CPantherKing

A hard nosed running attack with play action passing will not be competitive in the NFL today. A team needs a passing attack that can put up 14 points quickly through the air early or late in a game to be competitive with the best teams in the NFL.

The rules greatly favor an offense that passes more than 55% of the time with a spread formation and horizontal passing attack.

Personally, I do not like it, but those are the facts. There is a reason the traditional TE is no longer utilized on the successful teams, and the fullback position is dead.

Same discussion fans had about Everette Brown, Sione Fua, and Terrell McClain for a couple seasons. All 3 are still in the NFL filling reserve rolls for other teams who keep passing them around.

All>Kony Ealy

So, 1 to 2 more seasons of trying to make him work until he is rejected by the fan base.

Look at it this way in a redraft with the two first rounders and the one second rounder from 2011 and 2012:

Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly

or

JJ Watt and Andrew Luck 

or 

JJ Watt, Luke Kuechly, and Russell Wilson

3 options to find that QB.

Both get cut from the team.

WR will be interesting.

KB and Funch

After that it is a toss up, but I am personally leaning toward Stephen Hill or Marcus Lucas. Proehl worked hard developing those 2 last season from the practice squad. Everyone will have a favorite in this race.

The wild card that does not get talked about a lot is Wegher who can play multiple positions. He can play SS, KR/PR, WR, and RB at the NFL level. He can even be a gunner on special teams.

He could be the #1 SS, #2 KR/PR, #2 RB, and #3 WR on the Panthers current roster. He would be an immediate impact at any of those positions. He is really that good, and some team is going to discover it soon. He is more athletic than anyone outside of Cam on offense, and his football smarts rival that of Greg Olsen as Wegher has also lived on a football field all his life. He is one of the fastest players on the team and he may have the best vision of any offensive player. You could think of him as a bigger, faster, more athletic version of Wes Welker.

Some of you may push it to the side, but once he starts getting touches you will quickly see he surpasses any undrafted rookie free agent the Panthers have ever brought in over the organization's 20 year history. His work ethic will be hard to match even for some of the veterans.

Ozzie Newsome will sign Santana Moss to pair with Steve Smith Sr for the Baltimore Ravens leading them to their next Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers in Santa Clara, CA.

Always wanted to see those two paired with each other. Not the same as the mid 2000s, but should be entertaining to watch those two go up after Flacco's prayer lobs.

As for the Panthers getting him. Nope. Pass.

And when he tells the Bucs to shove it, he will be on the waiver wire again.

Would Smitty have made a difference for the Panthers in the playoffs? Bet you his fellow Utah alum Gross would have stayed for another season if his buddy was not treated like dirt.

What would you have given for a receiver and LT like those two going into the playoffs last season?

Happy B-Day Smitty! Wish you were here. Miss the mentality Gross and you brought to the offense. It was noticeably absent in 2014.

And for any Panthers fan that disliked Smitty and his attitude, you must not want to win in the playoffs or a Lombardi. The players who win the Super Bowl have/had Smitty's attitude - Patriots, Seahawks, Ravens, Giants, Packers, Steelers, and Saints. You have to be nasty and get in the opponent's head to win it all.

Come on Cam!!! I know you are only the 2nd most productive 4 year QB in NFL history, but we cannot keep you unless you surpass Dan Marino and take that #1 spot for 5th year QBs.

Otherwise, we will have to replace you with a QB that will not even come close to the top 10 QBs relative to their years in the NFL.

First 4 years in the NFL and you have only produced over 17000 yards, which no other QB in NFL history has surpassed in their first 4 seasons, and 115 TDs!

We need more from you Cam in order to believe you are a capable QB.

Ridiculous. Be glad you have Cam and focus on the weak parts of the team. It is just so easy to replace a QB like Cam, right? Apparently you forget Kerry Collins, Steve Beuerlein, Jeff Lewis, Chris Weinke, Rodney Peete, Jake Delhomme, and Jimmy Clausen. So easy to replace a QB like Cam, right?

Also, Cam has a 59.5% completion percentage. Peyton Manning and Dan Marino both were at 61%. Andrew Luck is at 58.5%. They all have errant throws. Then you factor in that Cam has one of the lowest INT% of all these QBs in their first 4 years in the NFL. He throws fewer interceptions than the greats, and even the golden boy Andrew Luck on a per game basis.

You would have questioned hall of fame QBs like Jim Kelly, John Elway, Joe Montana, Warren Moon and Troy Aikman based on their production over the first 4 years of their career. The difference is those QBs had better coaching and teams surrounding them, which allowed them to get to the Super Bowl early in their careers. Some of them never even won a Super Bowl or they had to wait to win it at the end of their career.

Very nice. I would love to see Funchess work the slot in 3 receiver sets. He will be difficult to defend over the middle.

If it all works out with the Hill project:

Benjamin on the outside in single receiver sets.

Benjamin and Funchess in 2 receiver sets.

Benjamin and Hill on the outside with Funchess in the slot on 3 receiver sets.

You can't cite the playoff game as the reason Addison is over Ealy when you have a player who wasn't even active for the game ranked second.

Then I will add that Addison played in all 16 games and 45% of the defensive snaps for the season compared to Ealy's 15 games and 35% of the defensive snaps.

