Matthias' Mock (2014)

[Matthias]

My first mock off-season for the 2014 season!  Let's get to it.

 

 

 

 

Resignings:

 

 

 

Greg Hardy- Averaging 8 million dollars a year.

 

 

Ted Ginn Jr.- Averaging 3-4 million dollars a year

 

 

 

 

 

Free Agents:

 

 

This may be a little bit of fantasy right here, mixed in with an outside chance of reality.  I'm going in something of a different direction than most.  Most are gunning strong for Hakeem Nicks, and he's definitely a good pick up choice.  If Kenny Britt had a reasonable character, I would jump over signing him. (I just can't make the case for signing a guy who has such problems with police.  Even if he would sign for a dollar contract.  You just can't bring that kind of attitude into your locker room)

 

 

 

 

Charles Tillman - 5-6 million dollar deal, perhaps upwards to 7 million if we could afford it

 

 

 

Yep, instead of signing Nicks to a big deal, I thought it would be better to sign a guy who you know will bring it year in year out. (To a little bit of a lesser deal in terms of money)  Now, it's a long shot.  It would be a pretty stupid thing for the Bears to do if you let this guy walk.  However, they let Urlacher walk last year, a guy who could still play pretty effectively.  I figure the Bears want to drastically improve their offensive side of the ball in the years to come, and they may continue to let older defensive vets walk if they demand a decent contract.  Tillman is still one of the best corners in the game, and he could play at a high level for another four years.  So "Peanut" Tillman is my big move in the offseason if he's available.  Perhaps he would like to play for Rivera again, as the Bears had their best defensive years under his tutelage.

 

 

 

 

Lance Briggs - 3-4 million dollar deal

 

 

 

Continuing with the same vein about the Bears letting veterans go, this will probably be more true for Briggs than Tillman.  Basically this will be the NFL version of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry going to the Nets from the Celtics. (hehe)  Of course we have Chase Blackburn at OLB and he's decent.  Yet if we can get Briggs, I feel that would even further establish our defense.  Both Tillman and Briggs force a lot of turnovers.  You add that aspect to our hard nose defense, and you will have the best D in the league. 

 

 

 

 

WHAT ABOUT OUR OFFENSE?  Well, other than Nicks, there ain't anyone we could bring in who would be a star receiver from this market.  I imagine we will sign in some no name offensive lineman to battle for roster spots and maybe bring in another tight end.  Other than that, there isn't much out there.  D-Will and J-Stew will be back next year holding down the running back position (with Barner waiting in the wings).  Tolbert will also support our running game, which is why I say we have the best rushing attack in the league with these guys.  We just need to make our O-line better, and bring in receiving help in the draft.

 

 

 

 

NFL Draft

 

 

I imagine we will be picking from 20-32 next year if all goes well.  So that is our range for this mock.

 

 

 

1st round pick: James Hurst

 

 

 

 

It's again time we fixed our problem in trying to find our new franchise left tackle.  By this time Lewan and Jake Matthews will be gone, and depending on teams going before us and their needs, it's possible Hurst will be gone as well.  Hurst did a lot for his draft stock in playing well against Clowney.  His resume includes blocking for Giovani Bernard, who is having a good year as a rookie by the way.  I also hear he's a smart player, always being in the right place and knowing what to do.  I believe he will be a great left tackle at this level.

 

 

 

 

2nd round pick: Jordan Matthews

 

 

 

Matthews will probably be the last big name type receiver on the board when we pick in the second round.  He has good speed, and is even faster with the ball in his hands.  Matthews also has the strength to break some nasty tackles.  Plus for publicity reasons, he is the second cousin of Jerry Rice. (hehe)  Other than all that, he has a mature attitude about him that I really love.  One of those guys that has explosive potential to be one of the better receivers in the league.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3rd round pick: Brandon Coleman

 

 

 

Might be an unrealistic pick here.  Coleman is probably going to be gone before this pick, or might have to trade up to an earlier 3rd round pick to get him.  Yet all in all, another potential good receiving option here.  He's a lean player, and yet he's packing some muscle.  This is good because it looks like he will be capable of being healthy year in and year out, able to take hard hits across the middle.  In all honesty, if we can leave next year's draft with any of these three receivers if we don't draft one in the 1st (Brandon Coleman, Jordan Matthews, Odell "Bend it like" Beckham Jr.), it will be a good draft in that department.

 

 

 

 

4th round pick: Spencer Long

 

 

 

Offensive line depth.  He's one of the veterans of college football, so he brings maturity to a very mature position.

 

 

 

 

5th round pick: Ed Reynolds

 

 

 

Dude has great coverage skills.  For one reason or another, he's going to fall to the later rounds.  If he is still here at this spot, we need to take him.  I'm impress with Robert Lester's play, but I'll need to see some more out of him if he is going to be a long time starter in Carolina.  If not, having Mike Mitchell go back to the strong safety spot and putting Reynolds at the free, would make for an awesome safety combination for sure.

 

 

 

 

6th round pick: Ross Cockrell

 

 

 

I haven't seen him play, but Duke has been making some noise these past couple of seasons.  I'm going to look at some more highlights of this guy, and see if he has some potential.

 

 

 

 

7th round pick: Jeff Mathews

 

 

 

Has some talent, possible back up for Cam once Derek Anderson leave.  Then again, perhaps DA would like to be Cam's back up for good.

