#1 Priority for Next Year

[Panther Believer]

On 11/1/2020 at 1:32 AM, rayzor said:

Throw everything we've got at building a stud OL. We've got decent weapons on offense and a QB that can use them. Give Bridgewater some time and CMC some holes and I think we're in the playoffs. 

A good OL can make an average QB look really good.  A bad OL can turn an elite QB turn into jimmy clausen. 

For once in over a decade, let's have an OL that won't get the QB killed.

Couldn't agree more. Just look at the Raiders blue print, when you give Derrick Carr that much time, even he can look good.

[BPF]

On 11/1/2020 at 10:24 AM, LinvilleGorge said:

Yep. If Hurney is retained, what's the point? At some point, if it's blatantly obvious the organization either doesn't care about winning or is incapable of making decisions to facilitate winning then why continue to torture yourself as a fan? Before we drafted Peppers I was pretty much just a general NFL fan. I had casual interest in the Panthers as the local team, but I primarily just tuned in for interesting match ups, to follow Tar Heels in the NFL, and had favorite players I liked to watch more so than favorite teams. I'd probably start going back that direction. 

Losing is one thing. Every long term Panthers fan can deal with losing. But re-upping the guy who has facilitated the majority of that losing? Nah, can't do it. That'd be it.

This x1000, really would lose all hope in everything going forward if nothing is done in that regard. Honestly, I would be happy if they gave him a "promotion" to get him away from GM role; don't let him do anything with money, contracts, or as important with this rebuild the draft. 

[Khyber53]

On 11/1/2020 at 1:32 AM, rayzor said:

Throw everything we've got at building a stud OL. We've got decent weapons on offense and a QB that can use them. Give Bridgewater some time and CMC some holes and I think we're in the playoffs. 

A good OL can make an average QB look really good.  A bad OL can turn an elite QB turn into jimmy clausen. 

For once in over a decade, let's have an OL that won't get the QB killed.

This makes perfect sense. Load that O-line and just make it a priority. It will get expensive and as they near the end of their rookie contracts, trade them to other teams and reload again.

 

[Basbear]

20 hours ago, beo said:

Well, BPA of course first and foremost, but needs? In this order.

OL

MLB

DB

QB

Follow the 49ers blueprint, trenches and defense with a game manager at QB.

Need to add TE somewhere, also need 3 of them too.

Annndddd need backup DL.

Team just has sooo many holes, just BPA and its a near lock that it fills a huge hole.  

[firefox1234]

I'm all for BPA but OL has to be fixed.

[ecu88]

In the first 3 rounds, we really need to address: OL (G/C; both badly) and MLB.

 

Prob not realistic but I would for this to happen.

1st rd Micah Parsons, MLB

2nd rd Wyatt Davis, G/T

3rd rd Alec Lindstrom, C

 

 

[Waldo]

Oline should absolutely be high on our list but if a franchise QB is on the board when we pick, pull that trigger. Too many holes to not grab guys that project well in our systems vs over-drafting for need. Get the best players and target one or two spots of depth in this draft that overlaps with need. 

[beo]

17 hours ago, Basbear said:

Need to add TE somewhere, also need 3 of them too.

Annndddd need backup DL.

Team just has sooo many holes, just BPA and its a near lock that it fills a huge hole.  

Definitely, I was just talking from the poll. BPA all day for us right now.

[hepcat]

OL isn't as big of an issue as y'all are making it out to be. There were games Bridgewater didn't even get sacked. I know it's not a strength of the team, but I do think this team could improve the OL without spending a 1st round draft pick on the position.

We need a QB. Bridgewater is too physically limited to keep us competitive with the top teams in the NFL. What they all have in common is guys with big arms that can throw deep and enough athleticism to buy time when pressured. We aren't going anywhere with someone with Teddy's arm strength and physical limitations. 

But if we aren't in position to draft a franchise QB, the other option is to draft defense again next season and build a powerhouse defense that can carry the team. Bridgewater could be successful on a team that can force turnovers regularly and shut opposing offenses down. 

