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Jeremiah: Panthers "dead set" on drafting an offensive lineman


Mr. Scot
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1 hour ago, Jesse said:

Not sure if you’re trolling or not, but this is flat out wrong. QB > EDGE > OT with the top of the draft. I I’m on mobile, but there have been lots of articles and analyses that show picking running backs and receivers at the top of the first round don’t equate to more wins over the course of a season. 

Not running backs. QB, DE, should be atop your list at 6. Those are the the stopping scoring or starts the scoring. At six you've got to look at those two because it's so close to top five. Once you get out of the top five OT, WR, DT are next.

They have a chance at an elite playmaker at 6. Unfortunately they squandered picks so you can't go playmaker at 6 and OT in the second which would be ideal. Theyve backed themselves into a corner of their own making.

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I hope this is wrong, and somehow at the same time hope it's right.

I don't like how leaky our Front Office may be...if this is true....and I don't like the idea of hell or high water taking an OL at 6, if he's not grading out that way.

I really want Icky.

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20 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Two things that bother me...

First, they smokescreened interest in a quarterback last year. They could be doing something similar this year.

And second, that phrase "even if it's a reach" isn't something I like to hear.

Most of us, myself included, was upset we didn't pick slater last year.  Which on most board would have been a reach. 

How did you feel when we picked horn over slater?

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2 minutes ago, pantherclaw said:

Most of us, myself included, was upset we didn't pick slater last year.  Which on most board would have been a reach. 

How did you feel when we picked horn over slater?

I'm not Mr Scot, but I wouldn't say most were upset about passing on Slater last year. A lot of folks wanted Fields. A lot of the "experts" had Slater as the 1B OT in that draft. He wouldn't have been a reach at all.

As for Horn over Slater? I thought it was an ok pick since corner has been a need for quite a while. I also said I would have taken Slater over Horn since tackles impact every offensive snap whereas corners do not impact every defensive one.

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I said last year I wanted Slater once Sewell was off the board.  #8 was a little higher than most had Slater projected, but our need was also higher than the average team.  Or a team with a poor OL for that matter.

I can't criticize the Horn pick other than that because we have very limited results to base it on.  If Horn turns out to be a shutdown corner, that makes it a tossup in my eyes because we do know Slater is pretty good at his trade.

I'm still trying to figure out how we appear to have more needs now than we did a year ago at this point.  That took real skill.

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15 minutes ago, WarHeel said:

Is there really reaching involved at Pick#6? You’re likely getting the best or second best option at the position.

This is the debate around Tyler Linderbaum. Checks off every box but do you want to use a #6 on a center? That's higher than Luke and Christian were picked. Kalil was the top C of his class and we got him at the bottom of the second.

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5 minutes ago, MechaZain said:

This is the debate around Tyler Linderbaum. Checks off every box but do you want to use a #6 on a center? That's higher than Luke and Christian were picked. Kalil was the top C of his class and we got him at the bottom of the second.

Times have changed since Kalil was picked though. Fitts went on record to say no team would trade any O-lineman last season. That means teams are coveting them. People have been saying for years that quality O-linemen are getting harder and harder to find. Linderbaum is being heralded as the best center prospect to come along in years and the best O-line prospect in this draft. Centers usually help make pre snap adjustments and are considered the captain of the O-line. If the team feels Linderbaum can be their center for the next decade, then yeah, you take him at 6 and don't worry about fan complaining, "expert analysis" panning the pick, or anything else. For me, I would take him at 6. I think he can be that guy and that he has the college career to back it up.

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41 minutes ago, jayboogieman said:

Times have changed since Kalil was picked though. Fitts went on record to say no team would trade any O-lineman last season. That means teams are coveting them. People have been saying for years that quality O-linemen are getting harder and harder to find. Linderbaum is being heralded as the best center prospect to come along in years and the best O-line prospect in this draft. Centers usually help make pre snap adjustments and are considered the captain of the O-line. If the team feels Linderbaum can be their center for the next decade, then yeah, you take him at 6 and don't worry about fan complaining, "expert analysis" panning the pick, or anything else. For me, I would take him at 6. I think he can be that guy and that he has the college career to back it up.

I think this is what they mean when they say they don't mind reaching. They feel like they need to get an anchor OLine player at 6, if it means taking a Center higher then they would usually be comfortable so be it. 

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