Mel Kipers Panthers Draft Grade (ESPN Insider)

[CAPantherFan]

Carolina Panthers: A-

Top needs: Wide receiver, cornerback, defensive end

Like their NFC South rivals in Atlanta, the Panthers went with a wide receiver in Round 1, taking Maryland's D.J. Moore at No. 24. I'm a big fan of Moore, who is more than a workout warrior, though he put up freakish numbers at the combine with a 4.42 40 time and 39.5-inch vertical. He was productive for the Terps, and he's great after the catch. He runs through arm tackles, and he's built like a tailback. The Panthers needed a guy like that for Cam Newton, and it wasn't going to be veteran Torrey Smith (another Terp), who was brought in last month. Moore could be Newton's favorite target in a hurry.

After parting ways with Daryl Worley, the Panthers needed cornerbacks to compete for the spot opposite James Bradberry. They added two on Day 2 with Donte Jackson (pick 55), one of the fastest players in this class (4.32 40), and Rashaan Gaulden (85), whom I had rated as more of a sixth-round talent. (Remember that veteran safety Kurt Colemanis no longer with the team.) Jackson is only 5-10 and 178 pounds, but he's an elite athlete. Ian Thomas could develop into the heir apparent to Greg Olsen, and to get my fourth-ranked tight end at 104 is great value. Marquis Haynes(136) is another good player on Day 3.

If there's an issue with this class, it's not getting a pass-rusher. Are they really going to rely on 38-year-old Julius Peppers to play almost 500 snaps again? Mario Addison is also going to be 31 by Week 1, and you face Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and Jameis Winston six times a year in that division. I liked the depth of this class, though, and won't ding it too much. There is value from top to bottom.

 

ROUND/PICK	NAME	POS	COLLEGE
1/24	D.J. Moore	WR	MARYLAND
2/55	Donte Jackson	CB	LSU
3/85	Rashaan Gaulden	CB	TENNESSEE
4/101	Ian Thomas	TE	INDIANA
4/136	Marquis Haynes	OLB	OLE MISS
5/161	Jermaine Carter Jr.	CB	MARYLAND
7/234	Andre Smith

[The Lobo]

Every site I’ve read so far has loved our draft. Maybe I’m missing something here, but I just don’t see it. I didn’t think our draft was bad, but I didn’t think it was great either. Well, the critics know more than I do, so if they like it, I’m good with it.

[ForJimmy]

We got a starting WR and CB for day 1 and possible Safety (if not day 1 then later in the season). We also got Olsen’s potential replacement. Everything else is just depth which makes for a great draft in my eyes.

[panther252]

Wtf he had Gaulden rated as a 6th round talent?! 

[Hoenheim]

Just now, panther252 said:

Wtf he had Gaulden rated as a 6th round talent?! 

I did like 1000 mock drafts before the draft and never even saw Gauldens name floating around in the 7th round 

[PhillyB]

it was a very good draft by all reasonable standards.

[unicar15]

Gaulden is going to be a safety. He moves as well as Coleman and is a good size. He’s not playing nickel...he’s going to cover TEs and play centerfield. He doesn’t need to move like a corner bc he isn’t going to play corner.

[Hoenheim]

1 minute ago, unicar15 said:

Gaulden is going to be a safety. He moves as well as Coleman and is a good size. He’s not playing nickel...he’s going to cover TEs and play centerfield. He doesn’t need to move like a corner bc he isn’t going to play corner.

comparing players to Coleman is a compliment? The only time Coleman was any good was when he had Norman shutting down 1/2 of the field. 

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

All the Gettlemaniacs are freaking out. They spent the whole draft careening around in a rage bender, livid and incredulous about how obviously horrible all of Hurney's picks were.

"I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THIS GUY!!! HE'S TERRIBLE!!!" 

"DAVE WOULD HAVE GOT MINKAH FITZPATRICK IN THE FOURTH, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS IDIOT HURNEY DOING?!?"

Now they're seeing that more clear-eyed and objective people around the league unanimously feel that this was a brilliant draft. And it hurts them. It really hurts them.

[Riverboat Ron]

I still don't understand why we don't just draft all-pros with our picks. It's not that difficult, you have a bunch of professional scouts on the Huddle that know way more than NFL scouts and GM's. All you have to do is only draft players you know the name of, go down a big board and pick the top player and only analyze highlight tapes. 

[JARROD]

I think Hurney got a pretty good draft without having to jump up like I thought he would, got a great wide receiver that had 37% of Maryland’s offense by himself with 4 quarterbacks and tons of contested catches, a super fast corner with an attitude like Josh Norman that we needed yesterday, and the tightend. The rest I’m in a reserved status only because I don’t know that much about.

[FakePlasticTrees]

A- sounds about right. I do not understand the level criticism emanating from many. I will admit to never being a fan of Gettleman; however, I was also not a fan of the rehiring of Hurney. Color me impressed. Perhaps he really has learned from past mistakes.

[Seltzer]

19 minutes ago, PhillyB said:

it was a very good draft by all reasonable standards.

Huddle and reasonable standards are mutually contradictory lol.

But you are 100% correct

[Seltzer]

18 minutes ago, Hoenheim said:

comparing players to Coleman is a compliment? The only time Coleman was any good was when he had Norman shutting down 1/2 of the field. 

Coleman was decent in 2016 also but you are right that he only looked like a Pro Bowler when he had an All-Pro beside him.

Coleman certainly wasn't the only problem in the secondary last year, but he was a major liability. 

I like Coleman as a person, but he got beat over the top more often that not last year.

The Julio drop play epitomized his play last year even though he got lucky on that one particular play