 

 

Projected 2014 roster: (Starters)

 

 

QB: Cam Newton

RB: Jonathan Stewart

FB: Mike Tolbert

WR: Steve Smith

WR: Jordan Matthews ® or Brandon Coleman ®

TE: Greg Olsen

LT: James Hurst ®

LG: Travelle Wharton

C: Ryan Kalil

RG: Toss up (Chris Scott, Amini Silatolu, Spencer Long ® )

RT: Jordan Gross

 

 

RE: Greg Hardy

DT: Star Lotulelei

DT: Kawann Short

LE: Charles Johnson

OLB: Thomas Davis

MLB: Luke Kuechly

OLB: Lance Briggs (FA)

CB: Melvin White

FS: Mike Mitchell

SS: Robert Lester

CB: Charles Tillman (FA)

 

 

Special teams essentially the same

[Panthersguru14]

I really like your first two draft choices. The rest of the guys I'm very unfamiliar with. I don't think we are going to have enough money to sign the guys in free agency that you want, because we will have to resign a lot of current players that are on 1 year deals.

[C47]

Coleman is going to be a a late first to early second rounder. Much like Marqise Lee, Coleman's season has been impacted by poor QB play. IF he runs a sub 4.5 he could end up being a top 15 pick. Dude is ridiculously talented, just needs refinement....

[Matthias]

Yeah, it's possible both Jordan Matthews and Coleman will be gone by the time we pick in the second round.  There's a lot of good receivers coming out, but unfortunately just about all of them might be gone by the mid 2nd round or earlier.  Yet if we can just get either Matthews, Coleman, or Odell Becks, I would consider that a successful draft in the receiving department. (If we don't draft a receiver in the first round)

[XClown1986]

We need to do what the Falcons did with Julio Jones and trade up to get Sammy Watkins. Whatever has to be done, do it.

[Ruff]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Matthews is going to be gone by the end of the 1st round. So, if we're picking at the spot I think we'll be picking at (22-28), I think the choice either becomes Matthews (who is going to be a star level WR in this league) or an OT like Richardson or Hurst.

[carolina-chuck]

Good mock.

 

I'm not sure if Hurst is going to be projected that high once the draft comes by. I think he will more than likely be a 2nd rounder. I love the Matthews and Coleman picks, but Im not sure if Coleman is going to be available in the 3rd.

 

I would love to get my hands on Tillman and Briggs. Not sure if that will happen tho. Tillman is still playing at a high level, but I feel that if we really want to spend 5-7 mil on him we're better off getting a younger and very underrated Alterraun Verner. Verner is playing as well as any corner in the league right now. I do feel that we need to add an OLB somehow next year. Blackburn will still be on the team, but I wanna go younger there. I dont know what to make out of Klein as of yet.

[CarolinaCoolin]

Cyrus > hurst

[C47]

Cyrus > hurst

 

And he won't be there when we're picking because of it. No guarantee Hurst is either. Quality LT prospects just don't last that long. 

[CarolinaCoolin]

And he won't be there when we're picking because of it. No guarantee Hurst is either. Quality LT prospects just don't last that long.

Yeah Cyrus is going top ten. Arguably better than lewan

[JawnyBlaze]

We need to do what the Falcons did with Julio Jones and trade up to get Sammy Watkins. Whatever has to be done, do it.

 

Yea, I actually came to the draft forum for the first time in months to make a similar statement.  I'm no Clemson fan, I don't watch college ball at all other than for evaluating potential Panthers.  I've been watching video on most of the top WR prospects and no one comes close to jumping out at me more than Watkins.  He has the most complete package of speed, moves and hands of any of them.  He even carries the ball high and tight like a RB.  Assuming we go to the playoffs and are picking in that range, I would hope we do something like the Falcons (but not to that extreme) and trade our 1st and next year's 1st to move up in the top 10 for Watkins.  I wouldn't want to trade our 2nd too, we need that for an OL, but assuming this success is here to stay I'd be more than willing to give up the next year's presumably late 1st to go up and get Watkins.  He's special.  I wouldn't put him on AJ Green's level in terms of potential from a WR prospect, but he's definitely on Julio Jones' level.  I want Watkins.

[monkey48]

Reynolds, Coleman are projected to go in the 2nd and Matthews in the 1st. I would much rather we traded our 3rd and two 5ths plus Lafell for a couple of 4ths, a 6th and a 7th, whilst moving up from 20ish to 15ish in the 1st. We could then go:

 

1. Mike Evans, WR (Texas A+M) to replace Lafell as no2 WR

2. Gabe Jackson, OG (Mississippi State) to replace Scott at RG

4. Mike Davis, WR (Texas) to play as a rotation receiver

    Brandin Cooks, WR (Oregon State) "

    Ja'Wuan James, OT (Tennessee) to replace Bell at RT

6. Jeff Matthews, QB (Cornell) long-term back-up for Cam

    Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB (Nebraska) huge CB to cover TEs and big WRs

7. Terrance Bullitt, LB (Texas Tech) replacement for Beason at LOLB as Blackburn looked weak vs Falcons

 

[MadHatter]

We need to do what the Falcons did with Julio Jones and trade up to get Sammy Watkins. Whatever has to be done, do it.

Dumb strategy.

Falcons are now paying for that move with a weak OL and defense.

[monkey48]

Also, Evans is a much better fit for our O than Watkins. They're both excellent players, there isn't much to separate them apart from that.