Happy Half Hour Episode 45: Let's Wednesday It Up

So I think you're feeling good? Yeah? Dangerous? Yeah, I feel I mean you've cheated death basically when you run during a lightning storm and you know by all the big trees in the area. Yeah, you've cheated death. So now nothing, nothing, just yelling at the sky this morning. Bring it on? Oh man, Yeah, it's that Tom. Hey, it's football season. We should do the football now. It's football. All the stuff we've talked about for the last six

months is now. You know, it's gone from abstract to concrete. There's a thing out in front of us now there's a game Sunday. Absolutely, and you know no one is more well aware of that than the Panthers quarterback Sam Donald. I just we were talking about what we should talk about and said, let's just start with the elephant in the room, right, it's Sam Donald against his former team Week one. The Jets are coming to Bank of America Stadium,

and all the storylines. I was gonna say, right themselves, but then that's a that's a bad joke. And also you're writing the storyline, so I don't know, you know what I'm saying, You're you're the words guya? Sam played for the Jets. I should probably do something about that now. It's it's funny. And one of the interesting things about Sam and getting to know him over the last five months is, of course it's the Jets in the opener. Of course the league scheduled this game, didn't just randomly

happen right in the league offices. He laughed about this couple of months ago. He's like, yeah, I'm sure that was a coincidence, and kind of. I mean, Sam is self aware. That's one of the neat things about him as a human being is he gets it. He understands it, but I don't think his personality is such that it's that much different for him than if they were playing the Falcons this week or anybody else. I mean, he is as regular a human being playing quarterback as I've

ever encountered. I mean, at least since like Jake Deloe, who kind of walked in here and nobody ever expected anything out of him. So it was easy for Jake to be normal. But for a guy who was the quarterback at USC the first round pick of the New York Jets, has existed in a spotlight. Sam kind of walks around like, yeah, week one, gotta study, gotta get into playbook, gotta watch film correct. I mean, he says all that stuff and it sounds trite, but I think

that's just how he's wired. And you know who's got to love that is Matt Rule. That is exactly what he wants. You know. I got a chance to talk to him every single week last year about the upcoming matchups for our TV show and whether it was Um last year, Teddy Bridgewater and Joe Brady going up against the Saints or any any matchup, as as coach Rule likes to say, if you look hard enough, any opponent there's a history with with someone on the Panthers. But

he that's what he wants. Like you, I don't think there's a better compliment, of course than than the playing of the football than to say that Sam is a guy that's going to treat this like any week one matchup. That's exactly what he wants. No distractions, keep the emotions out of it, and game plan right. And it's interesting. I was talking to Matt a while back and I wrote the story. It was on Panthers dot com yesterday.

You should definitely go read it of Matt talking about his vision and I and I asked, Matt, you know we're there mile Post. You wanted to have hit a year two? What are were the things you thought about going into the second year? And it was almost like Matt looked back at me, like what languages Darren speaking to me right now? Because Matt Rule doesn't think in terms of years or large spans of time. In Matt

Rule's mind, it's okay, we've got Wednesday and Wednesday. We're gonna Wednesday it up, and we're gonna Wednesday as hard as we can Wednesday, and then tomorrow we're gonna get on to Thursday. I mean, that's just how the man thinks. And so from that standpoint, you're right, Kristen. I mean these two are kind of made for each other. They've got the same approach in terms of the way they look at football and the way they think about doing

the job. I mean, listen, it's natural there's gonna be some butterflies with Sam, but I think he probably acknowledges them to himself but doesn't project them, because Sam just gives off normal vibes. I mean, he's you know, Christian was kind of laughed and and Christian said, I mean he was looking for the right word of how to describe Sam, and he's like, he's just regular, the regular dude. Yeah, that's that was exactly the impression that I got on

his first day here talking to him. Hung out with all of us, you know what I mean, just in the room where we were doing all the production day stuff, and I don't know that there is a better way to describe it, like a regular guy. And I mean, normal is not what we're used to in quarterbacks, and you know, because quarterbacks are big stars and they have big personalities, and you know, it's it's unusual and it's

