CardiacCats Top 5 Players on the Panthers Draft Board - V. 1.0

[rayzor]

i'll hold off on DT and CB. i'd like to see what happens there with who we've got. i do think we'll be better and i'd rather see us add someone from FA rather than the draft.

WR is the #1 priority for me. behind that is OLB (cause i don't trust davis to come back healthy as much as i would like for him to) and OT (cause i don't trust otah to stay healthy and gross is getting old).

btw....i like jeffery more than blackmon, but i'd be happy with either.

[Hoenheim]

i'll hold off on DT and CB. i'd like to see what happens there with who we've got. i do think we'll be better and i'd rather see us add someone from FA rather than the draft.

WR is the #1 priority for me. behind that is OLB (cause i don't trust davis to come back healthy as much as i would like for him to) and OT (cause i don't trust otah to stay healthy and gross is getting old).

btw....i like jeffery more than blackmon, but i'd be happy with either.

I agree with this.. If we are picking in the top five we should go with one of them so we can mold a number one WR for the future after Smith is gone.

I'm leaning towards Jeffrey as well. It would be very nice to have a gigantic 6'4'' WR for cam to throw to. I honestly don't want to take anything away from Gettis or LaFell either, but Alshon Jeffrey and Justin Blackmon are at a different level than any WR we have right now (besides Smith of course). I think we can adress other needs later in the draft. Getting a weapon for Cam is imperative, since we know Cam can chunk the ball well, and we know Steve Smith can't stay around forever.

[Munch4455]

The best value for a position of need, not including trade possibilities is gonna be WR and possibly CB. There are no DT's or CB's currently expected to go in the top 10. No 4-3 OLB's either but I will have to double check that. Unless someone blows up the second half of the college season, I personally am in favor of the trade down option but we will see. As it sits now, gotta look at Alshon Jeffrey, that WR from ND(cant remember his name), or Claiborne. To be honest, I would be more excited about Alshon Jeffrey than Blackmon even. Just seems to be more explosive, and seems to have much more of a fire to play. That said i havent seen a ton of blackmon, thats just what i gathered from the highlight clips.

SN: I think Kirkpatrick projects to a saftey in the NFL bc of his size and his pattern of getting beat in man coverage.

[ed bell]

I think our primary draft needs right now are OLB, and OT. The chances of filling gaps with the FA market next year are improving every week IMO. You gotta land a FA star, you can't simply buy them. This team is showing something to the guys at crossroads in their careers.

[Clicheking]

Good write up, I would like to see this every week. I love the draft and talking about it isn't any sort of declaration on our current season.

Anyways... I think our needs go like this in order of importance, DT, Olb, DE(depth) WR. CB

I'd like to talk about our needs for a second......I don't want to spend one of first two picks on Wr unless Blackmon and only Blackmon falls to us.

Choosing another DT doesn't discredit our current ones but unless they BOTH absolutely look like studs before the end season I'd like to see us take another one. You can never have enough talented fat guys. I also don't think Cb is a top priority. The biggest reason for that is I really think Hogan will pan out into a very solid #2 if not more. I've done a lot of research/seen a lot of film that has lead me to believe that. Combine him with our 3 other guys and I feel that's a solid group. We also have to spend at least a mid-round pick on DE. While Hardy and Johnson are both very good, there is no talent behind them.

I wouldn't mind seeing Thompson from Clemson going with our first pick and the best available Olb in the second. A lot could change between now and then however

[kdrh5]

LBs I love in this draft are Manti Te'o, Notre Dame, and Lavonte David, Nebraska

[HeatCheck]

OP, what have you seen from Kirkpatrick that makes you think he's easily the best CB?

[CardiacCats]

OP, what have you seen from Kirkpatrick that makes you think he's easily the best CB?

Big, physical and can also play a safety role some too. I like his versatility and he forced three fumbles last year and has already forced two this year, he hits hard for a corner also. I am worried about his speed at the next level, but from what I've seen from him and Claiborne I like Kirkpatrick considerably better, been a huge fan ever since his high school days. November 5th will play a huge role in determing who I like better as LSU and Bama go head to head and we can watch both players. Just my opinion, I love hearing all of yours also.

And yes, I was tempted to put Brown or Burfict at the #5 slot, but I felt as if Claiborne made more sense.

