A Compilation of Final Mock Drafts (And my Flinal Mock)

[Hoenheim]

I just thought it would be interesting to take a bunch of drafts on the day before draft night and see who most people see us getting. Keep in mind most of these drafts were updated either today or this week)

* Christian McCaffrey ( Bleacher Report, The Ringer, Fox Sports , Walterfootball, BigBlueview, Pittsburgh Post Gazzettt, NY Daily News, Daniel Jeremiah, Zierlien, WRKN.com , Drafttech, Draftsite, NBCDFW, 247Sports, NJ.com , )

* Leonard Fournette ( Sports Illustrated , Fansided)

* Malik Hooker ( The Washington Post )

* Derek Barnett (PFF )

* OJ Howard (Draft Countdown) 

* Jonathan Allen (Draftblaster, Rotoworld)

 

I'll post 2 final mocks , first one is what I would do , second one what I believe the Panthers would do 

Mine :

There are some trades. We traded down with AZ for their 1st and 2nd because stockpiling this many early picks easily lets us slide back into the late 1st. Traded all the 2nd rounders to get back into the late first to snag Ross.  I think McCaffrey and Ross will give us a poo load of young speed and elusiveness that this offense so deseprately needs. Both have great returning ability. We get two very key defensive players in Evans who would be our starting SS of the future who can learn from Adams, and Wise JR. is a huge mother fuger who can learn from Peppers how to wreck NFL QBs. McDermott , well we have to get a tackle in this draft for depth, and that's good enough for a 5th rounder. Wasn't looking to draft two RBs but with James Conner dropping to us all the way in R6 is too much value to pass up, and he can easily take Stewarts role as the Thunder to McCaffrey's lightning for our RBs of the future. I think CAP is the Odd man out in the near future while we hold 4 RBs for the rest of Stewart's career here (Stew, McCaffrey, Conner, Fozzy). Cannon , well he's a 7th Rounder, he could be another explsoive WR or just depth getting anything out of a 7th rounder is good returns to me. 

Round 1 Pick 13 (ARI): Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford (A-)
Round 1 Pick 24 (OAK): John Ross, WR, Washington (A+)
Round 3 Pick 34 (COMP): Justin Evans, SS, Texas A&M (B+)
Round 4 Pick 3 (JAX): Deatrich Wise Jr., DE, Arkansas (A-)
Round 5 Pick 8: Conor McDermott, OT, UCLA (A-)
Round 6 Pick 8: James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh (A+)
Round 7 Pick 15: KD Cannon, WR, Baylor (A)

 

Now for what I think the Panthers will do : 

Alright ladies and Gentleman, in THIS Senario here is whath happens 1-7

Myles Garrett, Jonathan Allen, Derek Barnett, Leonoard Fournette, Rueben Foster, Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore ... 

Yes Gettleman loves Fournette but he  values our top 100 picks way too much and he beives that there will be some great playres still at 8. But not in his wildest dreams, did he imagine SOLOMON THOMAS  AND JAMAL ADAMS both drop to 8. He's also sitting with the Saints and Colts blowing up his phone trying to trade a boatload of picks to most likely get one of these two game changers. Gettleman says , fug those damn Aints, stands pat, and selects : 

R1 P8 : Solomon Thomas 

Gettleman Stays True to his BPA philosphy and gets who might be the best defensive player in this draft not named Myles Garrett. I could actually seee this happening, Thomas is a great player but I can see teams not being exactly sure how he will fit in their scheme, inside or outside, but the Panthers organization have no problems pulling the trigger. we'll use him at DT and DE and he'll learn from one of the greatest EDGE rushers of all time Julius Peppers and from a bevy of seasoned lineman like Short, Johnson, Addison. I think getting Thomas will let Gettleman shift and subsitute everywhere on the Dline, and I think we'll lead the lead in sacks and put the fear of God in the opponents QBs. 

 

So now the draft keeps going down, the Panthers know they have enough ammo to trade back into the late 1st if one of their favorites drops, or they'll just stand pat at pick 40. Okay someone in particular is dropping like  a rock even after having a stellar combine. We're getting late into the 1st and Gettleman is salivating, he trades both our 2nd rounder to Seattle to move up to select 

R1P26 Christian McCaffrey

Gettleman would like to wait to pick 40 to get mcCaffrey but somewhere in the back of his mind he knows its impossible for McCaffrey to make it past the saints P32 or the top 5 of R2 so he pulls the trigger with the trade up . McCaffrey is really a 4 down player and if he's good will turn into our weapon X on offense he covers a lot of offensive needs that we have (PR/KR, slot WR, RB) . Yeah he's mutitalented but his vision , patience, and footwork as an RB have been criminally underrated and I think he has a chip on his shoulders to prove these naysayers that keeps saying he's not a 3 down back wrong. 

R3 P34 DeDe Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma 

There's a lot of different ways that the Panthers could go with the 3rd Round compensatory. There were some pretty decent DBs available and some TEs as well, but I think we still have a need at a speed burning WR to fill Ginns void. Yeah, we have Charles Johnson but I don't believe the Panthers want to put all their eggs in his basket and despite McCaffrey's recieving abilities, they still want him to focus on running. So enter DeDe Westbrook. I think in terms of gamespeed he's just as fast as John Ross but without the terrible medical problems.  He could be absolutely explosive in Shotgun formations when we have McCaffrey lined up in the slot with Westbrook , Benji, and Johnson on the outside with Olsen somewhere in the Mix too he will give NFL defenses absolute Fits trying to stop us. 

