2021 Carolina Panther's draft picks

[Bostonheelfish]

JC Horn - Takes a step back at the beginning of the season, but finishes strong and where we want him to be.

T Marshall - Back-up.

B. Christensen - Swing Tackle.

T. Tremble - Same production as last year.

C Hubbard - Will do very well behind the new offensive line when given the opportunity.

D Nixon - 4-5 sacks.

D. Brown - Should start but won't.

S. Smith - Will not make the team. Rambo will flourish in the slot.

T Fletcher - Cut.

P. Hoskins - Backs-up Brown and plays very well.

[Waldo]

39 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Getting hurt is one thing, suggesting Hubbard would be better at RB than a healthy CMC is crazy. Hubbard was mediocre at best running the ball and downright dismal catching the ball.

Agree on the draft. I think we were all sorts of excited (aside from not going heavier OL and wasting a pick on LS) after the draft. There was some promise but after the season it felt like a bunch of meh. Horn and then replaceable players. Not saying some couldn’t start but that you could sign and average FA or draft a replacement very easily. The good teams are good because they’ve got more above average starters. Having a lot of backups and below average starters from a draft really doesn’t do much to improve the team. Since 2018, our only impact starters from the draft are Moore, Burns, Chinn and flashes of Horn. Other than that guys who haven’t shown they can be better than average or even average. That’s where you get 5 win seasons. We really need Corral to shine to break out of that draft slump. Man, we need a win.

1st part absolutely. Their just isn't a discussion without the injury angle. Not close.

Yeah it wasn't as good as some of the hype we heard around here but that is the same old same old around here. I think at least 1 steps up with the potential that is there. No idea who at this point. My hope/desperation is on Teremble. I'm not saying jack about Horn...no jinxes from me.

I can't put too much on Corral yet. Doesn't seem fair...yet. Just run the damn ball and everything else at least gets easier on  that side this year. I just have low expectations again this year. Slight improvements but the weaknesses will be on display again. 

[Wundrbread33]

I’m particularly interested in Nixon and Hoskins. 
 

Physically they have great upside. Nixon in particular. 
 

They both showed some flashes too. One or both of them taking a leap would make a huge impact. We need the help on the interior line.  

[DaveThePanther2008]

10 minutes ago, Wundrbread33 said:

I’m particularly interested in Nixon and Hoskins. 
 

Physically they have great upside. Nixon in particular. 
 

They both showed some flashes too. One or both of them taking a leap would make a huge impact. We need the help on the interior line.  

Agreed,

Too many people in this forum expect every draft pick to be instant starters and produce numbers that say they were an awesome draft pick. 

2021 picks just about all of them contributed during the season.  We can't say that about many, if any, of our previous drafts.   

MY belief is that year two the game will slow down for many of these guys and with better coaching they are going to statically improve.  

Are any of them full time starters outside of Horn and Christensen?  Maybe not but if they contribute in the time they are on the field than those draft picks are a success.  Nixon and Hoskins are prime examples.  They showed flashes and hopefully they become good rotational players.  

In the end defenses are graded on a whole not just who's starting.  I look forward to seeing 2021 class and our new rookies to contribute and make this team good. 

Maybe I am just overly optimistic but unlike many huddler's believe.  I don't think our 2021 picks have reached their full potential.

 

[Waldo]

25 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Not fair, just true. If Corral doesn’t work out, it’s another missed draft even with Iky. As a bottom tier team, we need an infusion of talent not one above average starter per draft. Jets are in our ballpark and they got Gardner, Wilson and Johnson. May not all work out but that’s a potential talent infusion if they do. I think we had the least amount of potential because of Darnold and Henderson.

Naw. It would be muddied if Ickey hits but we busted on Sam's wasted picks and Corral isn't good enough to be at least a backup. That is the floor for Corral, can he at least be a backup? A franchise LT and a backup QB isn't bad with a busted 2nd+. Add in Henderson and it's all over the place, not good but also not horrendous. 

I think you are placing the desperation of the Panthers situation onto the draft. If we had a shot at a high chance franchise QB I could more agree with you but with what was on the table it's wouldn't be a complete failure if Corral busts out. I just can't ask a 3rd round QB to be more than a backup but I will be thrilled with anything beyond that.

[rebelrouser]

Tremble failing to improve in passing game means we screwed up getting rid of Dan Arnold.

T Marshall needs to step up in new offense or we will have to use a draft pick for wr.

Those two guys don't make it and we are looking at a lot of needs in next year's draft w/ our third round pick gone.  

[DaveThePanther2008]

4 minutes ago, rebelrouser said:

Tremble failing to improve in passing game means we screwed up getting rid of Dan Arnold.

I won't say he failed at all.  Brady IMO didn't know how to use him.  Tremble has the talent and I think he'll have better 2022.

Agreed on Marshall but I felt Rhule was playing the veteran card with Marshall.  The guy balled out in training camp but didn't see the field much.

[Sgt Schultz]

One of my frustrations with last year is that we walked out of it not knowing nearly enough about our draft class.  There was some potential there heading into the year, and we did very little in most cases to see how much or whether it would materialize.

It's not like we were 9-8 and contending for a playoff spot. Maybe it's me, but I feel like the only guy we really got a look at was Hubbard.  The rest we got either glimpses of or almost nothing at all.

[Panthering]

Yeah I'm wondering if Hubbard, Brown, or Shi Smith will even make the final roster at this point

[DaveThePanther2008]

5 minutes ago, Sgt Schultz said:

One of my frustrations with last year is that we walked out of it not knowing nearly enough about our draft class.  There was some potential there heading into the year, and we did very little in most cases to see how much or whether it would materialize.