[HeatCheck]

Big, physical and can also play a safety role some too. I like his versatility and he forced three fumbles last year and has already forced two this year, he hits hard for a corner also. I am worried about his speed at the next level, but from what I've seen from him and Claiborne I like Kirkpatrick considerably better, been a huge fan ever since his high school days. November 5th will play a huge role in determing who I like better as LSU and Bama go head to head and we can watch both players. Just my opinion, I love hearing all of yours also.

And yes, I was tempted to put Brown or Burfict at the #5 slot, but I felt as if Claiborne made more sense.

I just don't see shutdown corner in Kirkpatrick. I see big hitter and physically imposing but cover corner I don't see it.

I might be a bit biased, but just watching Janoris Jenkins throughout his college career I've seen more out of him in terms of being a cover corner. Just watching him cover Julio, Alshon, and AJ Green last year was something to watch. I don't think there's one stand out corner in this draft but a lot of people that say Kirkpatrick are those who don't watch CFB and just go off but what they read. Not saying you do.

[KDawg004]

Some names to lookout for at WR is Dwight Jones and AJ Jenkins. As for CB, i'm not sure there is one that will warrant where we will be picking. I really hope we can trade down and grab some extra picks.

[Catalyst]

1. Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State: Far and away my top WR in this draft. Is WR our biggest need? Potentially, but the reason I have him at the top is simply because I feel when you put all our needs together and look at the top players we're likely to have a shot at, Blackmon is by FAR the BPA. He's actually my 3rd overall player behind Andrew Luck and Matt Kalil.

2. Alameda Ta'amu, NT, Washington: The fact is the DT position is fairly weak this year. Plus, what we really need is a dominant nose tackle, not another 305-310 pound guy like McClain/Fua. Ta'amu is a fuging monster; 6'3, 330 and an athletic freak. He's projected as a late 1st rounder for now, but I have a feeling he's going to shoot up draft boards by next April and could be right in line with our pick.

3. Zach Brown, OLB, UNC: Will be a need with Thomas Davis being hurt and likely released. My concern here is that he could be a bit of a reach at where I see us picking (8th or so, give or take) but I don't think he's the type of player who would be a bust by any means. Perhaps a slight reach, but not a player we're likely to regret picking. Ideally if Blackmon isn't there we'd trade down to 15th or so and get Brown anyway.

4. Janoris Jenkins, CB, North Alabama: Corner is obviously a huge need, but TBH I'm not sold on guys like Kirkpatrick and Gilmore. The one guy that stands out to me as a pure cover corner is Jenkins... now, obviously there are some character concerns here. He was dismissed from Florida and transfered to North Alabama, but it was for smoking weed and honestly, I couldn't care less so long as he can play football. It's not like he killed someone. We took a chance on Brandon Hogan and he had worse issues plus a torn ACL.

5. Cliff Harris, CB, Oregon: He's not the cover guy Jenkins is, but he's VERY athletic and a gifted return man. He's projected a late 1st/early 2nd prospect, but could be a riser come April. He rather reminds of a slightly smaller Chris Gamble at 5'11, but a similar athletic skillset.

[bleys]

Zach Brown has some wheels.. dude would be one of the fastest guys on the team..

[JawnyBlaze]

Of all the people mentioned here, outside of Blackmon or Jeffrey I like Cliff Harris the best. Kirckpatrick is probably going to be a Safety. You just don't see 6'3 CBs. That video of Claiborne didn't really show anything special about him, and he never presses at the line. Brandon Thompson played with good leverage, but he didn't look like a first round pick. Ta'amu got pushed back by a single guy way too much for a 330 pounder. No to first round LBers, our LB corps even without Beason and Davis, isn't a top 3 need (WR, DT, CB). We can get a good LB in the 2nd or 4th at earliest. Mathieu looks good, but how big is he? Didn't someone say he's only like 5'9? Not an automatic pass because of it, but we don't need another small corner. But what I could find on Youtube was pretty impressive. Still, Cliff Harris is my preference if we're picking in the middle of the first round and Kalil/Jeffrey/Blackmon aren't available.

[CPF4LIFE]

I think Janoris Jenkins could definitely be taken higher than where his draft projection is.