That's 3 Picks that have gone by where we've adressed pretty much our most pressing needs besides OT in a very weak draft for tackles. As we get into the mid rounds Gettleman is thinking more BPA from here on out. 

R4P8 Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE, Villanova 

 Gettleman does his classic double dipping and decides to get another DE. The staff loves his measurables but recognizes he's a very raw prospect. Probably a low floor, but VERY high ceiling player. Its R4 so they aren't too worried if he's turns out to be a bust. Gettelman thinks Thomas and Tanoh can be our two DEs of the future and their an ideal situation to learn from some of the best in the business. 

R5P8 Howard Wilson , CB, Houston 

   

Well this was an interesting pick. Even in R5 we still had guys like James Connor and a few halway decent looking OTs sitting there at R5P8 but Gettelman knows we have next to nothing behind Worely and Bradberry and decides to get another promising long Conerback. And by the way, this guy somehow averaged avreaged an interception for every 15 targets last season which is insane and speaks to how deep this DB class is. 

 

R6 P8 James Conner RB, Pitt

 

Yeah I had both McCaffrey and Conner in both my draft and the supposedly more realstic Panthers one. But I believe there's too much logic here. At this point in R6 Gettelman would prefer an OT or SS but there are really none that are that great left on the board. He got his CB and DEs , so he decides to double dip on RBs, considering Stewart's age I don't think he stays anymore than his 2 year contract and we need a young Power runner for the future. James Connor is pretty much the exact opposite of McCaffrey , he's a big ass dude at 6-2 233 and simply prefers to outpower his opponents. He's not as fast as Fournette but boy oh boy the power is there. Hell, I think the organization may even consider that Connor might become our Bellcow and decide to use McCaffrey more as a slot WR depending on how things go. 

 

R7 P16 Zane Gonzoles, K, Arizona State 

  

Yeah we're drafting a kicker, but we're not as stupid as the Bucs are to draft one high. Here's an excerpt from his nfl draft profile  

 Nailed 13 or 15 kicks of 40-plus yards this season including seven of nine from 50-plus. Kicks have desired end over end rotation. Finished career as the 24th most accurate kicker in FBS history. Banged kickoffs into touchbacks at a rate of 75 percent over the last two seasons

Gano has developed a penchant for missing long field goals  in crunch time, and this is seemingly Zane's speciality. At best we get a better kicker that we don't have to worry about losing big games from his kicks. At worst? He's a damn 7th rounder. 

 

 

[therealmjl]

Omg please let this day end and tomorrow so we can get this over with.

I CAN SEE THE LIGHT...tomorrow night 

[carpanfan96]

No way McCaffrey makes it past 14, let alone 20 to get to 26. @@

Sent using the amazing CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[*FreeFua*]

Your personal mock is essentially what mine would look like.

McCaffery, Ross annnnd Evans! Yes please!

Take a couple fliers on Connor and Cannon too! Very nice 

[Hoenheim]

11 minutes ago, carpanfan96 said:

No way McCaffrey makes it past 14, let alone 20 to get to 26. @@

Sent using the amazing CarolinaHuddle mobile app
 

You'd be surprised. There are only 32 picks in the 1st round, there will be a few players that drop. I think in this simulation Denver picked Ramcyzk , the eagles I can't remember. In this draft Adams and McCaffrey both dropped so that changed a bunch of expected picks I'm guessing. 

[OldNorthPowell]

Well since we are giving our opinions on here now. My article for CatCrave.com

http://catcrave.com/2017/04/26/carolina-panthers-final-nfl-mock-draft/

[Malt Liquor]

So Gettleman is going to pick a DT every year in the first round?

[Hoenheim]

1 minute ago, Malt Liquor said:

So Gettleman is going to pick a DT every year in the first round?

Despite my mocks, I wouldn't be even remotely suprised if the pick was Jonathan Allen or Marshon Lattimore. Those two seem like the most Gettleman picks to make to me. But in my Panthers team simulation they were both already gone. 

[t96]

So this pretty much guarantees no McC to the Panthers this draft.

[Hoenheim]

1 minute ago, thomas96 said:

So this pretty much guarantees no McC to the Panthers this draft.

No not really. I think its mostly people copy cat-ing eachother. Fournette is almost believed to be consensus to the Jags. Most people think the Panthers are obsessed with getting the best RB possible and CM is the best one left on the board in the most popular senario of Fournette going early. 

That being said, I think there's incredibly sound logic in it. Best case senario he solves 3 different offensive needs and allows us to be more flexible with the rest of our picks too. 

[TheSpecialJuan]

I hate it

[Shocker]

If this does happen I am going to go nuts.  That would be amazing.

[JawnyBlaze]

I don't like the first one (don't want Ross at all. Maybe if he fell to #64.  Maybe.) Really like the second one though. Good job overall.   

And lol at Thomas is a DT. He's a classically built 3-4 DE. He's almost CJ's size, just a little smaller. Would be a great pick for us if Fournette isn't there.