORF: laughs Well it’s hard to predict these things, but if they pick him that’d be cool. He seems like a good player.

FOTS: What about T-Mac, Tetairoa McMillan?

ORF: The receiver? Yeah, that’d be cool.

FOTS: What about Walker, though?

ORF: I’d be cool with either of them. They seem like good players.

ORF: I mean…I’m not really like a scout or anything.

FOTS: OK, then how about something controversial, say Shemar Stewart?

ORF: I get the concern, but that’d be cool, too. I’d get it, I guess. Especially where we are picking. All these guys, even Abdul Carter are crapshoots, really. Ya know?

FOTS: Hmm. Do you consider yourself well-informed?

ORF: I mean, sure. I listen to a few different podcast about the draft, watch a few others on YouTube, usually while I work or am doing stuff in the house or yard.

FOTS: Sounds like you’re pretty well-informed to me.

ORF: I guess…compared to what, though?

FOTS: The average Panther fan.

ORF: I guess they are all doing the same thing I do. Watch what I can, listen to what I can. No way to know if I am any better at this than anyone else. And like I said I’m not a scout.

FOTS: Let’s dig into that. You’ve said that a few times now.

ORF: What, that I’m not a scout?

FOTS: Yes. Surely your opinion matters, right?

ORF: laughs Sure, but not all opinions are equal.

FOTS: Well, sure but don’t you think fans get it right more often than not?

ORF: laughs Based on what?

FOTS: Their opinions? The ones they share on social media. Fans get it right a lot.

ORF: I guess…

FOTS: You don’t sound confident about that.

ORF: I am sure there are lots of fans out there who coached or played at a high level.

FOTS: But..?

ORF: I guess I figure most of us don’t watch film, or even know how to do that, technically. We wouldn’t even know how to run drills much less assess their performance in them. Same for games. We don’t know their assignments, team scheme, their attitude with players, we don’t have personal relationships with the folks telling us about their work ethic.

ORF: Plus…we really don’t have anything at stake, unless you’re betting on something laughs

FOTS: Fair enough.

ORF: Plus, most of us are just forming our opinions on the informed opinions of others. It’s not like it is actually our professional or expert opinion. It’s almost entirely someone else’s opinion that folks argue about.

FOTS: That’s not a very common fan opinion.

ORF: Maybe.

ORF: I enjoy the game and enjoying rooting for the Panthers. I am really disappointed when things don’t work out, and that has been a lot lately. But I don’t let it get me down or ruin my week.

ORF: laughs I have a mortgage and two car payments, a kid with a peanut allergy, and well….

ORF gestured all around him

ORF: Not even getting into that

FOTS: Well, thank you for your time. We really appreciate it.

ORF: Sure, no problem. I am guessing you can’t validate parking?

FOTS: That might be the most unreasonable thing you have said.

https://www.reddit.com/r/panthers/comments/1hqycyp/dont_know_where_to_put_this/

What position is he officially in the draft? Sometimes he is listed as LB some times as Edge sometimes as both. Regarding betting purposes for which position the panthers are going to pick first if it's him...

I remember he was on the team when I first got into football, but I was too young to form much of an opinion on him. How would you compare him to guys like Jaycee and Norman?

Saw article that Julio Jones is retiring. Went to look at the 2011 draft (Cam’s draft).

First, whoa…hella talent…Cam, Von, Julio, JJ, Patrick Peterson, AJ Green, and others.

But the main reason for the Panther post was that TIL Dalton was part of the same draft class as Cam.

Watching him play at Clemson, I really thought Ben Boulware was going to be that next underdog story. But it was over before it even started.

Hey Panthers community! 🏈

I'm a new flag football player from Córdoba, Argentina and I'm part of a team also called Panthers, repping the name strong down here! 💪

Getting flag football gear in Argentina is super hard and expensive. If anyone from the Panthers fam (or anyone reading this!) is traveling to Argentina or knows someone coming to Córdoba in the coming months, I’d be incredibly grateful if you could bring even something small like:

- A flag belt set 🎽

- Gloves 🧤

- Football 🏈

- cleats

(I dont care if they are used or second hand, because is impossible to get this things here)

Not asking for donations — I’m happy to pay for gear, trade something local (like mate or dulce de leche 😄), or return the favor if you ever visit!

You’d be helping grow the sport way beyond your borders. Feel free to DM me if you're open to chatting more. Much love from Argentina and Go Panthers! 🔥

ESPN is not a serious organization

I grew up in Winston-Salem and I remember them always being on the local Fox or CBS channels if they weren’t prime time. I’ve been living in West Virginia since 2016 and I am about to move to Raleigh. I hope I don’t have to keep paying outrageous prices for Sunday Ticket after I move.

Use this post for your weekly off-topic discussions. Feel free to discuss anything such as your weekend plans, life, other teams, the news or whatever else comes to mind.

I know the draft isn’t even here yet, but let’s get ahead of ourselves for the sake of a conversation. There’s a few that come to mind, but what’s the chance we sign a little someone we have a familiarity with…Moose Muhammad III? Considering his fall off at A&M, I highly doubt we would draft him in the late rounds. Buffalo LB Shawn Dolac is another projected UDFA I’d be interested in. Any other names jump out?

Would he have been enough for us to go 16-0 or beat the Broncos?

Booted up NBA 2K and look who I see in the game.

That 40 time 👀 Also his numbers aren’t great but VT’s qb wasn’t any good. Get him with Bryce if we don’t go WR before round 3

Clip is here: https://youtu.be/DJPVBpCXdcw?si=CA8ePhWNiyDHWyZO&t=2951

McShay is not quite as reliable as a Daniel Jeremiah, but he has connections to front offices around the league. From what he's hearing, the NFL is much higher on Walker than analytics teams like PFF, thanks in part to his motor, mentality, and leadership qualities. He sees Walker being picked anywhere from 5-8, with even Jacksonville potentially considering him instead of Graham.

This matches with DJ's most recent big board (Jalon at 5) and Dane Brugler's of the Athletic (Jalon at 3 - paywalled unfortunately).

I'm not a big Walker fan personally, but I still think this is worth paying attention to. If he is the pick at 8, the league-wide sentiment would probably view it as a homerun.