Three guys Gettleman likes: Villanova DE Tanoh Kpassagnon, TE O.J. Howard and A&M DE Myles Garrett (not at Sr bowl) per Jourdan Rodrigue

[C47]

1 minute ago, Panthers8969 said:

star was never viewed as the sure fire 1st overall pick, but I'm glad I made you laugh.

If I had to bet, OJ Howard is gone by 15. He's absolutely in the discussion for eight imo. 

[AU-panther]

I've thought all along that he would end up pretty high on our board.  Its been obvious the past few years that TE is a spot we would like to upgrade. 

For the "have to help the offense crowd" you could make the argument that he would Cam as much as anyone in the first round.

If there isn't a sure fire OT in the first round then a TE that can block is the next best thing.  He could help the running game with his blocking.  He could help the passing game with his blocking.  He could help the passing game with his receiving. 

What separates him from most TEs is the ability to block.  A lot of these guys are just oversized wide receivers that line outside a lot.  At the pro level that is what separates Gronk from most of the other, if not all of the other, tight ends in the league.

Is #8 to high?  I don't know.  The problem is all of these people that see these way too early mocks and they get this false idea of where a player should go.  These all-star games and the combines will cause a good bit of movement by the time the draft happens.  If he measures well at the combine I can easily see him going top-15.

Personally I think that most teams are going to have a small handful of players at the top of their board, maybe 1-4, and then the next tier will probably have 5-8.  Whether or not he is a reach is kind of dependent on who is gone at that point.  If Garrett and Adams are still there then most would consider it a reach.  If those guys are gone and its between Howard, Williams, and Robinson then the answer might be different.

Part of me all along has kind of hoped that we would trade back some.  If we could get him at around 12-14 then that might work out well.  Might could draft Kpassagnon with that extra pick.  At that point would you prefer Kpassagnon and Howard or stay put and draft Barnett?

Here is another argument for him:

Of all of the offensive players in the first round who do you feel has the best chance to become a top 3 player at their position?  What if you include the defensive players?

Adams? Allan? Garrett?  Does Howard have that kind of ability?

 

 

[JawnyBlaze]

I was watching breakdowns at NFL breakdowns.com of tanoh and Howard and some others last night (went on a mini TE and DE marathon).  Eventually I'll get around to the full prospect evaluations I make a thread about in the draft section each year, but two guys I liked more than I expected to were tanoh and Solomon Thomas.  I'd be very happy with either in the 2nd or a trade back into the 1st but I dunno about at #8. Howard looked like a real nice pass catcher but incredibly lazy blocker. 

One of the traits I look for most in DL prospects is how they fire off the snap. If they're sluggish, I'm not interested. Tanoh and Thomas both were very quick off the snap. 

[Panthers8969]

4 minutes ago, C47 said:

If I had to bet, OJ Howard is gone by 15. He's absolutely in the discussion for eight imo. 

I mean, like you said no one really knows until draft day, but as of now (pre combine) I don't think either of those guys are in the discussion for our pick. Assuming 2 Qbs ( turbinksy/ kizer/watson doesn't really matter) are gone before us we should have guys like fournette, adams, thomas and barnett available. I would wager all of these guys are above Howard on our draft board, but again this is just me I'm not on DG's scout team. 

 

oh and i see howard going in the 15-20 range rn. A great Sr. bowl and combine could bring him near top 10 i guess. 

[The Lobo]

How awesome would it be to get Garrett? Won't happen but it's fun to think about. 

[tiger7_88]

Wouldn't hurt my feelings to go O.J. Howard at #8.  I think he'd bring HUGE value to the Shula "who gives a crap if the WRs are open or not" offense.

And Garrett is a no-brainer but won't be there at #8.  I don't think either of the top 2 safeties will be either.

So the question comes down to taking a RB, the top TE, or reaching for a DE or OT that probably isn't worth the #8 pick.

Considering the depth of quality RBs that would be available in Round 2, I'd take the TE.

[KillerKat]

I'd love Howard

[pantherclaw]

4 hours ago, CashNewton22 said:

I'm 100000% ok with taking OJ Howard if Adams Hooker and Fournette are gone. I know some see it as overkill but I believe another athletic pass catching tight end on the field with Greg Olsen would do wonders for our offense (provided Shula doesn't F it up)

Shula is the one asking for another TE. 

[JawnyBlaze]

1 hour ago, stbugs said:

Would you be happy with Thomas at #8? I can't guarantee anything, but I would bet a lot of money, Thomas isn't going to be anywhere near our 2nd or even the late first for a reasonable trade up. He and Howard will likely be top 15.

Not sure where you get the lazy blocker on Howard from because all the Senior Bowl talk has mentioned he's done well as a blocker. With as little as Alabama passed this year, one would think he would have had to contribute in blocking for the running game. I thought I remember seeing a couple nice blocks and commentators mentioning blocking for Howard in the NC game.

I'd be fine with Thomas at 8 only if Fournette, Adams, Garrett, Hooker and probably Cook were all gone. Wouldn't be excited like with the above players, but I'd be ok with it. I agree he's probably gone mid-1st.

I watched the Texas A&M and Auburn games.  In those games he was very lazy in his blocks. Maybe at the senior bowl he's putting more effort in, maybe those two games I watched were the exception rather than the norm, but in those two games he didn't hold his blocks long, he didn't hustle to his guy to get hands on them and he didn't drive his guy even when they were little CBs or Safeties. He definitely didn't block through the whistle.  He looked utterly disinterested in participating in the plays.  But like I also said, he looked like a very natural hands catcher, looked like a real asset in that aspect. 

Edit: second paragraph is obviously talking about Howard

[JawnyBlaze]

Side note, I'd probably rather get Thomas than Barnett at this point. We'll see if that remains true closer to the draft. 

[Guest Lasus83]

Howard would be a good pick... in the late first or early 2nd.

There is some TE talent in this draft.

Sent from my SM-G930P using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[pantherclaw]

As i read through this and other draft related threads, post after post says that certain players aren't worth the pick where the Panthers pick. 

Statements like that, completely ignore how Gettleman and company set up their draft boards. 

They put the players they like and want, in different tiers. So when our pick comes, they won't be looking at 8 players with 8 different values. They'll be looking at a group of players on a single tier, and the pick will be a choice made from the remainder of the players that are available a group of players. That choice will be made with input from our coaches. 

Howard could very easily be a part of the mix by the time the draft comes along. 

[h0llywood]

Im 100% on the Tonah camp. Would love to have him on the team.

[beastson]

Howard is going to be used as a blocker lol