Is it Imperative that we get a day-1 starter this draft?

[Jimmy]

1 hour ago, TheNewStandard said:

I think Funchess is that guy. Devin got better and better as the year went on and we saw his best in the playoffs. 

If Funch keeps improving on his current trajectory (he's only 21 or 22 I think,) he's gonna be Muhsinx2 very soon. 

Brown is not exactly chopped liver and Ginn is who he is...just having Corey to move the sticks and Ginn to stretch the field leaves a lot of real estate for Olsen, KB and Funchess.

i figure we stay pat with Hill as our #6 is just icing on the cake that can spell Ginn a few times a game.

im surprised huddlers are still clamoring for another receiver when we were the best offense in the league and we were without our #1 WR. It's kind of ridiculous at this point. There are no rumors or stories of GMan entertaining any receivers, so please stop with the "add another receiver" shenanigans.

Not clamoring but the more weapons the merrier 

[MV%doe]

4 hours ago, KB_fan said:

Re: the question of a TE in the first...

I still keep coming back to what DG revealed at the Combine re: his decision to go after Funchess out of a concern for not having adequate backup for KB.  (In a sense, he partially abandoned a true BPA strategy to go after a guy he wanted/needed whom they'd given a high grade.) 

So I've been asking myself what "fear" might Dave have this year?  Who's a KEY player on the team for whom we have pretty thin backup?  I keep coming back to Greg.  The guy plays darn near every snap and is god-like.  It's hard to imagine him ever unable to play.  But if he were to miss a few games with an injury, it would be a HUGE hole in our offense.  With him being 31 it seems to be the time to begin thinking about possible "what ifs" and making sure we've got better depth at TE. 

Maybe this year since we don't have an OBVIOUS need tor a starter from the draft, we can afford more of a "luxury" pick and get some added insurance behind Greg, a guy we can groom alongside him for the future.... kind of like what we did last year with picking Shaq who looks to eventually be a TD replacement.  (Maybe Greg will announce our round 1 pick this year in Chicago...LOL)

But, whatever.  In Gettleman I trust.

I believe you must also factor in the HUGE number of free agents after this upcoming season. Lots of starters 2OTs, C, few DEs etc etc. I mean you have to develop college prospects, best way is to start early.

Sure the panthers have around 70 million in cap space, but another successful season and I'm sure some will leave. 

I've stated long ago and recently my distaste for the TE draft group, even with hunter its awful. I've also heard good things about Scott #3 TE, but that could be fluff. I defended Dickson in 2014, given his past yr.... I'm moving to neutral. 

I believe the bigger question is what are the plans for the base offense? Last year before the KB injury, I believe they wanted a 3WR base. Once KB got hurt, they made a change to 2TEs set or 12 sets. That's what I'd like to know, cause that will cause a doimino effect in many other questions. If they want to feature more 3WRs looks, well TE takes a hit value wise, so does toldozer. There's no big need for another TE cause Greg isn't leaving the field and he has another 2 great years and 2 good years leftd IMO. But WR becames a top need.

One thing I wish the panthers would do is copy what Pitt and green bay do in regards to the WR spot. Each year invest one/more draft picks at WR. If a high rated WR falls in your lap mid-rounds, scoop him up. WR spot is rare in the number teams carry, most carry 5-6. So there's room and if you got a Mike Wallace that wants top dollar.... Let him go cause you already got his replacement and you going to draft another this year.

[TheNewStandard]

3 hours ago, iamhubby1 said:

 

When he first got here, Gman had to hit on starters in the draft. Of course with Stah being 14th pick, that was much easier. But then he hit on KB, another starter. Shaq, although technically a starter, he just played fewer snaps than a lot of other starters. Now this year? What are the odds he gets a starter? Pretty slim. The chances he gets a solid contributor, with future starter written all over him? That is the plan.

 

Now the thing is. Are folks going to complain that Gman is slipping? Because he didn't bring in a starter, is he losing his touch?

 

When Gman started. He needed 2-3 starters out of the draft. This year? The best he can hope for is for 2-3 just to make the team. So I could see him trading UP to get talent like with Funchy. As opposed to trading DOWN for more picks. We still need those later round picks, and UFDAs, cuz that's where the diamonds lie. But it is getting tougher for those type players to even make the team.

 

Gman has excelled in the draft. If that continues, we should just continue to grow.

