Ideally which position do you want filled in the 1st round?

[4Corners]

I voted OT; but if Cooper the OG there u gotta pick him.

[Peppers90 NC]

If all positions equal, I'd go CB slightly over OT or WR.

[jtm]

Captain might not be here so that should really put secondary at either 1-2 most important.

I hope we can find a way to keep him, but he probably wants starter money and he is really a nickel guy. I really like Captain as a nickel guy and back-up PR.

[panthers55]

Just a hypothetical scenario to see which position would be best filled via the draft if all players of need were rated the the same. Yes the scenario is impossible but its the only way to scientifically find out which position our fans would want addressed the most via the draft if all players were rated equal.

The point of this was to consider such factors.

Remember we are talking a our # 1 pick here. Premiere LT'S AND # 1 WR's are too expensive to address in free agency. I'd even argue and then go prove if you insist that top flight receivers are more expensive than top flight LT's in the open market.

There has been at lest 2-3 threads showing where rookie receiver's can make positive impacts right out the gate. Its even proven at the longest it takes them their 3rd year 99% of the time to break out.

If you draft a LT, we then are going to start them over at RT in place of Bell until Gross is no longer with us. So it would take at least as long for us to get our bang for the buck out of an offensive tackle as it would an immediate impact receiver.

Speaking of taking time to develop or "mature" as you say we have 3 CB's in James Dockery, Josh Thomas, and Norman who started for us in our win streak to close the season. All 3 of them will surely improve with experience.

I understand that you were trying to find out what people wanted if all things are equal but my point is that things aren't equal and making a choice based on that assumption is faulty before you start because the assumptions are faulty. Anything that you are trying to do "scientifically" using faulty assumptions and impossible scenarios as you called them, has no value at all.

Secondly, it is easier to pick up good receivers in free agency or by trade then it is to pick up or trade for a LT. For example how many left tackles worth a darn have been available in free agency or by trade in the past few years. Even if we let Gross go, it will be by trade first and release only by necessity (honestly I doubt we do it). On the other hand there have been several top receivers like Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin who were traded for less than a first round pick. Others like Jacoby Jones were free agents and picked up relatively cheaply.

There will be no top left tackle free agent available this year. The top 3, Clady, Bushrod and Beatty will get signed or tagged. Th first guy potentially available may be Brandon Albert for the Chiefs who isn't that great.

The top three draft picks who would be ready to start at left OT this year- Joeckel, Fisher, and Johnson might all be snapped up before we pick at 14. While others may be ready down the road, we need an impact player not one who can play in a year or two. Who can wait until year 3 for a top 15 pick to finally develop?? How many receivers are going to go top 15?? Maybe Patterson but not anyone else.

And no I don't think you draft a guy at 14 as an OT and sit them on the bench You either start him day 1 at right tackle like we did Otah or you trade Gross and throw him into the fire. As for corners if you want a number 1 corner you draft them in the first round. If we believe in who we have you pass on CBs totally. No one outside the first round is better than who we have.

[Brokenbad]

Personally, I think DTs take a few years to develop.

We need instant impact.

[koolkatluke]

I understand that you were trying to find out what people wanted if all things are equal but my point is that things aren't equal and making a choice based on that assumption is faulty before you start because the assumptions are faulty. Anything that you are trying to do "scientifically" using faulty assumptions and impossible scenarios as you called them, has no value at all.

Secondly, it is easier to pick up good receivers in free agency or by trade then it is to pick up or trade for a LT. For example how many left tackles worth a darn have been available in free agency or by trade in the past few years. Even if we let Gross go, it will be by trade first and release only by necessity (honestly I doubt we do it). On the other hand there have been several top receivers like Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin who were traded for less than a first round pick. Others like Jacoby Jones were free agents and picked up relatively cheaply.

There will be no top left tackle free agent available this year. The top 3, Clady, Bushrod and Beatty will get signed or tagged. Th first guy potentially available may be Brandon Albert for the Chiefs who isn't that great.

The top three draft picks who would be ready to start at left OT this year- Joeckel, Fisher, and Johnson might all be snapped up before we pick at 14. While others may be ready down the road, we need an impact player not one who can play in a year or two. Who can wait until year 3 for a top 15 pick to finally develop?? How many receivers are going to go top 15?? Maybe Patterson but not anyone else.

And no I don't think you draft a guy at 14 as an OT and sit them on the bench You either start him day 1 at right tackle like we did Otah or you trade Gross and throw him into the fire. As for corners if you want a number 1 corner you draft them in the first round. If we believe in who we have you pass on CBs totally. No one outside the first round is better than who we have.

