Best VALUE draft picks in Panther History

[flagfootballcoach28]

Steve Smith should be #1

[TheBigKat]

1 minute ago, travisura said:

Mike Minter 56th overall. A rock in the secondary for 10 years.

After Dinner Minter

[panther4life]

Smith is the best player in franchise history, so he’s easily the best value of all time.

Charles Johnson at 83 turned out to be incredible value. 

Travelle Wharton at 94 is great value too. One of our best offensive lineman in team history. 

I mean I really like everyone you listed. I might even add Donte Jackson at 54 to the list.

I’d also definitely add these players to the list.

Mike Minter at 56. 

Will Witherspoon at 73 (I’m sure Dan Morgan especially would agree )

James Anderson at 88 was another good value.

Geoff Hangartner at 169. Anyone who contributes as much as he did and picked that late deserves to be mentioned here

I’d also have to at least give honorable mention to both Richard Marshall 58.

Lastly I know he was still a first rounder but Chris Gamble was a top 10 talent and we were fortunate enough to get him at 28.

[Steves89]

Lester towns was good value in the 7th. Started three seasons with us.  

[BrianS]

I know a lot of Huddlers think our drafting has been terrible pretty much always, but the truth is that we haven't been bad.  The article is about a year old, but here it is from ESPN:

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33297949/nfl-draft-which-teams-gotten-best-value-2012-rank-all-32

TL; DR - we ranked 11th.  There are 21 teams who wish they had drafted as well as we have.

[therealmjl]

16 minutes ago, Sir Big Spurr said:

Thomas Fletcher

lol "I'm drafting you bro" - Matt Rhule

[KatsAzz]

46 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Eliminate the first round in your heads.  Do it now! 

To me, the focus for real Panther fans begins with picks 39, 93, and 114 --that will ultimately determine the quality of his draft.  This got me to pondering.  As I pondered, I asked myself, "Who are the 13 best Panther VALUE picks ever?" I am excluding first rounders because they should perform at the highest levels.

Here is a link for reference:

https://www.panthers.com/history/draft 

It is important to remember that this list comes from 27 years of drafting--185 picks between rounds 2 and 7 over that time, and here are the best values from all those picks (the top 7%).  Some were good players, not great, but you must consider the round the player was taken  vs. his productivity here in Carolina.  I could have added Evan Mathis, for example, but he was not productive until he left Carolina, so he did not make the list.

Here is my list of the top 13 Panther values after ROUND 1 (performance considering Round selected is factored into the opinion): 

• 1995 Round 4 (132)    C Frank Garcia    Washington    1995-2000
• 1999 Round 2 (38)    DE Mike Rucker    Nebraska    1999-2007
• 2001 Round 2 (44)    DT Kris Jenkins    Maryland    2001-07
• 2001 Round 3 (74)    WR Steve Smith    Utah    2001-13
• 2004 Round 3 (94)    T Travelle Wharton    South Carolina    2004-11, 2013
• 2007 Round 2 (59)    C Ryan Kalil    USC    2007-18
• 2007 Round 3 (83)    DE Charles Johnson    Georgia    2007-17
• 2010 Round 6 (175)    DE Greg Hardy    Mississippi    2010-14
• 2012 Round 5 (143)    CB Josh Norman    Coastal Carolina 2012-2015 
• 2013  Round 2 (44)    DT Kawann Short    Purdue    2013-20
• 2014 Round 3 (92)    G Trai Turner    LSU    2014-19
• 2016 Round 2 (62)    CB James Bradberry    Samford    2016-19
• 2017 Round 2 (64)    T Taylor Moton   Western Michigan    2017-pres

Honorable Mention: Charles Godfrey; Jeremy Chinn (too early to tell)

Best value overall: Steve Smith.  Runners Up:  Greg Hardy, Charles Johnson

There could be some argument here, but the round counts--if a player in the second round in one draft was a bit better than a sixth rounder on this list, then which was the best VALUE? 

Several Key Takeaways:

1. Finding talent on day 2 is harder than it looks in mocks.  Most of those players do not pan out.  To think we can fill 5 holes on draft day is silly.  

2. Bill Polian may have found us a path to the Super Bowl by manipulating the expansion provisions, but he SUCKED in the draft.

3. Marty Hurney was actually good at one time.  The 2001 (he was with the organization but not GM until 2002) and 2007 drafts were incredible.

4.  Once you look through these drafts and see the elite players that emerged from rounds 2-7, it should give you perspective.  So if we had 1 need to fill in this draft, where should it be?  Edge?  CB?  WR?  G?  I think we'd be lucky to find a QB and fill 2 needs effectively.

5. Check out the 2001 draft--Morgan, Jenkins, Smith---sure does explain the 2003 Super Bowl--the 2007 draft with Beason, Kalil, and Charles Johnson was also strong--If Jarrett became a stud, it would have been the best draft.

