Martin

VJ seems like a great pick for us tbh. Exactly the type of player we are missing. So if it’s him I’m excited.

There is a reason he didn’t do any of the testing leading up to the draft. He’s a game day performer that looks less impressive outside of an actual game, but that is just my opinion. 

1 minute ago, Jackie Lee said:

 

This is really cool to hear, Mike doesn’t throw praise around unless warranted 

If true, that means Dan trusted all game tape and used the combine etc. to confirm what he saw in tape, just the way it should be. The draft was focused on players that produce, so good stuff.

2 hours ago, Jay Roosevelt said:

I really thought he'd be one of three kickers drafted. I had him ranked as my #2 kicker so getting him as a UDFA is great value.

Just here to give you props for ranking the kickers for this draft, impressive dedication my friend!

I like LSUs Swindon at edge and one of the safeties in our next two picks

I agree with Mike here

I saw somewhere Thibodeaux from Giants might be had for a third rounder. I can see them trading him, but a third might be less than they want. Potentially interesting option though if there is any truth to it.

6 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

He would have been the 6th best wr last year, maybe 5th and we just took him at 8 overall.   We are in a bizarro world

What’s bizarre is to use a draft from another year to say someone was under or over drafted. The question is where he was rated in this years draft. Maybe he would have been the top pick in 1987, so he’s a total steal this year hurp durp 

15 minutes ago, Tr3ach said:

I wasn't saying anything about competing with division rivals.   I was saying Falcons had a clear need and clearly addressed it and still got good value with their picks.  They didn't reach and they also didn't pick a player that makes no sense for them.  We reached by a few picks and picked another big wr with no quickness on a team with the slowest offense in the NFL.  We picked a guy with a #2 ceiling at pick 8 with no #1.

I think you might be the only one I’ve seen saying Falcons getting good value for their pick. Trading next years one for James Pierce was wild.

While I do have some doubts, he has fantastic hands, something we surely need. Also seems like a great young man. I will lean in on Tukafans analysis and hope it all comes to fruition. In our spot, this was not a reach, an edge would have been.

3 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

I have no words at the moment, been running around screaming since his first name came out of Goodell's mouth, never even heard his last name.

 

Congratulations!

39 minutes ago, Happy Panther said:

Malaki Starks might be BPA at #8

It might be a bit high, but would love to have him. Would give us fantastic safety starters, something Evero needs in his defense 

1 hour ago, Jon Snow said:

Not if Graham falls to them. DT is their main target and he's the best in this class right now. If he's gone and they can trade down it could be for Nolan or Emmanwori.

I just saw two mock drafts on NFL (DJ and someone else) + Josh Norris all have Panthers taking Graham

2 hours ago, Verge said:

Yes

If that plays out I’ll be really impressed with Dan and company. I could totally see it happening,

28 minutes ago, 45catfan said:

Most likely with an outside chance of his teammate Williams.  Anybody other than those two would absolutely shock me at #8 (unless Graham falls).  If somehow we manage to move out of that spot, all bets are off.

I'm thinking:

Walker-80%

Williams-14%

Graham-1% (solely based on availability)

 

Who’s the remaining 5%?

Our run defense would definitely take another step with Mykel, but I’m not sure he’ll do much in the way of rushing the passer. But it is him, hopefully it’s both.

3 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

The players who will be available to us with those picks are irrelevant because it's still not a good trade.  And for at sam that has a recent history of making bad draft pick based trades, all this trade would do is make teams continue to low ball us in trade offers because it's clear we get pushed around.

And it being that type of draft is also exactly why it's a terrible trade, because it's a bit of a crapshoot draft, so every pick you move down, makes you more likely to make a wrong pick than a right one.  Even over drafting a player is a smarter move, because it means we are still taking someone we REALLY believe in, which in a draft like this is more important than value, because it gives you a better chance of hitting on the pick.

All of that is also before you even dig in further and see that this is proposing a trade with the Falcons.

If we're allowing a divisional opponent to move up from 15 to 8 to take someone they clearly badly want, you need to make them bleed for it.  I made my comments before realizing it, and still stick by that trade package if it was a non NFCS team, now knowing it's the Falcons, if we're going from 8 to 15, I want next year's 1st and 2nd as well as this year's 2nd, anything less and they can go kick rocks.

I complete disagree. Who is available is extremely relevant. If you have a couple of players you would be happy with and you can still get them if you trade back, you should do that in a heartbeat. Being afraid that people will lowball you next year is an odd stance. Then you just say no next year, problem solved. In this particular draft you can get a very good player at 46. But to each their own.

21 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

You want to trade down from 8 to 15 and only get 46 in return?

HELLLLLLLLL NO

If we're trading down that far, we better be getting a 1st next year, a 2nd this year, and possibly even more.

If we aren’t sold on anyone at 8, this would be a good trade imo. We would get a really good player at 46. This is an unusual draft with a lot of really good players from 10-50. 

His arm length and wingspan negates any concerns about his height. He is around 250 lbs, pretty much the same as Watt and other elite 3-4 rushers, so that is also not a major concern. Honestly, I don’t really see why he isn’t ranked higher overall. I’m a big fan.

13 hours ago, Verge said:

I also posted my edges! Mykel was number two. 

I think looking at Georgia's sack numbers or win rates or whatever doesn't really tell the whole story. Their entire defense is loaded and different guys had different assignments. Is Mykel the most refined pass rusher in the world? Not really, no. Is he built like Myles Garrett and is he ridiculously effective in run defense.

I see people talking about low floor and that really isn't the reality here. No matter where you look at it, Mykel is effective as a defender. He is going to walk in and be a top tier run wrecker, and assuming he gets healthy it's not hard to envision him becoming a 10+ sack guy at the next level. There are games where he is just tossing around SEC lineman which doesn't happen very often. 

I appreciate your (and everyone else’s) input. I’m all for stopping the run first, so I’m good with way that point. I’m concerned with his pass rush, but he’s also only 20…

Verge, I’ve seen that you really like Mykel. Can you share some insights in to why so I can be prepared if we pick him? I’ve only watched a few Georgia games and I’ve barely noticed him, so I must have missed something.

This was a really interesting one. Historically his mock draft is not great, but his top 50 is really good. So this should not be too far off from how teams have players ranked.

1 hour ago, UAPanther said:

He's got a visit now

 

https://x.com/josephperson/status/1905665124326576582?s=46&t=RpRteCiOHsmjthnKJkS5fg

He could make sense as a trade back option. So it makes sense to bring him in for a visit?

On 3/25/2025 at 12:08 PM, PantherKyle said:

Golden jumping Tet is crazy to me. Prospect fatigue killing him. 

Not sure if it is draft fatigue or not. A lot of times the analysts are wrong and get closer to what actual NFL people think the closer the draft gets. This might have been the true direction for a long time.