Who do we have again at CB?

[Brosiden]

If we could get lucky enough to pick up Star Lotulelei, that would make a major impact on our front defensive 4.

[rayzor]

Personally, I think DTs take a few years to develop.

We need instant impact.

i agree and i think the same goes with OL. with the exception of very among even the most elite of players, they all look like they are on and they are all prone to dumb false starts and holding calls for the first couple years. i mean they can and usually do get better, but for that first year they typically get abused. just my observation. buy it or not.

i think you are more likely to get more out of a WR or FS or some other skill position quicker than DT or OL.

esp. this year, you are going to find decent and very affordable journeymen just because of the glut of talent hitting the streets thanks to so many teams being over the cap.

again, imo, you can do more with less on the OL if you've got good players surrounding them...and i mean good playmakers. the counter to that is that you can do more with less talent at QB and other skill positions if you've got a studly OL. either way you go, the weaker points look better because of the strengths that are truly there.

i think it's hardest to vet balance between the two and be incredibly successful. you have to make a decision in the short term what direction you want to go. long term you could have both, but it's going to be agonizingly slow growth if you try to be balanced out the gate. if you focus your efforts on one or the other, i think you'll see success earlier.

if you focus your efforts on building an OL early then you'll be respectable, but not what you'd call dynamic and games will pretty much all be grinders and you won't be a team that does well at coming from behind when needed.

if you focus your efforts on getting playmakers at skill positions first then you have a chance to be dynamic, but still many games are going to be a swing for the fences type situation, but you're still more likely to score quicker than the other way.

both rely pretty heavily on defense to hold opposing offenses back just enough to allow and kep your offenses to have the lead. having a less dynamic offense puts more pressure on the defense because you've got to keep the score lower.

the way i see it, we have more pieces in place, largely thanks to cam, to have a dynamic offense. we are just one, maybe two pieces away from having all we need there. mainly we just need another playmaker WR and maybe another pass catching TE and we are set at skill positions.

the OL needs more work. i think that kalil and silatolu are keepers good for the long haul. gross is on the decline and we need to either shrink that salary and possibly move him to the right side and concentrate on replacing him on the left side and eventually replacing him while finding our franchise LT and getting someone to fill the RG spot or just completely overhauling LT, RT, and RG.

the good news is that RG can be taken care of with journeymen. i don't think there's much reason or benefit to investing a lot at either OG spot compared to using your resources on other spots, even OT.

once we have that extra playmaker or two this year, we can concentrate on getting that stud OL.

just my humble opinion.

[panthers55]

Who do we have again at CB?

I am actually pretty excited about Josh Thomas. He is not that big at 5' 11" and 190 lbs but he is aggressive and he likes playing man coverage which is what we are doing more often when we aren't zone blitzing. Dockery has the size at 6' 1" to develop into a good cover guy and also has speed. he ran a 4.46 40 at his pro day.

Truth is that I don't think we will miss Gamble as much as some folks think. Plus Norman is going to be in a battle for playing time this year.

[panthers55]

Who exactly are these instant impact wide receivers in this draft? I hate to tell you but there are no Julio Jones in this draft. The only guy who is projected to even be worth a pick at number 14 is Patterson. Everyone else is a reach and not an impact player this year. You can find similar talent in the second round to what you can find in the first round for the most part. There are much better positions to draft at 14 than a wide receiver this year.

[panther4life]

I understand that you were trying to find out what people wanted if all things are equal but my point is that things aren't equal and making a choice based on that assumption is faulty before you start because the assumptions are faulty. Anything that you are trying to do "scientifically" using faulty assumptions and impossible scenarios as you called them, has no value at all.

Secondly, it is easier to pick up good receivers in free agency or by trade then it is to pick up or trade for a LT. For example how many left tackles worth a darn have been available in free agency or by trade in the past few years. Even if we let Gross go, it will be by trade first and release only by necessity (honestly I doubt we do it). On the other hand there have been several top receivers like Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin who were traded for less than a first round pick. Others like Jacoby Jones were free agents and picked up relatively cheaply.

There will be no top left tackle free agent available this year. The top 3, Clady, Bushrod and Beatty will get signed or tagged. Th first guy potentially available may be Brandon Albert for the Chiefs who isn't that great.

The top three draft picks who would be ready to start at left OT this year- Joeckel, Fisher, and Johnson might all be snapped up before we pick at 14. While others may be ready down the road, we need an impact player not one who can play in a year or two. Who can wait until year 3 for a top 15 pick to finally develop?? How many receivers are going to go top 15?? Maybe Patterson but not anyone else.

