Inside the Draft Room

[DaveThePanther2008]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

Regarding Ekwonu...

"You go to practice, see them come out on the field, he's one of the first ones out there. You're like, 'Wow, who is this monster of a man who is telling everyone to do this, making sure all the checks are right, make sure to bring your helmet to warmups?' He was one of those guys who, as soon as he steps on the field, he was in charge. And he wasn't a part of the trio of captains. But he was their lead dog, and you could feel that on the field.

"There's a certain measure of a man, you can always tell he's the man. You see an offensive lineman, when he walks on the field, everybody perks up. You could tell he was their tone-setter. He brings the mentality, their culture."

And then practice started.

"It was a hot day, you could tell he was already lathered up as soon as he went to practice," Kirksey said. "From the minute they went to inside run, this guy was, excuse my language, kicking the s--- out of everybody.

About Corral...

But he wasn't there just to see the game. Just like when McNeill and Kirksey and Spencer were watching Ekwonu dominate in practices, Haines wanted to see how Corral reacted to those around him in all the other settings that matter.

"He had one of the most impressive pregame workouts I've seen," Haines said, laughing a bit because, as a veteran of 21 years of doing this, he knows that can sound a little ridiculous. "I know it's just on air with teammates, but it was awesome. You could tell he had been coached well.

"He was the first one out there, first of all. Was out there with some of the younger quarterbacks, and he was the one who led them out of the tunnel. He was in a full sweat two throws in. And this was Vanderbilt, last game of the year. Senior night, parents there, all that. But he was just dialed in. You could see that look in his eye; he was focused. It was impressive."

How can you not want a mauler like Icky who's only goal is to get better.  He may not be the best pass protector but I do believe after Campen gets ahold of him.  He's going to be better than he was in college. 

Good or Bad year for Corral I think we have found our QB of the future.  He's a leader and players are ready to go to battle with him.  I don't know if I can say the same thing about Sam. 

I was on the Howell train pretty hard but I think after watching a lot of Corral videos I believe he is the real deal.

[Khyber53]

2 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Regarding Ekwonu...

"You go to practice, see them come out on the field, he's one of the first ones out there. You're like, 'Wow, who is this monster of a man who is telling everyone to do this, making sure all the checks are right, make sure to bring your helmet to warmups?' He was one of those guys who, as soon as he steps on the field, he was in charge. And he wasn't a part of the trio of captains. But he was their lead dog, and you could feel that on the field.

"There's a certain measure of a man, you can always tell he's the man. You see an offensive lineman, when he walks on the field, everybody perks up. You could tell he was their tone-setter. He brings the mentality, their culture."

And then practice started.

"It was a hot day, you could tell he was already lathered up as soon as he went to practice," Kirksey said. "From the minute they went to inside run, this guy was, excuse my language, kicking the s--- out of everybody.

About Corral...

But he wasn't there just to see the game. Just like when McNeill and Kirksey and Spencer were watching Ekwonu dominate in practices, Haines wanted to see how Corral reacted to those around him in all the other settings that matter.

"He had one of the most impressive pregame workouts I've seen," Haines said, laughing a bit because, as a veteran of 21 years of doing this, he knows that can sound a little ridiculous. "I know it's just on air with teammates, but it was awesome. You could tell he had been coached well.

"He was the first one out there, first of all. Was out there with some of the younger quarterbacks, and he was the one who led them out of the tunnel. He was in a full sweat two throws in. And this was Vanderbilt, last game of the year. Senior night, parents there, all that. But he was just dialed in. You could see that look in his eye; he was focused. It was impressive."

Maybe both of these guys have some of that Jake Delhomme practice boss in them. Sure would be great to have that kind of leadership right now. That, more than anything, can make a team achieve more, if not overachieve a bit. Builds grit, too -- something we've had in short supply for the last couple of years.

[thefuzz]

Really good write up.

I know they won't compare players that aren't on the roster, but I wish I knew what Fitt's saw in Icky vs Cross and Neal?  And hear from another GM who preferred Neal or Cross over Icky.

Other than the obvious stuff that we all know about, and can see.  The behind the scenes stuff.

[Mr. Scot]

Guess the Panthers are pretty happy with how this turned out.

The scout mentioned in the story as having originally checked out Ekwonu is being promoted.

 

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, thefuzz said:

Really good write up.

I know they won't compare players that aren't on the roster, but I wish I knew what Fitt's saw in Icky vs Cross and Neal?  And hear from another GM who preferred Neal or Cross over Icky.

Other than the obvious stuff that we all know about, and can see.  The behind the scenes stuff.

Honestly, I think it's the running game angle when it comes to Ickey. If you get good blocking for CMC and Chuba, you're going to have a dominant running game (surely CMC can't keep getting injured, right?).

Solid running games take a lot of pressure of QBs, but also off of defenses and head coaches especially. The proper guy at left tackle (and at other spots along the line) can make that happen immediately. And if Icky was the #3 guy at pass blocking among those three candidates, he was still miles ahead of the other choices in that skill set. And he is still trainable, he hasn't hit his ceiling.