a departure. But you know, I think at the same time that normal serves him well because listen, again, there's no denying it. I mean, this is a big game for Sam. Sam career in New York didn't go the way he would have hoped or they would have hoped, which is why he's here and why the Jets have a shiny new rookie quarterback that they draft in the first round. But you know, he just wants to get about the business of being Sam, and that means this

week it just so happens to be the Jets. And there's also something that I think you made a great point about, the butterflies and and the nerves. Probably every player has that going out on the field. I certainly can't speak to it on a personal level because I have never played in the NFL, surprisingly, but I'd imagine that no matter who the matchup was, any position you're going out there, there's gonna be a butterfly or two.

It's the season opener, the fans are are back for a regular season game, um, And so i'd imagine that Sam would have if he does, have the same sense of of butterflies or anticipation that he would have with

with any opponent. And there's also something that doesn't ever get talked about, but I always find really heartwarming, is you know, whenever a player is going up against his former team, especially when where there's a history or things didn't end well, it gets billed as a revenge game, or you know, these two opponents, or there's gonna be

a lot of angry emotions here. They get to see people that they formed connections with, whether that's on the staff or other players, and you always see it before the game and after the game. There's a lot of hugs. There's a lot of good feelings towards people that you know, if you spent three years with an organization, whether it's the equipment person or the pr staff or or what have you. There's a really nice kind of reunion aspect

to it as well. Even I'd imagine if if things went incredibly horribly for any player, there's still people that you're looking forward to seeing. And I just always think that gets swept under the rug a little bit. So there's it's not all bad for anyone facing a former opponent. Yeah, and it's interesting too. I was talking to one of my good friends who's a writer up in New York, and he was talking about Sam and and I think there's this perception because it didn't go great for Sam

with the Jets that it was a terrible experience. But Bob said, you know, Sam was the best. I love with Sam. He was so easy, he was such a pro And I think people have it built up in their head said, oh, the big evil New York media. It's so much tougher than the Charlotte media. Those guys were fine with Sam, and Sam was fine with them. So I'm sure after the games they will be like, hey, Bobe,

what's going on. As much as we talk about revenge games and setting this up as a competitive US versus them environment, you know, it's still Sam who worked alongside Bob, and Joe who worked alongside Mark, you know that kind of thing. I mean, it's just these are human beings who exist in a in a little community of their own. Absolutely, it's you're going to see your former coworkers, and that's a sometimes a complicated thing, good and bad, but obviously

no mistake about it. Of Course, Sam Donald meant rule and the Panthers want to win this game. That makes everything better of of everything else. As we as we get ready for this game and and looking at the Panthers, thought we would talk about what's a position group that you feel really confident in, and what's one that you want to keep an eye on for this game? So let's let's start with how about one to keep an eye on? I think again, while we're talking about elephants

in the room. Uh, it's been the storyline of the Panthers, the non Sam Donald storyline of the Panthers all offseason. It's what's that offensive line? You don't look like? Was that a was that a joke about big guys? Exactly? See what you saw there, Kristen. That's so gratifying for um. Yeah, I mean, the Jets have their issues. The Jets are a young team. The Jets are starting over with a new coach, new quarterback. Their record in the last couple

of years haven't been good. But they've got a couple of dudes up front, specifically quinnin will you who can create problems for people. And when you're the Carolina Panthers and you've rebuilt a side of the offensive line, and that's one of the other things about this week. I mean, you could have gone into this matchup as the Panthers saying, Okay,

offensive line blah blah blah. Sixty of it's the same as it was a year ago in the opening and Matt Paris, John Miller, Taylor Motonin except John Miller is on the COVID reserve list, and all of a sudden he's replaced by Dennis Daely the left side of that line. I mean, Pat Alfind and cam Irving are great unknowns

right now. We think the coaches think that cam Irving is going to perform at a better level than he's show him because he's being allowed to concentrate on one thing, only do one thing, you know, l finds a little bit of I mean, he's as much of a question mark to me as anybody in the roster right now in terms of is he actually a guard. I mean

