Currently at pick #4

[MHS831]

Let's say Hunter is on the board--I would take him.  I would use him on both sides of the ball--a dime back on defense, where he might enter the game on second down or obvious passing situations, and maybe in some 01, 10, or 11 personnel packages on offense.  It would change the way we view positions, but imagine putting him into a dime situation and taking the (increasingly dangerous) slot in man coverage or the X on the outside.  On offense, I would use him on the wide side of the field-pulling the defense's best CB out and listening for an audible to him--if not, he just watches.  On passing plays, he moves to X.  In 10 personnel, he would play X, Coker and Thielen inside, and XL plays the Z.  In the O1 personnel formation, (no RB, TE, 4 WR) we would have 5 targets (Hunter, AT, XL, Coker, and Sanders), but the inability to block a blitzing LB or DB.  

I wonder if teams are thinking that way?

[SCO96]

On 12/12/2024 at 9:07 PM, CamWhoaaCam said:

Sounds good, but I rather have Hunter if available.

 

The thought of Horn/Hunter DB tandem seems more dynamic than Brown/Graham tandem.

While what you suggest is quite tantalizing, their affect on the field would be lessened if our opponents keep cramming the ball down the throats of our ineffective defensive line. Why throw at our CB's when you can rush for 150-200 yards per game? We also do a bad job of consistently rushing the passer. Going for the best D-lineman in the draft wouldn't be a bad move. Yesterday our D-line made Rush and Dowdle look like Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman.  

That said, I wouldn't jump off a cliff if the Panther took Hunter. They could then use most of the other picks to solidify the line and other deficient roster spots.

[45catfan]

I think I would rather take a pure WR inT-Mac if we were going to go wideout.  Slash type players typically don't excel in the NFL.  The demands are too high for a duel role.  If we take Hunter strictly as a CB, then I would be good.  Hunter and Horn would be a damn good pairing.

[micnificent28]

19 minutes ago, 45catfan said:

I think I would rather take a pure WR inT-Mac if we were going to go wideout.  Slash type players typically don't excel in the NFL.  The demands are too high for a duel role.  If we take Hunter strictly as a CB, then I would be good.  Hunter and Horn would be a damn good pairing.

Your comparing slash type players to a guy who is generationally talented. This is something we haven't seen before. A guy coming out of highschool who was rated the number 1 player in the country and exceed those expectations as a junior the number 1 player in college football. Even the comparisons don't do him justice.. deion didn't play both sides the ball at Florida State, champ Bailey, Charles woodson? None of them played full time both ways.

Respectfully..Hunter is as close to a sure fire Hall of Fame player coming out of college as you will ever have the chance of drafting. This or T-mac? This is a no brainer.(And if hunter isn't available I like Tmac after 6-7th pick).

[Tr3ach]

15 hours ago, CPantherKing said:

Trade down & stack defense. QB, WR & CB are all luxury picks. This only leads to losing franchises that must rebuild.

Tired of luxury picks like Horn, Ekwonu, Young, and XL. We need core picks to build a winning franchise.

 

I'm not sure wr is a luxury pick.  We have 3 wr under contract next year.  Thielen who plays slot and will be 35, XL who has a limited route tree and isn't a #1, Coker the UDFA who has exceeded expectations.   That's it.  That's the total group of wr under contract.

[FatChad]

I like Hunter but I'd rather have the CB, DL out of Michigan.  Or even the WR from AZ.  

[Jmac]

No more games in the draft. No injured players, no more projects, and no more questionable picks with "upside". Get the biggest, meanest guys available and throw them on the Dline, get the best pass rusher talent wise, throw in a quality LB'er and fill out the rest with FA signings. No more bullshit.

Bryce will have to be the guy for next year I guess, sink or swim,(or run Dalton out their for one year). The defense needs the bulk of the work.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Jmac

[SCO96]

33 minutes ago, Jmac said:

No more games in the draft. No injured players, no more projects, and no more questionable picks with "upside". Get the biggest, meanest guys available and throw them on the Dline, get the best pass rusher talent wise, throw in a quality LB'er and fill out the rest with FA signings. No more bullshit.

Bryce will have to be the guy for next year I guess, sink or swim,(or run Dalton out their for one year). The defense needs the bulk of the work.

 

It's hard to argue with this post after watching yesterday's defensive debacle. Here's something that really needs to be contemplated by the FO this offseason. Are they going to stick with the 3-4 or transition back to a 4-3? That decision is really going to affect how you approach the draft & FA

Mason and (a healthy) Brown would gives us a formidable interior defensive presence, but we'd need to find some 4-3 ends that could get to the passer and set the edge on running plays. If we went 3-4 we'd have to find some OLB/DE hybrids that could get upfield on passing plays...but also drop into coverage at times. Mason and Brown could work at DE in that scheme, but we'd still need to find a monster to man the point at NT. This is "arguably" the biggest question facing the defensive side of the ball this year.

Edited 3 hours ago by SCO96

[tukafan21]

4 hours ago, Jmac said:

No more games in the draft. No injured players, no more projects, and no more questionable picks with "upside". Get the biggest, meanest guys available and throw them on the Dline, get the best pass rusher talent wise, throw in a quality LB'er and fill out the rest with FA signings. No more bullshit.

Bryce will have to be the guy for next year I guess, sink or swim,(or run Dalton out their for one year). The defense needs the bulk of the work.

 

The main problem here though is that second part is what makes the first part incorrect.

If Bryce is the guy next year in a sink or swim season, you NEED to get him a #1 WR, and the most likely path to that is drafting T-Mac, I honestly think he's our only chance at getting a #1 WR in this offseason.

Hunter's main position is going to be a CB and we're going to be picking in the Top 10, higher than Burden is going to be drafted.

Higgins isn't coming here unless we make him a Top 5 highest paid WR in the game, which would just be an asinine contract for him.  After him, there are actually a few other decent WRs in the FA market this offseason, the problem is they are all older WRs past their prime who even if they have a year or two left in them as #1 WRs, they are signing with contenders, not us (like Diggs, Adams, Hopkins, Cooper).  The closest option would be Godwin, but he's not an outside #1, he's a slot who is best as a #2 option, and coming off a bad injury.

The only other option would be to try and trade for someone who's team doesn't want to give them a new contract, but any team like that is likely going to want a future 1st round pick for them (such as a DK Metcalf) like those trades in the past few years of AJ Brown and Tyreek, and our future 1sts need to be untouchable until we're settle on a QB.

Yes, I know coming from me of all people, this seems like another T-Mac support post, but it's not, it's just pointing out the realities of him probably being the only legitimate option for us to acquire a #1 WR in this offseason.