Why the Panthers Do Not Draft A WR Early

[koolkatluke]

6 WRs in top 3 rounds since 2006....

As the league as transitioned to a passing league....NY almost every year grabs a DL and WR in the first 3 rounds

Are you going to keep changing the parameters to fit your opinion?

I went back 10 years pretty good sample set in my opinion.

[beastson]

Given this is Gettleman's first free agency and draft, I don't know how anyone can decide what he is going to do. I do doubt he spends big bucks for a free agent, but there are a number of reasonably priced free agents that move before the draft. Still others can be moved by teams trading picks for free agents. There is quite a bit that can happen between now and the draft in April. We will clear cap space by releasing guys before free agency starts and will likely do more restructuring or cutting people when or if we sign more free agents. We will have the deals in the works but will pull the trigger when we have to in order to stay under the cap. One of the biggest questions out there is whether the philosophy of not pursuing free agents was a Hurney decision or a Panther owner/president edict.

Didn't Dave already say he's not too big on FA

[Rags]

So can DT, CB and O-line men all needs before WR.

I'll ask you these questions

1. Were we a top 5 scoring offense when Chud was a better Play caller?

2. Were we a good offense when our Oline was playing up to standard?

3. How many games this year did our WR's cost us?

1. Good question! A lot of offenses were better after the lockout. Defensive play was downhill.

2. No body's saying we're a bad offense now, or a bad defense either. We need upgrades on both sides.

3. First, dumb question. How many games did MLB lose us in 2011? And look what Luke did for us. Secondly, Brandon LaFell was pretty mediocre as a #2

@NYG 1 Catch, 27 Yards

@ATL No Catches

@WSH No catches

vs DEN 4 catches, 29 yards

@KC 2 catches, 14 yards (plus a huge crucial drop)

@OAK 5 catches, 38 yards.

ALSO Giants OLine has no first round draft picks! Yet let up the least amount of sacks last season.

[koolkatluke]

1. Good question! A lot of offenses were better after the lockout. Defensive play was downhill.

2. No body's saying we're a bad offense now, or a bad defense either. We need upgrades on both sides.

3. First, dumb question. How many games did MLB lose us in 2011? And look what Luke did for us. Secondly, Brandon LaFell was pretty mediocre as a #2

@NYG 1 Catch, 27 Yards

@ATL No Catches

@WSH No catches

vs DEN 4 catches, 29 yards

@KC 2 catches, 14 yards (plus a huge crucial drop)

@OAK 5 catches, 38 yards.

ALSO Giants OLine has no first round draft picks! Yet let up the least amount of sacks last season.

1. We still ended up a top 12 offense and Chud had his head up his ass the 1st 7-8 games of the season.

2. Special on the Oline, DT, and Secondary.

3. Alot. Beason got hurt 1st game in 2011 and Connors sucked. Then you picked out 6 games in a 16 games season to prove your point on Lafell really?? 3 games out of the 6 nobody did anything special. Plus let's not mention the fact we had a TE and RB getting a lot of targets as well. Let's also not mention he missed 2 games this year so his numbers could have been better.

So that last answer to the question was pretty dumb.

Giants Oline has 2 second rounders and the rest of the spots are FA pick-ups. Somthing we might not be able to do with our Cap situation.

[nagai]

I don't agree with you, but I applaud your well-written arguments. Pie!

The problem I think with what you said is that it's not much different from the other positions. Is Byron Bell going to develop? What about Siliatolu? Fua? At the end of the day, there's question marks in multiple positions and we're not gonna sit and wait on all of them. Note that I'm not saying that it won't be a wideout. Heck, I think that most generic claims in the form of "they'll draft position X and not Y" are based on over-simplistic ways of thinking. Every draft prospect is going to be evaluated in their own right; their positions aren't the be all end all. If we do draft a WR, or any other position for that matter, it'll because of the individual talents present in that prospect, not just because 'we need that position'.

[JawnyBlaze]

I don't think we can rule out any OL, DT, WR or CB. They're all positions we can use upgrades at and premium value positions (well, not OG so much but if Warmack is there his talent balances out the lack of value at his position). The only one of these positions that typically contributes right away is OL. People say "oh, DTs don't contribute in their first year so we should just get a FA", we've been applying those bandaids for YEARS and it hasn't really worked out for us yet. People say "WRs don't contribute right away and we've got so much youth anyway, why put another unproven guy in the logjam", we have to find a new #1 sooner rather than later. I personally believe we either take a shot at a guy in the 2nd and hope he turns into our #1 or wait til next year when the WR class should be stronger, but I wouldn't be mad if we took a guy like Allen or Patterson in the 1st this year trying to address that need with enough of a buffer before Smitty retires that the guy has a chance to adjust and not have too much expected out of him right away.

As long as the talent and value is there any OT, OG, DT, WR, CB should be considered in the 1st. None of these positions should be ruled out because "they don't typically contribute right away". That mindset always leads to playing catch up at the position later, e.g. where we've been at WR and DT for a long time now.