6. FIve of the 13 were offensive linemen.  Just sayin'.

 

Thanks for the true and informative post pertaining to the importance of hitting on draft picks after the 1st rd.

Like you so clearly stated, the Panthers 39, 93, and 114 draft section will ultimately determine the quality of their 2023 NFL Draft draft.

Edited April 27, 2023 by KatsAzz

[shaqattaq]

Technically not a draft pick, but...

[JawnyBlaze]

Agree with your best and two runners up

Edited April 27, 2023 by JawnyBlaze
OP’s best and runners up I mean

[WUnderhill]

Can we count guys who were really good value picks but we let other teams get all the value? Evan Mathis and Harrison Butker come to mind.

[TheBigKat]

We don’t beat the Eagles without one of the best 1 yard runs in NFL history 

 

he also happened to BALL OUT in the Super Bowl

[Shocker]

Where is my boy Chad Coda?

[bythenbrs]

2 hours ago, MHS831 said:

Eliminate the first round in your heads.  Do it now! 

To me, the focus for real Panther fans begins with picks 39, 93, and 114 --that will ultimately determine the quality of his draft.  This got me to pondering.  As I pondered, I asked myself, "Who are the 13 best Panther VALUE picks ever?" I am excluding first rounders because they should perform at the highest levels.

Here is a link for reference:

https://www.panthers.com/history/draft 

It is important to remember that this list comes from 27 years of drafting--185 picks between rounds 2 and 7 over that time, and here are the best values from all those picks (the top 7%).  Some were good players, not great, but you must consider the round the player was taken  vs. his productivity here in Carolina.  I could have added Evan Mathis, for example, but he was not productive until he left Carolina, so he did not make the list.

Here is my list of the top 13 Panther values after ROUND 1 (performance considering Round selected is factored into the opinion): 

• 1995 Round 4 (132)    C Frank Garcia    Washington    1995-2000
• 1999 Round 2 (38)    DE Mike Rucker    Nebraska    1999-2007
• 2001 Round 2 (44)    DT Kris Jenkins    Maryland    2001-07
• 2001 Round 3 (74)    WR Steve Smith    Utah    2001-13
• 2004 Round 3 (94)    T Travelle Wharton    South Carolina    2004-11, 2013
• 2007 Round 2 (59)    C Ryan Kalil    USC    2007-18
• 2007 Round 3 (83)    DE Charles Johnson    Georgia    2007-17
• 2010 Round 6 (175)    DE Greg Hardy    Mississippi    2010-14
• 2012 Round 5 (143)    CB Josh Norman    Coastal Carolina 2012-2015 
• 2013  Round 2 (44)    DT Kawann Short    Purdue    2013-20
• 2014 Round 3 (92)    G Trai Turner    LSU    2014-19
• 2016 Round 2 (62)    CB James Bradberry    Samford    2016-19
• 2017 Round 2 (64)    T Taylor Moton   Western Michigan    2017-pres

Honorable Mention: Charles Godfrey; Jeremy Chinn (too early to tell)

Best value overall: Steve Smith.  Runners Up:  Greg Hardy, Charles Johnson

There could be some argument here, but the round counts--if a player in the second round in one draft was a bit better than a sixth rounder on this list, then which was the best VALUE? 

Several Key Takeaways:

1. Finding talent on day 2 is harder than it looks in mocks.  Most of those players do not pan out.  To think we can fill 5 holes on draft day is silly.  

2. Bill Polian may have found us a path to the Super Bowl by manipulating the expansion provisions, but he SUCKED in the draft.

3. Marty Hurney was actually good at one time.  The 2001 (he was with the organization but not GM until 2002) and 2007 drafts were incredible.

4.  Once you look through these drafts and see the elite players that emerged from rounds 2-7, it should give you perspective.  So if we had 1 need to fill in this draft, where should it be?  Edge?  CB?  WR?  G?  I think we'd be lucky to find a QB and fill 2 needs effectively.

5. Check out the 2001 draft--Morgan, Jenkins, Smith---sure does explain the 2003 Super Bowl--the 2007 draft with Beason, Kalil, and Charles Johnson was also strong--If Jarrett became a stud, it would have been the best draft.

6. FIve of the 13 were offensive linemen.  Just sayin'.

 

Just a quick superficial eyeball scan and nothing earth shattering... (6, 46%) R2, (4, 31%) R3, (1, 7%) R4, (1, 7%) R5, (1, 7%) R6.  So, ignoring R1 (duh), if you are looking for a starter or major contributor, you better be fishing in R2 and R3, where 77% of this list came from.  Fitterer may be on to something in this draft if he is looking to trade down from 39 to accumulate more picks in R2 and R3.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

 

[Ocpanthertew714]

2 hours ago, therealmjl said:

Let's talk opposite end of the spectrum, I'll start with Eric Shelton and Brandon Hogan

Armanti Edwards