Drafting/signing a WR this offseason...

[Wyank]

Gettis to me is an unknown quantity. Had flashes with shitty QB play. Also had injury to his knee and who knows how well it will hold up once healed.

Shockey's contract is up. Not sure if he will be resigned or not.

LaFell came on towards the second half of the season but he still has a lot to prove himself.

I wouldn't say WR is the biggest need but I wouldn't object to bringing in quality competition.

[Panther's #1 Fan]

The Panthers led in 14 out of 16 games this year. Scoring was not an issue. What was an issue was defending the lead in the 4th quarter. Drafting a WR would be a complete waste of a pick, even if Blackmon fell. After seeing what the Saints did in Week 17 (I know most of the starting defense was out), there is a critical need for help. First round pick should be BPA at LB, CB, DT or DE. I'm all in favor of a first round WR in 2013.

I completely agree but if blackmon fell to us there's no way we pass him up

[Wyank]

how's that work if we ignore our defense?

Bringing in a WR this season does not equal ignoring our defense. There is always FA and other draft picks if a draft pick is used on WR.

[CRA]

how's that work if we ignore our defense?

never said ignore the D. said if Blackmon falls you got to take him.

there is still the rest of the draft, FA, trade, and getting guys back healthy.

[hepcat]

never said ignore the D. said if Blackmon falls you got to take him.

there is still the rest of the draft, FA, trade, and getting guys back healthy.

Blackmon could be an impact player, but where does he fit in? And at who's expense? Rather bring back Naanee for depth than ignore glaring needs on the D. But I can see what you mean, why pass on a potential impact player if he's staring you in the face? I just wouldn't pull the trigger and I doubt he's available at #8/9.

[bleys]

never said ignore the D. said if Blackmon falls you got to take him.

there is still the rest of the draft, FA, trade, and getting guys back healthy.

I hear ya.. but if we draft 1st overall for defense there is still the rest of the draft and FA...

I feel like LT or defense is just as important.. but if Blackmon is the real deal, I'm not opposed to that.

[tondi]

The Panthers led in 14 out of 16 games this year. Scoring was not an issue. What was an issue was defending the lead in the 4th quarter. Drafting a WR would be a complete waste of a pick, even if Blackmon fell. After seeing what the Saints did in Week 17 (I know most of the starting defense was out), there is a critical need for help. First round pick should be BPA at LB, CB, DT or DE. I'm all in favor of a first round WR in 2013.

You could also look at NO (and GB) and say that they have a lousy defense but win because of an unstoppable offense. Our offense isn't quite at that level but adding another elite WR might get us there. The way the league is trending the key to prosperity appears to be on the offensive side of the ball. NO and GB are proving that right now. We all agree our D needs to improve but if we can add a real difference maker on offense we would be silly not to consider doing so.

[tondi]

The Panthers led in 14 out of 16 games this year. Scoring was not an issue. What was an issue was defending the lead in the 4th quarter. Drafting a WR would be a complete waste of a pick, even if Blackmon fell. After seeing what the Saints did in Week 17 (I know most of the starting defense was out), there is a critical need for help. First round pick should be BPA at LB, CB, DT or DE. I'm all in favor of a first round WR in 2013.

Sorry. Double post.

[CarolinaNCSU]

If Blackmon falls to us somehow we have 2 options IMO.

1. Try like crazy to trade back and hope someone gives us the Julio package

2. Take him

All of this can change if we address defensive needs in FA however

[teeray]

Our receivers are not that good outside of Smitty. We have an elite receivers and a bunch of average guys. Even Shock and Olsen aren't that great.

Although I agree that defense is our more pressing matter at the moment, we are going to need to get another big time receiver if we ever want to take this offense to the next level and truly be elite,

[BigSyke]

kendall wright draft

pierre garcon free agent

really dont need a tall reciever, need speedy quick guys who are deep threats........like smith!! cam is accurate enough to get it to them without them having to be giants.

[hepcat]

You could also look at NO (and GB) and say that they have a lousy defense but win because of an unstoppable offense. Our offense isn't quite at that level but adding another elite WR might get us there. The way the league is trending the key to prosperity appears to be on the offensive side of the ball. NO and GB are proving that right now. We all agree our D needs to improve but if we can add a real difference maker on offense we would be silly not to consider doing so.

Your point doesn't help the cause of drafting Blackmon in the first round.

Both of those teams don't have a first round WR on their team. edit: (Meachem is but he's like their 3rd receiver). Brady made it happen with no-names for a long time, and you've gotta think Jennings and Nelson wouldn't be as effective without Rodgers and a QB friendly system.

The Saints actually have a pretty damn good defense...their pass rush was demolishing the Panther O-Line. If you can have a pass rush like that, you don't need top tier talent in the secondary to get bad passes and turnovers. The Packers D is built the same way but doesn't have the same kind of talent on the D-Line. They can rush the passer and have Charles Woodson but still give up a ton of yards.

Either way, I don't think Blackmon is a good pick even if he's there. Good QB's can make average WR's look great, but good QB's can't play defense with the game on the line.

[Wyank]

Personally my stance on considering a WR doesn't mean just Blackmon. I'm talking FA as well. I like Smitty, LaFell, and Gettis but I see no reason not to bring in someone worth competing for that second WR spot or slot.

Unless this coaching staff sees something in Edwards or Pilares and just waiting for them to develop. But I think they should be open to strengthening our strength as well as fixing our weaknesses.

[tondi]

Your point doesn't help the cause of drafting Blackmon in the first round.

Both of those teams don't have a first round WR on their team and have an offense (well Meachem is but he's like their 3rd receiver). Brady made it happen with no-names for a long time, and you've gotta think Jennings and Nelson wouldn't be as effective without Rodgers and a QB friendly system.

The Saints actually have a pretty damn good defense...their pass rush was demolishing the Panther O-Line. If you can have a pass rush like that, you don't need top tier talent in the secondary to get bad passes and turnovers. The Packers D is built the same way but doesn't have the same kind of talent on the D-Line. They can rush the passer and have Charles Woodson but still give up a ton of yards.

Either way, I don't think Blackmon is a good pick even if he's there. Good QB's can make average WR's look great, but good QB's can't play defense with the game on the line.

I agree that the QB tends to make the WR more than the reverse. I also agree that there are plenty of good WR's out there who weren't 1st round picks. I'm not as big of a Blackmon fan as some around here but all I am saying is if the team sees a guy they think can be a difference maker whether in the draft (most likely in the 1st round) on in FA they should consider pulling the trigger. Just because we had a good offense last year doesn't mean we should pass on a WR to pick an inferior player based on our defensive needs.

Based on YPG, GB had the worst D in the league, NE was 31st, and NO was 24th this season. They did better in the PPG category with GB coming in at 19, NE at 15 and NO at 13. NOBODY would claim any of these defenses is any better than mediocre yet somehow they keep winning games.

That seems to indicate that while our defense needs to improve that the key to winning in the NFL in the future is going to be by scoring lots of points as opposed to winning 10-7 slugfests (sorry John Fox).

If the choice comes down to an impact offensive player or solid starter/rotation guy defensive player I think we would be better served going offense, IMO. If you can get an impact player on either side of the ball then maybe you go defense. Too many variables to say for sure at this point but I don't think we should be limiting our options by fixating on one position or side of the ball.