Source: Panthers leaning to stick w/Clausen & pick Dareus

[CAVSS]

The first 5 draft picks overall should be starters in the NFL.

Any player drafted that early, especially without a rookie cap, that cannot clearly distinguish himself above teammates at his position is a bust.

Because there is no evidence that would indicate any newly drafted player will get to train before the 2011 season begins, I believe teams must consider players who do not require training to compete before players who do require training.

In other words, players that will obviously present a physical matchup problem in the NFL are the safest picks in this year's draft.

DT or trade down.

I feel like if I say this again my head will explode but here goes. DT's almost always take years to develop. There is no Suh in this draft. Glen Dorsey was a fenom in college and is just now showing signs of dominance. There is zero reason to believe that the DT's in this draft are any better. DT's also have a higher bust rate than QB's.

That said I think Dareus will be a good DT (in a year or two) F Fairley IMO. Pay him top pick money and kiss it goodbye or join him at the club with Jawalrus while he spends it. Best case for him he falls to far to get big money and plays his ass off till he does (Haynesworth). I like Dareus and PP7 a lot but please stop acting like they are guaranteed to start day 1 and destroy all opposition. (Much more likely with PP7 I think)

P.S. watch the video where Dareus meets Sapp on NFL.com. They run some simple drills with a retired OL can't think of his name. He makes Dareus look like the lost kid that he will most likely be until he gets some experience.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-draft/09000d5d81ecf5d1/Dareus-meets-his-idol

[Darth Bobo]

please stop acting like they are guaranteed to start day 1 and destroy all opposition

I don't believe that I said what you said I said. LOL.

I'm only saying that we have no reason yet to believe that any of our draft picks will be able to practice before the season begins, and I doubt we will before draft day.

So on draft day, assuming we are not given the opportunity to trade down and pick up a 2nd round pick, we can choose one of two things:

1) A developmental player who we cannot develop until the season begins

or

2) A player whose physical skills speak for themselves, and who plays a position where NFL football knowledge is relatively less important, compared to other positions in the NFL.

Under theses specific circumstances, I am a fan of choosing option 2. Especially, because a pick in the first 5 overall usually ought to be expected to start the season he is drafted if he is playing on a failing team like ours.

If you broke our team into units, O-line/TE, D-line, D-backs, linebackers, RB/FB, WR, QB....there are two obvious failures in 2010: Quarterback and Offensive line. I am simply not that impressed by the draft for either of these two units, and while I am not impressed by any of the quartbacks we have on our roster, I think it is telling that they all played equally poor football, with none distinguishing himself above the rest. And I feel strongly too, that Moore was at least capable of playing a good game here and there. When I look at the salaries that we paid our offensive line, and I look at Wharton's recurring injuries, and Kahlil's franchise tag, and Otah's injury which kept him out an entire season(and perhaps beyond???) I get really concerned about the offensive line. I see no gain whatsoever in drafting another rookie QB and putting him behind the weakest unit on our team. Otah's return is not going to "fix everything", and even if it did, we still have the other problems I mentioned on the O-line.

And for those of you who say...but we had linemen in the pro-bowl. I'll just say this. They did not deserve it. Not this year. Not when that many sacks happened on their watch. Protecting their QB, and his confidence is their responsibility.

When it comes to redefining a failing team, I feel the best approach is to take the unit that played the weakest football from the year before and sign/draft/coach that unit into a forte. THAT, is what I feel forces opponents in the first 8 games to adjust unexpectedly, which I feel is the best kind of adjustment for us. As it stands, next year's opponents will step onto BoA field expecting to defeat our offensive line again, and they'll have studied last year's tapes. They will have confidence that we will fail again on the line, and it is the job of our O-line/coach to piss all over that confidence.

Some people also believe that this game is WON IN THE TRENCHES. You can chalk me up as one of those.

