Panthers Blueprint: Draft

[rebelrouser]

1 hour ago, mrcompletely11 said:

Why would he sign here as a guard when surely someone would sign him as a tackle?  Assuming he is healthy

Past history says he won't ever play LT again and teams won't have any post surgery film of him to make an evaluation.  It is possible that he can play at the end of '26 season but we may not let him and surely not let him play LT so we would have inside information on the injury and recovery that other teams don't.  It is a fluid interesting situation for sure.  

[mrcompletely11]

1 minute ago, rebelrouser said:

Past history says he won't ever play LT again and teams won't have any post surgery film of him to make an evaluation.  It is possible that he can play at the end of '26 season but we may not let him and surely not let him play LT so we would have inside information on the injury and recovery that other teams don't.  It is a fluid interesting situation for sure.  

It really is an unfortunate chain of events for him, I mean he was what, weeks away from a new deal

[SmokinwithWilly]

22 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

It really is an unfortunate chain of events for him, I mean he was what, weeks away from a new deal

Very unfortunate but I think an important lesson to be learned. Certain positions, QB, blind side tackle, green dot LB, are positions that need to be constantly in search of a 1b. They're just too important to be lackadasical regarding depth. 

[UnluckyforSome]

2 hours ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

Icky has never really had the lateral quickness to be an consistently efficient pass blocking LT. I see him being able to slide inside to guard and thrive there where power is relied on more than side to side movement. It's not like pro bowl level guards make chump change and he has/had the power and short range lateral movement to be a dominant guard. 

I think he could transition to guard and be very effective. He is middle of the pack at best in pass protection, and what is asked and expected of a left tackle.

While no salary in the NFL would be considered peanuts, guard is not 1 of the premium positions. Because left tackle is a premium position, he might very well test the market. As stated, his health and mobility will be a big determiner as to what he might get offered, if anything.

Personally, I have thought that he would/could/should move to right tackle after Moton is retired, and not to be blunt, but that should happen very, very soon. 

[strato]

29 minutes ago, UnluckyforSome said:

 

Personally, I have thought that he would/could/should move to right tackle after Moton is retired, and not to be blunt, but that should happen very, very soon. 

I cut the rest of the post to respond to this… I think that is his best path to staying. No guarantee he will will be capable though, as of today. 
 

Any deal has to be incentive based at least to start with. Make it through a year and we will revisit. 

[csx]

2 hours ago, rebelrouser said:

Past history says he won't ever play LT again and teams won't have any post surgery film of him to make an evaluation.  It is possible that he can play at the end of '26 season but we may not let him and surely not let him play LT so we would have inside information on the injury and recovery that other teams don't.  It is a fluid interesting situation for sure.  

History is showing us several tackles coming back from this in last few years. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

16 minutes ago, csx said:

History is showing us several tackles coming back from this in last few years. 

It's happening some, but not something I would bank on at this point. Only about half of players injured return to the NFL and of those, less than 25% return to pre-injury form within 2 years. I'm fine with keeping him, but for now, any contract has to be short term, incentive driven until he has some post injury game tape. 

[PadresPanthersFan]

I know these are fluff pieces but i dont care. I will eat these up every time.  I always enjoy peeking behind the curtain and im glad they continue to put these out

[UnluckyforSome]

20 minutes ago, PadresPanthersFan said:

I know these are fluff pieces but i dont care. I will eat these up every time.  I always enjoy peeking behind the curtain and im glad they continue to put these out

They are off-season, propaganda, fluffy, hype videos for sure.

I found this to be much more interesting, and revealing though than the 1 made after we drafted Young and it opened with Fitterer declaring how the plan was always to get the team assembled AND then drop the superstar rookie qb in and be immediately taking the league by storm.

[Candler Cat]

1 hour ago, UnluckyforSome said:

They are off-season, propaganda, fluffy, hype videos for sure.

I found this to be much more interesting, and revealing though than the 1 made after we drafted Young and it opened with Fitterer declaring how the plan was always to get the team assembled AND then drop the superstar rookie qb in and be immediately taking the league by storm.

