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How Would You Grade the 2023 Draft Now?

Hoenheim

By Hoenheim,
in Carolina Panthers

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Hoenheim Grand Master

Hoenheim

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How would you grade the players we drafted individually and as a whole? 1 year is a short time but it's also a good enough sample size to have some concrete thoughts.  Also you can compare it to your thoughts right after the draft vs right after the season ended. You can also talk about if you expect them to improve or not.

 

R1: Bryce Young 

> He showed some flashes in 2 game winning drives against Atlanta and Houston, had one complete "good" game vs the Packers. Otherwise, Bryce had an extemely underwhelming rookie campaign considering the capital we gave up to get him. I witnessed a ton of errant balls, 4 pick sixes, questionable deep ball accuracy in particular, and my main gripe holding on to the ball way too long given how crappy the o line was. He was unexpectedly good at running the ball while scrambling and managed to stay healthy when that may have been the key concern from his most major detractors. I was tempted to give an F but I saw at least some signs of life on a few throws this year and one good game. It's quite possible Canales may turn him around significantly but that's pure speculation right now.

Grade: D 

R2: Jonathan Mingo

 Definitely not great, especially when we were seeing players many of us wanted in mocks like Tank Dell Josh Downs and Rashee Rice have very impressive rookie years in comparison. Not great at separating, route running, and had the dropsies at times. He onmy caught half of his targets for 418 receiving yards with 0 TDs.   I'm really hoping he doesn't just turn into yet another WR bust like the Panthers are accustomed to drafting in R2. 

Grade: D

R3: DJ Johnson

Some of you may have to help me with this one. I didn't notice him that much this season. Did he make any sort of significant impact on defense? If he did I wasn't particularly aware of it in games. A lot of people were not a fan of this pick when it was made it seemed like a bizzare choice and I know he didn't make much of an impact sack/pressure rate wise, especially given how badly we seemed to need it crucial times in games.  

Grade: F

R4: Chandler Zavala 

Far and away the worst player from this class. Even among all the turmoil and rotating players we had on the interior offensive line in the 2023 season, he was the worst one. Absolutely got worked by anyone and everyone who lined up across from him, calling him a turnstile would be too kind. Maybe it was a red flag when he texted the staff to draft him. As bad as Ikem Ekwonu regressed this year, Zavala was much worse.

Grade: F 

R5: Jammie Robinson

Another pick I may not be super qualified to rank considering I didn't notice him much if he was playing. But that in of itself could be an indictment on how little of an impact he had on the team. You don't really expect 5th rounders to be crucial players on your team but I'm not sure he contributed much of anything. 

Grade: F    

 

Overall  I'd have to give this draft an F grade.  Until proven otherwise.  I'm hopeful Canales and Morgan can turn this ship around but truthfully speaking I'm salty about the state of this franchise. I'll believe in change when I see it.

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mrcompletely11 Grand Master

mrcompletely11

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42 minutes ago, Hoenheim said:

 

R4: Chandler Zavala 

Far and away the worst player from this class. Even among all the turmoil and rotating players we had on the interior offensive line in the 2023 season, he was the worst one. Absolutely got worked by anyone and everyone who lined up across from him, calling him a turnstile would be too kind. Maybe it was a red flag when he texted the staff to draft him. As bad as Ikem Ekwonu regressed this year, Zavala was much worse.

Grade: F 

 

Ill try and defend cz here.  He was a 4rth round guard that was hurt in TC and hardly practiced and then when healthy he was immediately thrust into the starting lineup.   Maybe with a full offseason and camp he can be molded because he does have good traits

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Stingray3030 Proficient

Stingray3030

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Personally a little too negative to me.  Bryce I would give no worse than a C.  Biggest issues were pocket awareness, holding the ball too long, and fumbling when hit too often.  His errant throws were much less than Baker, Darnold, a ton less than Cam from what I saw and those guys weren't rookies.  I saw enough flashes to give him a C but enough issues to believe it might be a D when we can see clearly who he is without the other issues.

Mingo I give a C but I also think he was used horribly - he was shoved in the "X" receiver role and was completely not ready - Day 1 he was given way too many targets and got overwhelmed.  I still think he could be the level of the guys you mentioned but I blame the coaching staff much more than Mingo at this point.

DJ was a terrible pick - trading up was a waste - the guy did nothing - absolute F.  Yes he is a rookie, so why not the same pass as previous 2?  Cause he is 25 years old....if he doesn't have it now he ain't gonna get it.  Massive reach and we failed

Zavala I do give some credit - injuries didn't allow him to be ready and he got forced into service and overwhelmed like Mingo.  C for now

Jammie was a 5th round pick - not a ton of expectation to live up to, so hard to give an F....I would still say C since he wasn't expected to do much

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Ricky Spanish Grand Master

Ricky Spanish

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6 minutes ago, Stingray3030 said:

Personally a little too negative to me.  Bryce I would give no worse than a C.  Biggest issues were pocket awareness, holding the ball too long, and fumbling when hit too often.  His errant throws were much less than Baker, Darnold, a ton less than Cam from what I saw and those guys weren't rookies.  I saw enough flashes to give him a C but enough issues to believe it might be a D when we can see clearly who he is without the other issues.

Mingo I give a C but I also think he was used horribly - he was shoved in the "X" receiver role and was completely not ready - Day 1 he was given way too many targets and got overwhelmed.  I still think he could be the level of the guys you mentioned but I blame the coaching staff much more than Mingo at this point.

DJ was a terrible pick - trading up was a waste - the guy did nothing - absolute F.  Yes he is a rookie, so why not the same pass as previous 2?  Cause he is 25 years old....if he doesn't have it now he ain't gonna get it.  Massive reach and we failed

Zavala I do give some credit - injuries didn't allow him to be ready and he got forced into service and overwhelmed like Mingo.  C for now

Jammie was a 5th round pick - not a ton of expectation to live up to, so hard to give an F....I would still say C since he wasn't expected to do much

This guy hasn't lost hope people.

Defend him at all cost, he's the best of us right now.

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