Tony Pauline: people in league circles believe that the #Panthers will select LT Charles Cross

[Panthers Rhule]

11 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

 

If we don't draft Pickett then I won't be mad if we get an LT. We need one or the other. If we do go LT then I wonder if we would try to make a deal for Baker?

9 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

 

This is interesting. These players should be players unavailable in the 4th round. It implies the possibility of a trade down.  

[rayzor]

I just have this feeling we'll go defense in the first again. Can't shake it. There's been way too much talk about offensive players. Same thing happened last year. I don't think they can help themselves. At least Rhule can't. Hopefully someone else is running the show this year 

[Khyber53]

4 minutes ago, rayzor said:

I just have this feeling we'll go defense in the first again. Can't shake it. There's been way too much talk about offensive players. Same thing happened last year. I don't think they can help themselves. At least Rhule can't. Hopefully someone else is running the show this year 

You may very well be right. And looking at how our defense just completely fell apart after the Dallas game, a strong case could be made for the best edge or LB available.

Still, I want to see us grab the best O-line player available at 6.

[saX man]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Penning?? I think you are going to see that definitely isn't true.

Cross perhaps but not Penning.

I’m telling you—Penning may be the target honestly. Sewell, Mac, and Fields we’re all the hype last year and people only caught wind of our Horn/Surtain love a week or so before the draft, I’m telling you Cross is as high as #5 overall on some boards and as low as the 5th OL. Bottom line is Neal/Cross is not a top-2 and then the rest.

[onmyown]

53 minutes ago, rayzor said:

Who were people in league circles saying we were going to draft last year?

Actually, if I remember correctly the census around pretty much everyone was either Horn or Fields if Sewell was gone, mainly Horn, with some smaller whispers of Surtain and a random Smiths here and there…and that pretty much happened.

Granted that was much closer than draft time than around this time.

But seeing as this will be the third year in a row the Panthers have a top 10 pick, that isn’t surprising, most mocks worth their salt, closer to draft time, generally nail the top 5 and often 7/8 of the top 10 picks/moves of the draft.

Which makes sense as they’re the easiest.

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by onmyown

[Snake]

This is probably the best choice. We won't win many games with Darnald but building our line really should have been a year one priority. It only took us 3 to get there. 

[firefox1234]

41 minutes ago, rayzor said:

I just have this feeling we'll go defense in the first again. Can't shake it. There's been way too much talk about offensive players. Same thing happened last year. I don't think they can help themselves. At least Rhule can't. Hopefully someone else is running the show this year 

I have this gut feeling all the top OL will get picked ahead of us, especially since there are no QBs worth top 10 picks and one of the top DL will fall to us. It won’t be a tragedy since our DL needs just as much help as the OL but I still would prefer one of these OTs.

Edited April 5, 2022 by firefox1234

[Jay Roosevelt]

Cross is my #1 OT this year, so I'd love this pick. I do think we'd take Neal or Ekwonu over him if either are there at our pick, though. I just think Cross is the best pass protector in this class.

That said, we certainly could opt for a QB. The thing there is if we pick Willis it still won't help us much this year at QB, so we'd still be in the market for a veteran QB or stuck with Darnold.

Can you even imagine how the fan base will be clamoring for Willis if Darnold is the starter to begin the year? My lord.

[hepcat]

LT has been an issue for almost 10 years. This class has some of the best LT prospects in the last 10 years and the Panthers are in PRIME position to get one of them. They’d be foolish to pass one up in a weak ass QB draft.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, saX man said:

I’m telling you—Penning may be the target honestly. Sewell, Mac, and Fields we’re all the hype last year and people only caught wind of our Horn/Surtain love a week or so before the draft, I’m telling you Cross is as high as #5 overall on some boards and as low as the 5th OL. Bottom line is Neal/Cross is not a top-2 and then the rest.

I am not sure where you are getting your info from but it definitely doesn't seem to match up with many of the anonymous quotes from scouts that are being reported. 

I don't disagree that there will definitely be differences in various teams boards but I don't think you are gonna have many(if any) teams with Penning over Neal or Ekwonu. 

And I like Penning but he is definitely a lesser version of a guy like Ekwonu specifically. 

Not that I would be upset if we took Penning but I probably would if it's over Neal and Ekwonu. I wouldn't necessarily love it if it were over Cross, either. 

I can see the argument for Cross over Penning and vice versa. I just like Cross as a much more polished pass protector versus the much less polished mauler that Penning is.

Edited April 5, 2022 by kungfoodude

[XClown1986]

If Cross had stayed in college another year, he may have been the top tackle drafted in 2023. The meteoric rise is because he is already so good and has plenty of room to improve. You draft based on potential and he has more than the other tackle prospects.

[Brooklyn 3.0]

Pretty sure most places had us taking Micah Parsons last season?

[saX man]

31 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I am not sure where you are getting your info from but it definitely doesn't seem to match up with many of the anonymous quotes from scouts that are being reported. 

I don't disagree that there will definitely be differences in various teams boards but I don't think you are gonna have many(if any) teams with Penning over Neal or Ekwonu. 

And I like Penning but he is definitely a lesser version of a guy like Ekwonu specifically. 

Not that I would be upset if we took Penning but I probably would if it's over Neal and Ekwonu. I wouldn't necessarily love it if it were over Cross, either. 

I can see the argument for Cross over Penning and vice versa. I just like Cross as a much more polished pass protector versus the much less polished mauler that Penning is.

Thing is, I'd say Penning's Pass-pro is better than Icky so then considering his upside and general size/length, it makes you wonder if its a situation like 2020.  It really depends on scheme and what certain teams covet.

I.E.--Thomas was commonly projected behind Wills and Wirfs, taken way higher and then even Becton (The high upside large mauler type) taken ahead of Wirfs. 

[saX man]

To be clear @kungfoodude I'd take them all.  Raimann is the next OT but a tier down that's more late 1st.  Zion will go ahead of him as a OG.

Edited April 5, 2022 by saX man