Panthers Select Zack Sanchez CB Oklahoma in the 5th Round

[MHS831]

Think this way:

S: we have young players developing (Marlowe, Boston) to go with veteran SS Trent Robinson and  FS Coleman. 

T: We had pretty good OTs last season and Williams was developing.

DE:  After the big 3 (CJ, Ealy, and Addison), we have Cox, Miley, and Dehaire--developing.

WR: We have Benjamin returning, Funchess will be better, Ginn, Brown, and developing players  Hill/Norwood/Hamilton/Byrd/Bersin.

CB: We have Bene Benwikere, Boykin (nickel),  Nobody developing.  Nothing in the pantry.

So, why again should we have picked other positions? 

[KB_fan]

So... I reviewed my draft availability analysis for Sanchez and the CBs

None of the mocks I did predicted Sanchez being there at #141 in the 5th.  Generally he was mocked to be a late 3rd round pick, with the latest he was picked at #134.  So... this pick seems like a pretty good value.

Worley on the other hand was only mocked in the 3rd in 7% of the mocks I analyzed, and 14% in the 4th.  And of course, i didn't even analyze Bradberry because I had no idea we were interested in him, and he wouldn't have made my cut off for the top 5 round prospects.

But it was fun and interesting to do the analysis anyway.  Not sure I'd do it again next year.  DG has proved that he's unpredictable!

[Sam Mills Fan]

I don't know guys. I don't know. Taking my inflammatory SMF cap off for a second, I'm just legitimately not that enthused about this draft. I haven't been this less enthused for a draft since maybe the Everette Brown one. That doesn't mean I think we drafted busts, but I'm just not pumped after this draft. I liked the Robinson pick, but taking cornerbacks back-to-back-to-back...I don't see how it's possible to be super into this draft.

[MHS831]

1.       Drafting Vernon Butler:  At first, I was disappointed, but (thank God) I can analyze and problem solve—I thank my teachers.   Over the past few years, some rather dynamic changes have occurred at DT, brought about by players like Brockers and Wilkerson.  Focus on the NT position specifically, and you may have noticed that they were not as valued this year as they were as recently as Star’s draft year.  Need an example?  Andrew Billings would have been a first or second rounder in years past.  This year, he went in the 4^th round.  Sure, some of that was due to the depth of the draft, but 2-down players, be they NTs or LBs, are being devalued.

 

But we should have taken a pass rusher, like Ogbah or Dodd.  Nope, not if you see them as one-trick ponies or a one-hit wonder.  Dodd was good because Lawson was good, and Ogbah has no real moves.  Butler, on the other hand, is 6’4” and 323 lbs.  He is capable of playing the N or the 3T.  Did you hear that? Capable of playing the Nose.  Star is on his option year, and KK will get a lucrative deal.  However, what do you do with Star, a 2-down player?  He will want big $$.  We get little pass rush off him, even though he does a great job of freeing up the LBs.  But how good would we be if we had a NT who could get at the passer as much as KK?  Remember when we would bring Hardy inside to rush?  Remember when that caused us to bring in Horton at DE on passing downs?  It is possible, if Butler has a good year, that the Panthers let Star walk and go with KK and Butler, using the $$ we would have spent on Star somewhere else—like DE.

2.       Drafting 3 CBs:  Were you watching the Super Bowl, where Cortland Finnegan and Robert McClain STARTED?  Now the only starter, Josh Norman, is gone.  There are no CBs out there in free agency, and I assure you that CB was our biggest area of need.  We have very good secondary coaches, and yes, we probably needed 3 CBs to compete.  First, Teddy Williams was not able to play beat out street free agents at CB—I doubt we can afford to keep him on the roster just to get flagged on special teams.  Second,  the only starting CB still on the roster has been banged up, never finishing a season.   Boykin is on a one-year deal.  And some of you got mad when we drafted a second CB—furious when we drafted 3.  Dumb.

 

Bradberry was rated in the middle of the pack by most of the websites, but if you read the writers who do not lazily parrot what they read other idiots say, you will find that it explains why the draft is so far apart from their projections.  Bradberry has all the tools and is perfect for our system.  He was good value where we got him.  You’ll see.  Worley is also smart and big, but he is a better hitter.  He is a bit slower.  Sanchez is probably the next nickel.    We are now set with 5 CBs—Bene, Boykin, Bradberry (killer Bees), Worley and Sanchez.  Not bad, just way young. 

[Sam Mills Fan]

4 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Think this way:

S: we have young players developing (Marlowe, Boston) to go with veteran SS Trent Robinson and  FS Coleman. 