he's played center before. He's not the biggest guard. And when you look at the other people they've got who might slide into that, like a Dennis Daley, I mean look at I mean, if you just line up Dennis Daily, John Miller, Pat Elfly, he's smaller, and you know a lot of people want their guards to be bigger, have a little more mass. I'll be a little more elephantine if you will. And he's just not that guy. But they do think there are things that Pat's good at

that can make up for some of that. We'll see how it goes. I mean, but we'll see, is the only honest answer as it pertains to the Panther's offensive line, because, especially now making a change the week of the opener, all of a sudden, everything that's been kind of unsettled all of season gets one more shake right before it

goes out there on the field. Yeah, as you said, with the with Dennis Daily starting over John Miller at right guard, I want to go back though, to to Cam Irving because of this right guard situation and and some of the questions. We haven't talked about that as much recently, but that left tackle position was the question of the off season. What have you seen from Cam Irving?

And do you think it's one of those situations where the coaches are waiting to see just as much how he performs in the game as the rest of us. I think there's a little bit of it. I mean, they're schematic things that they believe. And this is not just us saying this as employees of Carolina Panther. Those coaches down the hall absolutely believe that Cam Irving is better than the people listening to this podcast think he is. I mean they you know, Cam has been beating up.

The people who grade at Pro Football Focus and that kind of stuff haven't had kind things to say about Cam Irving. But they are confident that Cam is able to play well in this system and that he is some degree of fit for this system. And again we'll see. That's kind of the bottom line. But I think because he's athletic, because he's a nimble guy for his size, it serves him well with some of the stuff they want to do offensively. And again we'll get in the

game and see what happens when bullets start flying. But for as much as we talk about left tackles and that's been such a focus of haven't really had one of those guys since Jordan Gross retired. Well, the reality is not a lot of other people do too. I mean, if you look across at the other New York team and what Dave Getleman is trying to do, throwing together in line at the last minute, trading for guys, claiming people off waivers, who could end up starting that kind

of thing. I mean, it's that's what unsettled looks like. And so they believe that Irving can be okay, and we'll see. I mean, and and what's okay look like? Is it Michael or level? Okay? If it is, they went to a super Bowl with Michael or left tackle. So I mean, I don't think it's automatically. I don't think Cam Irving's automatically the reason things can't work here. They're more optimistic about him than I expected them to be.

It's a great point. Um. You know, they had the majority of the off season and training camp and the preseason to watch and to try out different combinations of this line. And this is the one with the exception of of Dennis Daily starting over John Miller, which John Miller would have been there preferred right guard. This is the line that they feel is going to perform the best out on the field. And they've certainly done their due diligence on it, and that included potentially moving your

star right tackle over to left. And so it's a great point of these coaches feel good about this. They've certainly put in the hours and hours and hours to make sure that this is the line that they want to go out there with and and we'll see how it goes, yeah, we we will. And all it is is It's only the season, you know, I mean, you know they've tried to and for all the other stuff for Sam the offensive line, I think people also have to be mindful of this offense still has Christian McCaffrey,

d J. Moore, Robby Anderson. Yes, and that's a pretty good place from which to start, and that makes everything easier. I mean, I don't think for all the talk about left tackle were not necessarily anticipating that Sam Donald has to take a seven step drop and throw the ball thirty yards downfield on every place because you can get it out quick and put it in the hands of twenty two. And that's an alright thing to have happened

for an offense. Well, speaking of which, we started this UM segment out saying which you know, which position group do you feel confident about? And which one are you keeping an eye on? So let's move over to the confidence. I mean, if I wanted to, I could just say running back. You know, I feel really confident in the

in the running back room because of Christian McCaffrey. I feel good about the wide receivers Darren I I mean, I think that that's also potentially a lay up there one of the strongest groups on this team last year, but losing Curtis Samuel, who was coming off of a banner year, Terrace Marshall looks great and I think that he is going to be someone that if Panthers fans don't know much about him right now going into week one, they certainly are going to um by let's let's call

it mid season. I anticipate seeing some some A D eight jerseys in the stands. I just have been really impressed by by what he's done. Some different yeah, right, right right, not just you know, we've seen Eight make plays here before, and you know, Marshall is a different

kind of cat. I mean, he's not anything like Curtis um he is, you know, and I made the comparison earlier in camp, and you know, comparisons are tricky, and there's a reason coaches hat um there's a reason everybody sort of is a little bit leery of him, because you I don't want people to think that I'm about to say Taras Marshall is going to become fill in the blank, Terris Marshall has some moose in Muhammed qualities.