I understand that a QB upgrade will make an O-line look a lot better, and along the lines with my original post....CAM IS ALSO AN EXAMPLE OF A MATCHUP PROBLEM. Some defenders will really struggle to tackle him. So, if we get Cam I would not be upset by any means, but if we go into this season expecting big things from a rookie again, and if we go into the season expecting that Otah is back in a big way, and that we don't have to bring a new spark on the offensive line, then my expectations for this offense would be just plain low.

O-line is a bigger need than D-Tackle, but there are potential starters at DT....poo, the more I think of it, we might be hosed again this season on offense. :(

[Mr. Scot]

Good analysis.

[OneBadassCat]

I disagree that o-line is our biggest weakness but I think we should at least look into some mid tier FA's and maybe some late round fliers in the draft for back ups.

[Mr. Scot]

Our biggest weakness? Probably not.

Bad in 2010? Hard to argue that.

[OneBadassCat]

Well yeah in 2010 they sucked but we also had Gross coming back from injury and Otah missed the whole season which scrambled everything else up. It's not far fetched to think that Otah coming back will solve a lot of problems, because it will. But we do need to find some talented back up. Maybe even invest a 3rd in a OT and groom him to eventually replace Gross. Schwartz is a quality player, but we need another back up tackle. Or Robinson could get off his ass and contribute for a change.

[CRA]

I disagree that o-line is our biggest weakness but I think we should at least look into some mid tier FA's and maybe some late round fliers in the draft for back ups.

I think Rivera has said it is our biggest strength didn't he?

[MHS831]

I think Rivera has said it is our biggest strength didn't he?

Our LBs aren't? We need depth and here is why: Gross and wharton are on the wrong side of 30. Otah is having way too much trouble with a 24 year old knee to feel the OL is solid. Kalil is on a 1-year deal and Schwartz is our RG. The draft is not all about 2011, but to anticipate needs in the future.

Why draft players in the 3rd or later based on 2011 needs when they take a season or two to be ready to play?

Since we don't have a second rounder, we almost have to draft a CB in the third round and hope that he can play nickel for a year and will develop into a player.

I think we should get a guy in the draft (4th round) who can play both tackle spots and possibly RG. Willie Smith from ECU has a tremendous upside. Pinkston from Pittsburgh is short, but he can play LT and G. Could drop. Carpenter from Bama, Hairston from Clemson, Brewer from Indiana all have developmental potential, which is all you are going to get that late in the draft.

Our line is a strength when it is healthy. But if you look at the age of the left side, the inexperience and injury history of the right side, and the contract status of the center, we need depth. Anybody with a vision of the future and knowledge of football would agree.

Williams, Bernadeau? We need better.

[CRA]

Our LBs aren't? We need depth and here is why: Gross and wharton are on the wrong side of 30. Otah is having way too much trouble with a 24 year old knee to feel the OL is solid. Kalil is on a 1-year deal and Schwartz is our RG. The draft is not all about 2011, but to anticipate needs in the future.

Why draft players in the 3rd or later based on 2011 needs when they take a season or two to be ready to play?

Since we don't have a second rounder, we almost have to draft a CB in the third round and hope that he can play nickel for a year and will develop into a player.

I think we should get a guy in the draft (4th round) who can play both tackle spots and possibly RG. Willie Smith from ECU has a tremendous upside. Pinkston from Pittsburgh is short, but he can play LT and G. Could drop. Carpenter from Bama, Hairston from Clemson, Brewer from Indiana all have developmental potential, which is all you are going to get that late in the draft.

Our line is a strength when it is healthy. But if you look at the age of the left side, the inexperience and injury history of the right side, and the contract status of the center, we need depth. Anybody with a vision of the future and knowledge of football would agree.

Williams, Bernadeau? We need better.

not my opinion. Rivera was boasting about how the OL would be the foundation of this team and he saw that as the biggest strength.

I think a backfield that can run w/ poor OL play and literally no passing game is our biggest strength. What they did in 2010 was amazing after the standard slow start. I am surprised people don't realize exactly how impressive that is. Then I would agree LBs pending Davis can be 95% of what he was.