Will the Panthers score against the Giants this Friday?

The Panthers will play game number two, fake game number two, and joining us to talk about it, my friend, the one and only Julian Counts, a Lockdown Panthers podcast.

All right, sir, I will start with you in this way. Will the Panthers score against the Giants? Yes, I do think that they'll score against the Giants. Why did you hesitate?

Why did you hesitate? You're not sure. I imagine they'll score. I think they'll score.

Why not? Right. I think they'll score too. It goes without saying, the bigger problem for them against the Jets was that, A, the Jets played a bunch of starters, the Jets have an amazing defensive front, and the Panthers' offensive line did not do very well. Well, the Jets actually didn't play a bunch of starters, though.

That's the problem that a lot of people have. They had enough starters in there. They played guys like Jermaine Johnson, who was a first-round pick out of Florida State a year ago, who didn't play that much. They played a guy, Bryce Hoff, who was their third down pass rushing specialist last year and had a pretty big impact. That's a key gift for the Jets to keep them around this offseason. So they have a lot of depth there in the defensive line. I don't think there's a better defensive line in football other than probably what they have out there in San Francisco now that Javon Hargrave is over there after being in Philadelphia the last couple of years. The Panthers aren't going to face a defensive line that good. But you go back and watch that Hard Knocks episode, and I'm not someone who watches Hard Knocks. It's the same crap every year.

It's not all that interesting. But because the Panthers were up there and had joint practices with the Jets, I want to check it out. And when Quentin Williams, I don't know how reliable a source he truly is, but you can see that he was dominating the interior guys, whether it was Brady Christensen at left guard or whoever was playing that right guard. He had a day. He claims he had 10 sacks. I guess Aaron Rodgers counted one more. So 11 sacks an afternoon.

It was very clear that he was mauling those guys, which is to be expected. But when he doesn't play on Saturday and you still have issues at right guard and in the interior, then, yeah, that's not a good sign for this Panthers team. Now, overall, I don't think it's time to panic just yet with the offensive line.

I still think Iki Ikhwanu, who did have a pressure they gave up there to Solomon Thomas on that first play. I still think he'll be good this year at left tackle. I still think Bradley Bozeman at center will be good for them as he was last year. And I still think Taylor has been really only reliable off the line in the last five years. I still think he'll be a good player for them at right tackle.

I'm less so sure when it comes to left guard and in right guard, I'm not certain at all. I believe that will probably be a season long issue, even when Austin Corbett comes back, just knowing how difficult it is for a player to get back to the level that they played at previously after suffering a significant injury like an ACL tear, which you've suffered back in week 18 in that win against the Saints. Julian Council is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show Lockdown Panthers podcast.

And a big Liverpool fan. I don't know if we're probably not going to have time to talk about Endo, our new defensive mid. But the Panthers have one. We need somebody.

We're going to call you next. The the Panthers also weren't healthy. I mean, you mentioned Corbett, right? They've got other missing pieces along that offensive line. And again, I think we agree that it's kind of too early to panic, even though it didn't go well. But they also have to get healthy on that front.

Yeah, they do. And I know there's a couple guys that sat out that weren't on the offensive line. I think a lot of it right now is just precautionary because you look at last week, even like the Jets didn't have Garrett Wilson out there. I think Soss Gardner had missed one of those days because in August you're not trying to risk these guys health.

And I thought it was interesting, too, when watching hard knocks. I had no idea the Jets practice practice on Thursday when the Panthers didn't because they were supposed to have two days of joint practices. And Frank Wright called it off because of the weather.

And the Jets still went out there and they were practicing out in Gibbs Stadium. So I was surprised by that. And I don't know if that should say anything about right in his staff, but they probably felt like they had gotten enough out of the joint they got out of camp. Why? I thought they don't want to reach the health of this guy.

But it's a line wise. Yeah, they have some issues with Austin Corbett where he's going to probably start the year off on top. I'd be surprised if he's not. That's going to get him out for the first four weeks of the season. And then even after that, I have a hard time seeing him coming back until the second half of the season.

