2015 Carolina Panthers: Have we ever been as good?

[Mikie2times]

Dorsey was the QB coach, McD was the defensive coordinator, Beane was Assistant GM. They went to the Super Bowl that year losing to the Broncos.  Looking at the roster two thing concerned me. They seem to be constructed in similar fashion as we have been. Specifically the WR neglect seems pretty apparent in the make up of both teams.  They seem to be MUCH more talented than any version of the Bills we have seen thus far. It's nearly at every position. Beane has had a good amount of time working on our roster. This was a very good Carolina team but I don't like that it appears we have a deficit against them in nearly every position.

 

QB - This was Cams MVP season, but still would rather have Josh

 

Cam Newton

 

 

RB - Both went to the Pro Bowl that year, Stewart was actually a really good back at that time. This is close but nod to Carolina. 

 

Jonathan Stewart 

Mike Tolbert  

 

WR - It's possible our current WR room is better than the one they fielded in 2015 🤢. Ginn was very explosive but nobody had over 750 yards. Our WR units have been better the last few years which is really concerning as far as how Beane views the position. 

 

Ted Ginn Jr

Jerricho Cotchery

Devin Funchess

Corey Brown

 

TE - Olson was an absolute monster. Very high hopes for Kincaid but hard to put him in Olson's class at this stage

 

Greg Olson

 

OL- Two all pros and Michael Oher. Nod to Carolina

 

T Michael Oher

LG Andrew Norwell

C Ryan Kalil

RG Trai Turner

RT Mike Remmers

 

DL - Short was a pro bowler. This was the young version of Star. I would say DL is pretty close.

 

DE  Charles Johnson

DT Star Lotulelei

DT Kawann Short

DE Jared Allen

 

LB - One of the best LB cores of the decade. Not close. 

 

Shaq Thompson

Luke Kuechly

Thomas Davis

 

DB - When we had pre injury Tre and younger Poyer and Hyde we probably get that nod. That unit hasn't been intact for a bit though. 

 

CB Charles Tillman

CB Josh Norman

SS Roman Harper

FS Kurt Coleman

[Rampant Buffalo]

If there's one thing I learned from this, it's to expect Beane to draft players named Allen and Coleman! 😮

[Aussie Joe]

15-1…

 

 

[90sBills]

Short answer would be NO. But this team has higher potential with sustainability. 

[GoBills808]

2015 Josh Norman is better than anything we've had secondary wise 

 

Absolute lockdown that season

[Rampant Buffalo]

From 2013 - 2017, David Gettleman was the Panthers' GM. He was also Brandon Beane's boss. In 2018, Gettleman found his way back to the NY Giants, and was GM there until 2021. Going into the 2018 draft, both the Bills and the Giants needed a quarterback. Gettleman had the 2nd overall pick. He very easily could have used that pick on Josh Allen. Instead, he took Saquon Barkley, RB. Beane then traded up to 7th overall, and drafted Josh Allen.

 

The fact Beane and his former boss Gettleman acted so differently in the 2018 draft makes me wonder if the two had differing philosophies. While Beane had been an important part of the Panthers' front office, final decisions were made by Gettleman.

 

As for neglect of the WR position: Beane traded away a first round pick for Diggs, and he just used the 33rd overall pick on Coleman. Am I satisfied with where we are at WR? Not as much as you might think. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's philosophically opposed to using resources at receiver. I'm curious to see what kind of investment he decides to make or not make at that position, in next year's draft.

[boyst]

The age of posters is showing. In the early 90's we were better than the '15 Panthers. 

[BillsClinton]

This is a good “question of the day.”

[Buddy Hix]

Panthers were better everywhere, with a tie at QB.

 

Crazy how you can see the 1990’s team building philosophy in both rosters. 

