4 burning questions Carolina Panthers fans are asking ahead of Preseason Week 2
Carolina Panthers 'vanilla' playbook expanded?
Will the playbook be opened up to actually get a good look at what we have? - Josh T.
Josh, I expect it to, For the most part, anyway.
I think Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will be the first ones to tell you that Saturday was not what should be expected. Not just for the preseason, but the regular season as well.
At the same time, I get where Reich and Brown are coming from in terms of having more or less a generic playbook during Week 1 of the preseason. As a new tandem and offensive system, the two play-callers don't want to give away too much about what they'll be implementing in terms of philosophy and schematics.
However, they need to show a little bit more than what was displayed on Saturday versus the New York Jets. If we're being honest, this offense showed more creativity and spacing concepts in one preseason game than Ben McAdoo did the entire 2022 season.
That is saying a lot about the offense of old and new.
This year, you're going to see more spacing and Doug Pederson-like principles with a diversity of passing concepts. These will be deployed alongside a good mix of Sean McVay principles from Brown such as deep crossers and vertical concepts off-motion and play-action.
I hope that Friday will display tiny dips of these principles with the hope that it's enough for a much more successful offensive showing.