Morgan at the Shrine Bowl, talks about looking for players who are passionate (dawgs)

[Johnstonny]

Lets just start with drafting players that can walk on the field in June..

[Mr. Scot]

Deion's other son...

 

[PNW_PantherMan]

Wasn't Shilo bad at Colorado?  Seemed like Deion was always upset at him for something.

[Aussie Tank]

TJ Sanders has been looking good apparently 

[d-dave]

As far as the draft, there is a balancing act between traits, production and the mental aspect of things.  I was listening to NFL on CBS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQXhu-VdOzs)

They mentioned a guy who was tenacious, a true dawg of a Center, but he's 5-11, 275lbs....  He just doesn't have the traits at the position.  Guys like DBrown would literally throw him through a wall like a child.  Just because he's a dawg doesn't mean we're going to go after him.

Anyone who thinks that there's some kind of one sized fits all, single attribute that determines draft stock - you're wrong.  It's a balancing act.

In the top 10, you NEED to get the absolute studs or a QB.  We got our QB (for now) so we need guys who will produce for years.  Look at Luke and CMC.  People devalued them because of their positions, but both ended up being exceptional players.  Heck, Luke will be a HOFer at some point.  If the Panthers feel that there are only 5-6 true 1st round, top 10 worthy selections, then you trade down.  Don't be hasty.  Be smart and flexible.

Now we all know the draft is a crap shoot.  Sure you can pretend like you have all the answers, but we don't.  Guys get hurt.  Guy can't transition to the NFL.  Some guys need time.  Others will hit the ground running and be instant all pros as a 5th round pick.  After the past few drafts, I'd rather go for volume than get tied to a single player.  We need all the help, talent and skill we can get!

Now if Mason Graham falls to 8, I'm sprinting up to the podium!

[MHS831]

17 hours ago, theinstrumental said:

He weighed in at 156 pounds.

That is the knock on him.  We have topcats bigger than that--the females too.

[PanthersNCSU]

Deven Thompkins is 5'8", 155 lbs

Not that we used him much at all at WR, but we at least have someone of Tez's size on the roster. Don't know if we'd consider it a no go, especially if he slips in the draft. 

[MHS831]

I am going to rock the boat because that is what boat rockers do, I think. 

Morgan will trade the #8 pick if he can if Carter is not on the board.  TMac, Graham are possible too. 

In his recent comments (forget where I read them--probably here) he referred to the #1 pick in general, but added that a trade was possible. 

I think it depends on what we do in free agency, but we have about 8 starting positions to fill:  (CB, S, S, LB, DT, DE, Edge, WR)  

So it makes sense, in a draft that seems deep in front 7 players, to trade back and try to grab 3 starters--NT, Edge, and S or WR.  I think we can get a DE (3,5 tech) later who can rotate with Robinson and Brown.

 

[MHS831]

45 minutes ago, PanthersNCSU said:

Deven Thompkins is 5'8", 155 lbs

Not that we used him much at all at WR, but we at least have someone of Tez's size on the roster. Don't know if we'd consider it a no go, especially if he slips in the draft. 

He is tiny.  I should say that there are some decent WRs later in the draft--it is simply not loaded with #1 WRs.  I really like Bech from TCU, for example.

[WhoKnows]

22 hours ago, theinstrumental said:

We don't have to talk in hypotheticals. Morgan's been here since 2021. The traditional linebackers that we've drafted since then have been Brandon Smith and Trevin Wallace, both great size/speed athletes. DJ Johnson is another great athlete. We haven't drafted many guys who have a chance at impacting the run game--that could be the entire problem--but I can't think of anyone who failed because they're not physically talented enough. Michael Barrett, maybe? But we're talking about picks that matter.

You are confusing great athletes with talent. XL is a great athlete but I think Coker has shown to be more talented. Running routes and having great hands are “talents” for a WR.

DJ Johnson was never considered a great talented edge who just didn’t have enough passion.

We need great football players. DL that know how to get leverage, fire off the line the quickest and make plays. If you watched our defense, we had so many guys who couldn’t get off blocks or couldn’t maintain their gaps. Doesn’t mean they didn’t try hard or were bad athletes, they just weren’t good talented football players.

[SmokinwithWilly]

First and foremost, I think when we do our evaluations we need to have our positional top tiers as guys that can actually do the fundamentals at their position. Catching with the hands at WR, footwork and bend on the lines, and for fugs sake, can they tackle someone. 

I'll use Greg Little as an example. He was graded 1st round material by Hurney and some others, then he went to the combine. His drills were awful. I honestly couldn't figure out how he got by in college because it was so bad. I'm no NFL scout, but even to the average football enthusiast, I'd say it was pretty obvious his movement and balance were never going to cut it. The rest is history. 

Some of these guys can be coached up, but we don't have years to do it for everyone. If the prospects can't meet basic skill requirements, no matter what the hype, we need to move on by. We've drafted too much on potential and too little on skill. After they pass the skills eye test, then move on to talent and dawg or whatever else. 

[frankw]

I like Morgan a great deal from a personal standpoint for plainly obvious reasons but as the lead talent evaluator of this team I have become tired of this trope already. Ditch the RAS bullshit. Ditch the need to cling to feel good stories about prospects who have connections to the Carolinas and focus instead on who the best prospect is regardless of background or college they played for. Ditch the cliche tough guy tropes. Stop trying to think you're the smartest guy in the room and that you and only you see things 31 other GM's supposedly don't. Just draft good healthy(!) football players.

Edited January 29 by frankw

[Jackie Lee]

 

[Panthercougar68]

This D line class is looking deep and trading back might be a more palatable option as the offseason goes on.