[NastyNateSoldiers]

5 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

Dorsey was the QB coach, McD was the defensive coordinator, Beane was Assistant GM. They went to the Super Bowl that year losing to the Broncos.  Looking at the roster two thing concerned me. They seem to be constructed in similar fashion as we have been. Specifically the WR neglect seems pretty apparent in the make up of both teams.  They seem to be MUCH more talented than any version of the Bills we have seen thus far. It's nearly at every position. Beane has had a good amount of time working on our roster. This was a very good Carolina team but I don't like that it appears we have a deficit against them in nearly every position.

 

QB - This was Cams MVP season, but still would rather have Josh

 

Cam Newton

 

 

RB - Both went to the Pro Bowl that year, Stewart was actually a really good back at that time. This is close but nod to Carolina. 

 

Jonathan Stewart 

Mike Tolbert  

 

WR - It's possible our current WR room is better than the one they fielded in 2015 🤢. Ginn was very explosive but nobody had over 750 yards. Our WR units have been better the last few years which is really concerning as far as how Beane views the position. 

 

Ted Ginn Jr

Jerricho Cotchery

Devin Funchess

Corey Brown

 

TE - Olson was an absolute monster. Very high hopes for Kincaid but hard to put him in Olson's class at this stage

 

Greg Olson

 

OL- Two all pros and Michael Oher. Nod to Carolina

 

T Michael Oher

LG Andrew Norwell

C Ryan Kalil

RG Trai Turner

RT Mike Remmers

 

DL - Short was a pro bowler. This was the young version of Star. I would say DL is pretty close.

 

DE  Charles Johnson

DT Star Lotulelei

DT Kawann Short

DE Jared Allen

 

LB - One of the best LB cores of the decade. Not close. 

 

Shaq Thompson

Luke Kuechly

Thomas Davis

 

DB - When we had pre injury Tre and younger Poyer and Hyde we probably get that nod. That unit hasn't been intact for a bit though. 

 

CB Charles Tillman

CB Josh Norman

SS Roman Harper

FS Kurt Coleman

I'm surprised Dave Gentleman hasn't been hired by the Bills he was the GM for those Panthers . McBeane probably offered him a job Gentleman probably wants to go into retirement. 

 

The Bills are not top heavy talented other then Josh we have no real difference makers on this team. The Bills like hard working culture players and we usually have good depth that's why we've been successful up to this point ntm our division has been pretty much easy the last few years . 

 

Beane doesn't put great priority on speed at the skill positions and that's a skill thats paramount in today's wide open spread game. I liked this draft I believe there's some good football players that have potential to start at some point in the near future. All in all I agree with you it seems like another early playoff exit coming in the future with the same talking points next off-season. 

[JGMcD2]

5 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

QB - This was Cams MVP season, but still would rather have Josh

 

Cam Newton

It’s funny because Cam’s MVP season is pretty much what Josh has put up on average the past 4 years. People just get all hot and bothered by those 3 little letters. 
 

Same thing with Tyrod’s MVP season this year. 

[GunnerBill]

The build is very similar to Carolina. Constant resource allocation to the front 7 on defense in FA and the draft. The numbers are staggeringly similar in terms of drafting. 

 

In the TEN drafts where Beane was in a senior role in the Carolina front office (2008-2017) the Panthers had 69 draft picks and spent 20 of them on front 7 on defense. That is 29%. They had 28 picks in that time in the first three rounds and spent 12 of them on the defensive front 7. That is 43%

 

In the SEVEN drafts Beane has been GM in Buffalo (2018-2024) the Bills have had 55 draft picks and spent 14 of them on front 7 on defense. That is 25%. They have had 21 picks in that time in the first three rounds and spent 9 of them on defensive front 7. That is 43% (identical to Carolina). 

 

Is worth saying at this point that defensive front 7 is around 30% of your starters, so those numbers should be seen in that context. But Brandon Beane is building his team the way he witnessed it done in Carolina. He tells us himself he will never apologise for prioritising the defensive front. And he is as good as his word in that regard. 

[buffblue]

1 hour ago, Buddy Hix said:

Panthers were better everywhere, with a tie at QB.

 

Crazy how you can see the 1990’s team building philosophy in both rosters. 

