Barnwell breaks down Panthers woes; spoiler: DBs are terribad

[Craig Pruitt]

8 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Igo has stated that Norman was prepared to hold out and would not have signed the tag.

Naturally he can now say otherwise but I trust what he said before the tag was yanked more than I do after.

 

That's a fair point. If he'd held out things could've been ugly. I even thought he was going to at one time. But, I don't think he would've really walked away from 14million. Then again....

[Bartin]

3 minutes ago, Craig Pruitt said:

1) I like Shaq Thompson, but was that really the best player when we picked in 2015? I know he's being groomed as TD's replacement but TD still has an A-game. AJ klein could be starting at the other OLB position and there wouldn't be much of a dropoff.

2) Did we really need to trade up a get Funchess in the 2nd round of that draft. Gettleman said he had a 1st round grade on him. But, he can't even crack the starting lineup over Ted Ginn or Philly Brown.  We could have got him later. Or not even drafted a receiver later and still get similar production. And if I'm not mistken, we traded up to grab him in the 2nd round (thereby losing a pick)

3) Kony Ealy was drafted in the 2nd round in 2014. Once again I seem to remember Gettleman saying he had a 1st round grade on him. REALLY?! I know it takes 2-3 years for DE's to blossom on average but if he doesn't start making a consistent impact soon I don't see how he could viewed as anything other than a failed pick.

4) Cam is in his prime and we still don't have a B-Level OT on either side. I think that's why our run game isn't as effective as it could be and why he gets hit so often by edge rushers.

5) Have we even drafted a safety other than Tre Boston the last 4 yrs? That position is going to have to be addressed soon.

I agree that we can't return to the Hurney days, but if we're going to compete year in and year out we're going to have to hit on the those 1 and 2nd round choices and spend a bit more on the marquee positions (CB, OT, DE).

1. That was my argument at the time. Shaq is a fine player but he doesn't play when we go to nickel and we are in nickel like 60-70% of the time.

2. Believe we gave up a 3rd and a 6th to move up in the 2nd to get Funchess and returns so far are not promising. He's decent, but he's not justifying his draft position or what we gave up to get him.

3. This is Kony's 4th year. He needs to get it now or he never will. His breakout game in the Super Bowl was nice but it was against the same OT that gave up 6 sacks to Khalil Mack last year. He is worse than Remmers.

4. That is very concerning. It's probably been our top need for 3 straight years.

5. We haven't and yes it's a major problem.

[Craig Pruitt]

9 minutes ago, Bartin said:

1. That was my argument at the time. Shaq is a fine player but he doesn't play when we go to nickel and we are in nickel like 60-70% of the time.

2. Believe we gave up a 3rd and a 6th to move up in the 2nd to get Funchess and returns so far are not promising. He's decent, but he's not justifying his draft position or what we gave up to get him.

3. This is Kony's 4th year. He needs to get it now or he never will. His breakout game in the Super Bowl was nice but it was against the same OT that gave up 6 sacks to Khalil Mack last year. He is worse than Remmers.

4. That is very concerning. It's probably been our top need for 3 straight years.

5. We haven't and yes it's a major problem.

Picks in the 1st - 3rd need to pan out most of the time to stay competitive year in and year out. You're going to have a bust from time to time, but most of those guys should turn out to be solid starters or consistent rotational players at worst. The back end of the draft can used to provide depth or possibly yield a diamond in the rough. FA's picks are icing on the cake. You can't expect those guys to be stars, but it's great if they do.

When I look at our 1-2 round picks from the last 2 years (Shaq, Devin, Kony,and Vernon Butler) I have to ask would we be substantially worse if they weren't on the team and other people were at those positions? Do they impact the game consistently when on the field. They're all young and could still shine in years to come but right now I'd have to say no. I really hope by next season I'm proven to be wrong and forced to eat crow.