List of players we worked out last year, we don't smokescreen.

[Growl]

He just screams box safety to me and I just can't get overjoyed about that at 14.

It's just not the NFL we play today.

[LinvilleGorge]

He just screams box safety to me and I just can't get overjoyed about that at 14.

It's just not the NFL we play today.

I agree. If we draft him, I hope he's awesome, but I'm not overjoyed about the prospects of it.

[LinvilleGorge]

My hope if we draft him is that he played in the box so much simply because FIU wanted their best player involved in as many plays as possible. You see it quite a bit at the HS and college level where elite safeties often drop down into the box on early downs.

[DraftPanthers]

Wow, bummer I just now found this thread. Some great analysis in here guys!

Godfrey is slated to play FS. Panthers brought in Mitchell at SS to compete with Campbell. All of the Safeties Carolina has worked out so far (Cyprien, Elam, Williams) project as SS'.

Cyprien/DT Short were most likely worked out as "trade back" options in first round.

Of the guys we have worked out only a few grade out high enough to be taken at 14 - Short > Hopkins > Austin

It would be hard to be excited about Cyprien only because of more glaring needs but he is considered by a lot of analysts to be the best safety in the draft class.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Would be happy with Cyprien at 14 but would be ecstatic if we could trade back and pick up Cyprien while adding a 2nd or 3rd. We need that face of the secondary bad now that Gamble is gone and I love that Cyprien has been praised for his leadership and ability to come up with big plays and hits.

Right now Cyprien is my preferred prospect in the first round. I love his football IQ and instincts and think he and Luke could make for a great pair on defense for years to come similar to the likes of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Add our pass rushers to the mix, and this defense could potentially be very good with a couple key pieces and a couple of our corners stepping up.

[LinvilleGorge]

I still want DeAndre Hopkins.

[nagai]

I'm actually getting quite excited for Justin Hunter. Man, this guy has a lot of good things going for him. 6'4, runs a 4.5, soft hands, over 1000 receiving yards in a season where he got injured. They say you need to be some sort of size, speed, weight phenom with good hands to be a number 1 receiver - well Hunter seems to have that. A lot of people have him going in the 2nd, but if I was a scout, I would be banging the table for him mid-late 1st round. There are only so many receivers in this draft with the physical gifts to be a quintessential no.1.

edit:

OK, there's some things I want to get off my chest, but I don't want to start a new thread or double post.

It seems realistic to say that we'll target players who have visited in the 1st and 2nd. Let's have a look at guys who can even feasibly be the 1st round pick (including trade scenarios).

Patterson

Hunter

Austin

Hopkins

Allen

Patton

Johnson

Fluker

Floyd

Short

Cyprien

Elam

A couple of things come to mind. Obviously, there are lots of WR's on this list, but let's look beyond that. First of all, if we take out the incredibly unrealistic guys - Floyd and Lane Johnson - just about all these guys are projected to go mid-late 1st. A trade down scenario IS actually realistic. I know, a trade won't happen unless there's someone to trade with, but there is! The Cowboys for example need a safety real bad. With Jerry Jones being as aggressive as he is, they can easily trade 1sts with us, leap-frogging the Saints and grabbing Vaccaro. Chicago is another possibility if they fall in love with one of the receivers. Honestly, to me, there isn't that one guy who sticks out amongst the rest. If we can get the same calibre of player a few picks later, we should do everything in our power to trade down.

The other thing I've noticed is that there's a guy here projected to go in the middle of the 1st round that we're not talking enough - D.J. Fluker. I originally wrote this guy off because he gets disinterested when the play's on the other side of the field. But if he's good enough to warrant a visit, the Panthers obviously like him a fair bit. He an play both RT and G, both are big needs at this point. His flexibility is really valuable - we can adjust our FA targets accordingly. Honestly, at this point in time, who on that list would make the most immediate impact on this football team? I say the guy who can stabilise the offensive line.

[CCS]

This time last year we pretty much knew that we were taking Kuechly. I wish it was the same this year.

[top dawg]

This time last year we pretty much knew that we were taking Kuechly. I wish it was the same this year.

There was a good amount of talk about Quinton Coples as our pick also. Glad we grabbed Luke (not that I believe that Coples won't ultimately develop into an impact player). Rivera must have thought pretty strongly that Hardy would break out. He gambled and hit the jackpot, though he hedged his bet a little bit by snatching Alexander. Smart drafting.

[Peppers90 NC]

"smokescreen" is a term overused by the huddle for people who still think it's funny and have nothing really to add to a thread, or probably life in general

[DraftPanthers]

This time last year we pretty much knew that we were taking Kuechly. I wish it was the same this year.

We Also knew Silatolu was on the short list for round 2.

From what we are hearing:

DT Floyd

OT Johnson

WR Hopkins

are the top 3 prospects in some order at this point. Hopkins coming in for second visit today.

[XClown1986]

Going back and looking at last year's list and then looking at this year's list, I have a theory about our draft philosophy. I don't know if I'm right but 2 things stuck out to me as odd. I'll see if I'm right after the draft. I do think we smokescreen though... sort of.

[SIGCHI222]

I don't know about "smokescreening", but I crop-dusted everyone on aisle 17 of the Shelby Wal-Mart this past Sunday at about 2:50 PM.

[CRA]

This time last year we pretty much knew that we were taking Kuechly. I wish it was the same this year.

Really, it seemed like there were only about 5 posters who thought we should take Luke the way I remember it....