“They’ve learned their lesson and want to be thorough”

The Carolina Panthers began their offseason program yesterday and I know that there have been players in the building and they are benching, doing bench press and shoulder shrugs and they're on the squat rack and Darren Gantt has been spotting them throughout and he joins us on the Adam Gold show so we can ask the old guy. Let's get to it. You did the quarterback tour with everybody. Tell me what was your takeaway? My takeaway was that TJ Stroud had the sea bass and a strawberry lemonade the night before at dinner with ownership and many people that did not include me.

No, I mean it was, and I think we talked about this before, it was kind of an extension of the coaching search process in which Frank Reich was one of nine guys he interviewed for the job, including several former head coaches or people who were interviewing for other head coaching jobs as well. They want to be thorough with this. They've learned their lessons sufficiently after the bat rule era and now instead of making hasty decisions and getting emotional about things, they're doing a lot of research on stuff and and being in depth.

It's it's very adult. I approve of this notion. You know, I used to tell my kids they had to sleep on any purchase over $20, which was really annoying to them when they were in middle school. But you know, one of these days, maybe they'll appreciate that for that, but. Anyway, it's they're just doing all the diligence of the do kind. I mean, I guess that's the only kind of diligence anyone does anymore, but I mean, they're just doing all the stuff. They're talking to these guys.

They're all rolling through here. I mean, two of them have been in town already this week on visits. Two of them will be here next Tuesday on a visit, so they're going to talk to all these guys again.

Feed them again, you know, have all these conversations again before they make the decision. So if I had to ask you to sum up what you thought of what jumps out to you about Bryce Young, what would it be? Bryce Young is I had somebody who is in the business and whose paycheck depends on getting these kind of evaluations.

Correct. Said he was just an elite processor that he just he sees the game at a different level. I mean, you hate comparing guys to Patrick Mahomes, but that's kind of the way they talk about him. I mean, listen, is he short? He is. Is he small? He is. Although I saw him walking the halls the other day, and he's actually probably a little thicker than I thought. But that might just be because all the talk's been about how little he is, and I think we're conditioned to think he's a small person who wrestles in bars or something.

I don't know. But anyway, he's got the game from the shoulders up that every coach wants. I mean, he just he knows where to go with it. He's been in a pro offense in Alabama the last couple of years playing under Bill O'Brien, and he runs it. He makes the checks at the line. He does all the NFL stuff. He makes all the off schedule throws, and I think that's where some of the Mahomes comparison comes in. Now, the physical stuff's a question, but basically the one question in my mind about Bryce Young is, do you have a hang up about the size? And if the answer is no, I mean, he's the guy who had the best tape all year, isn't he? Yeah, I mean, so that's not an inconsequential question. I mean, to say, are you hung up about his size?

He's an outlier. You know, he'll be a rare, rare sub six foot quarterback in the NFL. And I know a lot of people made a lot about Frank Reich's never had a non-tall quarterback. Well, I mean, my question to that is, how many short quarterbacks did Sean Payton have before he got Drew Brees? How many short quarterbacks did Pete Carroll have before he had Russell Wilson? I mean, it's, you know, it's a factor, and you've got to decide, team to team, whether it's the deciding factor for you. On top of all of that, Frank Reich's never really drafted a quarterback, regardless of the size. So, I mean, they brought in Matt Ryan, they brought in Phil Rivers, right, to Indianapolis. So that whole notion, it's really just circumstance, and there just aren't that many quarterbacks playing in the NFL who happen to be under six foot. There's only a handful at best. So that, it was almost like people were looking, just trying to narrow it down and make, to try to make a logical decision. Well, Frank Reich, he loves big quarterbacks.

What is it? Correlation does not equal causation? Something like that. I'm not smart enough to even know, to know anything about it. But Stroud is a good quarterback, too. My feeling has been that if it were, if the ability, if the actual quarterback ability were really close between Stroud and Young, then it would be an easy call, you would just take the bigger player. Right. That's the way I look at it. Right.

And that's my point. That's why I think Young is the pick. If we're just talking about ability, we might need to expand the scope, because the longer I spend time talking to people about looking at, you know, really thinking about what Anthony Richardson actually is. I mean, listen, I don't know that Anthony Richardson's going to be the first pick in the draft, but if I had the opportunity to have a kid who's gigantic and as cool as any quarterback to come through this process in a while, the opportunity to put him with coaches like Frank and Jim and Josh and Thomas and all those guys downstairs who are going to be coaching up this quarterback, that would be a good spot. I think Anthony Richardson with the right supporting cast is going to be really good, probably pretty soon.

The only question is, does he get to the right spot? Right. I agree with you. I've been talking about this and I think people are probably tired of hearing me say it.

I've been talking about this for a month. I think he's going to be really good and probably not too long from now either. I mean, maybe you don't want the guy because he does. He's got fewer reps than all the other guys.

And you know, whether it's writing newspaper stories or doing radio shows or playing quarterback in the NFL, you've got to have a certain amount of hours on task to be good at it. And he doesn't have as many of them as the other guys. I would take Bryce Young one, but if I wasn't going to take him because of the size, that's who I would take. I would take Richardson too. I would take Richardson one. See, you're immense.

You and I think alike on a lot of things, I think. Because what you're trying to do at number one, I'm not trying to make the safe pick. That's what everybody was talking about. Well, you take C.J. Strout as the safe pick.

