2015 Draft

[UKPanther94]

Obviously draft talk is the bottom of things right now, but it's fun looking back at the results of how we did. Given how a lot of so called 'experts' were critical of the Panthers this time, especially for drafting up for Funchess I think Gettleman did an incredible job getting solid value.

We've had 2 starters come out of it, along with CAP emerging as a possible really good #2 option behind Stewart. Williams looks like he has the potential to take over the starting RT job next season while Mayo has been a solid special teams guy all season. Considering the low picks it's incredible how Gettleman continues to keep on finding value, even on a draft that was fairly low on impact but the long term upside is immense. Hopefully in spring we're talking about who we're taking with the 32nd pick!

[UpstatePanther]

Fug that. When Stewart leaves, CAP will be our future starter. I think Wegher eventually takes over for Fozzy Whitaker too. Also, it would really be nice if we could bring back Lee Ward and groom him for the future FB spot, right @Jeremy Igo? ;)

[Hoenheim]

I don't know if we have any position that is an immediate pressing need in this draft which could work really well into drafting BPA and not reaching for needs which I hate.

This coming draft will probably be vast majority defense since our key offensive positions are covered.

 

WR: With the panthers investing high draft picks for receivers in the last two drafts, its hard to imagine them going after the WR position this draft unless they feel like they find a steal late in the draft. Kelvin will be back next year, Funchess is has shown some real promise, and Philly Brown has been solid overall. Olsen and Ted Ginn will both be 31 next season. That's nothing to sneeze at but they should be good for a couple more season at least especially Greg. Ginn will eventually start losing speed in the upcoming years. I really want the panthers to use their first pick to draft that fastest damn wide receiver in the draft to groom to replace Ted Ginn .

RB: Jonathan Stewart will be back strong at 29 years old and still being quite fresh for that age considering he split carries with DeAngelo or was out injured for the longest time . With Cameron Artis Payne putting up decent performances in very limited playtime and Tolbert coming back (at age 30) , Running Back is probably the one position the team will not pull the trigger on this year. Although in the next few years we may have to draft an RB with Stewart and Tolbert getting older , IF Cameron Artis Payne ends up not working out. Nothing to do with 2016 draft though.

CB: I wouldn't mind getting a really good CB in round 1 or 2. That would be huge if we get a another really good CB beside Josh and with Bene and Coleman coming back that could be huge for us going into next season.

DE: Get a really good defensive end or two , with Short and Star back next year, along with Addison, Ealy, and Delaire all showing promise this season, we could have a very dominant DlIne coming into next season.

DT: Not a need at all with Short and Star , but drafting a DT in the later round could give us some good depth at the position.

LB: We have good young players in Luke and Shaq. Thomas Davis will be 33 coming into next season so drafting another LB isn't out of the question actually.

OLineman : Not sure if panthres will use a high pick to get one, but later picks why not.

I can see if we chose to draft for mostly defense it wouldn't be a bad move at all. I'd still like to see them draft one good offensive player in a high round (Round 1, 2, or 3) and I'd be okay with the rest of the pics being defense.

I'd say it'll go somewhere along these lines:

Round 1 : CB

Round 2 : DE

Round 3 : Oline

Round 4: DT

Round 5: LB

Round 6: WR (some speed guy?)

Round 7: ?? Not sure

 

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

DE, A solid blocking TE with Hands..CB and OL depth..always needed.

Even competetion for like a Star..in case the team feels he outprices his production.  Always drafting big dudes. 

 

[CPantherKing]

Shaq Thompson has been under utilized and over shadowed. Not his fault. Did the Panthers get their 1st round value from this pick? 

Is Devin Funchess worth 3 draft picks? No.

Is Daryl Williams worth 3 draft picks? No.

David Mayo just took up a roster spot.

CAP. Shows promise. I see him as a serviceable back up who will eventually get beat out.

From a value perspective, I say the Panthers missed big for overall return in year 1. They did above average for talent/potential/project picks.

I believe Shaq will be a future factor. Funchess reminds me of LaFell. Daryl Williams is an unknown like Kugbila. Mayo is an afterthought. CAP will be a good back up for a few years.

Worst of the past 3 drafts. Need a few years to really assess it well. This is just based on return in the first year, current potential, and draft value returned if they were to be traded for a draft pick now. I see Shaq and Funchess as the only players of the five that other teams would trade a 2016 draft pick to acquire.

[Kevin Greene]

bant

[iamcline]

4 minutes ago, CPantherKing said:

Shaq Thompson has been under utilized and over shadowed. Not his fault. Did the Panthers get their 1st round value from this pick? 

Is Devin Funchess worth 3 draft picks? No.

Is Daryl Williams worth 3 draft picks? No.

David Mayo just took up a roster spot.

CAP. Shows promise. I see him as a serviceable back up who will eventually get beat out.

From a value perspective, I say the Panthers missed big for overall return in year 1. They did above average for talent/potential/project picks.

I believe Shaq will be a future factor. Funchess reminds me of LaFell. Daryl Williams is an unknown like Kugbila. Mayo is an afterthought. CAP will be a good back up for a few years.

Worst of the past 3 drafts. Need a few years to really assess it well. This is just based on return in the first year, current potential, and draft value returned if they were to be traded for a draft pick now. I see Shaq and Funchess as the only players of the five that other teams would trade a 2016 draft pick to acquire.

