State of the Panthers going into the Draft

[NJPanthers12]

I am excited for the draft and the way I see it is there are 4 elite players in this year’s draft. Those players are Patrick Peterson, Marcell Dareus, AJ Green, and Von Miller and in that order. I would d do cartwheels if the Panthers chose one of Peterson, Dareus, and Green. I would also be ok if the Panthers drafted Newton. I think he has the potential to be great but is too big of a risk for the number 1 pick. I found it really interesting that Mayock said he is well ahead of both The Golden Calf of Bristol and Young and he is also wins everywhere he goes. To me that is the number 1 quality in a QB and that is why I was on the Delhomme bandwagon so long. He was a great in the playoffs and had that “it” factor. With that all said I want to look at our team going into the draft. We all know what our needs are and what positions we should draft, but I want to look at each player one by one and take a look into the future. This includes the free agents that I think will be back as well, also will include what their age will be going into the season.

QB: Jimmy Clausen 23: Was he absolutely awful last year? Yes. I still think that he has some potential and would not think it would be the worst in the world if he got one more shot under Rivera. Articles stated that he stopped listening to coaches and he was pretty much set up to fail since day 1. Do not get me wrong I am not making excuses for him, but I am not 100% sure that it is too late for him. I believe that Newton will be the number 1 choice this year making everything I said a moot point. My person preference would be that we give Clausen one more shot, and if he completely bombs next year we will have a top 10 pick with a shot at possibly Luck or Barkley.

RB: DeAngelo Williams 28: DeAngelo Williams is 28, but he is a young 28. He has been splitting carries his whole career and will not have the normal workload of a 30 year old running back. It has been rumored that it could come down to the Dolphins and Panthers for his services. He also said that a QB is very important in his decision of where he will sign. With the Panthers most likely going with Newton that should give them an advantage over the Dolphins. The Dolphins are reportedly enamored with Mallet and also could be look into Matt Moore. With Chad Henne sucking I think this gives the Panthers the advantage of keeping together the best RB tandem in the league.

RB: Jonathan Stewart 24: Stewart proves every time he gets a chance that he is capable of being one of the best RBs in all of the NFL. Him and Williams are best of friends and it seems like there is no problem with between them with splitting carries. They will continue to keep the pressure off of Clausen, Newton, Barkley, or Luck. If any of those QBs are the least bit competent this dynamic duo will at least keep the Panthers somewhat relevant.

RB: Mike Goodson 24: Still is not ready to be an every down player, but definitely has the potential to be one. He is a very good receiver out of the backfield and shows he can be explosive in the running game. If he can work on his strength and fumbling problems he will be a very good back in this league and a great number 3 RB. If we can lock up both Stewart and DeAngelo long term then he becomes great trade bait.

FB: Tony Fiammetta 25: He seems to be a very solid FB. Was decent on the few run opportunities he was given and seemed to open up holes for Stewart and Goodson. He learned from one of the best in Hoover and should be solid for many years to come.

WR: Steve Smith 32: I do not think he will be on the team next year and it will be a true shame. Julius Peppers and Steve Smith should have retired Panthers. They have been the face of this franchise are the only two players that casual NFL fans could identify from the Panthers. With that said he is 32 and we are in the midst of rebuilding process. It is imperative that the Panthers get something for him and not just give him away. I would be all for drafting Green to replace him and team up with Gettis and LaFell. I would not feel comfortable going into the season with the Gettis and LaFell starting with a rookie QB, but that is the way it looks.

WR: Davis Gettis 24: I like this kid a lot. I hope he is not Keary Colbert 2.0 who I also liked a lot when he stepped in for a hurt Steve Smith. He showed a lot of promise as a rookie and has elite speed. I do not think he will develop into a number 1 WR, but definitely a great number 2. He needs to take a big step forward next year for us to be relevant and to help Newton progress.

WR: Brandon LaFell 24: Another young WR who I like a lot. He needs to work on his hands if he wants to be a real good WR in this league. He reminds me of Muhammad with more speed. He is a great blocker and showed potential last year to develop into a very good number 2. My main focus next year will be watching how Gettis, LaFell, and Edwards develop.

WR: Armanti Edwards 23: I am still not ready to give up on this kid. There has to be a reason why the franchise decided to trade a second rounder for him other then he went to Appalachian State. With the proper coaching hopefully he can develop into a good slot WR. He has the speed for it, but I have not seen enough out of him to see if he has the hands for it.

