Josh Gordon (2012 NFL Supplemental Draft)

[MasterAwesome]

Once again, people would take Jenkins (who has way more baggage) in the 2nd but no take Gordon (who was ranked higher at Baylor than 2nd round pick Kendall Wright) until the 5th...

That makes sense...

You're looking at it extremely superficially....if they were both WRs it'd be a fair point, but one is a position of need and one isn't - simple as that. Not only that, but you're neglecting to take into consideration his one-year absence from college football altogether. But if you want to argue that WR is still a position of need, then take it up with Rivera, Steve Smith, LaFell, and Panther's upper management who have come out and said time after time that we have a solid group of WRs and are not looking to add anyone there.

We were (and still are) desperate for a competent CB opposite of Gamble, so if there was a CB in the draft with heavy baggage but had the talent to overshadow it (Jenkins), then many people would argue he was worth taking a risk on. I pretty much obsessed over the last draft and I read 2 or 3 reports saying that Jenkins was the most talented CB in the draft (even moreso than Claiborne) but his off-the-field issues is what caused him to drop to the 2nd round. I don't watch college football at ALL, so I can't make a judgment call on that...but I'm just saying what I read.

You also can't compare the NFL draft with the Supplemental draft...a draft pick in the NFL draft is worth a lot more than a pick in the same round in the Supplemental draft. I'd say taking Gordon in the 5th in the Supplemental draft is comparable to drafting him in the 4th round in the actual NFL draft. We don't know what kind of talent is going to be available at the same position in next year's draft, so using a Supplemental pick has a lot of risk involved. That's why a lot of times you'll see the Panthers (and some other teams) giving up more to get another pick in the current draft (i.e. trading next year's 3rd round pick for a 4th round pick the last draft).

And BTW Kendall Wright was drafted in the FIRST round (20th overall)...just sayin B) I know that only strengthens your point, but I wanted to get the facts straight!

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

You're looking at it extremely superficially....if they were both WRs it'd be a fair point, but one is a position of need and one isn't - simple as that. Not only that, but you're neglecting to take into consideration his one-year absence from college football altogether. But if you want to argue that WR is still a position of need, then take it up with Rivera, Steve Smith, LaFell, and Panther's upper management who have come out and said time after time that we have a solid group of WRs and are not looking to add anyone there.

We were (and still are) desperate for a competent CB opposite of Gamble, so if there was a CB in the draft with heavy baggage but had the talent to overshadow it (Jenkins), then many people would argue he was worth taking a risk on. I pretty much obsessed over the last draft and I read 2 or 3 reports saying that Jenkins was the most talented CB in the draft (even moreso than Claiborne) but his off-the-field issues is what caused him to drop to the 2nd round. I don't watch college football at ALL, so I can't make a judgment call on that...but I'm just saying what I read.

You also can't compare the NFL draft with the Supplemental draft...a draft pick in the NFL draft is worth a lot more than a pick in the same round in the Supplemental draft. I'd say taking Gordon in the 5th in the Supplemental draft is comparable to drafting him in the 4th round in the actual NFL draft. We don't know what kind of talent is going to be available at the same position in next year's draft, so using a Supplemental pick has a lot of risk involved. That's why a lot of times you'll see the Panthers (and some other teams) giving up more to get another pick in the current draft (i.e. trading next year's 3rd round pick for a 4th round pick the last draft).

And BTW Kendall Wright was drafted in the FIRST round (20th overall)...just sayin B) I know that only strengthens your point, but I wanted to get the facts straight!

That's right, I was thinking of Stephen Hill (who went in the second round),

Also, I feel like wide receiver will be a position of need in the very near future.

Brandon LaFell- Has the potential to be a number one, realistically a two.

David Gettis- Coming of an injury, has the potential to be a number one, realistically a two.

Kealoha Pilares and Joe Adams- Slot Receivers

Steve Smith- Great Receiver, three years left in him.

In the next two to three years, the Panthers are going to have to find a game changing wide receiver, I'm not suggesting it's Gordon but to say that wide receiver isn't a position of need is kind of foolish because you don't want to fool around and wait until the last moment to try and find a new number one receiver when this team could be in the thick of things surrounding the playoffs/super bowl.

Not to mention our atrocious history of drafting poor wide receivers...

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

That's the point...Gordon has done nothing. He had one decent year. Noone knows if it was a fluke or what you'll get. BTW you brought AJ into the conversation. Bad comparison, because AJ actually had a college career.

Gordon produced for one year in college, just like our franchise quarterback Cam Newton :)

[MasterAwesome]

That's right, I was thinking of Stephen Hill (who went in the second round),

Also, I feel like wide receiver will be a position of need in the very near future.

Brandon LaFell- Has the potential to be a number one, realistically a two.

David Gettis- Coming of an injury, has the potential to be a number one, realistically a two.

Kealoha Pilares and Joe Adams- Slot Receivers

Steve Smith- Great Receiver, three years left in him.

In the next two to three years, the Panthers are going to have to find a game changing wide receiver, I'm not suggesting it's Gordon but to say that wide receiver isn't a position of need is kind of foolish because you don't want to fool around and wait until the last moment to try and find a new number one receiver when this team could be in the thick of things surrounding the playoffs/super bowl.

Not to mention our atrocious history of drafting poor wide receivers...

