Ken's Mock Offseason/Mock Draft

[Ken]

Panther Free Agents to Re-Sign

Ginn ~ 2yr $4 mil

Mitchell ~ 3 yr 7 mil

Wharton - 1 yr

Cole - vet min

Senn vet min

J. Williams - vet min

 

Cuts

Godfrey - (June 1st)makes way too much sense

Josh Thomas - No need to explain

Pilares - See above

 

Restructure/Extend

Greg Hardy

He has to be extended. Him having a $13mil cap hit on the roster really inhibits what we can do in FA. Extend him to a 5 year deal, with the lowest 1st year hit as possible.

 

CJ - A restructuring could free up lots of cap room(depending how much). Makes too much sense not to happen.

 

Free Agent signings

Anthony Collins - 5 yr deal ~ 15 to 19M guaranteed

I’m basing that deal of what Will Beaty got with the Giants last year. I see him getting similar. With rumors of us going after Munroe, it’s clear that we will be going after a OT in FA. Can’t have 2 rookie/young guys protecting Cam on the outside. Collins has always shown promise but didn’t have enough snaps to get a true value of him. He has been very good with more time this season and can be a gem for us. (low cap hit 1st yr deal)

 

Hakeem Nicks - 2yr 12mil (8 guaranteed)

With all the cap maneuvering we have just enough to get Nicks.While Nicks had 0 TDs he still had good production while not being 100% healthy. 56 rec 896 yards, 7 dropped passes. The Giants offense wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination. Eli had a down year, the O-line was crap and the OC was awful(again) which lead to his firing. When healthy(2011 best example), he is very tough to deal with. Great hands, physical, and can high point the ball very well. Has the ability to be open even when covered. Not overly fast but was a deep threat because of his physicality and ability to win 1 v 1 against DBs. We give him a chance to come home and prove himself as being one of the better WR in the league. At the end of the deal, he’s 28 and if he performs well, will demand a mega deal. Win-win for both parties. (Similar to Maclin who got 1 yr $5.5, 3.5 guaranteed)

 

*Alt option to Nicks* Sydney Rice 1 yr deal, similar to Maclin's but slightly cheaper.*

[Ken]

Now to the good part. ;)

Draft

 

1st Round

Kyle Fuller CB Virginia Tech

5-11 190lbs

 

Usually, I’m on the line of you don’t have to draft a CB in the 1st, to get a good one but Fuller is one of my fav CBs in the draft behind Gilbert. He has long arms, good height, smart with great instincts and with physicality that I like. His coverage skills are undeniable(even if uses his hands a bit too much)He’s very good in run support as well. To me he would fit our mainly zone coverage very well but can also switch it up and play man just as good. At the combine he should he has the quickness to keep up with receivers in the NFL. Comes from a good family. He’d be the BPA at this juncture imo and will be our #1 CB from day 1.

 

Alt pick: Jace Amaro TE

 

2nd Round

Joel Bitonio OT Nevada

6-4 302lbs

 

At the back end of the 2nd, I think Bitonio would be the the best OT available. We need a RT based on what I projected in FA and grab one here. Bitonio falls because he lacks the ideal arm length. Playing him at RT is a much better fit. Bitonio has good technique, light feet, strength and balance. He’s really effective in the run game and consistently gets to the 2nd level. He handles himself well in protection. At the very least he’d be a huge upgrade to Bell.

 

Alt pick: Donte Moncrief WR

 

3rd Round

Jared Abbrederis WR

6-1 196lbs

JA is one of my fav WR in the draft. Rivera mentions that he likes WRss who can run a route tree well and is down with fundamentals. Well JA fits this to T. IMO, JA is one of, if not THE best route runners in this draft. Very smooth, faster than one would think, which let's him get consistent separation from DBs. If you watch any game of his, you’d see he gets wide open, a lot. With better QB play his numbers would be even better. He needs to get stronger but getting on an NFL S&C program can fix that. This would be a steal at the back end of round 3.

 

Alt Pierre Desir CB

 

4th Round

Xavier Grimble TE

6-4 257lbs

 

Speaking of steals, this one right here could potentially be one. So I would like to thank USC under utilizing him. He has great physical ability(very well built) and can be a great compliment to Olsen. He has tremendous upside. He can block and make tough catches but both aspects of this part of his game can and will be developed at the next level. He would be contributing by the end of the season and a return to the 2 TE sets will be back.