WR: Wallace Wright 27: Let’s not forget about Wright. He was very effective prior to the injury in preseason and was a great special teamer for the Jets. I think he will be a very important piece to this team.

TE: Jeremy Shockey 31: If he is healthy he gives this offense a much needed playmaker in the passing game. People many not like him but he there is no denying his skill. Hopefully reuniting him with Chuds will give him a second wind. I know he is an injury risk, but we are due for a break.

TE: Dante Rosario 26: I love Rosario as a receiver. I want him brought back in free agency and see how effective he can be with a competent offensive coordinator. He has great hands and is extremely athletic for a TE.

TE: Gary Barnidge 25: Tons of potential just need the opportunity to see the field.

LT: Jordan Gross 31

LG: Travelle Wharton 30

The left side of our offensive line is as solid as it comes. Gross was coming off a big injury and in my opinion played great. He still could have played better and think he will with another year of recovery. Wharton has been my favorite player along the 0-line for some time now and believes he still has a lot left in the tank. If the left side can stay healthy were pretty set.

C: Ryan Kalil 27: One of the best centers in all of football and a very smart move to franchise him. The only thing left is to lock him up long term now.

RG: Geoff Schwartz 25

RT: Jeff Otah 25

I do not like Geoff Schwartz starting at guard this season. He played very well, but he reminds me of Mackenzy Bernadeau two seasons ago. He played great when he filled in, but was exploited when he got a chance to start. Schwartz and Bernadeau are good depth but should not be starters in this league. We need Otah to get healthy and continue to be the mauler we know him to be. He is great in the run game and is a very important piece to this team.

Mackenzy Bernadeau and Duke Robinson along with Geoff Schwartz give us good depth along the O-Line. We still need to find a starting RG and a center for depth and our offensive line will be set.

Next I will talk about our defense.

[NJPanthers12]

Now onto the defense where I think we are much better off than on offense. We have a lot of young talent and depth at some positions.

DE: Charles Johnson 25: He really broke out last year and helped ease the loss of Julius Peppers. He will never be Julius Peppers but with help on the D-Line he could be a consistent double digit sack guy year in and year out. Teams will focus on him more next year and double him, so it is imperative that we get some DTs to help him out. I hate to say it but bringing him back is more important than bringing back DeAngelo Williams. We need to get this done fast.

DT: Derek Landri 28: A very good player who should be in a rotation rather than a starter. I would love for us to draft Dareus and sign Cofield or Mebane and let Landri be our third DT. That would be a very impressive core to go along with our young DEs.

DT: Andre Neblett 23: He is also young and talented. He impressed me with what he did in his short stint at the end of the year. He needs another offseason in the weight room and should be a good rotational player, but should be nowhere near the starting lineup. I would do flips if we went into the season with a DT rotation of Dareus-Cofield/Mebane-Landri-Neblett.

I do not want Hayden anywhere near this team next season and I am not sure what to think of Corvey Irvin.

DE: Greg Hardy 23: Have been rocking a Greg Hardy authentic since we drafted him. I loved the pick and is my favorite player on this team. I think he has all the potential in the world to be a great DE. I think Brayton needs to be released or demoted and Hardy needs to be inserted into the starting line-up immediately. If he keeps his head on straight and stays healthy this guy is going to be better than Charles Johnson.

DE: Everette Brown 24: With another year in the weight room and a new coaching staff this is his last year to prove he belongs. He has tons of potential and speed, but needs to bulk up and show he has more moves other than the spin move. I like him and am excited with the rotation of Johnson/Hardy/Brown. This is a very young and athletic core filled with potential.

OLB: Thomas Davis 28

MLB: Jon Beason 26

MLB: Dan Connor 25

OLB: James Anderson 27

OLB: Eric Norwood 23

Bring back the free agents and pray that Thomas Davis can stay healthy and this is as young and good of a LB core there is in the league. These 5 players are good enough to play on any team in the league. I trust Rivera will find a niche for Norwood on the defense and he will be great. Go out into free agency and sign a few OLB and possibly keep Nic Harris and we are set here.

