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Our Panthers reporter, Anthony Rizutti of Panthers Wire (of USA Today) provides us with a few grades. I've added a couple of more snippets of analyses from some NC guys, including our friend Scott Fowler in Charlotte and a vid from Panthers Playbook's Dennis Cox and Chris Lea in Raleigh. It is food for thought. Of course we all have our opinions, but, me personally, I tend to giive the opinion of hardcore fans and people that actually follow the team a little more weight. Touchdown Wire: B Draft Wire: B+ USA Today: C NFL.com: B ESPN: B- PFF: C Yahoo Sports: C CBS Sports: C+ If you want to read their little summaries, hit the link. But as you can see, the national types have largely graded the draft average. There seems to be an acknowledgement of the fact that Morgan and company were in a hard place due to the malfeasance of the previous administrations, but that our FO did the best it could. One of the "experts" mentioned the "boom-or-bust" nature of our draft, which is an interesting way to characterize it, but I'm good with that. And Charles McDonald of Yahoo Sports may have put it best, which basically alluded to the fact that so much of the grade is simply based upon the unknown: "Even though they’re getting a C, it’s hard not to be caught by the allure of the unknown here. It’s a really interesting class." https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/lists/panthers-nfl-draft-grades-experts-2024/ Tony Pauline, another national talking head, took his page straight out of Debbie Downer's playbook, but it's all about perspective, right? Here's a bone for those that are decidedly negative about the outcome: "You could brand the Panthers as this year’s losers before the event began, considering they frittered away the first pick of the draft last year to select Bryce Young. Trading up one spot for the final selection of Round 1 to select Xavier Legette, a Day 2 receiver prospect, kept things going in the wrong direction for Carolina." One person who has been---perhaps what has been perceived as negative about the direction of the franchise---decidedly sober-minded and what I consider fair about the way things have been going under the Tepper era has been Scott Fowler. By now, everyone should have heard of the contentious relationship that he and David Tepper have. Fowler has called Tepper out on his decided malfeasance (labelling it inTeptitude as I recall), and Tepper, the owner that is a somewhat contentious all own his own by the simplest of "slights," has outwardly acted inappropriate (in my opinion, toward Fowler. But Fowler was decidedly positive about this year's draft. "While nationally the Panthers didn’t get nearly the same amount of attention in this draft as they did in 2023, owing to the controversial big-splash trade and the ensuing selection of Young a year ago, this group may be more significant as a whole." Fowler gave the draft a B+ "This team is going to be more exciting. In particular, I have high hopes for Legette and Sanders. Carolina didn’t get everything it wanted — an edge rusher in the first two days of the draft would have been nice, for instance. But overall, I’m giving the Panthers a grade of B+ for the 2024 NFL Draft. Which, given the team as a whole got an F last year, is quite an upgrade." You may hit a paywall:https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article287830040.html#storylink=cpy And finally, here is Dennis Cox And Chris Lea. I thought they were fair and thoughtful in their assessment. They call Dan and Dave (and company) "The Alignment," because of being on the same page. For me, that alone, is worth the listen.

I'm not necessarily trying to be flippant, but Morgan has been telling you what type of team he's trying to to build. So, if you have no idea, you just haven't been listening. @ForJimmy explained it pretty well. But, if you don't believe that, then all you have to do is go back and listen to all of the pressers since Morgan was promoted. Then go back and listen to Dave Canales' pressers since he's been here. Don't forget to listen to the pressers during the draft. You're complaining because you don't agree with the player---or perhaps players that were drafted, the mail one being X. I have consistently said that they should draft the player with the most upside, and that you can't limit your draft based upon perceived limitations (especially perceived limitations based upon some fans) of your QB, particularly if the QB is unproven. X has the most upside, and he needs to be developed for sure, but what you obviously fail to realize is that all of the receivers that we could've picked were "projects," save for maybe Ladd who is smallish, has an injury history, and would have offered some redundancy with what we already have. Most people consider him a slot guy. We already have guys that can play in the slot. If anything, our choices in the draft probably mean that Mingo is solidly in the long term plans. Whether he succeeds or not will be on him for the most part, as well as the coaches to put him in his best position to succeed. Regarding that, he likely needs to be transitioned to the slot where I'm pretty sure some teams (the Steelers being one of them) would have placed him in had he been available. What we also have is JT Sanders who will be another tough competitor on our side at the catch point. He is big-bodied with high upside, and will provide even another potential beast in the second and third level, and another consistent option for our QB (and any QB). Morgan and Canales obvious put a premium on receivers that can make tough catches, but that doesn't mean that these guys can't be polished up and coached up where necessary. But even if I look at a worse case scenario, if a wideout can make a tough catch, in the mold of Alshon Jeffrey or even Tee Higgins, then YAC is not as important. But the fact is, that both of our newly drafted wideouts have upside to be YAC monsters. So many people were banging the table for a center. I've said it all the way through: apparently our FO on down believes that AC can be a proficient center. It s not like he hasn't played it before. Moreover, we found out (and some of us already knew) that BC could be a backup. Well that's the plan. Until proven otherwise, I'm going to have faith that Canales and Joe Gilbert (as well as Dan Morgan) know what they're doing in that regard. I could be wrong, but I'm thinking that our O-line should at least be average. We'll find out, but I trust that this is not going to be an excuse for Bryce not to succeed in 2024. You've already seen the investment in the O-line, and in the offensive weapons. But Morgan also invested in the defense. We were decent last season, but inconsistent which lead to us being gashed. But the lack of offense also lead to the defense being gassed, which of course leads to being gashed as well. With the addition of the rookies and the additions of Robinson and Jewell, Fuller and of course Clowney and Wonnum, getting gashed in the run game will hopefully be a thing of the past. But the fact is that you can't fix everything in one offseason. However, if you can't see the plan and the vision, you just don't want to see it.

Legette out there dropping dimes.

My son went to high school with Devin Carter.

I'll admit, it's not looking good, but it's a new day. It's not like he hasn't flashed before. I'm not counting him down and out just yet, and I don't believe that DM or DC is either.

Yes, the contract was impressive. Dude got paid enough to make a difference in any Joe Shmoe's life even if he doesn't make it. We'll see what it is in August. I would bet that Smitty had a voice in this. I had never heard of Coker until 89 did the evaluation.

Don't do it. We've been down that road before. I was telling @Jon Snow that I won't fall for the false dreams of a UDFA WR again... He looks pretty damned good though. Smitty seems to think the competition won't matter. He said the guy knows why he is making the moves he is making at any particular moment and to what end. 89 says Coker is a technician. I mean, if he's right...not...gonna...lie...it's a little exciting, but...

Dude, you forgot the best part: DC

If that's even true, it's because he and his cohort know how to talk to people. No bullshit and selling a dream.

Say what you want, but Canales is a good salesman. He seems to really believe in what he's saying, and that's appealing to these young kids.

He surely embedded them Thursday night, telling people the pick before the broadcasters did...

I'm fairly certain that Smitty is banging the table for Coker too.

Michael Barrett!, LB

Who?

Austin Corbett.

Time to put the beer down. That, or pay closer attention.

Damn. I didn't realize that was a flashback! I was like, who the fug is that? fuging Patrick Mahomes

Marvin McNutt. Yeah, we always got excited over nothing.

Damn, he wasn't a UDFA after all. We signed him from Miami's PS.

Thanks, it was Marvin McNutt.

What QBs are left?

Damn, what was that receiver's name? He was a tall dude and his name was Mc-something I believe. He scored a TD in preseason. Damn it's going to bother me until I remember.