And then when he comes back, I expect to be the same player he was last year when he was Panthers ice graded offensive lineman, according to Pro Football Focus. You got a guy right now in Kate Mays, who's supposed to be sliding in that right bird. He looks like he lost that job at least right now, as chambers of all is probably going to start tomorrow night at right guard the fourth round pick at NC State.

He's probably the favorite to be the right guard. So you have Mays with that neck issue. And then cam Irving, I know he got hurt on Saturday. So he's a little banged up.

And who knows if that's going to be something that they got to be concerned about? Yes, they have some issues on the offensive lines in terms of health. But really the main issue is Austin Corbett being out and trying to find someone there at right guard.

Julian Council was joining us here. I think you and I talked to be going into last season about still not. I mean, the skill position players weren't all there in terms of the wide receivers, the pass catchers for a guy like Bryce Young. I think they're clearly better. But I and this is saying without a DJ Moore talent on the field. But, you know, depending on what happens with Terrace Marshall, I know he was carted off the field from practice the other day. Aside from that, I mean, I think they're okay at receiver, but I don't know that they're, you know, above average. How do you look at that? I know we have Hayden Hurst at tight end.

So yeah, definitely they're definitely not above average. I look at this from if we're looking at last year going into the season, Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore, those two guys combined better than what they have right now. The problem was they didn't have someone that could get the guys to football. And then, of course, they traded Christian and now DJs in Chicago. Like the second half of the season when Christian was off to San Francisco, Robbie Anderson, at least that's what he was known back then, was off to Arizona to do absolutely nothing. It was DJ Moore and then Terrace Marshall, who still was up and down in those final 11 weeks of the season when they actually wanted to throw the football a little bit. I know that first game when Wilkes took over against the Rams, they wouldn't let it walk through the ball line. But the final game, they did have a semblance of a one-two punch.

They were mainly DJ, a little bit of Terrace. So you look at what they had in what they had in the final 11 weeks and you look at what they have now, then certainly it's better. But Adam Thielen, Hayden Hurst, Miles Sanders and DJ Shark, I don't think that combination is better than if they still had Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore like they had to begin last season. But I do think there's more options this year than they had at all a year ago, which I would agree with you.

And when it comes to options, there's more options. They're going to throw the ball a lot to Adam Thielen. You're going to see him throw the ball a lot to Hayden Hurst. You're going to see him throw the ball a lot to DJ Shark. There's already been a good connection with him and Shark, that being Bryce Young, throughout the training camp so far. Then you get to see a lot of it in the 11 snaps on Saturday. Hopefully we get to see more of it tomorrow night when they play the Giants up there at MetLife Stadium.

So there was those three options. I do think Miles Sanders, over the last couple of years, it's not like I watch a lot of Eagles games. You look at his rookie numbers, got the ball out of the backfield a lot.

I don't know what happened the last three seasons. I think that's an element that they would like to see. Even Raheem Black's year, who Thomas Brown, the OC, touted on Tuesday as somebody they could use on third down in that situation. They have more options for their quarterback than they had last season. But are those options better than the combination of McCaffrey and DJ Moore? No, but it's better to have five than only have two, which they only had begin last season. Yeah, I really love what Hayden Hurst can do for this team. They haven't had a pass catching tight end since the Fox broadcaster was here. And then the last couple of years of Greg Olsen, he was in and out of the lineup with a broken foot too much.

But I mean, you're talking about somebody who may be in the Hall of Fame in a few years. By the way, is it Metta World Anderson now? What is Robbie's now official name?

I'm confused. I think I had first read reports that it was Chosin Anderson, but now I'm seeing that it's Robbie Chosin. All I know is all the reports I've seen out of Miami is that he's still not doing anything.

He's still Robbie Anderson. I mean, the Jets had nobody and the Jets couldn't wait to get him out of town. That should have told everybody everything. All right, we never talk about questions on the defensive side of the ball. So let's end here. Let's end on the defensive side of the ball.