CB: Chris Gamble 28: No way can Chris Gamble be cut. He is our best corner and with Richard Marshall most likely not coming back we cannot afford to lose him. There are only a handful of shutdown corners in this league (Asomaugh,Revis,Bailey,Woodson, etc.), but after that elite group you got players like Chris Gamble. He got in Fox’s dog house last year but should be fine with Rivera

SS: Charles Godfrey 25: Hate him or love him Godfrey is decent. He is not as bad as this board makes him out to be, but he is not as good as analysts have made him out to be. I think that Richard Marshall made him look bad a lot being out of position and Godfrey trying to make up for it. I am willing to give him one more shot under Rivera.

FS: Sherrod Martin 26: If he stays healthy he is a future pro bowler. Him along with Johnson, Hardy, Beason, Gamble, and Davis are the nucleus of this defense.

S: Jordan Pugh 23: A future starter in this league without a doubt. Clausen and the Armanti trade really make our draft look bad last year, but our later round picks have been great. He is great depth and will eventually be starting for someone.

CB: Captain Munnerlyn 23: All I have to say about Captain is I love him as a nickel and hate him as a starter. We absolutely need to bring in a starting CB to team up with Gamble and keep Munnerlyn inside.

Stanford and McClain are both players I would give a shot to in training camp and wouldn’t mind as depth, but if they get a lot of playing time we are in trouble.

This team is very young and without a doubt has potential. We have four options this Thursday, but no matter what happens we will be left with some major holes.

We draft a new face of the franchise and build this team around Cam Newton. The guy has all the potential in the world and is a proven winner. At the same time he could be a huge flop and set the franchise back years to come. But we cannot predict how these players will turn out and sometimes the biggest risk gives you the biggest reward.

If you want to give Clausen one more shot and bank on Barkley or Luck next year if all fails you have three options:

Option 1: Draft Dareus and try to build a strong young D-Line of Johnson-Dareus-FA-Hardy

Option 2: Team up Peterson and Gamble and have a very good young secondary in Peterson-Godfrey-Martin-Gamble and Munnerlyn at the nickel.

Option 3: Trade Steve Smith and see if Jimmy Clausen can gel with AJ Green-David Gettis-Brandon LaFell-Armanti Edwards. Clausen and all 4 WRs are extremely young and could develop into quite the core.

The bottom 3 options I would love and I could definitely live with Cam Newton, but no matter what I will support whoever we draft and cannot wait until Thursday.

[CAVSS]

Good write up man. I'm not saying we should give up on Pickles completely but he definitely needs to be on the bench for a while IMO. He could turn out to be serviceable but it won't be anytime soon IMO.

Other than that I agree with pretty much everything you said except that I doubt we draft another QB. Unless its a late round "waste of a pick" Pike type of guy.

[Dpantherman]

hoolyeeeee poo :eek:, hes back...again.

edit: fixed that needed filtering.

[NJPanthers12]

of course dpantherman swoops in with the insight

[NJPanthers12]

i know youve missed me

[Dpantherman]

duh

[paulSM]

I think I can pretty much say "Amen" and be done with it.

[chknwing]

I think War and Peace was shorter than that post.

[MHS831]

Good write up man. I'm not saying we should give up on Pickles completely but he definitely needs to be on the bench for a while IMO. He could turn out to be serviceable but it won't be anytime soon IMO.

Other than that I agree with pretty much everything you said except that I doubt we draft another QB. Unless its a late round "waste of a pick" Pike type of guy.

If Clausen remains a #2 QB and can give us decent relief pitching, he should not be considered a bust. The problem was Moore got hurt and he was not nearly ready.

I disagree with the write up when it comes to the offensive line. I worry about depth. RT? LT? C?

[HSCBandit07]

Who is our Nickel? (Let's ask ourselves that question going into this year and see who stutters)

[Jerry]

Good write up man. I agree we should be looking

at the guys that grade out at the TOP of the draft

and that is Dareus,PP,A.J.Green and Vonn Miller.

Any one of them will add more to our team then Newton

will and anyone of them would be a smarter move on our part.

[OchoNueve]

Worst case scenario if we lose Smitty and Deangelo both. We will be even younger and more inexperienced than we were last year.

[CRA]

Worst case scenario if we lose Smitty and Deangelo both. We will be even younger and more inexperienced than we were last year.

The running game was more effective when DeAngleo was on the bench.....in fact it has been that way the last 2 seasons. I think Carolina actually keeps Williams.

Smitty is old news as far as I am concerned. It will be a young team no matter what and he doesn't fit regardless of how people want him to.