T: We had pretty good OTs last season and Williams was developing.

DE:  After the big 3 (CJ, Ealy, and Addison), we have Cox, Miley, and Dehaire--developing.

WR: We have Benjamin returning, Funchess will be better, Ginn, Brown, and developing players  Hill/Norwood/Hamilton/Byrd/Bersin.

CB: We have Bene Benwikere, Boykin (nickel),  Nobody developing.  Nothing in the pantry.

So, why again should we have picked other positions? 

This makes plenty of sense, but now we're talking about strictly need rather than BPA and I thought Gettleman was all against that.

[The_Rainmaker]

2 hours ago, MHS831 said:

But we should have taken a pass rusher, like Ogbah or Dodd.  Nope, not if you see them as one-trick ponies or a one-hit wonder.  Dodd was good because Lawson was good, and Ogbah has no real moves.  Butler, on the other hand, is 6’4” and 323 lbs.  He is capable of playing the N or the 3T.  Did you hear that? Capable of playing the Nose.  Star is on his option year, and KK will get a lucrative deal.  However, what do you do with Star, a 2-down player?  He will want big $$.  We get little pass rush off him, even though he does a great job of freeing up the LBs.  But how good would we be if we had a NT who could get at the passer as much as KK?  Remember when we would bring Hardy inside to rush?  Remember when that caused us to bring in Horton at DE on passing downs?  It is possible, if Butler has a good year, that the Panthers let Star walk and go with KK and Butler, using the $$ we would have spent on Star somewhere else—like DE.

We have 2 years with Star with the option year after this season. If we keep Butler as NT  and let Star go Butler will get double teamed and his pass rushing ability will be negated due to double team & stamina fatigue trying to  stop the run game taking on the C/G combo. Thats why we have to keep Star &  get fair contract with KK so we can use all 3 DTs for rotation. 

[MHS831]

7 minutes ago, Sam Mills Fan said:

This makes plenty of sense, but now we're talking about strictly need rather than BPA and I thought Gettleman was all against that.

I made the same statement.   I guess you could say that the Norman situation forced his hand--I wrote a long explanation of the draft in this thread -- I think Butler was if you step back and look at it from DG's perspective.

And I wonder about the psychology.  If you are desperately researching a position, maybe the wish list psychologically makes it hard to pass over players--but we drafted need after the first round.  I bet he admits it.

[gorillamilitia13]

I feel like we have a plan.

[IGSaint]

30 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Think this way:

S: we have young players developing (Marlowe, Boston) to go with veteran SS Trent Robinson and  FS Coleman. 

T: We had pretty good OTs last season and Williams was developing.

DE:  After the big 3 (CJ, Ealy, and Addison), we have Cox, Miley, and Dehaire--developing.

WR: We have Benjamin returning, Funchess will be better, Ginn, Brown, and developing players  Hill/Norwood/Hamilton/Byrd/Bersin.

CB: We have Bene Benwikere, Boykin (nickel),  Nobody developing.  Nothing in the pantry.

So, why again should we have picked other positions? 

I thought Lou Young CB had was training with Norman at times? I remember a few positives notes on his last season. 

[Ricky Spanish]

taking three CBs in a row screams BPA more than taking need to me personally. Its like he's saying "fug everything that I have done, this dude is at the top"

[weyco2000]

39 minutes ago, Sam Mills Fan said:

I don't know guys. I don't know. Taking my inflammatory SMF cap off for a second, I'm just legitimately not that enthused about this draft. I haven't been this less enthused for a draft since maybe the Everette Brown one. That doesn't mean I think we drafted busts, but I'm just not pumped after this draft. I liked the Robinson pick, but taking cornerbacks back-to-back-to-back...I don't see how it's possible to be super into this draft.

Most "experts" said this draft was deep at DL, when actually the deepest position was DB, especially after the first day. Gman is drafting accordingly in regards to our scheme and the picks ability to play multiple positions. 

[MHS831]

16 minutes ago, IGSaint said:

I thought Lou Young CB had was training with Norman at times? I remember a few positives notes on his last season. 

I dont know, but I do know that street free agents played in front of him when it counted.  If you look at his stats from college--very normal.

[KB_fan]

Sanchez highlights.

Looks like a dab at about 1:00 in...

http://www.panthers.com/media-vault/videos/Scouting-Report-Zack-Sanchez/7dd04045-1a72-426c-88c9-077e913b3f05

[KB_fan]

mods, can someone pin this thread?