kungfoodude

Well, a lot of the exceptional athletes are either gone or have some pretty big warts by rounds 4-7. There is a lot more gamble in those rounds in general. Even "reach" picks aren't quite as much of a reach, especially in the circumstances we had this scouting cycle. I think we seem to ignore positional value a bit too much(overall, not just Day 3). That works if you have a high hit rate but it ends up with some spectacularly bad results if you don't. I definitely see a lot of Seahawks influence in some of the things we did. The results there were somewhere between unbelievable to unbelievable disaster. I suspect we will tend to be that way, as well. Let's hope we get our period of crazy early success like they had in Seattle to build a Super Bowl caliber team and sustained long term success. I can deal with having really bad draft results if we are winning 10+ games and contending for titles every year. Sign me up for that.

Pretty much. I think they are just throwing poo at the wall to see if it sticks. But, that is what every franchise without an elite QB is doing. Although we gave up draft capital, at least we aren't so financially invested with this gamble. We have to keep in mind that our FO and coaching staff have learning curves to navigate, as well. We just have to watch the process and hope it nets the desired results.

I am not sure I would necessarily buy into the notion that Notre Dame doesn't have pass catching tight ends under Brian Kelly. He has had Kyle Rudolph and Tyler Eifert. I would say it's probably more so that they didn't view Tremble as that kind of player. On the positive side, if you look at ND's track record under Kelly, they have put a lot of TE's in the NFL in general. So, they do have an established reputation as developing NFL caliber talent at the position.

We will see what they have in mind for him. I am just glad we have at least a couple of younger guys to try out rather than these wastebin JAGS they like to keep cycling through. My bar is pretty low at this point, so if we can even get just quality two deep guys(something we haven't had consistently in a while), that's ultimately a win. I know we seemed ahead of schedule because of how close so many games were last season but this roster is still pretty weak(especially in regards to depth) so I am still being patient with the process of rebuilding. I don't need us to be successful next year, I want to be successful in the long term and actually sustain it at some point. I really can't help that you can't fathom that not thinking this was the best draft in Panthers history is possible. That's really basically a you problem.

I think fans were a lot more enamored with Newman than the NFL was. It didn't help that in his big opportunity to boost his stock(transferring to UGA) he opted out.

I suspect Darnold is beyond repair, like so many damaged goods QB's before him. It's not the worst thing in the world if he is a disaster, though. It could put us in a good position to eventually be able to get a franchise QB again. As much as I dislike the choice to pick up his 5th year option, he will be much cheaper to jettison than Bridgewater was if he continues to be Sam Darnold - Jets Edition. In the unlikely case Darnold does turn out to be the touted QB prospect the Jets drafted, then we get a franchise QB at a cheap price. I don't think the coaching staff really believes that PJ Walker or Will Grier are actual NFL caliber backups. I think they are just making do with some ultra cheap depth and pushing all their chips in on Darnold. I don't ultimately have a problem with that "all or nothing" approach while we are rebuilding. If it all goes to poo, we get to pick in the top 5-10 again, and that should serve to keep stocking our roster with cheap and talented players. Once we eventually find a franchise QB and get back to being a winning franchise, I do hope we will see the value in having a solid veteran backup QB to buoy us in the case of injury.

Our line performed a mediocre to bad level in 2020, depending on the statistics and metrics that you look at. It's pretty similar in make up this year, with some potential upgrades and/or downgrades. I would expect LT to be much worse this year, and it's a coin flip on the OG's. If we can just scrape one decent starting OG out of the FA signings(highly, HIGHLY unlikely) or the draft(much, MUCH more likely), it's a step in the right direction. Last year's OL was so exceptionally bad when you went past our starting OL(which unfortunately we had to do all too often). That's what I have the most hope for improving this offseason. Perhaps we won't go from mediocre to horrific when one of our starters goes down with injury. Again, that is another area we can dramatically improve on if these offseason moves work out. Still not convinced we have a FO or coaching staff that really places much value on the OL. Time will tell.

I actually thought this was our best day of the draft. Some pretty good prospects to bolster depth and special teams on an extremely thin roster. Definitely high on the Hubbard and Brown picks.

What is your grade for the Round 4-7 picks? No. 126 Chuba Hubbard(RB - Ok. St.), No. 158 Daviyon Nixon(DT - Iowa), No. 166 Keith Taylor(CB - Washington), No. 193 Deonte Brown(OG - Alabama), No. 204 Shi Smith(WR - South Carolina), No. 222 Thomas Fletcher(LS - Alabama), No. 232 Phil Hoskins(DT - Kentucky)

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see Horn lead the NFL in PI flags, given his reputation. This will be a tough division to come in as a starting #1 CB as a rookie. I expect him to take a ton of lumps. Like I said, let's not eat him alive if that happens and start calling him a bust.

This was an exceptionally weak LT class and the BYU wasn't exactly a top tier prospect at LT. If he ends up as a starting OG and a good one, I am fine with that. IMO, he doesn't have the skill set to be a very good NFL LT. I am fine being wrong about that, if it makes the team better. I just don't think he is an NFL LT. As much as we have ignored the OL line in recent years(this one included), I will just simply accept "above average" NFL caliber. It is better than what we have been fielding.

Surtain is supposedly the best technically in some time but he isn't the raw athlete Horn is nor seems to have the same disposition. Definitely a higher theoretical ceiling, it just becomes a matter of him being able to reach it. I would caution that we probably shouldn't expect a lot next season. Even if he is just flat bad, he deserves at least 3 seasons to get up to speed. Not all of these "elite" CB prospects come out of the gate as All Pro caliber guys.

We hope. Simply more bodies in general is an improvement. Ideally, we get a couple of starting OG's or even high caliber backup OL from what we took. I don't hold out much hope of getting a starting caliber LT from this but if we do that probably alone makes this a successful draft.

TBD.

First pick this draft I have genuinely really liked. Great positional value and fills a big need(back up RB).

I 100% don't disagree but blocking TE's can be had relatively easily later in the draft, as UDFA's or free agents. Not so much knocking the player, more critical of the positional value.

Not to mention he is 25, so his window might be smaller than usual. But, he did the Mormon mission thing so that was also probably two less years of wear and tear. I agree, though. Odd to keep trading down when there are so many good OL prospects you are passing up.

We will see. Not sure he is better than Scott. If he is, huge bonus. I would think he likely start somewhere on the line. Outside of Paradis and Moton there aren't many starting caliber OL on the roster.

That is actually not a bad point. As bad as we are likely to be at LT, having a nasty blocking TE could be the safety net that limits how much damage our LT situation could cause. Considering how likely it is that our LT is a turnstile, if we see a lot of schemed help from Tremble(or others) that would make me feel a lot better about the coaches understanding the roster situation a little better. The anti-Shula move.

I genuinely just don't see what the plan is, if there is one. I hope it becomes clearer with time and success.

fug Joe Horn.

I think the scouting reports on him say he is likely an OG in the NFL. Leaves a big hole at LT still but if he can be an above average starting OG, that's still an improvement.

Yeah, just seems like a high draft pick to use for a one dimensional player. Let's hope he is better than he was in college.

Let's hope we are planning on doing something with those picks next year. I am not sure how much use the pile of 4th and 5th rounders will be other than fixing our persistent depth issues. Packaging to make them into better draft picks would be nice. I do wonder if we use them to trade for players. Maybe we plan on doing more building that way? Seattle was fairly active in that world, IIRC.

I am always skeptical of the "untapped" potential guys. Were they untapped or does that potential just not exist?