And I'm not saying the C.J. Strout isn't going to be a good NFL quarterback. The odds say that only one of these guys will be good, right? That's what, you know, if you look at the last 15 NFL drafts, about 25% of first round quarterbacks, especially high first round quarterbacks, only 25% become legitimately good starting NFL quarterbacks.

It's really hard to do. So the odds tell us just one is going to make it. But if I'm going to pick number one, I'm trying to find somebody who is going to not just be good, but be great. And I think Anthony Richardson, if it's not Bryce Young, Richardson has the better chance to be great if it hits. The athleticism is seducing, isn't it?

Yeah, it is. I mean, he's a fascinating player at a lot of levels. But, you know, and again, I think as with everything in the NFL, so much of this has to do with fit. I mean, a good prospect with all the tools and all the possibility gets to the wrong place surrounded by the wrong people and all of a sudden turns into a disaster. We've seen that before. Remember, people told us Jimmy Carson was a can't miss. I remember Mel Kuyper saying if he didn't turn out, he would quit doing it. Oh, wait.

But yeah, I mean, people get in bad situations and it goes the other way for them. They get panthers dot com. Ask the old guy. So how many of the new guys are in throwing up weight, just doing whatever you do during these all the things and programs?

Most of them, actually. I mean, just from walking the halls and being down in the cafeteria, you know, Burns is here, Shaq's here, Jeremy Chin's here. He's got a new haircut.

You can see all the pictures and videos at panthers dot com in case you're interested in looking at that kind of thing. But yeah, most of those dudes are here. I mean, Andy Dalton's here. I was talking to him about hair product the other day.

What? Yeah, man. Hey, Andy Dalton's got it sculpted him and Josh McCown. They've got the the best quarterback hair room in the league, no matter who walks into it. I don't. Yeah, it's probably true. You belong.

You should cover that. You have good hair as well. One of my favorite things about what they have done in the off season and I know I was I was I was actually used in a pro Panthers video because I like the moves that they have made. I like the Adam Thiel in addition. I love, you know, grabbing grabbing a tight end. Love Hayden Hurst.

I like DJ Chuck. I like a lot of the stuff that they have done. But I also love the coaching.

Yeah, still a lot of stuff to do. And I think, again, that's an extension of the coaching staff. They've surrounded this kid with adults by going out and getting Adam Thielen, who, you know, people say, oh, he's 32 years old. He's never a fast guy.

So the fact that he might have slowed down on people is not as big a difference as it is for somebody who's young and can run. He's still going to, you know, I can't imagine a situation where Adam Thielen doesn't catch 65, 70 balls this year. Hayden Hurst should be, you know, a solid 50 catch guy again, like he was last year in Cincinnati. I mean, those guys are going to get opportunities.

I think Biles Sanders, another one of those to to have a three down back, somebody who can be a regular running back and also catch 50 balls a year. I think those are the safe throws you want to give rookie quarterbacks. You want to give them chances to hit their layoffs.

And that's what they've done. But to me, still, the biggest of those moves remains keeping Bradley Bozeman around, signing your 320 pound center. And if you're thinking about a quarterback, even a small one, get you a big old center and put in front of him. And that's the first line of defense. So I think Bozeman hanging around gives you a chance to get that starting five from last year back together again. I still think there's an opportunity for him to look at more options on the offensive line, especially on draft weekend. I kind of keep that position deep, but you know, they've got a good group. And once Austin Corbett gets back from that ACL, which we've documented faithfully at Carolina panthers dot com or panthers dot com. And we check in with Austin once a month and go inside that rehab. Do you? Yeah, we do. All right.

It's a neat series of stories. You should really check it out at panthers dot com. Let me just ask you, big picture, because right now everything is everything's all about Lamar Jackson. What is Lamar Jackson going to do? How do you think that plays out?

Poorly, maybe. I don't know that spending 15 million dollars on Odell Beckham's a move I would have made. Yeah, no, I don't know that that's I mean, that feels like the last act of a desperate man or the first act of Henry the Fifth, I'm not sure which. But yeah, I just don't know how this resolves itself in a way that makes everybody happy.

I mean, it just feels like, you know, ultimately, a lot of these situations get solved with money. And, you know, apparently, Lamar's happy about the Odell portion of it, but I just don't know. The Ravens are the organization that does all the smart stuff. And this feels kind of emotional to me and not not the kind of move a smart team makes a given 15 million bucks to a 30 some year old guy who's played about what a dozen games the last couple of years. They're hurt.

It's just I just don't know. That was a very on Ravens like move for the Ravens to make. It almost seems like they made this move hoping that this would convince Lamar Jackson to come in. And the only thing that's going to convince Lamar Jackson to come in is money. Yeah, it's like, you know, honey, I promise I can change.

When has that ever worked for anybody? You're the best there again. I appreciate your time as always, my friend. Go. I believe Taylor Mote needs a spot on the bench. What?

You can spot. Oh, a spot. I thought you were trying to put him on the second string or no, no, no, no.

Oh, OK. Yeah, I'll go. He's more of a morning lift guy. He's easy. He gets in.

He gets in here early and grabs all day. Good for you. All right, Darren. I appreciate your time, man. All right, there again at there again on Twitter.