"Let's not overthink this." How the Panthers decided to take Julius Peppers in the 2002 NFL Draft

[Carolina Panthers]

It seems obvious now, but it was anything but at the time. After months of research and checking and re-checking, the decision to choose Peppers second overall was clearly the right one.

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[Ricky Prickles]

Yeah he wasn't half bad. Got a couple sacks and disrupted a few plays in his career. During that hall of fame career he found time to eat Chris Simms spleen on the field after sacking him also I believe.

[PNW_PantherMan]

I remember being pissed that we were the worst team and had to pick 2nd.  Turned out alright.

[*FreeFua*]

1 hour ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

I remember being pissed that we were the worst team and had to pick 2nd.  Turned out alright.

We returned the favor last year

[Basbear]

Big panthers/unc fan, but man ooo man if peppers just meet the right person/people he could have set the NFL records book on fire. Still one hell of a career and he was still producing that 17th season. No one seems to last longer than 8-9 seasons now(minus QB&STers). I feel he could have the best TE too. 

[Donald LaFell]

13 hours ago, Ricky Prickles said:

Yeah he wasn't half bad. Got a couple sacks and disrupted a few plays in his career. During that hall of fame career he found time to eat Chris Simms spleen on the field after sacking him also I believe.

I think the actual hit was Al Wallace IIRC

[Jon Snow]

17 hours ago, Ricky Prickles said:

Yeah he wasn't half bad. Got a couple sacks and disrupted a few plays in his career. During that hall of fame career he found time to eat Chris Simms spleen on the field after sacking him also I believe.

I think it was actually Al Wallace that took that spleen. But I've slept since then so you could be right.

[SmokinwithWilly]

From what I remember about that draft, Peppers was the clear best player. The only question was should the Texans take Carr who wasn't a great QB prospect or Peppers who was the better player. Once Carr was the choice, even Scott Fitterer couldn't have screwed up that draft pick.