[DaveThePanther2008]

There would have to be a surefire #1 like Green or Julio Jones. I don't think there really is a sure fire #1 and many of the ones I have read about seem to lack the "good route" runner skills. We don't need a WR that can catch the ball real well. We have to have a good route running WR that gets the scheme of why he is running a particular route. This is why I believe we create the cap space and get a good WR off the Free Agent market.

Free Agent WR

#1 DT

#2 OT

#4 DB

I also think we will try very hard to keep Gamble.

I reserve the right to change this opinion after the combine. :rock: :rock: :rock:

[MadHatter]

There would have to be a surefire #1 like Green or Julio Jones. I don't think there really is a sure fire #1 and many of the ones I have read about seem to lack the "good route" runner skills. We don't need a WR that can catch the ball real well. We have to have a good route running WR that gets the scheme of why he is running a particular route. This is why I believe we create the cap space and get a good WR off the Free Agent market.

Free Agent WR

#1 DT

#2 OT

#4 DB

I also think we will try very hard to keep Gamble.

I reserve the right to change this opinion after the combine. :rock: :rock: :rock:

I don't see how we possibly keep Gamble and create enough cap space to sign a good WR (we need to cut him just to get near the cap)

Restructuring all of our guys (Beason, Gross, Gamble, etc) may clear enough space to get by this year. However, all we are doing is pushing our Cap Hell out for more years.

I think Gettleman is smart enough not to do this. He is going to have to make tough decisions that are probably going to piss some fans off.....but it is a process that we must go through to get back in to a healthy cap position.

For this reason, I truly believe that Gamble is gone.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I don't see how we possibly keep Gamble and create enough cap space to sign a good WR (we need to cut him just to get near the cap)

Restructuring all of our guys (Beason, Gross, Gamble, etc) may clear enough space to get by this year. However, all we are doing is pushing our Cap Hell out for more years.

I think Gettleman is smart enough not to do this. He is going to have to make tough decisions that are probably going to piss some fans off.....but it is a process that we must go through to get back in to a healthy cap position.

For this reason, I truly believe that Gamble is gone.

You may be right Madhatter. I surely hope that Norman and Thomas grow. Your point also makes me believe a solid DT is our #1 pick. You put that pressure on the QB those CBs become much better than before.

[JawnyBlaze]

Yea, I agree with you. I've already started mentally preparing myself for a Carolina Panthers without Gamble, Beason and Deangelo. I hate to see them go, Beason and Deangelo are two of my all time favorite Panthers and Gamble has always been woefully underappreciated (KR attempted lateral vs the Vikings notwithstanding...that one still makes me shake my head heh) and I'll hate to see all three of them go. But it's almost inevitable.

I don't see how we possibly keep Gamble and create enough cap space to sign a good WR (we need to cut him just to get near the cap)

Restructuring all of our guys (Beason, Gross, Gamble, etc) may clear enough space to get by this year. However, all we are doing is pushing our Cap Hell out for more years.

I think Gettleman is smart enough not to do this. He is going to have to make tough decisions that are probably going to piss some fans off.....but it is a process that we must go through to get back in to a healthy cap position.

For this reason, I truly believe that Gamble is gone.

[CatMan72]

With a new GM in place and the 14th pick, it's difficult to predict what we will do.

We won't draft a QB or a MLB with the 14th overall pick, that's about all we can be sure of right now.

[CRA]

Are you going to keep changing the parameters to fit your opinion?

I went back 10 years pretty good sample set in my opinion.

Game was different 10 years ago...

Last half decade or so I think is better. Doesn't matter either way really. Giants draft DL and WRs

[top dawg]

Neither is Wr unless you see a AJ Green, Julio Jones or Megatron in this class. Which I don't.

The same type of reasoning could be used for a DT. Unless you see a Ndamukong Suh, Vince Wilfork, Haloti Ngata at your draft position, what's the point of reaching for a DT in the first? Unless we trade up, Star Lotulelei is gonna be gone. For that matter, Kenny Vacarro will be gone at Safety, and Dee Milliner will be gone at CB. I am thinking that we will be taking the BPA in fitting with our needs, but like I said before, I am not worried either way. Rivera has proven that he can hit the mark, and Gettleman is supposed to be the master evaluator.

[MadHatter]

You may be right Madhatter. I surely hope that Norman and Thomas grow. Your point also makes me believe a solid DT is our #1 pick. You put that pressure on the QB those CBs become much better than before.

I am still not sold on a DT at 14. But I have always been leary of the DT high draft pick bust rates.

But, given the Giants history of taking DL high, it just might be in Gettleman's dna to do so.....I trust him.

I personally want an OL or DB in the first round.

I would love to have another weapon for Cam at WR, but am not sure there is any sure fire studs in this draft that are worthy of a top 14 pick. But, I admit that I have NOT done much research on the matter.