Draft Grades rounds 1-3

[Zod]

What do you grade the Panthers

I am giving them a C. I like the Cam pick a lot, hope he will be our first true franchise QB. The 3rd round DTs are both solid and will have an immediate impact on gamedays. You can't ask for more in the third round. But I think you have to look at the second round and Edwards, thus the C grade instead of an A. There is no difference this year in the bottom 10 picks in the first round and the first pick in the second round. We lost a first rounder for a guy that may not make the squad this season. That makes me want to vomit.

[Panthro]

Although I would have preferred Jurrel Casey over McClain I liked both our 3rd rounders. I have faith that Rivera knows what he needs to assemble a Top 5 defense.

B

[Zod]

As a USF alum I can say the McClain pick is the best in panthers history....ever.

And to the guy that called USF a small school, its the second largest school in Florida.

[cookinbrak]

I'm happy with the all 3 picks (a big, mean Hawaiian dude!!), but even happier that we didn't trade anything from next years draft.

[ThePantherDude]

I'd give it a solid C+ or B-.

The Cam pick is a C because of the risk/reward factor. If he does great we'll look like geniuses if he is like Young or Russell we will be the laughing stock of the league.

McClain is a solid B- we reached a little bit for him IMO, I would have loved Casey or Nevis here and McClain with our last pick but he should come in and at least compete for a starting job so you can't complain about that.

Fua is a C He can play both NT and DT so I like that and he is the big body we have been wanting for awhile. Like McClain we might have got him late 4th but he should come in and compete for a role. Granted I don't see him being a 3 down player which is understandable for a guy his size.

[MHS831]

Terrell McClain is a stud. He is Marcell Dareus II. Great pick, and he will rotate in at the 3 technique. Sione Fua is an underrated nose. Both are quick and get great jumps. I do not think people realize what a great job we did. We may still bring in a veteran, but the DT issues here are history. Neblett and Fua at NT, McLain and Landri at the 3. Good start.

Now we need a CB.

Cookin is right---we didn't trade up!!! Maybe that is the best thing about the Armanti trade.

Zod, I would like to add (I hated the Edwards trade, still do) that the QBs who convert to WR in the NFL normally take a year or two. If Edwards becomes a stud, then we can take Hurney off code red.

[CatMan72]

As a USF alum I can say the McClain pick is the best in panthers history....ever.

And to the guy that called USF a small school, its the second largest school in Florida.

...and they whipped Clemson's ass.

Agree on the draft grade, based on what we know about Armanti right now it's a C, otherwise it would have been an A, I think we got two really good value picks in the 3rd and I think Cam is the read deal.

[Fiz]

As a USF alum I can say the McClain pick is the best in panthers history....ever.

And to the guy that called USF a small school, its the second largest school in Florida.

Isn't it a commuter school?

[Jackofalltrades]

C because of the Cam pick.

[Zod]

Isn't it a commuter school?

Used to be, like when I went. When I went it was a lot like UNCC, our homecoming was basketball. Its had football for a decade now and from what I hear is competing more with UF and FSU.

[Easyt65]

Cam Newton can't be considered anything more than an 'Incomplete' ATT. As one announcer put it, 'Cam Newton has the biggest potential to be a success in the NFL, and at the same time he has the biggest potential to be a bust.' Which one he turns out to be will be decided at a much later date.

McClain and Fua, as Rivera called them, are 'Space Eaters'. McClain has more flexibility/mobility/agility. He can punch a hole in the OL and cause some disruption in the backfield. Fua is stiff, not extremely agile, and is going to hold the line at the point of attack. 'Space Eaters'. They won't be Pro Bowlers, but they should both offer help immediately. Don't know about Fua, but McClain is probably more talented than any other DT we have on the roster right now. He was probably the best we could get at the time.

Because of our horrendous QB situation we 'had' to pick a QB, and the team went with Cam. Because of that need at QB, we had to pass up on some incredible talent with that #1 pick, talent that could have had a big impact immediately. Because we traded our 2nd round pick last year for QB-to-WR/KR project Armani Edwards we again lost out on some good talent that could have stepped in and contributed immediately. While McClain and Fua are pretty good talents, they are the ones who will contribute the most/1st for us so far in this draft. They are also not the jaw-dropping talent we could have gotten earlier if it wasn't for our critical need to reach at QB and the loss of our 2nd round. It just 'feels' like in this draft that those things put us one step behind everyone else in the draft - we had the 1st pick, but after that pick(/risk) we have been playing catch-up/have been 1 step behind in getting the truly 'elite' talent.

I like NE's approach. They know their team, know the players they need to fit/fill their positions. they don't care what round they are in or what round a player is projected to go in - if they need the guy, they pick him. They also don't 'reach' or take huge risks, and they hardly ever give up future draft picks for 'risks'.

The Panthers have made some 'mistakes' by taking risks, trading future picks for 'projects'. Edwards may still pan out, but he didn't contribute last year, and the pick he cost us this year hurt. I feel we just did something similar with Cam Newton. We took a risk, he won't contribute right away, and I hope the pick he cost us doesn't hurt later (Regret). I hope the youg man becomes a force to be reckoned with in the NFL for years to come!

[Zod]

Cam Newton can't be considered anything more than an 'Incomplete' ATT.

Same can be said for every single player taken in the draft.

[Fiz]

Used to be, like when I went. When I went it was a lot like UNCC, our homecoming was basketball. Its had football for a decade now and from what I hear is competing more with UF and FSU.

it's a little misleading to call it the 2nd biggest school in florida.

it's basically like kennesaw state where they have like 10% of the student population living on campus and the rest driving in for their nursing school or mba.

it too claims to be the second biggest school in Georgia, and they just got a football for god knows why.

[Zod]

Its also misleading to shove a tinfoil wrapped zucchini down my trousers, but whatever it takes to make my point known.