Carolina Panthers still need to add a major piece on offense

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appointment. Chris,

sometimes mistakes happen. The Dennis Cox faux pas. That should be the name of this

podcast today. Yeah. Well, let's speak into that mistake and here it is.

Dennis Cox, followed by Alex Zillow.

Board for opening week. So you can customize

how you experience the game. Make your choice. The reward will be ready for you to use

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Com slash local. Fandall.com slash local. Dennis, you're okay. Um,

winning week. Fandall official partner of the MLB. 21 and over and president

North Carolina. Hop. Is this normal?

No, I haven't had any bonus and token expiration lip.

Um, Brent, I'll just go ahead with my question here.

See, Chris, that happened. That happened. Um, first off,

hilarious, hilarious. Uh, you didn't know you made Alex Zillow like completely lost right there.

You know what? By the way, props to Brent Tillis for locking back in because he was chocolate like

props to Brent Tillis. Secondly, what was your question? Alex actually asked the question.

I was going to ask him about and that's the thing. Alex actually asked the question.

I was going to ask. I was going to ask him about Jalen Kolker, unrestricted free agency versus

restrictive free agent, the approach to that contract and so forth. And he gave a general

big answer for Alex. So Alex actually took my question. Cool, man.

Maybe he maybe he's the one that did the hot mic on me. Maybe he's the one that did that.

You know what? You versus Alex Zillow. I think we need to book that.

WrestleMania is coming up. Vegas. Let's do this. Maybe for your next Ah,

Shay show. We would definitely stay.

All right, you know what? Let's get this sucker started.

Here are your hosts, Dennis Cox and Chris Lee.

Welcome back to another episode of Panther's playbook. That's Chris Lee.

Dennis Cox here with you. Big shout out to awake or the pedix for sponsoring Panther's playbook.

Speaking of Brent Tillis, he actually met with the media on Tuesday and he actually did

ask some questions or answer questions regarding the roster, the way it's being built,

which by the way, we want you to leave your thoughts of the comment section.

Obviously roast me if you want to. That's totally fine. I will 100% roll with it.

But second of all, what's the biggest piece that still needs to be added to this roster?

Chris, I want to get your thoughts on that as well because Brent Tillis talked about

building a roster in three stages or having three stages of roster construction.

He called the building phase, the contending phase, and then the sustaining phase.

Builder, contender, sustain. He says he feels like this roster is in that transition from

build to contend. What's that big piece next, Chris, that takes them from building contending

your thoughts? First, let me say this. I was trying to download that whole thing from you

into Panthers. Unfortunately, for the media who downloads the press conferences,

yeah, they cut that part out. I thought they were going to leave it whole.

So that is something I like, I got to talk to Rob Hall about because like you're leaving out

the best parts. Yeah, I know. But as far as the Panthers, they answered a question.

I feel like they tried to address a lot of the spots on defense specifically in the offseason,

getting Devon Lloyd, getting Jaylen Phillips. If those guys end up painting out,

then I think on defense, you probably out say need another inside linebacker.

Yeah, that is a stud like going to make every play. How amazing would have been to have Devon Lloyd

with Frankie Lougo, right? Those two just I think would have been tearing up NFL offenses together.

So if you got to get a guy like that, that's a short tackle that you can put them in different

positions. You can make them call us having the Panthers automatically become one of the best

defenses in the NFL. I'll say at least top 10. You know, all that trevon Wallace benefits from having

Devon Lloyd next to him as well. His play elevates in year three as well. I'm not down on trevon

Wallace. It's just more so like I'm just going to base off of what I've seen. Yeah, you know,

so but on on offense, you know, we still need that home run hitter and I wouldn't mind having

a couple of home run hitters. I don't mind having AJ Dillon as a backup running back. He's

going to be I think really good in a great addition. He's going to he's more of that power run

style that Dave can Alice likes to run. So I think the run game is definitely going to be elevated

and sustained. I just still think that there needs to be this whatever the home run hitter.

And I think that you still have that in Jimmy Horn Jr. It's just all in how you use them.

