Some upcoming dates of interest for the Panthers, and what to expect

[Fiz]

hai guys

For the first time in team history the Panthers have the number 1 overall pick, and we're in luck!

/laugh track

seriously this place is going to get really bad over the next couple of months so here are just some things to keep and mind when evaluating dudes. but first some key dates.

January 3rd

The Orange Bowl. Stanford, a team composed only of Andrew Luck and their linebackers, take on Virginia Tech, perennially the most overrated team in the second worst major conference.

January 15th

Deadline for underclassmen to declare. Luck most likely won't wait until the 11th hour, but if he does don't check this site because it will crash.

January 29th

This is the senior bowl. It will mean nothing to Luck because he likely won't play in it. Nobody plays in this unless it can improve their stock. However, it's arguably the most important tool for 2nd-3rd round qbs, qbs with terrible throwing motions that love jesus, and non first round players. Coaches get a week of practice to evaluate players. This is always pretty interesting and the Panthers are always present. The game itself isn't that big a deal. But you'll watch it... you know you will.

Pro Days!

All the big programs will have pro days. They haven't announced these yet, but they're basically where Virginia Tech players get drafted. QBs throw to their receivers in comfortable environments and position guys get to run on fast tracks with friendly timers. This is where like Jimmy Williams runs a sub 4 40 that no one in their right mind takes seriously.

Also this was where Sam Bradford locked up the number 1 pick last year over Suh. depending on who reported, he didn't throw an incomplete pass in like 60 attempts.

February 23rd - March 1st

The combine is the closest thing to a modern slave auction we have in the United States, and also the only thing Al Davis cares about when selecting players. The combine uses a series of physical tests that might mean nothing or might mean everything.

There's no really important exercise for QBs here, but skill position players can come out of nowhere here. It's also a place for people like Jimmy Graham who barely played any football at Miami to come out of nowhere and get their poo drafted in the third round because yeah your defense definitely couldn't have used that pick could they sean payton?

anyway nfl network does live coverage of the event and you get stuff like this

also fun story the 40 yard dash was invented by the coach the browns are named after and he did it for punt coverage, since he figured that's how far tacklers would have to run.

nfl coaching used to be really primitive because this revolutionized the game lol

April 22nd

The draft. might be a big deal for us iunno

That's cool what do I do until then and who do I trust?

Everywhere and their brother is going to be covering this f**king thing because the nfl draft is arguably bigger than like the world series now. it's turned into a horrific three day spectacle and roger goodell is literally hitler. There's about to be wall to wall coverage of this poo and everyone is going to do their mock blah blah blah

on top of that, teams will start leaking fake information to fake out other teams. this is how belichick freaked out mangini into thinking he was going to have to face vernon gholston twice a year unless he drafted him.

off the top of my head, here are the worthless ones you shouldn't care about that will probably be posted a lot

walterfootball - literally some dude in his basement. no sources, no access to scouts, about as useful as any random person here.

bleacherreport - just a well formatted message board. spare us.

todd mcshay - knows literally nothing. NOTHING. is mocked by scouts in private. probably owes Jevan Snead money.

pft - florio generally makes up what he posts, but people are going to be using him for disinformation campaigns, so he'll be useful in that what he posts is what someone wants someone to think.

mel kiper - great at breaking down players, terrible at projecting how they'll do in the nfl. is paid by agents to talk up players.

Who Should I Listen To?

First and foremost, follow Darin Gantt on twitter. individual team writers get the best tidbits from scouts, and twitter is a perfect way to access them all. Plus, Gantt follows all the nfl beat writers and he'll retweet the pertinent information.

Other than that...

Mike Mayock - is smart and knows his poo

that beat writer for the cowboys - forget his name but he's amazing at predicting draft order

that beat writer for the packers - forget his name but he's amazing at breaking down players, unfortunately only does ones the packers are eyeing.

What does Best Player Available mean?

It simply means that the Panthers do not draft for need. They look at their scouting reports, rank the players, and just go down the list.

The theory is that you fill in the gaps in free agency. drafted players are younger, cheaper, and under team control. if you trust your coaching staff (and your team hired them so of course they do) you know you can develop them. Also, young players that come up through a system have lived in a place for four years, and the Panthers are very good about locking up who they want.

How does Bill Bellichick draft I wanna draft like that

He uses a cloud system, where they rank all the players at a position they think are basically the same, then trade down until they get one of them from that cloud. It's hit or miss. It leads to Chad Jackson getting drafted in the first, and Lawrence Maroney over DeAngelo Williams. Bill is a master at acquiring picks, but when it comes to actual selections he's hit or miss as anyone.

Remember, the draft is a game

There is having a good draft and getting good picks. The two are not mutually inclusive, though it's hard to argue that you can have the former without the latter. You can have a terrible draft and get good picks.

For example, if you're playing poker, you can play stupid as hell and still come out on top if the cards fall right.

back in 2000, if the panthers had traded all their picks for the Patriots 6th rounder and drafted Tom Brady, even though they picked up a future HOF QB, they still had a terrible draft. Does that make sense?

This is where terms like "steal" and "reach" come in to play. Basically every player we draft will be a steal and every player all the other teams draft will be a reach.

"Patrick Peterson in the first pffffffffffff"

Does hurney suck at drafting?

for the most part no, but as far as playing the draft game, he's a big gambler. he ain't no Omar.

who will the Panthers draft

AJ Green, because Armanti Edwards needs weapons

[Murph]

I'll add a little to that.

January 3rd - 5th is important for two other reasons. It is the first business days after the regular season end in the NFL and word should start coming out about which coaches will get axed. It is also the first days back in the office for the Michigan athletic director (after the bowl game) and he will have a decision to make about Rich Rod.

All of this is important in relation to how many teams will go after Harbaugh and since Luck's decision is probably tied to Harbaugh's future at Stanford...well, you know the rest.

Oh, the Dallas beat writer is Rick Gosselin and he usually stays away from any serious draft talk until April and waits until 3 days before the draft before he really starts giving up his inside information from the scouts.

[Cyberjag]

...

bleacherreport - just a well formatted message board. spare us.

Mel Kiper - knows literally nothing. NOTHING. is mocked by scouts in private. probably owes Jevan Snead money.

pft - florio generally makes up what he posts, but people are going to be using him for disinformation campaigns, so he'll be useful in that what he posts is what someone wants someone to think.

...

I think I fixed this for you. May want to edit the top post, or set me straight.

[mr beauxjangles]

That's cool what do I do until then and who do I trust?

off the top of my head, here are the worthless ones you shouldn't care about that will probably be posted a lot

todd mchsay - knows literally nothing. NOTHING. is mocked by scouts in private. probably owes Jevan Snead money.

Who Should I Listen To?

Todd McShay - is smart and knows his sh*t

I'm assuming you mean mayock here...

[Happy Panther]

Fiz do you have a newsletter?

[Carl Spackler]

Todd McHsay is a moron, I can vouch for that, he's no Todd McShay.

[Fiz]

I'm assuming you mean mayock here...

hurf...hmmm

[Fiz]

Fiz do you have a newsletter?

yes

[Carl Spackler]

Lots of conspiracies there. Does anyone have a 2011 Mock Jihad yet?

[Jackofalltrades]

Nfldraftcountdown.com

[Kyle82]

Kind of an oxymoron going on here...I'm just as excited with anticipation at the end of December as I was hopeful of our season at the start of August.

[MrBubba]

I agree that McShay isn't the greatest fountain of knowledge. But he was one of the first to jump off the "Clausen is a top pick" train early last spring. So I must give him credit for that.