It's not like we were 9-8 and contending for a playoff spot. Maybe it's me, but I feel like the only guy we really got a look at was Hubbard.  The rest we got either glimpses of or almost nothing at all.

Definitely agree with this.  I think we all could honestly say by mid-season we all knew playoffs were out of the question.  We should have given Brown, Smith, Marshall and Nixon more playing time.  BC should have seen LT from the midway point.  It was embarrassing to see what Rhule was putting out there for our O-line and sitting Brown and co.   Made absolutely no sense.

Some may have seen it as tanking but it would have helped us going into 2022. 

5 minutes ago, Panthering said:

Yeah I'm wondering if Hubbard, Brown, or Shi Smith will even make the final roster at this point

Hubbard wasn't bad as a rookie considering how anemic our O-line was.  Someone pointed out that CMC average 4.5 while Hubbard was only 3.6.  1. CMC is a different level of talent and not many would average what he did.  2. By the time Hubbard started to get acclimated our O-line was worse than when CMC was in there.   Hubbard will make the team. period.

Brown will be a backup unless he just balls out during preseason.  He may come in with a chip on his shoulder.  I think Campen will love working with him.   

Smith is about the only one I see on the bubble and mostly because of his off the field issues.   

[Wundrbread33]

The Shi Smith “off field issues” seem way overblown. He had a personal amount of weed and a gun. It’s not like his trunk had 30 pounds of cocaine and a dozen AK’s. 
 

 

[poundaway]

3 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

McAdoo uses the tight end in his offense. (or so I have heard) Tremble should have much better numbers this year.  I think he is under valued as a receiver.  Also as you said I wouldn't be surprised to see Thomas do well in this offense too.

Hubbard had 3.6 yards per carry behind the worst line in the NFL.  I think given a better offensive line he is going to have a much better YPC in 2022.  The trio of CMC, Foreman and Hubbard is going to give McAdoo fresh legs each game.  Plus each RB has their own unique skill set which will also give McAdoo a variety of ways to use them.  I like our RB room. 

3.6 looks good, until you look to see that CMC had 4.5 behind that line.  In fact Bonnafan, Tremble, Darnold, Newton, Moore and Chandler all had higher YPC.  Abdullah was 3.1, but Abduallah could catch....

Hubbard had the highest drop % in the league for any receiver with more than 30 targets.   His drop % was THREE TIMES Robby and we are constantly bitching about Robby's drops.  Hubbard 's average depth of target was .4 yards.  We aren't talking about advanced difficult route running here.  Hubbard was dropping CHECKDOWNS. When you have a offense that is very dependent on checkdowns, this hurts, a lot.  It got so bad, other teams would intentionally leave Hubbard uncovered hoping we would target him,.  Meanwhile his blocking was ass.  You cannot be worthless on passing downs in the NFL.

You also cannot be a finesse RB in the NFL with stone hands.   Hubbard was a rookie, so there's room for grace here, but I would not shed tear if Hubbard doesn't play a down this year.  I feel so much better knowing Foreman is there.

[Sgt Schultz]

57 minutes ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

Definitely agree with this.  I think we all could honestly say by mid-season we all knew playoffs were out of the question.  We should have given Brown, Smith, Marshall and Nixon more playing time.  BC should have seen LT from the midway point.  It was embarrassing to see what Rhule was putting out there for our O-line and sitting Brown and co.   Made absolutely no sense.

Some may have seen it as tanking but it would have helped us going into 2022.

I don't think it was tanking, I think it was somewhere between being lost, losing perspective, and stupidity. 

The truth is, you can look at our 2020 draft class last year and wonder what happened.  Just the odds of almost everybody regressing independently are pretty small.  I don't think we learned anything about that class in 2021, which for them raises questions that we should not have.

Yet, here we sit: not really knowing if our roster full of young decent to extremely good talent, or have we spun our wheels? 

As of the end of last year, my own belief was the talent was better than our ability to put it in a position to succeed.  Hopefully, with some new coaches that will change this year.  We might see minor details like whether the guy we drafted to be a LT can really play LT in the NFL, rather than playing him at every OL position but LT to see if he is versatile.

[DaveThePanther2008]

16 minutes ago, poundaway said:

3.6 looks good, until you look to see that CMC had 4.5 behind that line.  In fact Bonnafan, Tremble, Darnold, Newton, Moore and Chandler all had higher YPC.  Abdullah was 3.1, but Abduallah could catch....

It's obvious that you don't like him but some of your rebuttals are absolute way off base. 

You know they say that statistic can be manipulated to make any point.  You just proved it.  Sadly, for you, I fact checked them. 

There might be 2 or 3 running backs in the NFL other than CMC that would have averaged more YPC behind our offensive line.  Henry, Johnson and maybe one more. 

In fact Bonnafan, Tremble, Darnold, Newton, Moore and Chandler 

 

Bonnafan has one Freaking carry for 4 yds.  Why wasn't he be our #! back right behind CMC. 

Tremble was a trick play, Moore is a WR that got a couple jet sweeps. QB's always have a good YPC because they knock out 10 or 15 yards on a broke play.   Gotta do better than this.  

The only running back with more than one carry was Abduallah. How could we let such a good asset go. I guess the  3.1 ypc wasn't enough to keep him.  That's a half a ypc less than Hubbard.

There have been many RB that aren't great receivers their first year.  Plus Darnold wasn't the most accurate passer on those plays.   I'd give him a break.