Draft thread

could be a good compliment to Shelton should he actually become something.

I'd take Humes and scrap most of what we have.

 

DeAngelo Williams is on ESPN right now, for those who are interested.

 

I wish we would pick some guys who don't lay down in the clutch. The Panthers seem to be great at doing that. Is there a stat for playing like you want to win?

 

Fans often say that effort has been a problem, but like they are on so many subjects, the fans are absolutely dead wrong about that. Effort isn't and hasn't been a problem for the Panthers or the coaching staff. Execution and occasional stupidity have been a problem. That and you just can't expect to look great every week in the NFL. It isn't realistic.

But yeah, I agree that we need to focus on getting guys who are consistent and lack weaknesses rather than guys who have upside/potential/whatever. You don't need to be the most talented guy in the world to do your job correctly, and the fact is that most games are won and lost on a couple of mistakes, so it's critically important to do the right thing on every play even if you don't get the spectacular result that often.


And man, I really hoped that DeAngelo Williams wouldn't look that good. I don't know if we'll have a chance to draft him now, although maybe he'll have some bad combine numbers.

 

Colts= 13-1, nuff said.

 

13 & 2 :imagestor

 

I wholeheartedly agree. We are not a team in need of superstars (although they are always welcome), and we need players who can do their job because I believe that we are on the brink of greatness. It also goes back to the argument about teaching old dogs new tricks. Where we will draft, players that are drafted on potential typically have already been drafted, although Chris Gamble is a recent exception. I think that a hard-nosed linebacker like Posunksy (sp?), Greenway or Carpenter would be good for our team. A guy that truly brings his lunchpale every week would be of great value to this team in terms of mental toughness.

On another note, although I don't really try to evaluate linemen, I've read on many draft boards how the OT position is quite strong, and there will be great value in the second round. I think that someone like Jeremy Trueblood from BC would be a nice addition. He has proven that he can runblock in college, and possibly move Gross back to LT and move Wharton to RG. Just a thought. In a sense, we would be upgrading two positions with one pick assuming that the draft pick pans out.

 

I've heard that about OT as well, but honestly I don't see it. For one, I don't think we can move Gross back to LT. We tend to forget how badly he sucked there, and he hasn't exactly lit things up at RT this season anyway. D'Brickashaw Ferguson has a legitimate chance to be a great tackle, but obviously we won't have a shot at him unless he breaks a toe or something in their bowl game. Then McNeill might be the run blocker we need, but I don't think we could use him at LT. Winston Justice might be an option, but I'm still a little sketchy on his LT potential at the next level, while I think Eric Winston has been outright awful in pass protection since coming back from his knee injury. I'm always one for drafting linemen, but I just don't see a lot of help there this year (except maybe at C).

As for LB, I'm obviously a fan of Carpenter, but I think Posluszny is projected to go before our expected selection. I haven't seen him or Greenway this season, so I don't have any particular opinion on either of them.

 

Yeah I see what your saying, but I think that we have to look at the OL this offseason, whether in the draft or free agency. We can't be a ball control offense if we can't block the other team. I'll leave it up to you and others to evaluate them, although I think that Winston Justice isn't an option considering he had some 'character' issues in his college career, which usually dramatically lowers their 'Panther' value (which I'm starting to have a problem with).

I'm intrigued by your interest in Carpenter. I was looking at possible SLB's for '06 earlier in the year and he seemed to fit the mold and seemed like he would be a good Panther, but I'm not that great at projecting which round a player will go in. From what I've read, Greenway's stock has fallen a little due to lack of production that can be attributed to Iowa's lack of a defensive line, although I haven't watched a game either. I haven't heard much on Posluszny much from draft experts, but if he does declare, then we could have a chance of either he, Greenway or Carpenter falling to us based on the needs of other teams.

 

You probably know more about these guys than I do at this point, but I like Carpenter for much the same reason as you seem to. He's a lunch-pail guy who is strong, smart, and tough. While he isn't the dynamic playmaker that Hawk is, Carpenter always seems to be in the right place and I haven't ever seen him make any egregious mistakes. To me he's the ideal SLB, moreso than what I've read about Greenway.