Quote :

"Hopefully we land one of the top CBs or DEs tonight."

Well hopefully Hargreaves falls because people are scared of his measurables. He's the only CB I'd want them drafting in the first round. I'd also rather have them draft a tackle than reach for a DE like Dodd.

4/28/2016 2:10:59 PM

Defensive tackle? I'd take Vernon Butler there in a second.

4/28/2016 2:41:15 PM

I'm pretty intrigued by the draft. Of the 29 picks before us, assuming we don't move, I think 4-5 QBs go, despite the fact that I don't see any bluechip QBs. Then some team or two will make a stupid pick. And of course the consensus top 10 guys will go. But I could see so many possibilities for the 30th pick. But my gut says it's DE or DT.

4/28/2016 2:51:16 PM

Several mock drafts predicting Kevin Dodd

4/28/2016 3:27:21 PM

It really is crazy that this is the year people are making strong moves to get to the top. None of these guys would go before Winston or Mariota last year, and none of them would go before Watson next year. It's just not that strong of QB classs with known blue chippers but you wouldn't know that by LA and Philly's shake and bake.

4/28/2016 3:39:34 PM

Quote :

"Several mock drafts predicting Kevin Dodd"

I've seen that. It's why I explicitly stated his name. I think he's a reach in the first round, and people are slotting him there because of need. I'd be very disappointed if that's who the Panthers draft. He's basically a project.

4/28/2016 7:03:50 PM

Wow - ESPN has us #1 in "Ranking the best and worst drafting teams in Round 1"

4/28/2016 7:46:22 PM

I don't remember the last time we missed on a 1st round pick. Otah I guess.

[Edited on April 28, 2016 at 8:06 PM. Reason : also NFL Network coverage ftw, as usual #NoBerman]

[Edited on April 28, 2016 at 8:07 PM. Reason : .]

4/28/2016 8:06:21 PM

Kiper is way worse than Berman.

4/28/2016 9:05:07 PM

Kiper keeps trying to talk over the guy who actually knows what he's talking about.

4/28/2016 9:33:32 PM

I watched a few minutes, and Ike Taylor might be the worst commentator I've ever seen on a broadcast. Obviously it's not his first line of work, but damn. There's got to be somebody better they could put on there.

4/28/2016 9:51:06 PM

My panther front office source in Chicago says Henry is the pick. May even trade up for him.

4/28/2016 10:19:18 PM

Is it ncstatetke?

4/28/2016 10:25:59 PM

PM sent

4/28/2016 10:29:33 PM

Is Gettleman gonna bring Jihad to the Panthers?

4/28/2016 11:20:25 PM

I am 100% into how pumped they all looked just then

4/28/2016 11:31:50 PM

Don't know much about him, but he's a hogmolly so in Gettleman we trust.

4/28/2016 11:35:28 PM

Don't know anything about this dude and I'm sure he's good, but it's weird that we picked someone at one of our strongest positions, makes me concerned about Short's contract situation.

But I decided to stop questioning draft picks for at least one season a few years back. So I'm hoping for the best.

4/28/2016 11:38:35 PM

ITT, we learn that hey now does not have sources.

4/28/2016 11:38:49 PM

I'd say they're preparing to let star walk, not short.

4/28/2016 11:40:24 PM

Sources

[Edited on April 28, 2016 at 11:41 PM. Reason : Sources ]

4/28/2016 11:40:28 PM

^^We signed Star to his option so he's here the next 2 years

4/28/2016 11:43:24 PM

Wow, what a horrendous offseason.

I got seattle and arizona ahead of us for sure now. Along with denver, pitt, new england.

We used our cap space and our first round pick on our best position? !

Got weaker at virtually every position but qb and wr when you factor in age and net gains/losses

[Edited on April 28, 2016 at 11:59 PM. Reason : A]

4/28/2016 11:55:09 PM

circumstances are different, but you probably said the same thing when we drafted Luke when we already had Beason

4/28/2016 11:56:21 PM

No i liked the kuechly pick. Regardless the circumstances are totally different



We are contending for the super bowl and we just gave away our top corner and didn't replace a position of need. This dude will have trouble making any impact next season.

And we spent all our cap space on a 32 year old dt. Like, what is the plan here?

We have major gaps...