 

Alt Bryan Schofield OT

 

5th Round

Walt Aikens CB Lindenwood

6-1 205

Hey, what do you know? another guy with great upside and a potential steal. This also fills our quota of a draft selection of a guy from a small school. Aikens is built well for a CB. He’s athletic, physical, has fluid hips and is also really competitive. Like Fuller he fits our scheme as he played zone and man in college. He was really good at the senior bowl and may even go higher. Speed and level of competition would be the main concerns. Even if he’s not ready by Day 1(I think he will), he’ll definitely develop, especially when you look at how Melvin White was groomed.

 

Alt pick Cody Hoffman WR

 

6th Round

Isiah Lewis S Michigan State

5-10 211lbs

 

With Mitchell signed, we would need another S to compete on the roster with Lester. Lewis comes from a well coached Michigan State defense. He himself is a smart player. Atheltic and will fit us as a SS, though he has been good in coverage too from what I’ve seen. Good tackler but that could be improved. A bit undersized but with a front 7 like ours, the strain for him won’t be significance. Good depth at worse.

 

Alt pick Vinnie Sunsieri S

 

7th Round

Matt Patchan OT Boston College

6-6 302lbs

 

Some depth at OT here. He has a good build for an OT. Long arms, strong, light feet, good quickness and fires off the ball. Problem is he has struggled with injuries. At this juncture he won’t be asked to start and can just be developed and hopefully stay healthy.

 

Alt pick Connor Shaw QB

Any comments, concerns criticisms? Feel free to voice them.

[Jackofalltrades]

Pretty ideal to me. I like that it addresses every need.

[Ken]

Yeah, I would love it if our draft looked like this. Not just filling need but quality too.

Even if we don't get Nicks, a WR corp of Smith, JA, Ginn and one of McNutt/King would be a big improvement. Add in Olsen and Grumble and we would be tough to deal with

Getting Aikens and Fuller in at CB to be added White would be a nice hound CB corp.

Oline is improved as well. :)

[Panthersguru14]

Love it although I don't know if nicks is possible we could always go after a cheaper wr but I love the draft!

[Shermdog]

I like this. I didn't realize Maclin only got 1 yr $5.5, 3.5 guaranteed. That makes me hopeful that we could sign Nicks.

[carolina-chuck]

I like this. I didn't realize Maclin only got 1 yr $5.5, 3.5 guaranteed. That makes me hopeful that we could sign Nicks.

 

Nicks wont get much more than Maclin whether with Roc Nation or not. He could very well be here on a one year deal.

[KissMyConverse]

Any scenario that Fuller ends up a Panther is a win for me.

 

Go Hokies!

[BigSyke]

nice should have got moncrief instead.

[Ken]

nice should have got moncrief instead.

I was going to but I really wanted to sure up the O line and I feel that Bitonio would be a gem at RT, and probably have a bigger impact on the offense than Moncrief, especially if we get Nicks in FA and JA in the 3rd.

Also worried about what OTs would be there in the 3rd. Maybe Brandon Thomas?

[BigSyke]

I was going to but I really wanted to sure up the O line and I feel that Bitonio would be a gem at RT, and probably have a bigger impact on the offense than Moncrief, especially if we get Nicks in FA and JA in the 3rd.

Also worried about what OTs would be there in the 3rd. Maybe Brandon Thomas?

hurst or james or billy turner might?

[stirs]

I was going to but I really wanted to sure up the O line and I feel that Bitonio would be a gem at RT, and probably have a bigger impact on the offense than Moncrief, especially if we get Nicks in FA and JA in the 3rd.

Also worried about what OTs would be there in the 3rd. Maybe Brandon Thomas?

 

I like the way you thought through the picks and covered a lot of bases.

 

Part of the problem you had with the inability to get Montcreif was that the OT's might be gone in the third.  I venture that if you had picked a WR in the first and the CB in the third, you'd be golden

 

Cooks

Boitonio

McGill

as the first three and the rest is good.. Just juggling the 1st and third.

 

Like some of the offseason stuff, just not sure it adds up the same as the cap space we have.

 

[saX man]

I really like this.  

[Ken]

I like the way you thought through the picks and covered a lot of bases.

Part of the problem you had with the inability to get Montcreif was that the OT's might be gone in the third. I venture that if you had picked a WR in the first and the CB in the third, you'd be golden

Cooks

Boitonio

McGill

as the first three and the rest is good.. Just juggling the 1st and third.

Like some of the offseason stuff, just not sure it adds up the same as the cap space we have.

I think Cooks would be gone by this pick to either the Ravens, Jets, Browns, Chiefs.

As I said in the mock I think Fuller would be BPA.

Looking at numerous mock drafts and all the needs of teams, the top 5 WRs would be gone in my book and so too the 1st round OT. The pick IMO, will come down to Fuller, Amaro, Verrett, and maybe one of OBJ/KB might fall.