Matthias' Glorious Mock

[Matthias]

I'm excited to take a look at the draft class of 2015.  Want to see who's coming out early and who can help this Panther team improve right away.  I'll begin with a mock free agency. (Sort of.  I'll mention a couple of names)....

 

 

 

First thing I'm going to do is let Greg Hardy walk.  Even if his cost comes down, I'm just tired of all the headache that surrounds him.  This particular incident with Holder I would say is his singular most incident he's had, and other than that he's been good.  I believe he's innocent of what's accused of him, but the whole thing along with all the other things such as the motorcycle accident just shows you he lives with an edge about him.  That's a lot of money to be putting into someone's pocket, and they are not playing on the field.  KK and Star looks like they are about to take over for us in the middle.  With workable talent around them, I feel we can more than make up for Hardy's production.

 

 

Secondly due to letting Hardy walk, I'm keeping CJ around.  He will only cost us 9 million dollars against the cap, which is less than what we would have paid Hardy his first year on a new deal.  CJ is still young, not even past the 30 year mark.  Haha, it seems like he's been playing forever.  So keeping him around maintains a great talent to go along with the youngins in Star and KK.  I'm going to keep D-Will and Stew another year.  It really doesn't benefit much to cut either of them, so it would be better to keep them around.  I know they have some injuries, but they still have some tread on their tires.  Get these boys a line that can move people off the ball, and they will still give you good yardage.  With that said, next year will be their last year here. (We said that last year heehee)

 

 

Free Agent Signing:

 

 

Bryan Bulaga

 

 

 

 

I know it's pretty much no way the Packers are going to let this dude walk in free agency, but let me mention a couple of things.  One, there are no sexy names out there that we can afford in free agency other than perhaps Bulaga.  So he would be my dream signing and would be a premier RT.  Two, the Pack may let him go due to injuries over the last two years.  He missed all of the 2013 season, and was injured in the first game of this year.  It's possible they may not want to pay him and decide to go a different route with other guys.  It's a long shot because they could just franchise him for one year, though I wonder how much money that would cost them?  We'll see.  This is my only free agent mention for now.  I think our cap is going to be better than what has been said among us recently.  This is supposed to be the year where we actually had some money to work with, so I don't understand all the talk about us having less than 10 million in cap space.

 

 

 

 

NFL Draft: (By the way, I'm going to add in two compensation picks.  One in the third and another in the fourth.  We let a lot of guys walk in free agency, and even release Smitty who's doing well.  It's pretty much a given we will get compensation.  I actually think we will get more on the amount here, but just keeping it simple)

 

 

 

1st Round Pick

 

Sammie Coates

 

Pos- WR

Ht- 6'2"

Wt- 201

Col- Auburn

 

 

 

Coates has been battling an injury through the beginning of the college season.  He's starting to now regain full strength, so we'll see what he can do as the season unfolds.  When healthy, I would put this guy in the class of Amari Cooper, if not a better receiver.  He has size yes, but he also has burner speed to go with it.  We would instantly sport one of the best, if not the best receiving core with this pick.

 

 

 

 

2nd Round Pick

 

Ereck Flowers

 

Pos- LT

Ht- 6'6"

Wt- 324

Col- Miami

 

 

Mentioned in another draft mock, he's a polished guy.  I say he's a first round talent, but will probably fall into the second.  He's capable of battling to start at LT.

 

 

 

 

3rd Round Pick

 

Bronson Kaufusi

 

Pos- DE/OLB

Ht- 6'7"

Wt- 265

Col- BYU

 

 

A raw talent.  With a little work, maybe we can turn him into a poor man's JJ Watt.  Kony Ealy is still coming up in this league, and I expect him to continue to grow.  Yet I must say even though guys like Hardy and CJ also struggled and took time to develop, I'm a little disappointed with Ealy.  I just haven't seen any real flashes so far, but I have faith he will be a good, and possibly great player.  In the meantime, Horton isn't doing much and Mario Addison is a specialist.  I don't even want to mention Frank Alexander, he should be gone next year.  So Kaufusi could come into mix here.  He's also played a little basketball at BYU.

 

 

 

 

3rd Round Pick (Compensation)

 

Ronnie Stanley

 

Pos- LT/RT

Ht- 6'5"

Wt- 315

Col- Notre Dame

 

 

Some sites say he is a 1st-2nd round talent.  Right now he anchors a line of a currently undefeated Notre Dame squad.  So far his former teammate in Zack Martin is looking good in this league.  Perhaps that will rub off on him, and he will see some NFL success of his own.  Insurance policy to my dream signing of Bryan Bulaga.

 

 

 

 

4th Round Pick

 

Eric Rowe

 

Pos- CB

Ht- 6'1"

Wt- 205

Col- Utah

 

 

Not much in the way of corners this far into the draft.  This guy has some interesting match ups left in the season, including going a few rounds with Jaelen Strong.  I'll be paying attention and see how he does.