He's a big guy who can run. Now Moose's first couple of years in the league, Moose struggled with some injuries, he struggled with some drops. It took Moves a minute to become Moose. Marshall's got some of that same big guy flash. I mean, he's got that hung look at that sort of thing, and the fact that he can work out the slot or work outside. I mean, he's got some versatility where they can mix a match and

do different stuff with him. And Robbie and DJ and I think, you know, we talk about all these other guys so often. It's like, well, by the way, Robbie Anderson is coming off a career season, you know, by the way, d J Moore's nearly yards each of the last two seasons, like nineteen yards a catch last year. He's a big play threat. I mean, DJ is one

of those guys. I mean, and in a division where you've had Julio Jones, who's now in Tennessee, where you've got a Mike Evans, where you've got Mike Thomas, DJ is kind of in that, I mean, if not in the popular mind, he's pretty close to that neighborhood of guy. So yeah, I mean, I I think it's absolutely fair to look at them and say, that's a place where it's gonna be hard for people to match up. And so what's the position group that that you feel good about?

I think the secondary probably, And again that's comparison to last year. Yeah, I thought about it. I thought about it, and then I was like do I I'm so, I'm glad you went with me. I mean, Kristen, you know you from know from being here last year, guys who were starting in the secondary were rolling in on Tuesday and starting on Sunday. I mean, or I mean you had you had so many rookies out here too. It was a combination of the two of those things, guys

who have been cut from other teams or rookies. And now you've got j C. Horne, who speaking of guys who look like they could be that guy, j C. Horne is not a rookie. J C. Horn doesn't have the bearing of a guy who's about to play his first NFL game. And so when you take Dante j Axon, who's healthy now and played pretty well even on one good toe last year. Um, you put Dante with j C. Horne, you make Jeremy Chin safety again and all of a sudden.

Through training camp, we've seen plays made back there and I mean it's this is another Will stat and I hate that he's out on special assignment this morning because this is all him. The Panthers led the league and turnover margin in the preseason, and it was based on taking the ball away. They've got some guys who can pass rush, but that secondary is so much better than it was a year ago, it's almost unfair to even compare it well. And we saw we saw it in

that first half of the third preseason game. I know we talked about that quite a bit last week, so I won't go back too much of it, but you know, those those third downs, you see Dante Jackson tackling and and and stopping the first two third downs. That defense

was out there. I'm excited to see what Dante, a fully healthy Dante Jackson, is going to do as well, because as you said, you know, I kept my eye on him a lot last year, and he would he would get out there and start and battle that turf toe and you could tell just how much it was bothering him. Always tried to start every single game until

they eventually put him on. I r around the bye week um towards the end of the season, and so I'm I'm excited for him to have j C out there, to be fully healthy and to see what those two guys can do. Yeah, and in a couple of weeks when a J Boy comes back, I mean, that's gonna be another big ad to that secondary, and it would help if he was around from the start, but they knew that going in. He'd missed the first two games

of the year, so you know, it's a young group. Again, it's kind of odd to think about Dante is the only cornerback on the roster who started an NFL game, and you know you say that, but Keith Taylor's had a pretty good rookie camp and Stanley's a guy who can jump in and play role on special teams. But a lot of it's gonna be on Dante and j C. And they've got so many other mix and match parts in that secondary. That's where you know you've seen through

