Entire Sporting news top 20 position by position rankings

[rayzor]

smith and williams should be in the top 5.

lack of consistency will keep them from it in many people's lists, though.

[Happy Panther]

Steve Smith top 5

Jordan gross nice spot

D. Williams - we will see this year but are there not 5 RBs in the league you would trade for?

Jake - I can see why he gets so low but I would rank him higher on potential rebound.

[dimbee]

Smitty at 10???? Are you fuggen kidding me? Wow... that's horseshit

[pepaw]

smith and williams should be in the top 5.

lack of consistent exposure will keep them from it in many people's lists, though.

fixed

[panthers55]

I hope the team sees this article. They have always played best when they have a chip on their shoulder. Smith doesn't need any ammunition in order to play mad, but this is just perfect. I hope we get absolutely no respect for the next several months. Exactly what we need. I expect Jake to come out looking for something to prove as well after all the crap he is taking. It is shaping up very nicely.

I couldn't have scripted it any better.

[Brandon]

If I were Fox I'd have all the power rankings with us in the 15-20 range, all these articles ranking them as being average players, etc all plastered on their lockers with "prove them wrong" written on the bottom in Sharpie. I've come to expect ignorance about the Panthers from the media but this borders on blatant disrespect with very little if any logic.

[PanthersFanInGA]

Williams and Smith way underrated like always. Which 13 RB's and 9 WR's do they call better than those two guys?

[uptowndlo34]

The Panthers, being a small market NFL team, will NEVER get the medias respect regardless of how well they play, or how good their players are. How many teams did we see analyists talkin about Carolina during our run last season......Frankl, we just aren't sexy enough for the media to cover

Williams should be number 6, bc he only has one reall good yr under his belt, smitty should be number three, behind Fitz and Andre Johnson.....Braylon edwards in fron of him LMFAO

[Pejorative Miscreant]

All are digestable with the exception of Smith and Deangelo. Makes the chip on Smith's shoulder a bit bigger as if he needed something else to motivate him.

Looking at the rankings as a whole, I think the panthers are well represented. O-Line has the potential to be scary good which should elevate Jake and the backs.

[Captroop]

It's okay, let the media sleep on us. We all know what's going on in the film rooms of opposing teams. They're sweating when they watch D-Will's game film.

Better yet, maybe the media has them convinced D-Will isn't a threat. Let them watch him gain 120 yards and get 3 touchdown in one game and then tell me who the top 5 backs in the league are.

[Montsta]

Based primarily on his age, I can see maybe 3-4 wideouts that I would put before Smitty. Are they better? I don't think so. But just on age and looking at longevity, maybe I'd take Calvin Johnson, Fitzgerald, and maybe Andre Johnson, but even he is no spring chicken anymore, so probably not. Age aside, Smitty > EveryNFLwideoutnotnamedlarryfitzgerald/

As far as D-Will goes, I could dig deep into the memory bank, and I still won't find 5 guys I'd take over him. Peterson...um........that's it for me. Turner? nope. Westbrook? Maybe a couple years ago, though still great. Um. Nope that's it.

[X-Clown]

Based primarily on his age, I can see maybe 3-4 wideouts that I would put before Smitty. Are they better? I don't think so. But just on age and looking at longevity, maybe I'd take Calvin Johnson, Fitzgerald, and maybe Andre Johnson, but even he is no spring chicken anymore, so probably not. Age aside, Smitty > EveryNFLwideoutnotnamedlarryfitzgerald

It doesn't even seem like they are basing much of it on age though because they have Calvin Johnson at 11, below Smitty also. How funny would it be if the Packers or Bills GM called up the Lions and said "Look at this list. Calvin is rated 11th. We'll trade you Jennings/Evans for him straight up." Do you think the Lions GM would either a) laugh his head off or hang up the phone in disgust?

[Dragon Spooker]

If Steve Smith And Jordan Gross went to the pro bowl I don't understand

why they are not in the top 4 of the position rankings.

"Real Scouts" is not done yet, they still have to rank DTs, and LBs.

So there will be plenty more rankings that I will find annoying in a

week.

[X-Clown]

Bumping this thread for the defensive rankings. Only two defensive players made the lists, as listed below. Was surprised that Chris Gamble didn't crack the top 20 at CB considering that Deangelo Freaking Hall was on there at #8. Nor was Chris Harris a top 20 safety even though horrible Roy Williams made the list at #20. Peppers the 2nd best DE in the league? Not sure about that.

2. Julius Peppers, Panthers. After a poor 2007, Peppers re-established himself as a dominating force and elite pass rusher last season. He is a two-way end who has recorded double-digit sacks in five of his seven seasons and sets the edge in the run game.

5. Jon Beason, Panthers. Beason has 278 tackles in his first two seasons, showing no struggles in filling Dan Morgan's role. Beason is a tremendous athlete with great range and an aggressive style of play.