PFF Draft Room - Panthers

[TheSpecialJuan]

A team under construction at the highest of levels, the Carolina Panthers will have a completely re-vamped front office in terms of new owner and general manager in the near future. With interim GM Marty Hurney at the held, the Panthers are a bit of a wild card in terms of the directions they could go in the 2018 NFL Draft. Undoubtedly, head coach Ron Rivera will have a say in players they draft as will new offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Carolina sent wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin away last season and signed Jarius Wright and Torrey Smith as added depth this offseason. The Panthers also hold several players on roster at tight end and running back that are more than capable as pass-catchers.

Arguably one of the biggest areas of need for this Panthers team came about when All-Pro guard Andrew Norwell signed his contract with Jacksonville this offseason, meaning only two players with ample snaps on offense to earn plus-grades last season (Christian McCaffrey, Daryl Williams). Norwell’s 601 pass-blocking snaps without a sack or QB hit allowed will be sorely missed by not only Carolina fans, but QB Cam Newton who saw his passer rating decrease by 25.1 points when pressured last year.

Using our Wins Above Replacement (WAR – roughly the number of wins a team gets from replacing an off-the-street player with the player of interest) metric as a model, Carolina has returned 17 of their 24 picks since 2013 with positive WAR figures and only six with WAR returns under 0.0. Unfortunately for Panthers’ fans, four of their top 10 in WAR figures since 2013 are all gone at this point (Benjamin, Tre Boston, Bene Benwikere, Daryl Worley).

HOW HAVE THE PANTHERS’ DRAFT CLASSES STACKED UP LEAGUE WIDE 2013-2017?

Overall WAR of drafted players for the Panthers: 7th

Drafted Players with the Highest WAR (per season):

– Christian McCaffrey

Was the 11th-highest graded running back as a rookie, and the third-highest-graded receiving back.

– Kawann Short

Was third among interior players in PFF grades in 2017 (91.2).

– Kelvin Benjamin

Was 17th among receivers in yards per route run in 2016 (1.99). Traded to Buffalo mid-2017.

– Shaq Thompson

Used as a hybrid linebacker/slot cornerback and has graded above a 77.5 each of his three pro seasons.

– Trai Turner

Has graded above a 72.2 each of his four seasons with the Panthers.

Drafted Players with the Lowest WAR (per season):

– Curtis Samuel

Struggled in his initial season with Carolina before an injury sidelined him, earning a 44.1 PFF grade.

– Zack Sanchez

Earned a 34.8 PFF grade during his only season of action (2016).

– Kony Ealy

Aside from an amazing Super Bowl game against Denver, Ealy struggled and is currently on his fourth team.

[TheSpecialJuan]

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