That practice thing had one other gem that stood out for Icky I think. He was out there just hitting and getting it in the humid June heat of Raleigh. Icky is going to do fine in the same stuff this summer in Charlotte, especially since he's been practicing in it for his whole life. (Yes, the other two are also Southern raised, but I'm on a roll here, bear with me.)

 

[CanadianCat]

Question about our draft room... Looks like its in a hallway... 

How does this compare to other teams draft rooms... our looks cheap?

[SOJA]

Love that we tried to rob Seattle prior to picking Ickey 

[rayzor]

5 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Regarding Ekwonu...

"You go to practice, see them come out on the field, he's one of the first ones out there. You're like, 'Wow, who is this monster of a man who is telling everyone to do this, making sure all the checks are right, make sure to bring your helmet to warmups?' He was one of those guys who, as soon as he steps on the field, he was in charge. And he wasn't a part of the trio of captains. But he was their lead dog, and you could feel that on the field.

"There's a certain measure of a man, you can always tell he's the man. You see an offensive lineman, when he walks on the field, everybody perks up. You could tell he was their tone-setter. He brings the mentality, their culture."

And then practice started.

"It was a hot day, you could tell he was already lathered up as soon as he went to practice," Kirksey said. "From the minute they went to inside run, this guy was, excuse my language, kicking the s--- out of everybody.

About Corral...

But he wasn't there just to see the game. Just like when McNeill and Kirksey and Spencer were watching Ekwonu dominate in practices, Haines wanted to see how Corral reacted to those around him in all the other settings that matter.

"He had one of the most impressive pregame workouts I've seen," Haines said, laughing a bit because, as a veteran of 21 years of doing this, he knows that can sound a little ridiculous. "I know it's just on air with teammates, but it was awesome. You could tell he had been coached well.

"He was the first one out there, first of all. Was out there with some of the younger quarterbacks, and he was the one who led them out of the tunnel. He was in a full sweat two throws in. And this was Vanderbilt, last game of the year. Senior night, parents there, all that. But he was just dialed in. You could see that look in his eye; he was focused. It was impressive."

this has me pumped up about both guys. Icky will make his presence known early and will be a captain quickly based on that and everything else i've heard about him. he's a presence this OL and this team has needed.

as far as Corral goes, i really don't think it will take long for him to rise above sammy in all aspects. he might just step up enough as a leader that starting him day 1 would be a no brainer. i know a lot of people think he or any rookie QB should sit a year, but that's mainly if they have any questions about confidence and mental fortitude. i think Corral has it a lot more than sammy and it won't take long for everyone to see it. 

[Tbe]

39 minutes ago, CanadianCat said:

Question about our draft room... Looks like its in a hallway... 

How does this compare to other teams draft rooms... our looks cheap?

I think they had to change locations this year because of the Chesney concert.

[KSpan]

1 hour ago, Tbe said:

I think they had to change locations this year because of the Chesney concert.

Gotta get those sweet concert dollars. 

[CanadianCat]

1 hour ago, Tbe said:

I think they had to change locations this year because of the Chesney concert.

That seems like the dumbest of ideas.... its not like its a billion dollar organization or anything... 

[OldhamA]

6 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

How can you not want a mauler like Icky who's only goal is to get better.  He may not be the best pass protector but I do believe after Campen gets ahold of him.  He's going to be better than he was in college. 

Good or Bad year for Corral I think we have found our QB of the future.  He's a leader and players are ready to go to battle with him.  I don't know if I can say the same thing about Sam. 

I was on the Howell train pretty hard but I think after watching a lot of Corral videos I believe he is the real deal.

Cross is a better pass protector now, but Ekwonu has a higher upside if he takes on board the techniques he'll be taught by Campen. 

We're committed to running the football with this OLine. This won't be a finesse team. 

[OldhamA]

1 hour ago, SOJA said:

Love that we tried to rob Seattle prior to picking Ickey 

It concerns me, to be honest. It's out of step with the rest of the article. 

Fitterer: "If I had the #1 pick I'd take Ekwuno".

Also Fitterer: "Ekwuno unexpectedly fell to #6 and I chanced my arm at a trade, knowing he wouldn't be available when I picked again". 

Same mistake we made last year. I don't know who the OT we were targeting in the 2nd round was, but I'm inferring, from the relief in Tepper's voice when he made the Draft call and the way they handled his rookie season, that it wasn't Brady Christensen. 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate how Fitterer has accumulated picks and moved around the Draft board, but sometimes he gets a little too cute when the answer is staring him in the face. 

[vorbis]

18 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

This being so detailed makes me wonder if maybe we're not getting a "Panthers Confidential" type video this year.

the draft edition of Panthers Huddle came out today, and at the very end they teased the upcoming Panthers Confidential, so have no fear, it's coming