The ickey ekwonu question...

[LinvilleGorge]

I'm not begging for us to take an OT at 19 but I don't think it should be off the board either. If the BPA at 19 is an OT, draft him. At the end of the day, our young LT just suffered a serious injury and there's no guarantee he effectively returns from it. Our RT will be 32 next year and there's a lit of whispering about him having chronic knee issues that may shorten his career. Nijman is a backup/stopgap caliber player who is also on the wrong side of 30. Christensen is a FA and will be trying to comeback from an Achilles injury which is one of the tougher common injuries to bounce back from.

Don't force it, but OT at 19 is imminently defensible. 

[45catfan]

One of these two will probably be available.

.

[LinvilleGorge]

9 minutes ago, 45catfan said:

One of these two will probably be available.

.

Proctor's size concerns me. Is he going to have the lateral movement and agility in space to play OT at the NFL level? I mean, I don't doubt that he's going to be a problem for edge rushers if he can get hands on them but if they're just flying past him that's worst case scenario.

[woahfraze]

57 minutes ago, OneBadCat said:

I don’t want an OT at 19. Our o line has held up okay throughout injury. I think you sign Christensen and Nijman. If LT gets bad, put Moton on that side.

LB needs blue chip talent. I think we look for a tackle in the 3rd or 4th, in an addition to a flex center/guard.

There’s been online/fan talk of moving Moton to LT for years. I’m sure those conversations were also had internally and it never happened. So that’s not a realistic path forward. 

[GoobyPls]

No we need to go heavy defense in the draft, address tackle in free agency 

[45catfan]

12 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Proctor's size concerns me. Is he going to have the lateral movement and agility in space to play OT at the NFL level? I mean, I don't doubt that he's going to be a problem for edge rushers if he can get hands on them but if they're just flying past him that's worst case scenario.

Hopefully, someone values the experience over the youth.  Lomu is very green.

[WarHeel]

We’ve had some solid DE prospects in the 2nd round so wouldn’t hate OL here.

[Tbe]

11 minutes ago, GoobyPls said:

No we need to go heavy defense in the draft, address tackle in free agency 

It’s been talked about for years, but good OL is almost never available in FA. We got lucky (overpaid) with the two guards we have. For the most part, teams have to draft for it.

[LinvilleGorge]

6 minutes ago, Tbe said:

It’s been talked about for years, but good OL is almost never available in FA. We got lucky (overpaid) with the two guards we have. For the most part, teams have to draft for it.

Finding top talent in FA generally requires a lot of luck, period.  Teams rarely let top talent hit the market. It's gotta be a cap strapped team or a team lucky to have great depth at a particular position group, or some other type of extenuating circumstance like the guy being at or near the poojt where hes likely to start declining. Especially at premium positions. Top tier QBs, OTs, ege rushers, CBs, etc. rarely hit open free agency in their prime.

[WarPanthers89]

I know this is a message board but there is a lot of misinformation about the injury as well as outdated or misleading statistics posted. I know some of you will blow a gasket if I tell you to ChatGPT it but you really should look into it. As long as he can rebuild his quad strength there is a chance he can come back and play by mid season. Holding him out the entire year is not necessary after the surgery as long as his quad strength rehab goes well. Controlled football stress actually helps tendon remodeling, much less his overall confidence. He will be at 8 months post op come week 1, and will be on PUP with a likely return mid season. 

Edited 3 hours ago by WarPanthers89

[imminent rogaine]

Wasn’t my plan at all but now you take OT in the first. Very early look at the big-board shows that some decent prospects should be avail. Best case scenario, the draft pick is a hit, Ickey comes back healthy after a year off, and we have two Tackles for when Moton walks. And maybe that lands a comp pick. 

[kungfoodude]

We will have to either sign or draft someone. Yosh will be a disaster at LT.

If someone is available at 19 worth taking, it's a good idea. If for no other reason that we will be needing a RT in short order too.

I fully expect the team to so something insane like have Zavala or Mays at LT. The choices we have made on the OL with personnel have absolutely been next level insane under Canales.

[kungfoodude]

39 minutes ago, WarPanthers89 said:

I know this is a message board but there is a lot of misinformation about the injury as well as outdated or misleading statistics posted. I just want you to know that I didn't look at any of them, vet any of them, form any original thoughts nor opinions of my own but I did ask a LLM to attempt to do these things, since I am unable. Also, I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night so I am essentially a doctor.

We know.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, Tbe said:

It’s been talked about for years, but good OL is almost never available in FA. We got lucky (overpaid) with the two guards we have. For the most part, teams have to draft for it.

You can acquire a top shelf LT, it will just cost you either a pile of draft picks or a massive amount of money.

The people cheerleading this injury are out of their gourds and likely not Panthers fans. This was very bad for the most expensive unit on our roster.