Carolina Panthers Draft Grade

[Panthers Fan 69]

If the mods already have one of these up, feel free to delete, but I didn’t see one. What would you give the grade of our draft this year?

[Ricky Prickles]

I really like the Mingo pick and have this feeling like he is going to turn into something special. Young, I had my worries just based upon his physical stature but nobody could ever knock his leadership, his mind, his character or what a decent human being he seems to be so with that in mind I have a feeling he may break some records as the smallest QB ever to become successful in this league. Sounds odd but Josh Vann being brought in undrafted, I have a feeling will be a HUGE pickup too as I think he too will be something very special. I would give us an B+ until some of these player prove my belief and hope for them wrong which I do not believe they will..

[ickmule]

We can grade it in 3 years or so.  No way to know right now.  

[Hoenheim]

Hard to rank them before they play, but I'd say B- 

We didnt get a CB, didn't prioritize pass rusher in R2, arguably reached on Mingo and DJ. Sort of gambling on Bryce Youngs size generally. 

After the year is done it could be anywwhre from a C to a A+ depending on how much these players contribute and how successful the team ends up being. 

With a draft with so few players we don't need them all to be rock stars. If Mingo and Bryce are really good and we get anything out of the other dudes, then it's a pretty good draft .

I feel like a lot is riding on how good Mingo ends up being 

[Hoenheim]

I think the patriots drafted a bunch of nobodies the year they got Brady, we did the same with the 2011 draft and Cam. If Bryce is really good that mostly mitigates the whole draft as long as not literally all the other picks are busts 

[shaq]

Bryce Young- A+(got our potential franchise QB, love hearing this guy speak he just sounds like a franchise QB. Hard working, insanely intelligent has all the mental intangibles of a franchise QB. I think we got something special in this dude!

Jonathan Mingo- B+(incredible athlete, great work ethic if he hits he hits big. Was a my guy this year, just thought we might have even been able to trade back and take him.

Dj Johnson- C(traded up for a 25 yearold rookie that we likely could have gotten with our later pick, combined with limited production. Saving grace of this pick is his freakish speed and power.)

Chandler Zavala- A(Awesome pick, investing in the oline of your rookie QB is always smart. Especially when his guy is an amazing athlete, scheme fit, paired back up with his college buddy Icky.)

Jammie Robinson- C+(Ok pick, worries me as a tweener between being too slow to man the slot and too small to play SS. On the positive side, he seems like a uber confident guy, freakishly strong for his size with 23 bench reps at 191 pounds. If this guy can use his strength to press WRS and disrupt their routes early I think he could be fine from the slot.

Edited April 30, 2023 by shaq

[Harbingers]

4 minutes ago, shaq said:

Bryce Young- A+(got our potential franchise QB, love hearing this guy speak he just sounds like a franchise QB. Hard working, insanely intelligent has all the mental intangibles of a franchise QB. I think we got something special in this dude!

Jonathan Mingo- B+(incredible athlete, great work ethic if he hits he hits big. Was a my guy this year, just thought we might have even been able to trade back and take him.

Dj Johnson- C(traded up for a 25 yearold rookie that we likely could have gotten with our later pick, combined with limited production. Saving grace of this pick is his freakish speed and power.)

Chandler Zavala- A(Awesome pick, investing in the oline of your rookie QB is always smart. Especially when his guy is an amazing athlete, scheme fit, paired back up with his college buddy Icky.)

Jammie Robinson- C+(Ok pick, worries me as a tweener between being too slow to man the slot and too small to play SS. On the positive side, he seems like a uber confident guy, freakishly strong for his size with 23 bench reps at 191 pounds. If this guy can use his strength to press WRS and disrupt their routes early I think he could be fine from the slot.

Nice write up for those of us that know poo about later round college players. Thanks. 
 

Also I was going to say B overall from reading the huddle’s reactions. I like really like the Mingo and Zavala picks personally. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Harbingers

[Daeavorn]

I dont think we did all that well. Young was a no brainer.

Mingo seems risky. Weve had poo luck with wide outs that need developing and I personally wouldnt risk it on picks like him and DJ.

I like Zavala, OL is always good.

We really needed a CB with horn and jackson both being injury prone, and to not pick one up until UDFA is a strat I do not like.

I think Fitterer panicked on the DJ jonhson trade and maybe could've dropped down from 39 and still gotten mingo.

I give us a C-

[Panthers Fan 69]

A Bryce Young  Franchise QB since Cam

B Mingo could turn into something special. Could become our future WR 1 or could go the way of every other WR we have drafted after the first round not named Smitty 

F  DJ  could have had him with the pick we traded. Bad bad decision. Would have rather had the monster TE from Georgia.  
 

Zavala. B- watched a lot of this team last year. He has upside but plays very lazy sometimes. 
 

A+ Cam Peoples. I know I know. Undrafted Free Agent. I do know that this kid when heathy was a top 10 RB in college football these last 3 years. He was App States offense. Hopefully he plays well and makes the team. 
 

I don’t know anything else about the other folks. 
 

Overall…C+ or B-  that DJ trade was so bad it brought the whole draft grade down one letter. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Panthers Fan 69

[electro's horse]

As far as playing the draft, hated trading up for Johnson. They got caught in a run on EDGE players but seems to me like they overpaid for physical traits. Sucks doubly for me because the steelers used the pick we sent them for Darnell Washington, though it seems like he might already be suffering from the small nagging injuries he'll never escape from. 

Mingo is a bold pick, but I wouldn't necessarily call it bad. He's more upside but there weren't a lot of wide receives in this draft. We have a weird collection of WR on the team right now. 

Honestly Zavala saved the draft grade if that matters. Just such a stupidly obvious pick and a good one. 

I dunno, we'll see. There's getting good players and there's playing the draft game. Fitterer is usually much better at the latter. Kinda feel like Johnson was desperation. 

[electro's horse]

2 minutes ago, Panthers Fan 69 said:

B Mingo could turn into something special. Could become our future WR 1 or could go the way of every other WR we have drafted after the first round not named Smitty 

forgetting moose smdh 

[Panthers Fan 69]

8 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

forgetting moose smdh 

I forgot he was in the 2nd round. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

This draft feels like a swing for the fences. Aside from BY and Zavala, this draft feels very reactionary. Reaches for upside when solid talent at a position of need is available. Hard to say what it's going to end up being but it feels like it's going to be A+ or F in 3 years. 

[Mike in Raleigh]

Ask this question again in a year or 2.