2018 Carolina Panthers draft summary - Reasonable Expectations

[Jeremy Igo]

2018 Carolina Panthers draft summary

Reasonable expectations for the drafted rookies of 2018. 

1. DJ Moore - WR - Must contribute immediately. The first WR taken in the 2018 draft means he has to produce right away. No excuses here really unless he is injured. 1000 yard season with a hand full of touchdowns would be nice and totally justify his selection. 

2. Donte Jackson - CB - Jackson also must see playing time immediately. The Panthers ignored more glaring needs to select him, he has to show us why. I am excited about this kid, love the attitude he brings and think it will be a perfect compliment to the quiet James Bradberry. Looking forward to seeing Jackson run step for step with Ted Ginn and DeSean Jackson. 

3. Rashaan Gaulden - S - As a third round safety the expecation here is a bit lower. I don't suspect he will contribute much right away, but should be by mid season as he comes up to speed. I just cannot bank on a converted nickel to safety playing much from the get go. If he does, great. But I am not getting my hopes up. Situational guy against two tight end sets would be my best guess early on. 

4a. Ian Thomas - TE - This is a developmental pick and should be treated as such. Next year I would love to see this guy get real playing time. This year I suspect his role will look a lot like Manhertz from last season. Very few reps unless injury occurs. If he can come in and really show an aptitude to pick up the offense, there is a chance he leapfrogs Manhertz right away. Fingers crossed. 

4b. Marquis Haynes - Edge - Special teams player if he makes the regular roster. Suspect he is more of a practice squad project at this point. All his selling points sound good, but more skilled rookies have struggled ever to get playing time from Rivera. When it comes down to it, they won't use him. 

5. Jermaine Carter - ILB - High character guy with strong work ethic. Has special teams written all over him. I am going to nickname him Miracle Whip because he is a possible substitute for Mayo next season. 

7a. Andre Smith - ILB - Same as Carter, only he is coming off a knee injury. If that works out well, Carter out, Smith in. If not, practice squad awaits. 

7b. Kendrick Norton - DT - Could replace Kyle Love next season. Will likely be found on the practice squad this year and brought up if injury occurs. Could be a more solid draft pick than we expect. The roster is short on pure space eating DT's with the departure of Star Lotulelei. Good opportunity for this young man.

 

[Donald LaFell]

Excited for the season, excited for Moore. The rest is a crapshoot. Scared that Hurney has never drafted a great WR. We’ll see. 

[TylerVagyler]

I think this is fairly accurate. Although I think Gaulden could surprise some people and play a bigger role than what is stated here. 

[Jeremy Igo]

14 minutes ago, TylerVagyler said:

I think this is fairly accurate. Although I think Gaulden could surprise some people and play a bigger role than what is stated here. 

Hope so. Exceeding these expectations would be very welcome. I think this should be the baseline though. 

[TylerVagyler]

Just now, Jeremy Igo said:

Hope so. Exceeding these expectations would be very welcome. I think this should be the baseline though. 

Do you think they’re still looking to bring in another safety? I’d love to see Boston back. 

[Jeremy Igo]

13 minutes ago, TylerVagyler said:

Do you think they’re still looking to bring in another safety? I’d love to see Boston back. 

Yeah, Hurney knows this was not a knock it out of the park draft. Plenty of needs still. I suspect an active free agency through final cuts. 

[GoobyPls]

The main thing that bothered me about this draft as that we missed out on the two most stacked positions in the class, RB and interior lineman.

 

 

[Jeremy Igo]

1 minute ago, GoobyPls said:

The main thing that bothered me about this draft as that we missed out on the two most stacked positions in the class, RB and interior lineman.

 

 

Yeah that is tough to swallow.

 

Also feels like it is heavy in role player selections. Players were brought in for certain situations. Not sure that is smart considering other teams do this thing called game planning. 

[Khyber53]

Miracle Whip cracked me up!!!

[gmonjimbo]

21 minutes ago, GoobyPls said:

The main thing that bothered me about this draft as that we missed out on the two most stacked positions in the class, RB and interior lineman.

 

 

Not much they could do about that unless they packaged their two thirds or a combination of a 2nd and 3rd. There was a big run of RBs and G/C from the early to mid 2nd round. When Rashad Penny and Sony Michel were selected in the 1st round, our chances of finding an impact RB in 2nd or 3rd became slim. 

[kepickle]

i like this draft class better than the last 2 under DG but I like this 1st 3 picks (Rashaan Gaulden )will start at FS from the start I like Norton pick & Hope he replaces Love but I don't think Butler will stay healthy & as for the rest I agree with the above I do hope we use them 

[rhyslloyd]

This feels like the Marty Hurney drafts of old to me. A few reasonable picks and the rest are head scratchers who will probably be out of the league in a few years and you’ll completely forget they ever existed. 

[Ivan The Awesome]

Hurn Dog having a decent draft. Solid day one starters and solid depth. I'm worried about the C position seeing as Kalil is coming back from injury. Also it's his last year. I guess next year's draft we can take a top rated C. The secondary looks good. I hope they gel quickly. 

 

 

[unicar15]

Hurney didn’t trade next years 1st

Hurney didn’t draft a small school player

Hurney stuck to big-time football conferences

Hurney addressed need while still taking the consensus best players on the board (other than Gaulden but I think that’s debated). Imo Jackson was the BPA at his pick for positions that were in the running. 

 

It’s not saying much but this is Hurneys best draft.