Thomas Fletcher Didn’t Make It, But These Four Did

[kungfoodude]

Hubbard and BC have "made it", IMO. Tremble and Horn, TBD.

 

[PNW_PantherMan]

7 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Hubbard and BC have "made it", IMO. Tremble and Horn, TBD.

 

Safe to say the front office thinks horn has made it lol 

[kungfoodude]

49 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

Safe to say the front office thinks horn has made it lol 

Oh, that was pretty obvious. 

IMO, he needs to prove he is healthy and prove he is actually a top 5 CB. The people that are already calling that shot are just absolutely delusional, IMO.

[WhoKnows]

8 hours ago, Seltzer said:

2021 has ended up being one of the better drafts we've ever had, but drafting a LS was peak Rhule/Fitterer...

What a complete waste of a draft pick

Seriously? A CB who missed all that time on his rookie deal and was also a top 10 pick when the guys picked right before and after have been studs. A RB our GMs tried to replace with FAs and 2nd rounders and two backup level players is one of the best drafts we’ve ever had? I’d argue that the 2011/2012 drafts were better even with just Cam and Luke/Norman.

Here’s the drafts I think were better:

2017, maybe 2018, 2015, 2013, 2011, 2012, 2008, 2007, 2001, 2002 (just Pepp)

I’m hoping 2025 is way better as well.

Honestly, we’ve kind of sucked at drafting overall and that’s the only reason you can even remotely call Horn, Hubbard, Tremble and BC a good draft let alone one of our best ever. Good teams that draft well would laugh at that as a great draft.

If you want to look at say the 2023 Lions draft, you’d get 4 stud/above average/average starters not just 3 replaceable starters/backups and a top 10 pick that missed half his games. That’s a draft that helps turn a team into a playoff team. Our record since our 2021 draft is 19-49. A best ever draft doesn’t go 19-49.

[Icege]

A franchise CB, starting RB, reliable TE2, and a top OL6 is a bad draft?

That doompill some folks seem to take every morning does some crazy work.

[45catfan]

Two starters and two backups out of 11 picks. That's a marginal draft.  Great by our miserable draft history, but for teams that doesn't crap the bed most drafts, that would be an average draft class.

Edited 6 hours ago by 45catfan

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, 45catfan said:

Two starters and two backups out of 11 picks. That's a marginal draft.  Great by our miserable draft history, but for teams that doesn't crap the bed most drafts, that would be an average draft class.

This is the thing that most Panthers fans can't comprehend because we are a franchise that so rarely ever has draft success. 

Also, this one is still largely in question. If Tremble never really improves, he is a JAG. If Horn doesn't stay healthy or ascend, he was a bust. Then it goes from an okay draft by Panthers standards to just another bad Rhule/Fitterer draft.

It's also such a strange period to be grasping at straws to try and justify as being good. Hindsight has thoroughly proven the architects of that era as being wholly incompetent if not outright charlatans. 

[Icege]

The draft isn't a vending machine where you insert a pick, press A3, and out pops a franchise cornerstone. It’s more like a gacha game - you turn in a premium (or non-premium) ticket, hear the fun little jingle, and wait to see what you pulled... without knowing how strong it'll actually end up.

League-wide, the average draft hits on about 30 - 40% of its picks when teams have a standard seven selections. So if you walk away with 3 - 4 real contributors... that's considered a solid class. Hitting on 4 out of 11 is right in that range.

To be clear: this isn't some veiled endorsement of Tepper, Fitterer, or Rhule. It’s simply an honest accounting of which players from that class are still with the Panthers and heading into their fourth year - and thus outlasting the average NFL career.

Just trying to lean more toward more critiquing with clarity rather than lighting it all on fire for the spectacle of the flames.

Edited 3 hours ago by Icege

[LinvilleGorge]

15 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Oh, that was pretty obvious. 

IMO, he needs to prove he is healthy and prove he is actually a top 5 CB. The people that are already calling that shot are just absolutely delusional, IMO.

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the contract. IMO, he's a borderline top 10 type of CB when healthy and he's missed damn near half of the games in his career. I hope it proves to be the correct decision but damn... it's a really tough sell to convince me that making him the NFL's highest paid DB is a wise move.

[mrcompletely11]

3 hours ago, Icege said:

A franchise CB, starting RB, reliable TE2, and a top OL6 is a bad draft?

That doompill some folks seem to take every morning does some crazy work.

We had like 10 picks