But there needs to be that home run threat. And so I think once the Panthers really get

there and solidify that and get their offense into the top 10 and get their defense into the

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Hi, this is Alex Cantrowitz. I'm the host of Big Technology podcast, a long time reporter and

an on air contributor to CNBC. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial

intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology,

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in meetings with your colleagues and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology podcast

wherever you get your podcasts. I mean, the office needs to get into the middle third of the

NFL right now. Let's be honest, they got to get into the middle third at least. It's a long

climb to get to touch it. Yeah. The defense went from the worst in 2024 up into the middle third

of the NFL last year, like as a whole again, some metrics that we know, depending on what you're

specifically what you're looking at, they were top 10 in some categories. They were also still

in the bottom of the NFL and some categories as well. But as a whole, they're still in that middle

like middle of the pack in the NFL. And we saw how much the team improved. Imagine if the offense

matches that. And again, also the defense making the improvements with the personnel that they

have as well. I, to me, it's still that game breaker on offense. Who's that game breaker?

I'm talking in terms of speed. Teterol Macmillan's a really darn good receiver. He's offensive

rookie of the year in the NFL for a reason. And you hope that you take that nice big giant step

from year one to year two, just simply off a development and getting better physically and all that

stuff. Who's that guy that actually works between the hash marks? The middle of the field,

that is a threat to the middle of the defense. Because if I got Teterol Macmillan on the outside,

they got sure he can run some deep dagger routes and stuff 1215 yards down field,

where the Carolina Panthers struggled to complete passes in 10 to 19 yards downfield this past season.

But who's that guy in the middle of the field that really threatens a defense?

Whether it's a slot receiver might be Jimmy Horn jinger, but again, he lacks size.

He's got speed, but he lacks size. Or is it a tight end that can really control the middle of

the field and the hash marks between the numbers. Who can dominate in that space for Carolina?

We haven't seen someone for the Panthers really dominate in that space since Greg Olson.

Now, it doesn't have to be a tight end. It could be a slot receiver. For example, look at what,

you know, guys like Julian Edelman did up in up in up in with the New England Patriots.

Those guys that can line up close to the line of scrimmage in some way, shape or form and

still dominate. I still think they need that guy. I look at, for example, the place still

stands out in my mind when the Panthers played Buffalo, Chris. Leo Shakir took a pass about five yards

past the line of scrimmage from Josh Allen, caught the ball at the 50. And in about four seconds,

he was running across the goal line on the simple, just dumped off. That's all it was.

Where's that? That to me. If you have that threat out there on offense, that's the game changer.

That's what this offense done. That's what this team still needs.

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sleep.com. Sound sleep sound help. I will say a lot of that to a big part of that is, you know,

you of course need to have the talent, but you also should have the scheming into play calling for

there's that too in the vision for that. And so maybe we'll get a little bit more that with Dave

Canales kind of letting go of the reins of the offense because, you know, we know that people like

it. We know that he's a very well liked coach. We also can read the room and see that folks don't

necessarily like his play calling, you know, former players have talked about it. We've caught

current players disapproving on camera of the play calling. We can watch games and be like,

why do we do that in this position? Yeah. In this part of the field. Yeah, please.

This time of the game. What is this about? Yeah. Why does this look like the same play over and

over again? You know, I'm saying like there's things that we can see. So I'm hoping that the

Panthers also do themselves a favor and see what they truly have and everybody that's there.

And that includes Bryce Young. Yeah, because I think that, you know, for all the crap that we've

given Bryce Young over the last three years. And a lot of times, deservedly so. That's not like,

oh boy, didn't have bad games. We do know that sometimes he wasn't put in the in the correct

positions. That's right. By the head coach. So hopefully, we don't see any repeats because for

the last three years, as we start off the season, Bryce Young has had bad games to begin the season

with multiple turnovers. Oh yeah. Let's hope we don't see that in 2026. Let's hope that we don't

have this ramp up after some bad games and all of a sudden it's like, oh yeah, yeah, he's the best

thing ever. You know, let's have some consistency. Let's start with that. And a lot of that does

come from the coaching staff and what positions you put the players that you have in.

What's the biggest weakness right now on this team? What's the biggest weakness? What's like the

biggest question mark that you have right now going forward on this team? Drafts upcoming,

you might still be able to, you know, snag a free agent that might get, you know, could get released

after the draft, something on the sun. What's the biggest weakness? I'm going to be, I'm going to be

real. I'm pretty confident in what they've done on defense. Of course, like you need depth,

but we're not necessarily talking about depth, you know, like there, like if Devon Lloyd gets hurt,

what do you do? Yeah. That's something that really goes through my mind a lot. But I have some

questions about the offensive line. I know Luke Fortner is there. I think he's going to do a good

job. And now, you know, what's my man's name? Rashid Walker. He's there to fill in at left tackle.