 

Ah hellz, I lost my train of thought. But I think I got the gist of it.

 

 

Yup. GMan has been under the gun these past 3-drafts to pick starters at multiple positions. 

He started off with Star and KK in '13, then got KB, Bene', Boston and Turner, then got Shaq, Williams and Funchess...somehow UDFAing basically half of our starting OL along the way. 

This is the first draft where he can just go out and truly get the best players on the board, basically regardless of position. 

I really can't wait to watch the end of FA, the draft and who he'll bring in out of the UDFA pool, which is where he really uses his magic.

Watching the UDFA's come in and get developed has been some of his best work and what he's done so far this offseason is a thing of beauty. He's cut the fat and in doing so, managed to save us about 7-million and not only replaced that trimmed fat, but upgraded those positions, using just a fraction of the $ that most teams would have shelled out to those same players.

Gettlemagic...and now we've become a coveted FA destination with arguably the best locker room vibe in the league.

#cultureofwinning

[iamhubby1]

3 hours ago, TheNewStandard said:

Yup. GMan has been under the gun these past 3-drafts to pick starters at multiple positions. 

He started off with Star and KK in '13, then got KB, Bene', Boston and Turner, then got Shaq, Williams and Funchess...somehow UDFAing basically half of our starting OL along the way. 

This is the first draft where he can just go out and truly get the best players on the board, basically regardless of position. 

I really can't wait to watch the end of FA, the draft and who he'll bring in out of the UDFA pool, which is where he really uses his magic.

Watching the UDFA's come in and get developed has been some of his best work and what he's done so far this offseason is a thing of beauty. He's cut the fat and in doing so, managed to save us about 7-million and not only replaced that trimmed fat, but upgraded those positions, using just a fraction of the $ that most teams would have shelled out to those same players.

Gettlemagic...and now we've become a coveted FA destination with arguably the best locker room vibe in the league.

#cultureofwinning

 

3 things happen when you are a well run franchise. 1. Winning. Which we all agree is cool. 2. FA start to want to play for/with you. 3. Teams are waiting at the gate to poach talent as it leaves the building.

 

Huddlerz are just a little nicer, the air is a bit fresher, the women all smell mahvelous, and it is a great time to live in Pantherland.

[shaqattaq]

13 hours ago, iamhubby1 said:

 

Yeah, I don't mind you trading out of any round, except the 1st. You have to keep yourself in that round. That 5th year option is too important to pass on. But other than that, trade away.

Let me clarify, I'm not a proponent for trading back. I've just seen a lot more talk about than in prior years. One example: http://www.derp/2016/3/29/11326992/latest-dan-kadar-mock-draft-is-another-nice-panther-scenario

I think that the fact that we don't have glaring holes on either side of the ball actually gives us that option. Our line up is as strong going into the draft as it's been in years.

[TheNewStandard]

2 hours ago, shaqattaq said:

Let me clarify, I'm not a proponent for trading back. I've just seen a lot more talk about than in prior years. One example: http://www.derp/2016/3/29/11326992/latest-dan-kadar-mock-draft-is-another-nice-panther-scenario

I think that the fact that we don't have glaring holes on either side of the ball actually gives us that option. Our line up is as strong going into the draft as it's been in years.

I think we stay pat with our first 3-4 picks and stay where we are. We need that depth in case one or more of our starters get injured. 

I just see this draft as icing on the cake or another layer in that cake that reinforces continuity in development of future starters when our cap figures come in to play as we will have a hard time re-signing all of our core players and so that we can stay young and seasoned at the same time.

[Khyber53]

You'd hope we'd pull at least one first day starter from our choices. Is it imperative? Probably not. Depth and long-term planning are where we need to keep doing our work.

Gettlemagic will happen, though. Just no idea what it will be.

[TheNewStandard]

If we still have Finnegan and McClain, we're looking pretty solid with our corners. If not, we need one in the draft that can play situational dime packages and be a contributed on special teams.

I expect us to take a DE, DT, S and OL with our first 4-picks...not in that order perhaps, but pretty close.

[TheNewStandard]

9 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

You'd hope we'd pull at least one first day starter from our choices. Is it imperative? Probably not. Depth and long-term planning are where we need to keep doing our work.

Gettlemagic will happen, though. Just no idea what it will be.

