The Drafting of Perceived 'Raw' Prospects

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Panther's General Manager Dave Gettleman has said that when it comes to drafting players, especially in the early rounds, he wants rookies that can get on the field and contribute as soon as possible. After all, what good is a draft selection that cannot earn playing time throughout the season?

In the Charlotte media, as well as on the Huddle, positional coaches like Ricky Proehl and Steve Wilks have received high praise for their ability to develop talent and have their guys ready to play. This is evidenced by Wilks' promotion earlier this off-season to Assistant Head Coach.

Do you believe that Dave Gettleman takes into account the strengths of his coaches at certain positional groups during the daft? By that I mean, is he willing to draft a player that may be perceived as 'raw' at one position as opposed to another, because he has a positional coach at that position who has a knack for developing talent? Kelvin Benjamin was pegged as raw but by the time week 1 rolled around the game never seemed too big for him. Gettleman prizes a high football IQ when scouting his draft targets. Kelvin excelled on the board during his pre-draft visits with Proehl. If a player is raw but possesses a strong football acumen, I think Gettleman is willing to pull the trigger on him assuming he checks his other boxes.

As a fan, are you comfortable with the Panthers drafting athletes that may not be as polished in their craft because of certain members of the coaching staff if they can impress the staff with their knowledge of the game?

[Mr. Scot]

I think you have to consider your coaches - and your veteran players as well - when you're looking at a rookie's potential learning process.

And yeah, every prospect is bound to have rough edges and weak spots. You have to believe that you can coach them into players.

[TheNewStandard]

Gettleman won't take a prospect that he doesn't think will fit. he expects all 53 players to produce and if they don't, they are gone...point plankn.

[LinvilleGorge]

Gettleman won't take a prospect that he doesn't think will fit. he expects all 53 players to produce and if they don't, they are gone...point plankn.

Explain Byron Bell and Nate Chandler.

[Kuech the Sneak]

They seem to value football IQ highly, everyone sees everybody's game film but the interviews are what really seem to set apart draft prospects in his eyes. Apparently ereck flowers though he impressed Gman with his knowledge so he could be high on their list

[t96]

I wonder how good DGB's football IQ is...

[Growl]

Gettleman says he wants players that can contribute, which unfortunately to Huddle is the excuse needed to "dismiss" any player you don't like. As we saw a number of posters do with Kelvin Benjamin last year until oops with the 28th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft the Carolina Panthers select, a Kelvin Benjamin, WR, a Florida State

And then the rationalizing and "who me I didn't say anything bad about him" begins

[zacka77ack]

I read as much as I could last draft season and never read that Benjamin "excelled" on the whiteboard. Was this true?

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

I read as much as I could last draft season and never read that Benjamin "excelled" on the whiteboard. Was this true?

Gettleman the week after the draft in his presser I think it was said that they went over some complicated things with him during a visit either in Charlotte or at FSU and then went out to lunch with him. When they got back into the meeting room, Kelvin was able to recall all of what they went over without any trouble and demonstrated that he could pick up concepts of our offense and understand them.

[Cuttinedge]

I'm fine with drafting high IQ prospects and letting our positional coaches work with them.

But just as long as we're not having a franchise QB coached up by 2 incompetents who have never succeeded anywhere they've been. . . Uh wait a minute?

[d-dave]

Raw is generally used for guys who don't have a lot of experience, like KB.  KB has the tools, did well in the Panthers' interview, and Florida state has a pro-style offense.  Even though he wasn't a 5 year college starter, he had the right mix of tools and smarts to warrant the pick.  I think we were pretty well rewarded.

 

Every NFL team has certain values for different things.  When you look at a guy like DGB, you have to balance the physical tools (which are plentiful), the player personality and game planning interviews, and the personal.  I would consider DGB to be raw based on what others have said (since I'm not a scout or do this full time).  

 

Teams have to balance it, and that's where the idea of the boom and bust prospects come from.  If I was going to ask a WR to make a bunch of reads based on coverage and adjust their routes on the fly, I'd have to really make sure I felt he could before I invested a pick in him.  For the Panthers, look at Kugbulia (Kugzilla).  Huge, strong, looked like a guard.  He was RAW as a small school guy because of competition.  We missed there, sadly.

 

I wouldn't touch the combine freak WR from Maryland until the 5th round.  He might become a great ST gunner before he figured out how to do something with his athletic ability.

[Ricky Spanish]

Explain Byron Bell and Nate Chandler.

 

Bell doesn't have a contract and Chandler is a project athlete who has only been playing the position for 2 years, both of which started at the highest level of competition possible. 

 

Also, money issues.