That's going to be cool. But I have questions as to how it'll work because we're used to so much

continuity over the last couple of years. Yeah. And also have questions about the run game. And it's

not necessarily about the ball carriers who are going to be a part of the run game. It's not about

them. You know, it's somewhat about them. It's a little bit about them, right? Because they're

not great. They're not, they're not game breakers. They're not home run hitters. I have questions

about. I think they're, they'll be solid. But I do have questions about the run game. And that is

something that I hope is addressed or maybe more carries in for, you know, Jonathan Brooks and,

you know, Trevor H in will help out with that. Yeah. I have questions about the running game as

well for the fact that AJ Dylan is a bruiser. Let's call what it is. He's a big dude. He's what

six foot 245 pounds. But he only played seven games last season coming off an injury. He didn't

even play in 2024. So to me, it feels like insurance in case Jonathan Brooks's knee isn't

ready to go. Just, he just can't go. I obviously have questions about Jonathan Brooks as well.

Tuba Hubbard had a very much a down season compared to what he did in 2024 as well. So I've

questions about that position as well. But my thing, my biggest weakness still on this team is,

where's the speed on offense? Yeah. Where's that speed on offense? Again, where's the guy or guys,

not just one guy, but guys that can really take the top off or really, truly threaten a defense

to go like, man, if I don't play in good position against that guy, I'm cooked. Whether that's a

back out of the back field, a speedy tight end or a wide receiver, it can't just be, well,

Jimmy Horn, Jr's fast. Jalen Coker's got good speed. Don't get me wrong. He really does.

But again, where's that game breaking speed as a whole on this team? He can't be like, well,

we have the one guy, gotta be more than just one guy has been more than that. So that's that's

my concern going forward. At least, you know, with the team right now. But I will say this,

though, Chris, this is my final thought here is we wrap up this episode with this gosh,

the drafts isn't like what four weeks come. What's that? It's coming. I know real quickly.

I will say this, though, is my final thought here that the Panthers have put themselves in a position

where they can truly take best player available. The way that they built this roster up,

Dan Morgan, Brant Tillis, Dave Knollis, their vision, all that they have together,

they can really go best player available. They truly can't. They can truly have a plan about

how they want to go about the draft and they put themselves in a really good spot as a whole.

You know how, I don't know if you've ever been in this position, Dennis, but I love using hot sauce.

Okay. Sometimes you use hot sauce because it's from North Carolina.

I love Texas Pete for sure. I like some stuff that's a little bit hotter, but I'll never stray away from

Texas Pete because it is at North Carolina, I think North Carolina Pete. Sometimes you use hot sauce

because the food is in. Sometimes you use hot sauce because the food is already banging,

but that hot sauce is just going to set it off even more. That's what I'm hoping that the draft

is. That these guys are the hot sauce. Not that we just need them to make the meal better.

The meal is already seasoned. The meal is already cooked to perfection. The meal is already

really good and prepared just the right way. That hot sauce is just going to set it off even more

and going to make you want it even more and more and more over and over again.

Yeah. Makes that paprika. Makes that paprika pop. All right. That's what you're saying. Yeah.

Yeah. That's what you're saying. Smoked paprika. Exactly. Yeah. This isn't no blind,

there's no bland, you know, stereotypical caramel. No, we cook in here.

No, we cook. We chef it. You know what I'm saying? By the way, by the way, cooking tip,

put olive oil on the pan. You're about to make something. You want to add pepper to your mix.

Put pepper in the olive oil as it heats up. Adds even more flavor to it.

Boom. Exactly. Seasons from Dennis Cox. Damn, right. I seasoned my food.

And I don't put raisins and potatoes, Sally. You know what? I'm sorry. Potato salad.

Yeah. It makes you expect that.

Shout out wake worth of pedics. There's let them know, man. Let them know. Let them know what you do.

It's like you should see my spice cabinet. You actually should. You actually should.

I'm actually I'm growing my own basil right now. Yeah. It's all to them.

Talk about basil. Grow my own tomatoes, my own peppers. I bet you got no onion powder.

Oh, I got onion powder. I bet you got no garlic powder. I'm growing my own garlic too.

That's how I roll wake with the pedics. Shout out. Make sure you subscribe at that like button.

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