When you look at them defensively, what are your question marks? Hey, Carolina Panthers fans, Chris Lee and Dennis Cox here. We're excited to offer you all the insight information on your team with the newest member of the Capitol broadcasting podcast network Panthers playbook twice a week. We'll keep you updated on your Carolina Panthers. We're talking about locker room insight, exclusive interviews, and of course, in-depth looks at all of the Panthers wins touchdown, Carolina Panthers playbook, download and subscribe today at wrelsportsfan.com or wherever you discover your favorite podcasts. Pack therapy is back. It's Tim Donnelly here with your neighbor's favorite Wolfpack play caller, Mike Glenn. Every episode of pack therapy is your chance to get dialed in with inside information on your team. We'll set you up for every Wolfpack game all season long and we'll break down every contest. What went right and what could have worked better. Plus, special guests to keep Wolfpack hopes alive.

Follow pack therapy wherever you listen to podcasts or listen on wrelsportsfan.com. I mean, health of course that corner is always a question mark. JC Horn and Dante Jackson unfortunately have shown the last two seasons and really last three for Dante. Although he battled through that turf toe back in 2020, they've just shown that they cannot be relied upon to stay healthy for the majority of the season. It's bad luck. JC Horn talked about.

It's not like I've had a bunch of breaks and all that kind of stuff. Dante's coming out for the worst injury that he could have had with that Achilles. I thought he looked pretty good in the small sample size that we saw of him on Saturday.

He looked quick. We'll see more of him, I think, tomorrow night so that the health of those two guys, I think is a big question for me and the depth behind them. So far, Keith Taylor and CJ Henderson by all accounts had a good training camp. They looked fine on Saturday in the preseason, but we've seen the last two years when called upon those guys have not been good for the Panthers. So hopefully with time and age and a new coaching staff that they have gotten to a point where they can be relied upon if and potentially when you see JC Horn or Dante Jackson go out.

So that's a big question for me. I think they're good at safety inside linebacker now that they brought in Deion Jones, the emergence of Kamu Grea Hill. I think that's a pretty solid spot. They're bringing Justin Houston to be your other outside linebacker opposite of Brian Burns. That's now going to allow a guy like Marquis Haines, who needs to get healthy too, by the way, with that back issue.

That's going to allow him to be able to rotate, not be called upon to be that key starter like he was a year ago where he had a career. You were five sacks, but that's pretty much who Haines is. So now at Houston, who had nine and a half sacks last year with Haines, Burns and allowing like DJ Johnson and Anna Mari Barney, who I think are in a good spot to make roster to kind of learn, grow, develop. That's a better situation for them at an outside linebacker.

But really, it's just going to take some time. I know the offense didn't look good. Typically at this point in time and in the preseason training camp, however you want to look at it, the offense is usually behind the defense. We saw that with the way they performed last week on Saturday and some jets.

The defense, they weren't great in their own right. We need to see more depth out of them, but also they got to understand the system. This 3-4 defense throughout running here, it's going to take a little bit of time for them to really match. So if it's struggles in the early part of the season, I wouldn't be surprised by that, but I do expect them to be in a better spot by time we get to like week five or six, then the offense will be just knowing that the offense is a rookie quarterback and the skill positions. There's some questions there.

And of course, they're operating with a new system. So not a lot of questions defensively. I think we'll be a good unit. I guess I'm going to ask people to be a little bit patient early on to start just knowing that this new scheme with new players coming into it and they all got to kind of match. You know better than that.

Nobody can be patient. The 10th of September in Atlanta, it's a must win. Well, Frank Reich, he's playing the starters in the preseason because there's urgency to get this thing going early, knowing that they have to do two divisional games.

So I give him credit for going out there and saying, hey, I know we play Atlanta, the New Orleans, we got to win those games. So I mean, going one on one the first two weeks would be great. 0-2, that's not acceptable at all. But one on one, I think that's what people should hope for and should absolutely sign up for it.

That's what happens. Are we going to beat Bournemouth on Saturday? I would hope. They have enough firepower and I don't think you need a holding midfielder against Bournemouth. No, no, no, no. Again, Julian Council could be lining up at the six for Liverpool.

Julian Council locked on Panthers podcast. Thanks, man. I appreciate your time. Always talk to you soon.