Give your grade for the Panthers draft.

[hepcat]

Round 1, Pick 25: LB Shaq Thompson (Washington).  GRADE: B+

I was lukewarm on this pick at first but after watching some game footage and learning more about Thompson, I think it's a solid pick especially for the long term.  Super athletic guy with a ton of potential.

 

Round 2, Pick 42: WR Devin Funchess (Michigan).  GRADE: B-

Trading up to grab this guy seemed a little desperate, and Gettleman even admitted it.  "The board was being picked clean."  Still, this is another super athletic receiver with high-upside.  The Panthers have been making a statement about what they think about Cam's accuracy, so they go find big receivers who can go GET the ball.  Wise pick to fit Cam's unique skillset.

 

Round 4, Pick 102.  OT/OG Daryl Williams (Oklahoma).  GRADE: A

Big fan of this pick, not just because it's a badly needed tackle on the Panthers shaky O-Line, but because this guy plays mean.  Gettleman adds a potential mauling RT to an improving offensive line that suddenly has some decent depth.  This could be the best pick of the draft for the Panthers.

 

Round 5, Pick 169.  LB David Mayo (Texas State).  GRADE: D-

The only reason I give this pick a D- instead of an F is I trust Gettleman's scouting and process.  But I'm left scratching my head at this one like the rest of the Panthers fans out there.  This is a player that would have almost certainly been available as a free agent after the draft.  Reminds me far too much of Edmund Kugbila, reaching for a small school player that over performed against lesser competition.  Here's hoping I'm wrong but I am not a fan of this pick.

 

Round 5, Pick 169.  RB Cameron Artis-Payne (Auburn).  GRADE: B+

Obvious RB pick all Panthers fans knew was coming.  Solid pick for a very productive one year Division I player.  Had a phenomenal year at Auburn and Cam has to be happy to be handing off the ball to a fellow War Eagle.  Another pick that could prove a steal if he beats out Fozzy for the backup RB job, but let's not get our hopes up over a 5th round pick.  Still I have high hopes for the guy and this could be another huge value pick along with Daryl Williams.

 

Overall Grade: B

 

Aside from the Mayo pick, this is a very solid draft class.  Shaq Thompson will be a Panther for the next decade eventually succeeding Thomas Davis.  Funchess could be the long awaited #2 WR the Panthers have lacked since Moose retired.  Daryl Williams has the potential to be a road-grading RT to open up the running game.  Artis-Payne could be the RB busting through the holes opened up by Williams.  David Mayo....I'm hoping you make the roster and prove me wrong.  Overall I think it's a solid haul that addresses some obvious holes, but not as good as the 2014 draft which could go down as one of the best in Panthers history.

[GoobyPls]

We have no more picks?

[davos]

We have no more picks?

 

we're finito for the draft

[nosuchthingasapanther]

i give it a B.

the daryl williams pick pushed it above a C/C+.

[Kevin Greene]

[SixMileDrive]

The thing to remember here is that Gettleman has earned the benefit of the doubt. Last year everyone bitched about Bene. Why did we draft Kelvin when Lee was rated higher. Boston had poor instincts and was going to be a bust. Look how it turned out. I don't care what Kiper says, I don't care what the huddle says. I trust Dave's talent evaluation abilities. I'll grade the draft after a year or two.

[Plewis]

Draft grade: Playoffs.

 

fug grades. No teacher knew poo growing up. None of these media folks know a damn either. As long as we win it don't matter. We invested in Davey now we gotta see this thing out.

[jasonluckydog]

B+

The Mayo pick stopped it from being an A grade

[Fidel Cashflow]

On paper, it looks better than last years class.  What does that tell you about the draft?  You never know until they put on those pads and start playing.

[thefuzz]

I love how many folks are losing their cookies over a LB in the 5th.  On a comp pick no less.

 

 

Jeez man, if they thought that he can back up Luke, and play ST at a high level, what's the rub?

[hepcat]

I love how many folks are losing their cookies over a LB in the 5th.  On a comp pick no less.

 

 

Jeez man, if they thought that he can back up Luke, and play ST at a high level, what's the rub?

 

The rub is he could have almost certainly been signed as an undrafted FA, much like Edmund Kugbila two years ago.  He might turn out to be a fine player but reaching for small school players has almost never worked out for the Panthers.  

[thefuzz]

The rub is he could have almost certainly been signed as an undrafted FA, much like Edmund Kugbila two years ago.  He might turn out to be a fine player but reaching for small school players has almost never worked out for the Panthers.  

 

My question is.

 

 

How on Earth could you possibly know this?

[juliosantos]

5th round pick even though I never heard of him , he looked good on film looks like a solid back up to luke.

[caatfan]

Draft grades are just wild ass guesses at this point. Oakland got a good grade for JaMarcus Russell in '07, and some of the NFL's greatest players barely got drafted.