A tie at QB? Josh is light years better than Cam ever was. Even in the 2015 year this thread is about (which was BY FAR his best season), Cam was a sub 60 percent passer and didn't crack 4,000 yards passing. Then he decided to not jump on a fumble in the Super Bowl. Add in the fact that he acted like a petulant child instead of a leader most of the time and I don't see how you could consider the two players equal.

 

Cam Newton is one of the most overrated players in recent NFL history imo.

[2003Contenders]

Cam and those 2015 Panthers did not have to deal with the Mahomes/Reid Chiefs back in 2015 -- whereas the Josh-era Bills were knocked out of the playoffs by those Chiefs 3 times -- twice in break-heart fashion. Otherwise, Josh and the Bills very likely would have appeared in at least 2 Super Bowls (and possibly 3).

[Thurman#1]

The Bills RBs are better. Stewart was on his way downhill at that point, 4.1 YPG, 989 yards and 99 more on passes.

 

Give me Cook and whoever else, by quite a bit. Cook is really good, really productive.

 

4.1 YPC for the Panthers that year, leaving Newton's runs out of it.

 

 

39 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

It’s funny because Cam’s MVP season is pretty much what Josh has put up on average the past 4 years. People just get all hot and bothered by those 3 little letters. 
 

Same thing with Tyrod’s MVP season this year. 

 

 

Cam's passing yards that year:  3837

 

Josh's passing yards the past four years:  4544, 4407, 4283, 4306

 

When I started looking this stuff up, I thought sure Cam's passing yards would be significantly below Josh's, but that his running yards would be well above. 'Tain't so. Josh's passing yards were well above Cam's, but his rush yards are, on the average, about equal to Cam's that year.

 

Cam had 636 yards and 10 TDs. Josh went 421, 763, 762 and 524, which averages out to about the same. And 8, 6, 7 and 15 TDs, which averages out to 9 TDs a season, one below Cam.

 

Give me Josh. But not by all that much. Newton was terrific that year.

[strive_for_five_guy]

39 minutes ago, buffblue said:

A tie at QB? Josh is light years better than Cam ever was. Even in the 2015 year this thread is about (which was BY FAR his best season), Cam was a sub 60 percent passer and didn't crack 4,000 yards passing. Then he decided to not jump on a fumble in the Super Bowl. Add in the fact that he acted like a petulant child instead of a leader most of the time and I don't see how you could consider the two players equal.

 

Cam Newton is one of the most overrated players in recent NFL history imo.

Just like Lamar showed last year too, MVP is all about the wins.  That Panthers defense was loaded, and their offense was decent too.  So they won a lot of games, and Cam won MVP.  I think our offense can be just as good or better than what those 2015 Panthers were fielding.  And as good as McD’s defenses have been in the regular season, they constantly haven’t matched up well with the best offenses in the playoffs.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

54 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Is worth saying at this point that defensive front 7 is around 30% of your starters, so those numbers should be seen in that context. But Brandon Beane is building his team the way he witnessed it done in Carolina. He tells us himself he will never apologise for prioritising the defensive front. And he is as good as his word in that regard. 

 

I hate it.

 

Every GM we've EVER had priortizes it, but none of them are actually good at drafting it.

 

[SoonerBillsFan]

2 hours ago, Buddy Hix said:

Panthers were better everywhere, with a tie at QB.

 

Crazy how you can see the 1990’s team building philosophy in both rosters. 

Not a tie at QB.  Allen's last year stats were better than Cams MVP year.

One thing stuck out. You said both RB's made the probowl?  Their RB and FB both made the pro bowl and Cam was MVP. 

 

 Brady started to run the ball more last year, bigger WR,drafted OL ( van pran may be our starting center at some point).

 

It all makes you wonder huh?  😁

[Bills!Win!]

Why don’t I remember the Panthers having Jared Allen? 

[GunnerBill]

8 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

Why don’t I remember the Panthers having Jared Allen? 

 

Was literally his last year. Was a bit of a shell of himself. But hey, old, over the hill pass rushers are part of the Carolina model and Beano loves them.