[Edited on April 29, 2016 at 12:01 AM. Reason : A]

4/29/2016 12:00:42 AM

DG knows what he's doing. I've questioned a lot of panthers moves that have worked out, and supported many that didn't. He obviously has a philosophy of how to build a team and sticks with it. He's earned some trust. Carolina has plenty of cap space to make more moves. As long as you get a good player, it doesn't really matter who you take.

I'm not surprised that face is reacting with skepticism and negativity. I'm not here all that much, but I know that's his m.o.

4/29/2016 12:08:46 AM

I'm just saying there have been some puzzling draft picks and free agent signings since Gettleman got here, but by and large they've worked out very well. If this guy can keep Star and KK healthy and rested, it's huge.

Besides, our defense has been pretty legit between the 20s lately. Increase that redzone percentage and change some TDs to FGs and that's also huge.

[Edited on April 29, 2016 at 12:10 AM. Reason : add another note]

[Edited on April 29, 2016 at 12:10 AM. Reason : face probably drinks Red's Apple Ale]

4/29/2016 12:08:49 AM

Terrific great pick imo. We got a stud who many thought was the best DT in the draft at 30.

He's a baby Mo Wilkerson the way he moves so easy with a big frame and can get sideline to sideline to make plays.

I can't wait to see what he becomes with some legit coaching and a professional S&C program.

4/29/2016 6:02:27 AM

I understand people are disappointed a position of need didn't fall to us, but realistically, what could we have really done picking at #30 for an impact player?

Reach for a CB? The Steelers already reached at CB, so any CB we picked was going to be a mid 2nd-round grade. We'd be picking between Alexander and Fuller, one having had 1 good college season and the other coming off a major injury. We also de-value the position as our entire defensive scheme is to make sure we have the best front 7 in the NFL and then just find role-players in the secondary. We have Bene, Boykin, Coleman, and Boston on the back-end. None of those guys are all pros, but they're solid with upside. I do expect we'll pick-up some veterans after the draft as well as add some mid-round guys(we don't tend to pick CBs before round 3) to see if we can hit on a player.

Reach for a DE? Best available were Ogbah and Dodd. Ogbah was known for "taking plays off" and having a less-than-stellar senior season. The guy looks great on paper, but was labeled a boom/bust prospect. Dodd had 1 good season in college, and how much of that was lining up across from Lawson? Dodd also was a questionable pass-rush option as he was more of a run defender.

Have to factor in value and upside at the position. We don't tend to "reach" on 1st round picks. You take a DT that should immediately impact your DL rotation, and gives you leverage when dealing with the next 2 big contracts on your books(Short and Star). Having amazing DTs frees up our LBs, so it makes sense that we maximize the strength of our defense.

The positions people were linking to us in mocks: DE, CB, WR, OT.

Number of picks gone before we drafted:
DE - 3
CB - 5
WR - 4
OT - 4

We'd be reaching for guys with 2nd round grades, we don't draft by "needs", we take the best player on our boards. I think we tried to trade back to try and land Henry, but I think Butler would have been gone in the next 5 picks if we didn't take him.

4/29/2016 9:08:11 AM

^
Yep. He is as close to a sure thing we could have gotten in round 1.

4/29/2016 9:19:55 AM

Seattle was going to take him if we didn't I saw mentioned numerous places.

Also, they never really seriously considered trading back. Gettleman said in the PC that they had 7 calls for the 30th pick and they thought Butler was too good to pass up in that spot. He also mentioned that they were shocked he made it down that far.

That's a strong testament to what they think about him and what he could become in the future.

4/29/2016 9:24:06 AM

Quote :

" We got a stud who many thought was the best DT in the draft at 30. "

ditto. I thought I read somewhere that he could even play some DE if necessary, at that size!

4/29/2016 9:54:28 AM

Ron did mention G-Man had this crazy idea that Vernon could play a little right DE in certain instances.

4/29/2016 10:14:43 AM

Yeah, I don't see how anyone can be against this pick. Our entire defense and style of play on offense is based around an aggressive front seven that puts pressure on the QB. Yeah, we already have Star/KK and some decent backups, but this is the NFL and you always have to plan for injuries (or free agency going bad ala Norman). An injury to Star cost us against the Seahawks in the playoffs 2 years ago and we let QBs make comebacks on us all last season because our defensive line was gassed by the 4th quarter. Our best defense in the Gettleman/Rivera era was when we had that stacked front seven in 2013 and Captain Munnerlyn as our top corner so this is just sticking to that mold.

