ForJimmy

Banks is looking like he has some power on the line.

I believe he is a junior.

A very valid question. The first thing I would think is athletic ability. I’ve seen Burrow escape tackles and make some incredible throws off the run under pressure. He had some great pocket awareness in college. Even in the pros with a terrible offensive line, he was playing solid until he got hurt. Jones doesn’t seem to have the speed or quickness to avoid sacks (he has never really had to). From the games I saw he was also throwing some quick passes to a wide open Smith and even his deep ones had Smith pretty open. Burrow’s throws were in tighter coverage with some insane ball placement. Jones may turn out to be great. He may show some great pocket awareness and move around to avoid pressure. If we do draft him, CMC will be a great safety net if he is under pressure. Hopefully he can stay calm and still make his throws. He has just never had to worry about many of these things in college. I think Jones is just a lot more of an unknown than Burrow. The good news is our coach is getting an up close and personal look at him in the Senior Bowl. If he thinks he is the guy, I trust his opinion for now,

If we miss on other options, he might be an upgrade over Teddy for a cheaper contract.

Mac Jones won’t last until the 2nd round. I’m not a fan at picking him at 8, but if it’s in the 2nd it might be worth the risk. I just don’t see him falling that far.

Sign Moton long term and try to extend Miller (or another journeyman) for cheap. Draft some guards to compete in rounds 3 or later. LT is going to be the tough one... some of our backups looked serviceable last year, but we definitely need some new faces there to compete...

Yeah, let him finish his last year and extend Moton so we at least have 2 familiar faces. LT is a top concern, we can probably pick up a FA guard and draft one in the 3rd or later...

That’s fair, but it’s probably going to be the Jets or Miami offering then more capital than Watson not wanting to come here.

Ok so people are just doubting that he wants to be here, not that we are interested. That makes more sense. I would think the new staff/owner being all in on building a winning organization plus Moore, Anderson, CMC would be attractive for a young QB. He also played for Clemson so he knows he has quite a fan base here. I don’t see him turning down playing here...

https://www.nfl.com/news/carolina-panthers-to-be-aggressive-in-pursuit-of-potential-deshaun-watson-trade

Why are people having trouble believing this. Our staff from the owner to the coach have basically said we are looking to upgrade our QB position. A 25 year old pro bowler would definitely be an upgrade and he wants to be traded. We also have an aggressive and involved owner with a new GM who would love to make a big splash. Tepper is invested heavily in this team and Watson in Carolina would be insanely marketable.

This might be the worst case scenario. I would hope we draft a LT then try a project QB like Newman in the 2nd. However Jones could still be a solid starter in the NFL. He is just a big unknown to me...

We currently have 0 offensive lineman and no TE worth anything. The main concern is while Moore and Anderson are great, they won’t have as huge of a gap between their competition as the players at Alabama did. I’m not saying Jones will be bad, he is just an unknown right now not unlike Lance and Newman. If we draft him I’ll get on board. I actually trust this staff to evaluate and develop.

Makes you wonder where people get this stuff...

Well it might workout good for us. LT first, Newman second could be a solid backup plan...

He is average at best. Solid starter, but can’t put the team on his back.

He is almost as much of a question mark as Lance to me. Can Lance play that well against better competition? Can Jones play they well with lesser talent and against teams that may have better players than his? I think they both are a risk, Lance just has the higher ceiling with his athletic ability.

Practice INTs happen all the time. He hasn’t played for a year. The good news is Rhule gets a close and personal look at him to decide if he is our guy or not.

He needs to talk down Newman so he is available with our 2nd or 3rd pick. Talking up Jones is great. Let another team draft him.

From Newton to Newman...

Yeah he is still pretty raw. Clemson was going to be rough. He leading WR was out and his line/weapons were going against all around superior talent. With that said he still looked pretty bad (no time to throw and no players getting open can do that). I try to look at his games against similar talented teams like UNC, NC St, Louisville, and VT. Didn’t look good against VT, but great in the other 3. Sounds like the potential is there, just needs some coaching/development IMO.

Not unlike the draft profile of Josh Allen right? I know his arm isn’t as strong as Allen’s, but it’s legit. He has the physical tools to be a great QB, I’d love to see how Rhule and Brady can develop him.

If he looks the part, a team may try to snag him late in the 1st. If we get a stud LT at 8, we would be wise to use our 2nd on Newman. I don’t think he makes it into the 3rd if he looks good....

If we draft him and land Newman in the 2nd/3rd, I’ll be able to handle it.