last year. I mean, guys like Sam Franklin my hearts Field sort of play their own little particular roles, and especially here over the first couple of weeks when boy is not out there, I think Hartsfield is going to play more naturally, but um, it'll be curious to see how those guys match up. I want to go back to just a year ago very quickly, um, because I can't help thinking about my first Panthers game as the team reporter, which was this time last year Panthers Raiders

home game. Strangest experience now that we look back on it. There were no fans in the stands, absolutely no one. It was one o'clock, bright, sunny day. And if you talk to this team or or the coaching staff now that the season is over, I mean everyone will say, very candidly, it felt like a scrimmage. It felt like

a scrimmage. And I know that we've talked about this a little bit, but it's just it's amazing to see how far we've we've come in a year and what this team has been able to do with a proper offseason training camp. And boy, am I excited to see all the fans back at Big of America Stadium for it it feels it just feels so different than the start of the season last year. It really does. And you know, I came last Thursday night for the Appalachian

State game here. You know, obviously I watched I watched on TV the Climpson Georgia game the other night, but it's it is unusual and it's still strange. And listen, I know it's gonna be weird for a lot of people to walk into a building full of people, but you know, you hope that everybody takes the right precautions and everybody does the things they need to do to

keep themselves. Help, please stay safe, Please feel comfortable if we're coming, and you know, but it is different just looking out at that crowd on Saturday night, even even the Pittsburgh game in the preseason, it's a preseason crowd, so a lot of people, you know, decided to skip that one or whatever, but there were still probably fifty thousand people in here. And it is just so different

than last year. I think back to training camp, that first night practice in Gibb Stadium at Wofford and Rule says, this is the biggest crowd I've ever coached in front of. And he was right. They were like five or six thousand people that he told me that. So I was doing a little interview with him at the televised practice and he told me that and my face dropped, I think,

and then I went, oh, yeah, it is. It really is, and for me as well, these I think the crowds at each event, from that first televised practice to fan Fest to the last two preseason games have been increasingly given the the award for biggest crowd that this coaching staff and a lot of these young Panthers players have ever played in front of when it comes to Panthers home crowds. So there's no doubt that Sunday is going

to be the biggest, which is incredible. Get to have the fans back, you know, you get to have that home field advantage. It's that time. It's football again. It is. It is. All right. We're gonna end with our weird question of the week, and this one, of course goes out to our very own Panther stats guy in honor of Will, who, as Darren said, is on special assignment this week. Can't be here. He posted a great suite. As of this afternoon Paralyzed Sports, the Panthers roster is

tied for the youngest and the NFL. The exact number is twenty five point six seven years. The Jets roster in case anyone was wondering is third youngest, twenty five point seven one. The average age of this team is twenty five years old, which leads me to the obvious question, Darren, what were you doing at twenty five making bad decisions?

Um six, I was working at the Gasting as att and I was still a young reporter, bouncing around between covering high school games on Friday night and coming out here on Sundays and helping cover the Panthers on the weekends. It's uh, it's been a long time, been a long time since I was twenty five years old. But I'm glad I'm not twenty five anymore. Me too, Me too, Producer, Matt, what were you doing at five? I got engaged and got this job, So it's pretty good year, yeavens Ma's

reminiscing with the rest of us. Yeah, twenty five for me, I was. I believe that was the year I left ESPN to move out to l a Um to work for Fox Sports, and that was my first time going from kind of a sidekick role to hosting my own thing and and really learning. So it's definitely um a great year for me, one that I'll remember very glad. Darren, as you said, to not be anymore. But it is interesting to think about these, to think about what we were doing then and then think about this team that's

about to take the field. And that's the average, which means exactly as many are younger than that as Brian Burns Jeremy Chin that right fuled ages of twenty three. I believe you know Sam Donold's all of twenty four. So it's but but I'm glad we've got an old guy around here, j J. Jansen. Tip of the cap to j J hanging around for skewing the average high by being the old guy on this droum. Absolutely, and I can't wait to see those young whipper snappers get

out there on Sunday. Thank you guys so much for listening to the Happy Half Hour podcast. We'll see you next week after we have some some real football game action to talk about. Can't wait.