Former Panthers legendary WR turned NFL Network Analyst Steve Smith joined Kyle Bailey on Monday’s edition of the Clubhouse as he weighed in on all the problems that plagued the Panthers throughout the 2021 season, and how they can be fixed throughout the offseason.
The conversation started by looking at the season finale for the Panthers as he thought it was a perfect microcosm of the season as a whole as the defense held their own but outside of the first drive, the offense was struggling as Steve then went deeper into his rant from Twitter about Panthers Interim OC Jeff Nixon saying they were closer than people realize as Steve said as an offense they don’t look good at as Steve reiterated his point from earlier in the year that you can not tell if Sam is any good considering how bad the O-Line has played.
When looking at the changes this team needs to make Steve said that Matt Rhule needs to change some of the philosophies that college coaches like him have had in simple play calls and they don’t make massive adjustments coming out of the half which has led to many of the losses as Steve said he isn’t saying Rhule won’t work, but he has to realize when something or someone isn’t working and then change it.
Steve then looked at the offensive line as he thinks that is where things have to change the most this offseason as he thinks if the struggles of the past 3 to 4 years can start changing in the right direction, then it needs to start by working on the offensive line.
The conversation ended with Steve Smith reacting to not being a finalist for this year’s NFL Hall of Fame as Steve responded by saying:
“I was hoping, but I wasn’t expecting to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I also talked to some folks and they told me I’ll get in eventualy but part of what’s going on is you have to look the part, but at the end of the day I think Sam Mills is a Hall of Famer and I will be someday.”
