Tony Pauline: Panthers like CB Will Johnson

[SCO96]

1 hour ago, WhoKnows said:

I don’t mean this to disparage you, but duh. It’s why some of us still don’t get why we think Morgan had a solid draft this year. I don’t think the huddle gets what a strong draft is. We haven’t had many in our history but drafts like 2017 that net an MVP level RB, a very solid long career RT and a top K plus role player like Samuel or getting top DTs and top Gs plus a couple more average starters in back to back drafts solidifies a team that goes to 4 out of 5 playoffs. The 2018 to 2024 drafts got a handful of decent players but is basically a net negative talent building.

Pick 8 better be a pro bowl level players or we’ll stay where we are. We also need some other picks to hit as well.

No offense taken. I was just pointing out that a solid team is not going to miss on their 1st and 2nd round picks for several years in a row. They may have a bad year...but not a string of successive failures. If they did that year in and year out...then they'd be us.

Here's what is disheartening. The Eagles have been competitive for most of this decade which means they are typically picking later in the draft and almost always after us. This means we probably had a shot at most of those players while we were on the clock. 

In hindsight I tend to agree that our 2024 draft could have been better. I'm still willing to give Morgan the benefit until the end of the 2025 season to see if last year's rookies (Legette, Sanders) show significant improvement in the upcoming season. I like what he did by addressing the interior o-line. I don't think Clowney was a bad acquisition. Jalen Coker was a steal as an UDFA. What really tainted our 2024 class was the Brooks selection in round 2. He probably won't be ready until 2026 which means he'd be halfway thru his rookie deal before he can make an impact. I can see taking a day 3 gamble on an injured RB, but not on day 2 when you have so many holes to fill. I'm just glad Chuba really hit his stride last season to give us a viable running game. 

Edited 21 hours ago by SCO96

[Shocker]

If he runs well before the draft he is a really talented CB.  My appetite isn’t big for picking another guy coming off injury but he is talented

[pantherclaw]

On 2/10/2025 at 1:37 PM, Jon Snow said:

You build from the inside out. If they fix the front 7 then sure, throw away another top 10 pick on a CB. But until that happens it should be DL if there is one. 

Yup.  X 1,000,000

[MHS831]

2 hours ago, WhoKnows said:

We almost beat both #1 seeds in Rhule’s first year. If we finished 5-1 with the 1 loss being a road playoff game like we did in 2014, I’d be feeling great. We finished 2-5 and got crushed in 2 of our last 4 games. 2024 was a vast improvement but we need a great draft so we get out of the good loss business.

good memory.  We do--I still say we are 2 years away (said it last year) but when your first two picks are XL and Brooks, you just have not grown.  I am not giving up on XL and think Brooks might be pretty good in 2026, when we have paid him for 4 years to play 2 and had to pay someone else to take his place until then. So basically we got Wallace, a fringe starting LB who would probably be better as depth, Sanders, a TE with potential, and a weak nickel in Smith Wade.  That did not make us better. 

XL needs to step up, Bryce needs to continue to get better, and we need a defense that can keep us in games. 

[pantherclaw]

There is no way I'd be happy with this team drafting a receiver at 8.  

This defense needs a lot of talent, you can't do that by skipping talent at the top of the draft. 

A receiver at 8 isn't going.to help us if our defense can't stop the opposing team. I don't care how close we came to beating the superbowl teams this last season. 

Edge. DT. LB.  ALL is neededed.  BPA with the front 7 in mind.  

Fix the defense,  please, or this team will still be hard to watch. 

[Panthero]

10 hours ago, pantherclaw said:

There is no way I'd be happy with this team drafting a receiver at 8.  

This defense needs a lot of talent, you can't do that by skipping talent at the top of the draft. 

A receiver at 8 isn't going.to help us if our defense can't stop the opposing team. I don't care how close we came to beating the superbowl teams this last season. 

Edge. DT. LB.  ALL is neededed.  BPA with the front 7 in mind.  

Fix the defense,  please, or this team will still be hard to watch. 

If mcmillian isn't a true number 1 (i have no idea) then I agree completely. But this is an offensive league. In no way do we have a top 5-10 wr corp. So we can certainly use a standout wr. Regardless of how bad the D is to this point. 

[WhoKnows]

15 hours ago, MHS831 said:

good memory.  We do--I still say we are 2 years away (said it last year) but when your first two picks are XL and Brooks, you just have not grown.  I am not giving up on XL and think Brooks might be pretty good in 2026, when we have paid him for 4 years to play 2 and had to pay someone else to take his place until then. So basically we got Wallace, a fringe starting LB who would probably be better as depth, Sanders, a TE with potential, and a weak nickel in Smith Wade.  That did not make us better. 

XL needs to step up, Bryce needs to continue to get better, and we need a defense that can keep us in games. 

Thanks, I remember way too much stupid stuff. It’s why I probably seem more negative. Close losses don’t excite me because that happens all the time, not just us.

100% agree on the draft. I think we’re so used to crappy drafting that many in here try to fluff up a bad draft. XL could amaze us, but realistically he’s never going to have St. Brown hands and Brooks might have 2 years as Hubbard’s running mate as his best case scenario. That’s a bad draft. As you said, the draft didn’t make us better. We need drafts that make us better. From 2011 to 2014, we added Cam, Luke, Norman, Short, Star, Turner, Norwell and a few more multi year starters. These weren’t even epic drafts but still, in 2021 to 2024, we got Young, Horn, Iky and Hubbard. Not exactly close. Just Cam and Luke alone gave us more value than our entire last 4 drafts. We need stars not just mediocre starters who only play because we lost so much talent. 

[WhoKnows]

5 hours ago, Panthero said:

If mcmillian isn't a true number 1 (i have no idea) then I agree completely. But this is an offensive league. In no way do we have a top 5-10 wr corp. So we can certainly use a standout wr. Regardless of how bad the D is to this point. 

True, if McMillan is Mike Evans (some comps), then we should draft him. No idea if he is or not but if he’s truly that level, we’d be stupid to pass him up just because we need defense. There will be plenty of DL busts that are available at 8.

[Navy_football]

 BPA on defense at the 8th overall pick. 

The Panthers definitely need a few playmakers, but that isn't necessarily a #1 at WR or TE. More speed and elusiveness is needed on the field. Guys like Tez Johnson, Ricky White and Kyle Williams can GREATLY improve the offense later in the draft. The first 2 picks need to be defensive line types. Pass rushers or run stoppers. You CAN NOT WIN in the NFL if you have the worst pass defense and the worst run defense. The secondary goes as the dline goes. 

[CPF4LIFE]

8 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

 BPA on defense at the 8th overall pick. 

The Panthers definitely need a few playmakers, but that isn't necessarily a #1 at WR or TE. More speed and elusiveness is needed on the field. Guys like Tez Johnson, Ricky White and Kyle Williams can GREATLY improve the offense later in the draft. The first 2 picks need to be defensive line types. Pass rushers or run stoppers. You CAN NOT WIN in the NFL if you have the worst pass defense and the worst run defense. The secondary goes as the dline goes. 

Love Ricky white

[Navy_football]

2 minutes ago, CPF4LIFE said:

Love Ricky white

There are those type of players that'll be available 3rd round and later, even as UDFAs. No need to create a log jam at WR with similar type players. This defense is as bad as I've seen in Carolina. Injury played a major role, but not sure D. Brown could have saved them.