Shaq, Mayo, Williams and CAP are all four picks that were used for the future. Shaq to replace Davis, Mayo to replace Klein, Williams to replace Oher (at the time) and CAP to work into the #2 role. Funchess' growth was stunted by the need for him to learn different positions.

[Mother Grabber]

Funchess had a decent rookie season in just the last half of the year. he showed improvement from game to game, and had a great one to end the regular season. if he continues to grow like he did, he's going to be a great compliment to KB.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

Funchess was always looked at as a project, not to worried about him coming along slowly. He's looked like a solid pick here late in the season.

Shaq is going to be a good one. He's the eventual successor to Davis.

Williams I was really impressed with. He looked great in camp, just got injured. He may end up being our eventual LT in a couple years, which for a 4th rounder is insane value.

CAP I'm not really going too crazy over, but I think he's still a solid pick and will contribute in a RBBC situation.

The entire 2015 draft really was a weak draft overall. There were probably only about 15 legitimate 1st round grade prospects, with Shaq being the very last one on the board when we picked. Most years there are 25-30 or more. Given that it was a weak draft overall and we picked at the very end of the rounds I think we did very well.

[TheRed]

35 minutes ago, CPantherKing said:

Funchess reminds me of LaFell.

Please don't do that.

Unlike Lafell, who publicly shunned the responsibility of being a focal point in our offense, Funchess has embraced his role already as a rookie. It took him time to get up to speed with Cam obviously, but he has the talent, and the willingness to do what he has to for our offense. That was Lafell's problem, he had the talent, he just didn't have the heart to pair it with.

[CPantherKing]

8 minutes ago, TheRed said:

Please don't do that.

Unlike Lafell, who publicly shunned the responsibility of being a focal point in our offense, Funchess has embraced his role already as a rookie. It took him time to get up to speed with Cam obviously, but he has the talent, and the willingness to do what he has to for our offense. That was Lafell's problem, he had the talent, he just didn't have the heart to pair it with.

Not quite sure what you are speaking about. This is complimentary as LaFell was more productive than Funchess while getting up to speed with Clausen in 2010 and a rookie Cam Newton in 2011. I was expecting people to say he has not achieved the same level as LaFell in his rookie season. LaFell battled through the drops and so has Funchess. Both have similar playing styles.

LaFell was never and will never be a #1. He is a solid #2 option. Not sure where the heart issue comes from. LaFell had issues with hands and mental mistakes. Do you think the Patriots would have grabbed LaFell to win a Super Bowl if he had issues with his heart to play?

Point is we should expect the same from Funchess. He will be paired #2 with KB and could slip to a #3 if his hands and mental errors continue to show up. Nothing from Funchess would lead you to believe he could be the #1 and scare a defense.

[TheNewStandard]

CAP reminds me a lot like Deshaun Foster. He's a good backup to Stewart and could become our feature back after Stewart's contract is up. 

Funchess could be our next Moose and I don't see Dickson going anywhere and will be solid and may even become more valuable than Rosario in his prime.

Corey Brown will replace Cotchery and I'm definitely cool with Corey in the slot.

Shaq is going to be a special LB in time and he has quite the motor to improve as TD's tenure is done.

we need a replacement for Remmers and upgrades from both safety positions and to find immediate help bias draft/FA for coverage backs.

in all honesty, we could become a 3-4 defense until we revamp our DE situation. We've missed not having a DB who can blitz because of having to deploy a zone philosophy just to try and cover our deficiency's in pass defense. 

We have to address drafting a replacement for Tolbert and that won't be easy, so now would be the time to draft a bruiser who can, run, block and catch...which will not be an easy task because Tolbert is our Swiss Army knife.

this next draft will be a huge one in terms of adding future starters that can be called upon for any situation. 

 

 

[Pantera_Negro_Mateo]

1 hour ago, CPantherKing said:

Shaq Thompson has been under utilized and over shadowed. Not his fault. Did the Panthers get their 1st round value from this pick? 

While I agree Shaq should have seen more snaps, he wasn't brought in to make a huge impact this season. He was brought in so that when Thomas Davis retired, his replacement would be someone who has plenty of NFL experience and had been mentored by the man himself, not a rookie. 

[Ship]

i like this draft, it's a slow burn draft whose real impact won't be felt for another year or two. the first two felt like bigger impacts because our team was weaker. aside from KB and Trai last year, none of the rookies stepped up until the end of the season-- even Trai started off in a timeshare at G. this draft is our first one where guys are gonna get more of a chance to incubate and grow before we send them out. i think we're a little ahead of schedule though because of their talent and team injuries. right now, i predict Shaq, Funch, and either CAP or Williams turns into our future starters. i'd love it to be both CAP and Williams, but our number of successful picks under Gettleman has been about 3 per draft (Kony and Bene are sharing the 3rd spot right now for 2014 until they both blow up). 

i'm excited to see this coming draft because i think we're gonna see more pinpointed picks like this past draft and they're gonna be big ones because we're probably gonna be favoring D-line and DBs to take over for old guys. we need a backup DT to replace dwan, we need at least 1 DE maybe 2, we need an outside CB, and a SS. this draft will also be interesting because we might have a nicer FA come in at one of those positions, though not a "tiffanys" guy.