 

 

 

 

4th Round Pick (Compensation)

 

Cedric Reed

 

Pos- DE

Ht- 6'5"

Wt- 272

Col- Texas

 

 

A great talent who's having a poor year.  Back in 2013, he had an outstanding season.  That year he finished with 10 sacks, 16.5 tackles for a loss, and 5 forced fumbles.  For some reason he's been quite so far, but that could change.  The whole Texas team sucks this year, so that could have rubbed off on him.  Ultimately if he has a so-so year, he could see his stock fall.  I feel like this may be another Greg Hardy type of steal if we can land him here or later.

 

 

 

 

5th Round Pick

 

Stephone Anthony

 

Pos- ILB

Ht- 6'2

Wt- 236

Col- Clemson

 

 

I was impressed with his play in that game against Florida St.  His stock will probably continue to rise.  Going into the year, it looks like most sites had him as a 7th rounder at best.  Seeing his pass rush ability, I believe he has the speed and ability to play OLB.  In any case, he looks to be a good tackler and would be a benefit to have on special teams.  AJ Klein still has to prove himself as a starter, or else this guy might take that spot.

 

 

 

 

6th Round Pick

 

Bo Wallace

 

Pos- QB

Ht- 6'4"

Wt- 209

Col- Ole Miss

 

 

I like the improvement he's had over his career, and of course he became an Ole Miss legend after beating Alabama.  I like having these kind of guys around my team.  Though his stock will rise, and he would probably be a 4th round pick. (He's definitely better than AJ McCarron, but so was Zach Mettenberger, and he went in the sixth round.  So who knows)

 

 

 

 

7th Round Pick

 

Jeremy Cash

 

Pos- SS

Ht- 6'2"

Wt- 205

Col- Duke

 

 

An interesting prospect to have around.  I believe he is considered Duke's best defensive player, and perhaps best player. (Between him and Laken Tomlinson)  I try to add quality guys with every pick, even this late in the draft.  I could see him making the roster on special teams.  He could sit behind both DeCoud and Harper, and learn some things.  Of course he would be battling Boston and Lester for a spot.

 

 

 

Depth Chart Projection

 

Offense:

 

QB- Cam Newton, Derek Anderson, Bo Wallace ®

RB- DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Darrin Reaves

FB- Mike Tolbert

TE- Greg Olsen, Brandon Williams

WR- Kelvin Benjamin, Brenton Bersin, Philly Brown

WR- Sammie Coates ®, Stehpen Hill

LT- Ereck Flowers ®, Byron Bell

LG- Amini Silatolu, Andrew Norwell

C- Ryan Kalil, Fernando Velasco

RG- Trai Turner, Fernando Velasco

RT- Bryan Bulaga (FA), Ronnie Stanley ®

 

 

Defense:

 

DE- Bryan Kaufasi ®, Mario Addison, Cedric Reed ®

DT- Kawann Short, Dwan Edwards

DT- Star Lotulelei, ?

DE- Charles Johnson, Kony Ealy

OLB- Thomas Davis, Jason Williams

MLB- Luke Kuechly, Stephone Anthony ®

OLB- AJ Klein, Stephone Anthony ®

CB- Josh Norman, Melvin White

FS- Thomas DeCoud, Colin Jones

SS- Roman Harper, Tre Boston

CB- Antoine Cason, Eric Rowe ®, Bene Benwikere

 

 

Special Teams

 

K- Graham Gano

P- Brad Nortman

PR- Philly Brown

KR- Philly Brown

[Panthersguru14]

I love the first 4 picks although I do believe that Sammie may be a tad overrated and I'm a huge auburn guy. Duke Williams the other auburn receiver may be the best of the two. I do agree that we need to draft a linebacker to groom behind Davis and have as insurance. I don't care for bo Wallace but at that point who knows.

[IamSoClutch]

Na we need to keep Greg hardy. The head ache is the nfl handling the issue not hardy

[Pejorative Miscreant]

Like the draft.  I dont know if we are going to get a 3rd and 4th round compensatory pick though.  That is lofty. 

[*FreeFua*]

If we waste a 6th rounder on Bo Wallace ill drive down to Chicago myself and beat Gettleman with the phone he used to call in the pick with

[Matthias]

We should get two or three compensatory picks if I understand the concept right.  Not only did a bunch of our guys leave this year, but most of them are starters playing significant minutes on other teams.  Smitty is tearing it up in Baltimore.  LaFell is connecting with Brady.  Both Munnerlyn and Mitchell are starters, and Tedd Ginn is playing spot duty in Arizona.  We should get some picks between all of them. (Especially with Smith)

 

With Bo Wallace, it looks like a wasted pick at first glance, but having him around could be a great thing.  It gives Cam pretty much his first under study.  Being a teacher and showing the youngster the ropes would help him develop his already growing leadership skills.  Being a student of the game is one thing, but you can only become a master once you successfully taught someone else how to play it.  If that is successful, then we have a Cam-like back up should Cam go down for a game or two. (DA will probably be gone at some point, but who knows)  Lastly, if Wallace really develops behind Cam, he would become trade bait.  I know that rarely happens, but it's a possibility.

[afinley90]

Getting Anthony in the 5th would be one of the steals of the draft. I would be thrilled if we could get him in the 3rd.

[B.BERSIN]

Reed is good.

[Frank Hollywood]

Steve smith will not net us a compensation pick. We cut him.

Ginn, Mitchell, lafell and maybe one or two others will.

[Matthias]

Thanks for the clear up!