Another thing is possibly some concern about Star's long term health. He's had some conditioning and foot issues, which is never a great sign for a guy that big.

[Edited on April 29, 2016 at 12:25 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2016 12:21:16 PM

i like the pick

4/29/2016 12:35:02 PM

i like that the panthers wasted no time in making the pick. they obviously were happy he was there, so that's fine with me.

4/29/2016 1:23:33 PM

The thing is we don't have a stacked front 7. Our defensive ends are amongst the weakest in the league. I didn't want us to draft cb it's too early. He must have really not liked the defensive ends in free agency or the draft. Because we suck there and we haven't addressed that.

Last year we didn't have a great pass rush either so it's not a doomsday scenario but we haven't adequately replaced norman and we have zero depth at defensive end . Johnson is too old, injury prone to expect him to hold up all year. We can't really expect ealy to play more than he did last year.

A lot of you are underestimating just how well norman played last year to make up for our pass rush.
The media is spinning that he wasn't a big deal, then why dId we offer $11 million?

We should have the best dt in football though. And our red zone defense was pretty awful last year. So i guess we could give up a few more yards but prevent a few red zone tds.

Still got ne, pitt, den, sea, ari ahead of us going into next season

4/29/2016 6:17:10 PM

you know there are still 6 more rounds, right?

4/29/2016 6:21:27 PM

Sure but they are mostly irrelevant for next year's team. Mostly long term developmental guys and special teamers. Or they will get thrust into roles after injuries.

I mean 48-50 of our active 53 is likely set I'm okay making my prediction on where we are.

I do think denver proved having an extra dt in the game can be effective but they did that to stop our running game. Not something we had a problem with at all last year

4/29/2016 6:54:30 PM

Quote :

"Last year we didn't have a great pass rush either so it's not a doomsday scenario but we haven't adequately replaced norman and we have zero depth at defensive end . Johnson is too old, injury prone to expect him to hold up all year. We can't really expect ealy to play more than he did last year."

We don't have a lot of star power at DE, but it's not a bad rotation. CJ, Ealy, Addison, and whoever wins the job in training camp will be a decent group. Remember we still have Horton, Delaire, a bunch of guys who flashed during preseason or training camp on the roster. 5 years in I trust this staff's ability to develop talent, remember Norman himself was a 5th round pick who couldn't play until year 3. With Star/KK/Butler filling up the middle, they'll never face a double team.

Quote :

"A lot of you are underestimating just how well norman played last year to make up for our pass rush. The media is spinning that he wasn't a big deal, then why dId we offer $11 million?"

I think Norman was huge for us last year and a great fit in our scheme but paying him more than Kuechly or what KK's going to get is just insane. To be honest I don't think Gettleman ever expected him to take 11 million/year and just hoped he'd play out the tag without drama.

4/29/2016 8:15:11 PM

And don't forget our pass rush from the ends will improve with Allen's departure.

4/29/2016 9:28:08 PM

On the clock..

4/29/2016 9:28:10 PM

Sources in NY are saying Brisket.

4/29/2016 9:28:48 PM

Never too early to find Cam's replacement

4/29/2016 9:29:46 PM

another small NC school corner

4/29/2016 9:33:04 PM

Shitty first name.

4/29/2016 9:33:45 PM

And half last name

4/29/2016 9:34:08 PM

So they talked about how awesome 3 schools are for about 5 minutes while we make our pick. Finally actually mention who our pick is, don't give any analysis about him, then immediately go to the next pick.

[Edited on April 29, 2016 at 9:37 PM. Reason : Now they are actually talking about him at least]

4/29/2016 9:36:03 PM

NFL Network, bro

4/29/2016 9:38:28 PM

Traded up to 77th, drafted another corner (Daryl Worley, WVU)

Gave up 3rd and 4th round picks to Cleveland. Swapped 5th rounders (which is higher than we would've had in the 5th)

[Edited on April 29, 2016 at 10:19 PM. Reason : .]

4/29/2016 10:18:28 PM