He had no clue

[strato]

Btw it was proposed in a post that we should trade Walker if he doesn’t beat Freeling out - we should not trade any talent from the OL. 
If he gets unhappy, maybe a different situation 

Edited 11 hours ago by strato

[pantherclaw]

Freeling is   the future LT of the Panrhers.  He may even start this year.  While he didn't start all of his college career, we he did play, he performed.   He is an absolute stud. If he had more play time in college, he would have been the first tackle taken in the draft. 

Icky is looked up to and has deep value within the team and locker room.  If he can get back healthy, he will continue to play for us.  Obviously at another position. RT, Guard.  I don't see him running to another team unless the Panthers cut ways with him. Which is possible, although no team will value him like our team does. 

 

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by pantherclaw

[thunderraiden]

On 6/2/2026 at 6:43 PM, UnluckyforSome said:

This was a very good and worthwhile watch. A mild spoiler..the pick was always going to be a LT. Even if it meant some wheeling and dealing.

They did mention Bain as the pick if he fell but didnt seem confident that would be the case. 

[The Third Reich]

I have not read the entire thread, and I realize this is fluff to a degree, but it was recorded in real time.  Here are 10 things that stood out to me:

1. Morgan wrote down (before day 3) the first three day 3 picks.  (Lee, Hecht, and Wheatley).  I was never fond of the Morgan hiring as GM.  I thought he was a lazy selection and I questioned his ability to match wits with some of the best GMs in the NFL.  Not any more. Morgan OWNED this draft.  He knew which players were good fits and when they would be bargains, and he got bargains.  I am thoroughly excited about every player.

2. Canales said (about Hecht, a 5th rounder):  "He has a real chance to start."   Morgan said the same thing about Freeling. While I do not expect either to start day 1, it looks to me like we drafted 40% of our starting OL in 2026.  I think we will sign Ickey to a deal and play him at RG, allowing us to escape the Robert Hunt contract in 2027.  Of course that is conditional, and Ickey could replace Moton instead, but if he fully recovers, we are looking at a better RG/RT than he was a LT--which was average. 

3. When Morgan said to second-round DT Hunter, "Ready to play beside Derrick Brown?"  Based on personalities, one calm and soft spoken (for the Most part, Brown is) and the other talkative and openly enthusiastic, it reminded me of Brentson Buckner and Kris Jenkins.  

4.  Perhaps the steal of the draft was Tennessee WR Chris Brazzell II.  Clearly the Panthers felt that they passed on him when they took Hunter in round 2.  They mentioned his skill set (able to attack on "all three levels.")  This sent me back to watching film. He has speed, hands, and he produced without a great QB. I think he could be great in the NFL.  When 

5. Tepper was a bit more involved than I would like, but he seems to be very confident in Morgan.  If I were the owner, I would be doing the same thing.  Canales was also somewhat of a background character--everyone understood his role and stayed in his lane.  

6.  I am also very interested in the quantitative analytics aspect of the draft room.  (something like, "He has a 94% chance of being there at pick 55, and a 38% chance of being there at 87). I would like to know their formula, because it seemed to be spot on.

7.  BPA?  Not really.  They had a shopping list and seemed to be targeting the players they selected. I realize other players were edited out, but I was impressed how they knew, by round, who they wanted and if there were multiple options sitting there, they traded back.

8.  Evero (I think) called Lee a candidate that would serve as the "#3 CB."  Morgan describes his size as a plus (Long). Strong praise for a 4th rounder.  If so, we have Thornton coming off injury who played well as an UDFA rookie and they will battle it out to become Jackson's replacement after the 2026 season, assuming the Panthers do not extend him (he turns 30 in 7 months.O

9.  I think we could realistically see every one of these draft picks play this season, and I believe most could start by next year--Realistically, Freeling, Hunter, Hecht, and Brazzell could all be starting or key rotational pieces this year.  I see Lee and Wheatley getting special teams reps and both could be used this season more than expected.  

10.  Kuwatch seemed to be predetermined with the final pick, probably because he can add something special to special teams.   He and Bam Martin Scott will fight it out for the 4th ILB position, so it will probably come down to special teams--and Kuwatch stands out there.  Imagine an ILB with a 46.5 vertical (not a typo) on the FG block team.  Kuwatch has an 8.85 RAS score vs. Martin-Scott's 7.5.