How does a pass dominant league impact this years draft?

[pstall]

The great teams spread yout and rely on a mismatch. Those same teams seem content on playing just slightly mediocre defense.

The Panthers have the right offense but its a no brainer the other sideof the ball is weak.

So the question is do the Panthers load up more on offense to create similar mismatches or just plug the holes on D to get a bit better?

[Kuech Da Sneak]

Unless you have an amazingly efficient quarterback (Rodgers, Brady, who also happened to have the 2 worst defenses yardage wise), you need a semblance of a defense.

I still say defense in the draft, and try and get a WR in FA like Bowe or Floyd.

[JawnyBlaze]

Bowe would be an awesome signing but I don't see KC letting him go. Not that excited about Floyd, he's getting up there in age himself I think. Would be alright for a short term bandaid, but short term we're fine at WR. We need a #1 WR replacement for 4 or 5 years down the road. In other words, it'd be nice to get a young stud WR in the draft but we don't need to go get a quick fix WR to push us over the edge for success. If we neither draft nor sign a WR we'll be fine, but we'll need to draft or sign a young stud WR in the next few years.

[rayzor]

the two things that this offense needs:

1) more protection for newton (upgrade the right side)

2) a defense and special teams that give it better position

beyond that we don't need really anything. going WR won't put us in better positions to win than we have right now. the saints and the pats have shown that you don't need early draft picks spent on WRs if you have a QB and a scheme that will spread the ball around and you constantly give the QB multiple choices (essentially run a spread offense).

the trenches need the most attention, imo. we need to get stouter at DT and on that right side of the OL. the only big problem i have is that if you start a rookie in the trenches, chances are they will look like they have roller skates on for their first year. only but the rarest and most elite of players can play without doing that as a rookie.

it doesn't matter how good or elite they can be later in their career, they are largely going to look like poo their first year, esp. late when they've hit the rookie wall. anyone you pick you have to consider a project because 99% of the time they aren't going to make an immediate impact. i'm not sure i have the patience to sit and wait a year or two for a rookie to develop at either place. if we take a DT or OL in the first, they need to be able to make an immediate impact.

my hope is that otah comes back healthy and motivated and/or bell comes back stronger and the experience of starting for the better part of a year and a full offseason under his belt will make for solid enough competition that we are set. hopefully between the two of them we will have RT taken care of. i also hope that when schwartz comes back that between him and hangman we have enough competition to have us set at RG as well.

i would LOVE to see us go after carl nicks, though, but that dude is going to be EXPENSIVE! the good news is the saints most likely won't be able to afford him unless he was willing to provide a massive hometown discount and take much less money than jahri evans took a year ago.

matt kalil is not going to last beyond the first 5 picks so he's a non consideration. the only other OL in the draft i see as being able to make an impact in year one is decastro, but i'm not sure how i feel about taking an OG that early. if he could be as solid an reliable as either evans or nicks in new orleans, though, he'd be worth it.

i also hope that with mcclain and fua having a year under their belts and a full offseason of pro-level conditioning and of practice and with ron edwards coming back that between those three, neblett and shirley we have DT taken care of.

i would prefer that we add more competition to DT. ideally it would be a vet that was brought in for a relatively cheap contract, mainly because i don't want more inexperience there and i don't see anyone in this draft that could make the immediate impact we need there. quinton coples is the only one i could see doing that, but we'd have to make him a full time DT and he'd have to add 10-15 pounds to his frame. he's got the talent to be a solid pass-rushing force in the middle of the Dline, though. (not a UNC homer, btw).

CB and OLB are the two areas in this draft i believe we could get the most immediate help from the draft.

at CB, i'm much less concerned about height (5'10 is perfectly acceptable, but i wouldn't want to go shorter than that) as long as he could could be physical and suffocate the WR he's assigned to cover. as long as he could do that, it's worth giving up an inch or two in a rare moment that a ball is perfectly placed up high. we might lose more end zone matchups on percentage, but we'd find ourselves there less often. i'd rather us focus more on who can keep WRs from catching balls between the 20s and help force more 3 and outs.

at OLB, it's tough. i'd like someone that can do well in coverage. i think, however that i would be more interested in someone that could be huge for us as a pass rusher to add more of a threat to opposing QBs. i'd look for someone that could fit the mold of a 3-4 pass rushing OLB. if they can cover the TE, great, but more importantly is that they make the QB run for their lives. i would actually consider being able to help in run defense above coverage skills.

FS is another thing that needs to be upgraded, though i don't see anyone in the draft that would make a quick impact. i'd rather chase after michael griffin from the titans. 2 time pro-bowler could make him expensive, though.

[JawnyBlaze]

i also hope that with mcclain and fua having a year under their belts and a full offseason of pro-level conditioning and of practice and with ron edwards coming back that between those three, neblett and shirley we have DT taken care of.

i would prefer that we add more competition to DT. ideally it would be a vet that was brought in for a relatively cheap contract, mainly because i don't want more inexperience there and i don't see anyone in this draft that could make the immediate impact we need there. quinton coples is the only one i could see doing that, but we'd have to make him a full time DT and he'd have to add 10-15 pounds to his frame. he's got the talent to be a solid pass-rushing force in the middle of the Dline, though. (not a UNC homer, btw).

Don't forget about Kearse, he's been very solid.

Also, I'm warming *slightly* to the idea of drafting Coples...

[rayzor]

wow. i would have tl;dr what i posted.

sorry guys.

yeah...agreed about kearse as well.

dream scenario i'm liking is one in which we trade our spot to the bengals for their 2 first rounders and then use it to draft zack brown and janoris jenkins.