2004 Draft main discussion

Cody Spencer? Yeah, I got a little bit down, but just mainly from draft sites. Didn't see anything spectacular, he was listed by some as 'athletic' but looked average. Of course, he could be athletic, and stupid, and that's certainly happened. I see him as a backup.

kennedy did look very good at first but the time he spent on the bench was considerable. The problem is, he's going to have to be a nosetackle for somebody and nosetackles just can't take a breather every couple downs. Gotta be durable and in shape.

 

Honestly, I doubt Kennedy will be very highly drafted. Too short and stumpy. If he loses weight he's an afterthought.
He has some ability, that's indisputible, but so have lots of undersized players.
At best , in the NFL he'll be an overachiever...expectations won't be all that unbeatable though.

 

Agree about the defensive linemen. They're using a sub-300 pound guy at nose tackle, but he seems to get it done at times. They will desperately need another DT or true end if they go to a 4-3, which I assume they will. Sapp would be a good fit for them if they can afford him, especially since McKay is there now. I don't know much about their salary cap situation.

On offense they will be even scarier, with Price, a top 5 or so draft pick on the other side, and Crumpler. I think the falcons will present match up problems for a while with us. We need a good SLB who can cover Crumpler, and obviously a shutdown corner. With Vick healthy, this suddenly becomes the toughest division in football again. It's really a shame that the Falcons mailed it in once he got hurt, that defense should be ashamed of themselves. As a professional, there is no way that you should be proud of the fact that it's obvious there was more energy on defense just because an OFFENSIVE player came back from injury. That's ridiculous, and even more ridiculous that the defensive coordinator of this sad bunch got the interim job. Oops, this is a draft thread.


McFly, why do you think it's unlikely that Moose will renegotiate? Hopefully he will, he's played well the 2nd half of the season, as well as you'd expect considering his lack of opportunities. Parting ways with him just creates another hole at a somewhat weak position to begin with. I agree wholy with your draft strategy, take the best available LB or CB and work from there. A stud LB might actually fall to us there. We'll also likely need a veteran DE, assuming we can't afford to re-sign Wallace.

 

I guess I just don't know if it in his best interest to renegotiate. It kind of depends on how much he wants to stay in Carolina...which I think he has deveoped roots.
If he doesn't re-up, then the Panthers would likely release him and he'd hit the market, that's really all I was looking at. Probably overthinking a little, but it is feasible to think that the deciding factor could be the money.

 

>>Agree about the defensive linemen. They're using a sub-300 pound guy at nose tackle, but he seems to get it done at times. They will desperately need another DT or true end if they go to a 4-3, which I assume they will.

The freakiest thing is that they could easily go one gap. That should note how unsuccessful they were with the 3-4 talentwise. Kerney and Brady Smith don't have a ton of athleticism, though. So they might want to find one good end. As well as the somewhat burgeoning acquisition of Sapp, who won't do much if he's the main focus.

Let's suggest that they run the Tampa D. They have the playmaker LB, Brooking; an athletic outside guy isn't terribly hard to find. The safeties will have to be rebuilt, totally; unless, of course, they move someone like Buchanon there. The corners? Who knows. They're playing allright, now, but nothing there seems long term.

They gotta hope they can just pull something out of their line to play. I can't see much of worth, and Kerney/Sapp/Jasper playing nose to protect Sapp, isn't great.


>>On offense they will be even scarier, with Price, a top 5 or so draft pick on the other side, and Crumpler. I think the falcons will present match up problems for a while with us.

Possibly. Won't be easy for us to cover, but if we can shadow Vick well, and keep him in the pocket, we're probably doing the best thing.

 

I think our greatest need is at LB, but I doubt a guy with the physical skills to justify a 1st rounder AND who is smart and reacts quickly will be available.

I like Rashaun Woods. He sounds like Chris Carter with character or Jerry Rice to me. He's big enough, can get open, and has great hands and body control. I don't know about his blocking, but I beggt its good, guessing from his other good traits. He should go about where we draft. Yes, Oklahoma quadruple teamed him and shut him down, but I'd be glad to have a guy who needs 4 defenders to cover him.

Honestly, there are a huge number of CB busts. I think we're as likely to get a good CB in the 2nd or 3rd round as we are in the low 1st. A lot of these so called "shut down" corners are getting killed by college WRs.

 

I wouldn't say a huge number. Corners on average come ready to play sooner than most.
Nonetheless, we need a vet. I don't see us being able to do it any other way.

 

Yeah, I agree. IMO, Ricky Manning has been almost as solid as the top 2 corners drafted (Newman and Trufant).

Manning falls right in the middle with 3 picks. Newman had 4, and Trufant had 2. Both guys started 16 games from what I can tell. Manning started 7.

 

GM's needed all 32 teams

http://www.nflfans.com/draft/article.php?story=20040106124018672

 

Combine invitee list posted.

http://www.nflfans.com/draft/

(right in the middle of the page is the list of players invited to this years NFL scouting combine in Indy.)