[Sgt Schultz]

39 minutes ago, hepcat said:

OL isn't as big of an issue as y'all are making it out to be. There were games Bridgewater didn't even get sacked. I know it's not a strength of the team, but I do think this team could improve the OL without spending a 1st round draft pick on the position.

We need a QB. Bridgewater is too physically limited to keep us competitive with the top teams in the NFL. What they all have in common is guys with big arms that can throw deep and enough athleticism to buy time when pressured. We aren't going anywhere with someone with Teddy's arm strength and physical limitations. 

But if we aren't in position to draft a franchise QB, the other option is to draft defense again next season and build a powerhouse defense that can carry the team. Bridgewater could be successful on a team that can force turnovers regularly and shut opposing offenses down. 

A good part of our 2015 success was a defense that not only limited scoring, but forced turnovers and converted them into points, or gave the offense a short field to work with.  The Ravens have been good at that for an eternity, it seems.  The Bucs were great at that when they won it all (I think they scored 21 points on defense against the Raiders in the Super Bowl).  It is a pretty good formula for success, regardless of the QB or offensive firepower.

I disagree with how big of a mess our OL is, though.  They just played the role of sieves against Atlanta.  Not Pittsburgh, or Philly, or Baltimore, or the Rams, or the Bucs, but the Falcons.  As a unit, they are the weakest group we have, even including LBs (perhaps largely on the fact we need 5 competent OL and only 3 LBs). 

I do think the OL talent available in this draft affords us the ability to look elsewhere in round 1 if there is somebody available at one of our other positions that really lights us up.  The case can be made for a MLB or even a TE, depending on where we wind up in the draft.  From what I have seen of the OL depth and where it is rated in the draft, if we are drafting around #7 again and nobody available there screams to us, trading down and getting a lower first and an additional second or even third would be worth considering.  There should be some good OL talent still on the board, and we still have more holes than picks.

Truth is, in the best case I think our "hole to pick" ratio may get back to breakeven after next season.  That is assuming our GM does not do something dumb like create more holes for less picks.

[stirs]

Sitting at 12 currently and after this week, could be top 10

[Jacabee]

Can anyone more versed in the college football landscape chime in? MLB is clearly the biggest weakness from my vantage. You watch whitehead on film and you can see why he was named captain; 100 percent motor and no quit. However, he’s very slow at diagnosing the play and lacks the athletic tools at this stage to compensate. You’ll frequently see him run the other way on counters and screens. It’s a brutal combination for a mlb.

As far as “top focus”; it’s a boring answer but is true. It’s relative. I’d weigh mlb the highest if the guy is there; however if it’s close I’d probably weigh a can’t miss o-line prospect higher just based on how the team is being built. It also very much depends on how the rest of the class looks. Good MLBs and interior o line are historically there in latter rounds.

In short, I’m very curious about who Keuchly likes in this draft.

[shaqattaq]

On 11/1/2020 at 1:08 AM, NanuqoftheNorth said:

Until the OL gets a significant upgrade the offense will continue to struggle and the defense, no matter how good, will continue to be gassed by the end of the 3rd quarter.

Success is predicated on dominating at the point of attack, the offensive and defensive lines.

Defensive line looks promising, the offensive line needs to be next.

Agree 100%. No matter which QB we put behind this line, he will suffer. I'm not saying that we don't draft a franchise QB if we get a chance. IOL can be fixed in the mid rounds, and we are also talking free agency and keeping our own players here (Moton). That being said, Jeez, we need a MLB too.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

4 minutes ago, shaqattaq said:

Agree 100%. No matter which QB we put behind this line, he will suffer. I'm not saying that we don't draft a franchise QB if we get a chance. IOL can be fixed in the mid rounds, and we are also talking free agency and keeping our own players here (Moton). That being said, Jeez, we need a MLB too.

This 100%