I get your point, but just going off your own analysis of our WRs (throwing out "potential" here and there)...it's clear we still don't really know what we have. Between what is presumably our top 5 WRs aside from Steve Smith (LaFell, Gettis, Pilares, Adams), our most experienced receiver has played for 2 seasons. Gettis had a promising rookie year but missed all of season 2, I don't recall Pilares playing a single snap at WR thus far, and Adams hasn't played yet either...while LaFell has mostly just played as the #3 receiver behind Gettis in his first season and Naanee in his second season. So I say this is a big year for us in terms of gauging our talent at WR. We can see how LaFell plays at the #2 spot, we'll see how Gettis looks coming off his injury, and we'll hopefully see how Pilares and Adams look in the slot. It'd be safe to guess they're both gonna play in the slot, but who knows....on paper Steve Smith is ideal for the slot, but he has excelled on the outside for his whole career. I'm not saying Pilares or Adams are the next Steve Smith, but you can't really assume where they're gonna play receiver solely based on their measurables.

So, IN CONCLUSION....I think we should wait at least until after this season to decide whether we need to take on yet ANOTHER young inexperienced WR on our roster. In your own opinion, Steve Smith has 3 years left in him which will still give us plenty of time to find his replacement. I think drafting another question mark in Gordon is jumping the gun a bit when we already have a team full of question marks at WR.

[top dawg]

If we didn't have a rep there, then knowing the history of our FO, this thread is now a lame duck.

On an off note, anyone that knows how I have spoken to the need for a legitimate threat opposite Smitty for the last few years knows that I am likely to say bring in any WR that has shown even the slightest inkling of talent and/or has a history of solid play (like old Plax), but even I, Top Dawg, would leave this guy on the block. Just sayin'.

[jarhead]

I think the fact that the Panthers had no one in attendance for his workouts when not much else is going on speaks volumes about what our staff, front office, and scouting department think about this kid and his ability to impact this team.

Agree ....21 teams were present and we were not one of them

[La Pantera]

Gordon produced for one year in college, just like our franchise quarterback Cam Newton :)

Come on man. You seem smarter than that! You can't compare Cams season and Gordons season.... Cam had one of the greatest single seasons in college football history. What did Gordon do in his???...... 714 yards and 7 touchdowns, that's just decent, nothing profound.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Come on man. You seem smarter than that! You can't compare Cams season and Gordons season.... Cam had one of the greatest single seasons in college football history. What did Gordon do in his???...... 714 yards and 7 touchdowns, that's just decent, nothing profound.

Lol, I know.

I'm not comparing the season's. However, 714 yards and 7 touchdowns is not to shabby.

Especially if Baylor officials are saying that Gordon was preferred over Wright.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Also I agree with the others,

we weren't presents, we're not taking him.

[CRA]

Agree ....21 teams were present and we were not one of them

True, but any team that likely scouted the Baylor boys (which we did with Gettis and Wright coming out the last 2 years)....already did there homework on him. Despite attendance at pro days, rumblings are they don't mean much.

I don't think we are interested....but WR is a bigger need IMO than most. Not a today need....but not a need you worry about when it is a glaring hole. An aging Smitty goes down and we got nothing but hope and potential at WR really.....out of our current crop of potentials....one

emerging as a legit starter for years would be great.

[panthers55]

I know people are worried about not having a great number 1 prospect but lets be honest, who knew that Smitty would end being as good as he is when we drafted him in 2001. For all that matter, Adams had similar stats coming out of college to Smitty and under his guidance could be every bit as dominant in a few years. What makes Smitty great is his toughness and competitiveness as much as his physical and athletic skills. Who knows what will happen but we surely have lots of guys to pick from. I am optimistic given how LaFell has come along that we might be better at developing receivers than we were under Fox.

[CRA]

I know people are worried about not having a great number 1 prospect but lets be honest, who knew that Smitty would end being as good as he is when we drafted him in 2001. For all that matter, Adams had similar stats coming out of college to Smitty and under his guidance could be every bit as dominant in a few years. What makes Smitty great is his toughness and competitiveness as much as his physical and athletic skills. Who knows what will happen but we surely have lots of guys to pick from. I am optimistic given how LaFell has come along that we might be better at developing receivers than we were under Fox.

but Smitty was really like hitting a lotto.....and we have lived on that for a LONG time.

Teams hit mini lottos and big ones. But I don't know if we can hope expect to hit another lotto ticket at WR to come in and replace Smitty.

We got the QB finally. He needs his Steve Smith. We don't need to waste time playing the lotto. Cam has a window. Carolina needs to be gearing to win big in the near the future. Start moving the investments from the backfield to D and WR.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Gordon speaking on learning from his past mistakes

Link: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d82a79e95/Josh-Gordon-hopes-NFL-team-will-take-a-chance?module=HP11_hot_topics

[top dawg]

but Smitty was really like hitting a lotto.....and we have lived on that for a LONG time.

Teams hit mini lottos and big ones. But I don't know if we can hope expect to hit another lotto ticket at WR to come in and replace Smitty.

We got the QB finally. He needs his Steve Smith. We don't need to waste time playing the lotto. Cam has a window. Carolina needs to be gearing to win big in the near the future. Start moving the investments from the backfield to D and WR.

Yeah, that's my thing: we got lucky when we picked Smith. Other than Smith and Muhammad, by all appearances, our FO has done a shaky job at putting two legitimate, every-down-feared WRs on the field. The FO's track record has arguably been abysmal in this department, but especially getting help for Smitty ever since we went to the Super Bowl. If one of our current guys doesn't evolve into a WR1, then we must look towards trading up to bring in a consensus beast (assuming that we won't be drafting near the top anytime soon) within the next couple of years. If you think about it, the process of moving "investments" from the backfield began when Tolbert was signed. Dude---who is a great real investment---gave us a very favorable financial discount. Now, we'll have to see what happens with Stew (and D. Will).