Teddy Bridgewater the new franchise!

I'm here in Pantherland because of Teddy B.  I've followed his career since Minnesota and have basically seen every NFL game he's ever played.  While there are many Panther fans who see yds/TDs stats and figure he must suck, that is incredibly misleading and its the same exact thing that Saints fans said about him, until he went 5-0 and next thing u know they're clamoring for him to take over the team from Drew Brees.  It's the same thing Jets fans said about him, until Teddy lit up the preseason and had Jets fans wanting Teddy to stay in and let Sam Darnold sit his entire rookie year.

This is exactly what's going to happen in Carolina because that's what happened everywhere.  and at some point, Panther fans will stop wondering why Rhule wanted him so bad, and dreaming about Trevor Lawrence or whatever rookie QB is available next year and realize the franchise IS here right now.  Teddy is the real deal and if u don't believe me, just ask every coaching staff he played for.  It wasn't coincidence that Joe Brady and Matt Rhule immediately targeted Teddy in free agency to build the team upon.  Brady was assigned in New Orleans to teach Teddy that offense.  If Brady didn't have confidence in him this signing wouldn't have happened.  period.  trust there must be a reason.

This is why Teddy is so good.  Intangibles.  all QBs have a degree of skill, but that only takes you so far to where your intangibles of leadership and handling pressure situations catches up to you and exposes you.  We've seen this happen countless times in the NFL.  Teddy's leadership is at an elite level.  You all know what the Saints org and its fans feel about Drew Brees right?  Within a few weeks, Teddy had the entire coaching staff and fanbase eating out of his hand, ready to ride into Hell with him.  There's a reason Drew rushed his return before the bye week, because he was seeing how effective Teddy was in leading the franchise.  which is more than just on the field, its off the field.  Teddy is over the top likable and has elite character and integrity.  you'll learn more about his personal life and what he's overcome over time and you'll fall in love with him like everyone else does.   He will be the face of the Panthers and someone we'll all be proud to call him that.

Coolness under pressure.  he's overcome so much adversity in life and has such strong faith, he doesn't get rattled or overwhelmed by a situation.  From his rookie year he was leading game winning drives in Minnesota.  Against the Legion of Boom and the Super Bowl defending champion Seahawks, in -25' degree weather, he lead a game winning drive in the playoffs.  only to have that snatched away by Blair Walsh missing a 27 yd FG.  But he's playoff tested and passed.  Most young QB's crumble under the pressure, he's proven.

The story on Teddy is there's so much in his book not yet written.  He's not a veteran journeyman.  He was just starting Year 3 of his career when the freak injury occured that almost killed him and destroyed his leg.  he had just put on 15 pounds of muscle and his preseason showed this was to be his big breakthrough season and the Vikings would be considered SB contenders (after he went 11-5 and lost that playoff game from the missed FG).  it was all ready to happen, then it was snatched away.

It's taken him FOUR YEARS to get to a point where he's leading a team again.  if you saw him in New Orleans you saw how he got better each and every week after a 3 year layoff.  Thsi will be the first full season he's played since 2015.  and he didn't have any preseason games either.  Once he gets settled in, things are going to roll and his teammates and coaches will love him more and more.  and one day the fans will too.

I've always liked Cam Newton, but comparisons between the two are literally apples and oranges.  They couldn't be any more different as players or as people.  They each bring completely different strengths and weaknesses.  And Teddy isn't here to replace Cam.  But he will win everyone over at some point.

I don't know how everyone on this board feels about Teddy, but I see in almost every other board a lot of Panther fans giving their "expert" opinion on Teddy Bridgewater based off of never seeing him play a game in his life, and making a lot of blanket generalizations that aren't accurate at all.  Trust the coaches.  Trust the people who signed him.  Look at all the fans of the other teams who got won over, particularly the Saints and their fans.  They're still rooting for him NOW.  there are reasons for this.  trust it.

And trust that at some point you will fall in love with Teddy Bridgewater just like everyone else does.

Thank you for that, JD. As you see in our other posts (and in the lack of posts), that is exactly what is missing. We don't know the team enough to feel like it's our team. So, posts like that really help us get to know the man at the key spot. Welcome!

Thank you for that, JD.  As you see in our other posts (and in the lack of posts), that is exactly what is missing.  We don't know the team enough to feel like it's our team.  So, posts like that really help us get to know the man at the key spot.  Welcome!

Thanks and i'm learning the REST of the Panthers, having only watched them from a distance.  I am very optimistic about this offense.  hoping the game ending playcall was just a hiccup and not a sign of things to come, I think over this season, this offense is going to evolve into something special.  On paper its strong.  Joe Brady has a great track record.  it's just a matter of putting it all together, but the talent IS there.  I am quite confident in this offense to reach their potential this year.  Defense not so much.  so we'll see.  Rome wasn't built in a day...