I don't think we're even close to being done in FA and I expect we'll get a couple of guys on multi-year contracts. 

I just hope Norman doesn't hold-out because that would be detrimental to team chemistry, imo.

[rodeo]

If there was no position that we needed a new start at, we would have won the Super Bowl.

[Bartin]

1 hour ago, TheNewStandard said:

If we still have Finnegan and McClain, we're looking pretty solid with our corners. If not, we need one in the draft that can play situational dime packages and be a contributed on special teams.

I expect us to take a DE, DT, S and OL with our first 4-picks...not in that order perhaps, but pretty close.

Finnegan is a FA and it doesn't appear there is much interest on our part to bring him back otherwise he would have accepted anything we offered since he's definitely not getting more than the minimum anywhere.

McClain is under contract for next year.

Josh(CB1), Bene(CB2), Boykin(nickel), McClain(dime) and Teddy(ST) is a perfectly fine CB depth chart. I would have absolutely no issue going into the season with those 5 as our CBs. We definitely don't need to add anyone for 2016, but since Bene is the only CB under contract for 2017 we probably do need to get one in the draft to replace McClain or Teddy for long term purposes since Josh is most likely gone and Boykin has a good chance to play himself out of Dave's price range.

[TheNewStandard]

2 hours ago, Bartin said:

Finnegan is a FA and it doesn't appear there is much interest on our part to bring him back otherwise he would have accepted anything we offered since he's definitely not getting more than the minimum anywhere.

McClain is under contract for next year.

Josh(CB1), Bene(CB2), Boykin(nickel), McClain(dime) and Teddy(ST) is a perfectly fine CB depth chart. I would have absolutely no issue going into the season with those 5 as our CBs. We definitely don't need to add anyone for 2016, but since Bene is the only CB under contract for 2017 we probably do need to get one in the draft to replace McClain or Teddy for long term purposes since Josh is most likely gone and Boykin has a good chance to play himself out of Dave's price range.

Thanks for the Finnegan status and I agree with everything you said except the Boykin part. Buckles definitely aren't as valuable as outside corners, but he could play himself into replacing Norman and though he get a good hike in his pricey tag, I can't see it being much over 5-million max, in which case, I think we have plenty of room to sign him to a multi-year contract...if he pans out...which is a big "if."

I like the earn your stripes contracts but the backfield turnover is really starting to get under my skin...especially when DG says he doesn't like to develop players for other teams.

[Bartin]

1 minute ago, TheNewStandard said:

Thanks for the Finnegan status and I agree with everything you said except the Boykin part. Buckles definitely aren't as valuable as outside corners, but he could play himself into replacing Norman and though he get a good hike in his pricey tag, I can't see it being much over 5-million max, in which case, I think we have plenty of room to sign him to a multi-year contract...if he pans out...which is a big "if."

I like the earn your stripes contracts but the backfield turnover is really starting to get under my skin...especially when DG says he doesn't like to develop players for other teams.

I'd happily pay Boykin $5M on a multi year deal if he has a very good year for us at nickel like I expect and you're right that we do have the cap room to do so, but I just don't think DG would. He will most likely be too concerned about looming huge deals for Star, Short, Trai, Norwell and KB in addition to having both of our OTs, Kalil and Kurt being scheduled to be free agents.

[shaqattaq]

2 hours ago, Bartin said:

Finnegan is a FA and it doesn't appear there is much interest on our part to bring him back otherwise he would have accepted anything we offered since he's definitely not getting more than the minimum anywhere.

McClain is under contract for next year.

Josh(CB1), Bene(CB2), Boykin(nickel), McClain(dime) and Teddy(ST) is a perfectly fine CB depth chart. I would have absolutely no issue going into the season with those 5 as our CBs. We definitely don't need to add anyone for 2016, but since Bene is the only CB under contract for 2017 we probably do need to get one in the draft to replace McClain or Teddy for long term purposes since Josh is most likely gone and Boykin has a good chance to play himself out of Dave's price range.

Don't forget about Lou Young. Ron seemed hyped on him last year. Hopefully, after a season on the practice team, he'll step up for us. I expect  Teddy Williams to not make the final 53. He was terrible at corner and, frankly, not very good on ST. He got called numerous times for ST penalties. Letting him go will save G-man $900,000 - more than Boykin, a starter, is set to make.