Not to mention Addison out produced Ealy in sacks, pressures, and tackles.

Add that to the playoff games, and Kony Ealy is dead last on the depth chart at DE outside of the undrafted rookie that was brought in recently.

Kony Ealy had all season to make an impact and elevate himself to #2. Never happened on the field no matter how much anyone wants to believe he is the future. He could not get past Addison or Horton on that depth chart.

And I do not understand how some elevate Kony Ealy into a starter spot.

Ealy is still the #5 DE on the depth chart.

1 Charles Johnson

2 Frank Alexander

3 Wes Horton

4 Mario Addison

5 Kony Ealy

Addison was the one who got the playing time against Seattle in the playoffs. Not Ealy.

Championship teams do not play by the rules. They play to win.

If you are a small market team, and you listened to a large market team tell you no one should draft a first round talent so he can be a free agent, then you are just dumb.

At worse you throw a pick away. Carolina Panthers were throwing picks away all over the place in this draft.

If the Panthers front office was smart about this, they would have drafted Collins with a 7th round pick, and then signed him after he was given the green light. Just because you draft them does not mean you need to sign them.

Got to be smart when playing the draft if you are in need of a prospect.

Sky-high

Triple Double

Trey Grande

Up Up and Away

The Towering Trio

OFB3

Flight 881317

Rise and Shine

Octogesimus Octavus Prime  (Double OP) (OOP)

The Blue Bombers

... my contributions. A real nickname comes from a moment they have and someone will say something that will resonate during that moment. In the meantime, have fun with it.

Takin' care of Benjness

How about Fun-Jamin?

63 receptions for 726 yards and 5 TDs

What I really am interested in seeing, assuming he wins the #2 receiver spot, is how defenses will need to play the Panthers offense.

Most Ds put a LB with safety over top Olsen, and would put the #1 CB, LB under, and safety over top KB.

Defenses were trying to single cover KB until he tore them up. Then they had 2 or 3 defenders bracketing him for the second half of the season.

They cannot put a safety over top all 3 of them. This guarantees a mismatch in the run game or pass game. At the very least this keeps a defense from pushing its coverage to KB.

It will be fun to see how this opens up the field. I am sure defenses will all try to single cover Funchess at the start of the season. He will have to prove he is a threat like KB did in 2014, and then the fun begins.

I was hoping Conley would last to the 4th.

Maclin and Conley will be a big boost to the Chiefs passing game.

Missed on Odighizuwa. He will be dominant and require double teams from day 1. Giants know their DEs.

Now get Conley.

Owa Odighizuwa... go get him now

Owamagbe Odighizuwa is sitting there.... get him. Trade! I am sure someone will take a 2 next season for a 3 this season. Owa is worth a 2 easily. He is better than Kony Ealy coming out of college.

He will not be there in the 4th round.

Did Seattle just trade their entire draft for Odi? Please say no!

Funchess is on my short list for receiver. Liked him from day one. He was a mid 1st rounder at one point and then dropped for various reasons following the combine including getting labeled as a TE by several scouts. He is a WR. Same thing happened with idiot scouts trying to force KB into a TE spot last draft.

Funchess is a WR who can play well inside the hashes.

Love the pick. Uneasy about the value given up for him.

I hate to say it, (i really do) but its going to be D line. Eddie Goldman or Owambe Odigizaga

I agree. It could also be Landon Collins or Jaquski Tart if they are still on the board.

Defintely Odi if he is there. If the Panthers want Odi they would need to trade up to the early second round.

As for everyone who wants offense, you will get it. There are quite a few quality #2 WRs to be had in the mid rounds and some nice OTs like Daryl Williams, Tyrus Thompson, Sean Hickey, and a dark horse I like in UNLV OT Brett Boyko (played QB, DL, OL and stand up LB through HS and college).

As for WR, seems like they are eyeing Dezmin Lewis, Chris Conley, and Ty Montgomery in the mid rounds.

The Ty Montgomery pick would be interesting. He would add to WR and RB (in 3rd down and option packages).

If the Panther can snag TE Jesse James later in the draft, I will be thrilled.

Josh Robinson/Ameer Abdullah/John Crockett, Ty Montgomery, Jesse James, Chris Conley/Dezmin Lewis, and an OT and I will be happy with the Panthers offense. Cam Newton will be thrilled too. 5 more picks offense and 3 more picks defense.

Great post. Love football strategic breakdowns like this, but from all appearances the goal is to use Bene as the big nickel. That's been brought up consistently this offseason and why they made the effort to try and sign a big CB to play the outside. Bene is 6'0" and a sure tackler for a CB and that's the role they drafted him for.

They did, and they suffered through it with the stretch from the Steelers to the Vikings, but at the end of the season they removed Bene from the big nickel packages and inserted Colin Jones. Bene was 10 times better on the outside. The Steelers, Ravens, Bears and Vikings games were just awful for Bene on the inside in that Big Nickel. When he was placed on the outside for the final four games he shined.

Now, Bene can still play in nickel and dime packages on definite passing downs. Just keep him out of the box against spread offenses with short yardage.

Shaq is the answer for the Panthers defense. We need him or a player like him in free agency when the Panthers hit games 4 to 8. Shaq has been the Panthers target before the combine. This is the player I see all signs pointing toward. Personally, I want DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa at the end of the first round.