And no I don't think you draft a guy at 14 as an OT and sit them on the bench You either start him day 1 at right tackle like we did Otah or you trade Gross and throw him into the fire. As for corners if you want a number 1 corner you draft them in the first round. If we believe in who we have you pass on CBs totally. No one outside the first round is better than who we have.

The bolded part is all why I was trying to establish, nothing more. Basically it was designed to figure out what the varying opinions are on which position would be ideal to lock down via the draft for a multitude of reasons in terms of improving the roster short and long term wise.

Never did I suggest it as an end all be all to who we should draft.

Who exactly are these instant impact wide receivers in this draft? I hate to tell you but there are no Julio Jones in this draft. The only guy who is projected to even be worth a pick at number 14 is Patterson. Everyone else is a reach and not an impact player this year. You can find similar talent in the second round to what you can find in the first round for the most part. There are much better positions to draft at 14 than a wide receiver this year.

I disagree that Patterson is the only instant impact in this draft. Hell he might not even be one of them when its all said and done. Thats why the thread left out specific prospects because we lack the resources and knowledge of being anywhere near as certain about each player as the front office should be.

If it in is fact true that we can find a similar talent at the WR position at 45 as we can at 14 then it would be asinine to take one there or any other position that we can find similar level talent at 45. 31 picks is a long time to hold your breath and hope for the best.

This is where personal feelings and opinions about specific players come into play. I believe that Kennan Allen or CP would be great values short and long term at 14. By the time the draft rolls around my opinion could prove to be way off base as could anyone else's.

At 14 we are not guaranteed to land a can't miss prospect at any position.So to say I hate to break it you but theres not "Julio Jones in this draft" is quite irrelevant.

[koolkatluke]

I am actually pretty excited about Josh Thomas. He is not that big at 5' 11" and 190 lbs but he is aggressive and he likes playing man coverage which is what we are doing more often when we aren't zone blitzing. Dockery has the size at 6' 1" to develop into a good cover guy and also has speed. he ran a 4.46 40 at his pro day.

Truth is that I don't think we will miss Gamble as much as some folks think. Plus Norman is going to be in a battle for playing time this year.

I'm not sold as much as you are on them yet. They did get lit up by Brady f'n Quinn and Bress almost had 450 yards passing against them. But even with that where is the depth behind them if we don't get anybody?

[koolkatluke]

The bolded part is all why I was trying to establish, nothing more. Basically it was designed to figure out what the varying opinions are on which position would be ideal to lock down via the draft for a multitude of reasons in terms of improving the roster short and long term wise.

Never did I suggest it as an end all be all to who we should draft.

I disagree that Patterson is the only instant impact in this draft. Hell he might not even be one of them when its all said and done. Thats why the thread left out specific prospects because we lack the resources and knowledge of being anywhere near as certain about each player as the front office should be.

If it in is fact true that we can find a similar talent at the WR position at 45 as we can at 14 then it would be asinine to take one there or any other position that we can find similar level talent at. 31 picks is a long time to hold your breath and hope for the best.

This is where personal feelings and opinions about specific players come into play. I believe that Kennan Allen or CP would be great values short and long term at 14. By the time the draft rolls around my opinion could prove to be way off base as could anyone else's.

At 14 we are not guaranteed to land a can't miss prospect at any position.So to say I hate to break it you but theres not "Julio Jones in this draft" is quite irrelevant.

But you neglected to mention that even thoe there isn't a can't miss prospect at 14 (unless Star, Floyd, or Fisher drops). There are a few DT's that put up similar numbers to Highly drafted player in other years at that position. Like Richardson who put up numbers (special TFL) like Dairus and Cox. There is a safety that definitely fits a need on this team who could be available.

[panther4life]

But you neglected to mention that even thoe there isn't a can't miss prospect at 14 (unless Star, Floyd, or Fisher drops). There are a few DT's that put up similar numbers to Highly drafted player in other years at that position. Like Richardson who put up numbers (special TFL) like Dairus and Cox. There is a safety that definitely fits a need on this team who could be available.

No it just goes back to the whole whats easier to fill via FA thing. Gettleman just said today we have reached out to Dwan about re-signing. We still have Ron under contract at the moment and could possibly land a vet like Canty. No these guys are not long term fixes but they would eliminate the pressure to use the pick on a DT.

I like Vaccaro a lot myself. If he's the pick then great, just personally I like Allen and Patterson better.

I also like l about 3 DT's there as well too, if not addressed via FA.