General Manager – Marc Ross
Assistant GM - Brandon Bean
Head Coach – Ron Rivera
Offensive Coordinator – Norv Turner
Defensive Coordinator – Sean McDermott
Thoughts: Ross has a great track record with drafting and scouting and perhaps the organization will keep Mr. Bean around to serve as an assistant GM, after all, the guy has to have great knowledge of the organization (the good moves and the bad moves). I thought Ron Rivera did a great job with the defense, he has the respect of the players, command of the locker room and seems to have learned from his mistakes earlier in the season and last year. People will try to discredit the final wins of both seasons due to weak opponents, but the Panthers did it both times with injury depleted rosters. Rivera deserves another year, especially with a better offensive coordinator...enter Norv Turner - with tons of experience and a solid track record (minus this year) he'd be a tremendous addition to the coaching staff.
SIGN: CB Quinten Jammer (SD), S Dashon Goldson (SF)
RESTRUCTURE: LT Jordan Gross, C Ryan Kalil, LB Jon Besaon, CB Chris Gamble
TRADE: RB DeAngelo Williams for a 5th round pick, LB James Anderson for a 4th round pick
TRADE: 15th overall pick and a 4th round pick to Chicago Bears for the 20th overall pick, 2013 2nd round pick, 2014 6th round pick
DRAFT
1 – (via Chicago Bears) DT - Jesse Williams, Alabama
2 – RG - Larry Warford, Kentucky
2 – WR - Justin Hunter, Tennessee
4 – (via James Anderson) LB - DeVonte Holloman, South Carolina
5 – (via DeAngelo Williams) RT - Xavier Nixon, Florida
5 – DT – Josh Boyd, Mississippi State
6 – QB – Jordan Rodgers, Vanderbilt
Thoughts: While the Panthers would likely benefit from grabbing a safety and cornerback in the draft, free agency might be the best option to bolster a weakened secondary while the organization focuses on improving the offensive and defensive lines via the draft. Trading back to grab a solid defensive tackle and picking up an extra second rounder to add a starting caliber guard and wide receiver gives you three impact players early in the draft. Holloman and Nixon are perfect depth players that can one day start (think Frank Alexander) while Boyd and Rodgers will serve as high-ceiling backups. I did not feel it was necessary to draft a kicker yet, although a competition between Gano and a UFA would be smart.
Offense:
WR1 – Steve Smith, Justin Hunter, Joe Adams
LT – Jordan Gross, Bruce Campbell
LG – Amini Silatolu, Geoff Hangartner
C – Ryan Kalil, Geoff Hangartner
RG – Larry Warford, Geoff Hangartner
RT – Byron Bell, Xavier Nixon
TE – Greg Olsen, Gary Barnidge, Richie Brockel
WR2 – Brandon LaFell, Kealoha Pilares, Jared Green
QB – Cam Newton, Derek Anderson, Jordan Rodgers
FB – Mike Tolbert, Richie Brockel
RB – Jonathan Stewart, Tauren Poole
DEFENSE:
DE1 – Greg Hardy, Frank Alexander,
DT – Dwan Edwards, Josh Boyd, Nate Chandler
NT – Jesse Williams, Frank Kearse, Sione Fua
DE2 – Charles Johnson, Thomas Keisier
SLB – Jon Beason, Jordan Senn,
MLB – Luke Kuechly, Jason Phillips, Kenny Onatolu
WLB – Thomas Davis, DeVonte Holloman
CB1 – Chris Gamble, Josh Thomas
CB2 – Quinten Jammer, Josh Norman
SS – Charles Godfrey, D.J. Campbell
FS – Dashon Goldson, Sherrod Martin
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K – Graham Gano
P – Brad Nortman
LS – JJ Jasnen
KR – Adams/Pilares/Green competition in training camp
PR – Adams/Pilares/Green competition in training camp
BONUS - Uniform improvements. Would prefer the Panthers wear silver pants with the white road jersey and ditch the blue socks for black.Our colors are black, blue and silver - we wear white way to often. Also, barring an insanely warm day in September or October, never ever wear the white at home.
