Joe Brady "Loves the Direction" of the QB Room
The Cam Newton era is officially in the books as the Panthers front office decided to part ways with him this offseason and sign veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
In addition to signing Bridgewater, the team also signed former XFL star and frontrunner for the league MVP, P.J. Walker of the Houston Roughnecks to come in and compete for the backup quarterback role. Walker will be going up against the only returning quarterback from last year, that being second year man out of West Virginia, Will Grier.
To be frank, the Panthers quarterback situation isn't the best, but it's far from being the worst. Bridgewater brings experience as he was a starter for the Minnesota Vikings earlier in his career. Grier was essentially thrown into the wolves a year ago and although much of the fan base was far from thrilled from his outings, he wasn't given an ideal situation. It's way too soon to close the books on Grier. He played poorly, but it was only 1.5 games and not many quarterbacks look sharp through a game and a half, they just don't. As for Walker, he has some experience in the NFL, previously spending time with the Indianapolis Colts. That experience, coupled with his opportunity to star in the XFL gives him a fairly decent resume for a third string quarterback.
Many Panthers fans have asked why the team hasn't brought in another veteran quarterback to backup Bridgwater. Ideally, they would like to see Grier make that next step in his development and show that there could be a chance of him being the future of the team. Bringing in another quarterback would take practice reps away from him and when you're in the middle of evaluating a young quarterback, that's the last thing you want to do.
Heading into this upcoming season, the one thing the Panthers must do significantly better is protecting the quarterback. They were tied dead last with the Miami Dolphins allowing 58 sacks last year. Part of the inconsistencies of the offensive line took a toll on Cam Newton. The Panthers retooled their offensive line adding guys like Michael Schofield, John Miller, and Russell Okung. Question is: Will it be enough?
Should Bridgewater go down, are the Panthers going to be able to sustain whatever level of success they are having? Carolina offensive coordinator gave the media a small update on the guys in the quarterback room in this past week's Zoom call.
"It's been a great offseason with every one of the quarterbacks. I've learned just as much from them as they've learned from me. Jake Peetz has done a great job of teaching the offense to them and seeing their recall and competitiveness and their intelligence. I love the direction and I love the guys we have in that room," Brady said.
With the pandemic in full effect, it has changed the way the coaching staff has been able to meet, talk, and watch their players work. So, a lot of the dialogue from Brady could be labeled as just "coach speak". It's incredibly difficult to evaluate during these current circumstances. Brady also admitted that they haven't installed a lot of the offense yet, but more so what the offense will look like. He talked about what he is looking to see out of his quarterbacks when the players return.
"Understanding the offense conceptually. I think mistakes are going to happen, but to me, it's more so the communication and the camaraderie of the guys when they finally get together and seeing how much this interaction virtually did benefit."
What do you think about the Carolina Panthers depth at quarterback in 2020? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
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