I'm liking Devon Still, DT, Penn State more and more every day

[Sam Mills Fan]

He's almost certainly the best defensive tackle in the draft, but more importantly for this Carolina Panthers team, he's a LEADER. He has faced a ton of adversity on and off the field and he supposedly became the de facto coach of the team when Paterno was fired.

I think as we look through potential first-round picks we want over the next few months, we need to remember how important it is that we get some leaders on that defense besides Beason. He would be a bit of a reach at #9 if that's where we end up at, but I'd love for him to be the pick if we trade down like a lot of people are saying or if he has a great combine.

[Matthias]

I like him too, but I'm starting to believe Shirley has big time potential. I think we can address DT in round two or three (if we trade down to a lower second and pick up a late compensatory third from another team.) I'm going to look at Derek Wolfe today in the Cincinnati/Vanderbilt match-up.

[Jackofalltrades]

I'm not interested in DT anymore, I think we're fine there.

CB or OLB are much bigger needs.

[Sam Mills Fan]

With Rivera's type of defense, you can scheme around having a mediocre linebacker alongside 2 good ones, so I'm not concerned about linebacker at all as long as we can stay healthy there and you don't use a Top 10 pick on depth.

The #2 CB is right there with DT as the biggest need on the team, but CBs don't impact the game enough to warrant a 1st round pick IMO unless they're can't-misses like Morris Claiborne who will be long gone by the time we pick or dual threats like Patrick Peterson and there's no one like that high in the draft. I'd love to see Cortland Finnegan become one of our top free agents we look at.

Besides, DT is still a huge need. I think Jason Shirley has been a pleasant surprise, but a defensive line next season consisting of Charles Johnson, Greg Hardy, Jason Shirley, and Terrell McClain is still pretty mediocre. And let's not forget Shirley has only been doing this for 3 games, there have been more December flashes-in-the-pan when the games no longer matter on this team in the past decade than I can count.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Case in point about the DTs: Ever since Kemo tore his Achilles, we've done nothing but put in scrap heap guys in there and we keep saying we have confidence that they'll continue to improve and become great starters the next year. And yet this NEVER works. We need to get serious about addressing the defensive tackle spot and learn from what's failed in the past.

[Kurb]

Only problem with DT draft picks is they rarely have immediate impact.

I have no problem drafting O-line or D-line with our first pick tho.

Build from the lines out.

[DaCityKats]

he got owned during the wisconsin game tho...i dont mind a DT early if the value is there.

[rayzor]

Only problem with DT draft picks is they rarely have immediate impact.

I have no problem drafting O-line or D-line with our first pick tho.

Build from the lines out.

this is why i'd rather find an experienced one in FA rather than draft one.

[frash.exe]

kemo himself left a lot to be desired as a 4-3 DT

[Jackofalltrades]

I disagree, we grossly overpaid Kemo but he did his job well. He didn't move, he took double teams against the run and freed up Beason and Co to make the tackles that look pretty on stat sheets. Kemo was here to take up space and hold the point, that was it.

If there was a Dareus or Fairley type of DT in this draft I'd be more willing to take DT early, but we just drafted two guys last April in the third round. One was playing pretty well, the other not so much. We have also picked up some young guys who have stepped up and played quite well given the circumstances AND we get Edwards back. I just do not see DT as a real need and Rivera's comments suggest he feels the same.

CB is a glaring need and any of the top CB's look like huge upgrades over Munnerlyn and Butler, but we don't know what the staff thinks about Hogan, who was rated as one of the top cover CB's in the draft last year. Kirkpatrick is also a PR, if I'm not mistaken and that has to have quite a bit of appeal as well. I think Kirkpatrick would fit well here with his size, physical play and man coverage skills. His ball skills and speed are unquestioned.

OLB right now isn't a fit in terms of value vs pick, unless we trade back but I'm not assuming such. Zach Brown looks like a very good OLB, but Senn has played well. TD is one of my favorite Panthers of all time, BUT he simply can't be counted on.

I agree about not drafting for depth, but it pains me to admit that I agreed with what Kiper Jr said Saturday about us kind of being in no man's land. We don't really need a WR, but you could make a case for Blackmon if, HUGE IF, he should slip, but what about Alshon Jeffrey and Michael Floyd? Both are seen as #1 WR's.

I'm not on a bandwagon yet and I'm trying to keep all options open, especially considering how off the mark I was last year. It's clear our philosophy has changed some. The Bowl Games, Senior Bowl, Junior declarations and Combine will help to sort a lot of this out. For example, Zach Brown was said to run a 4.28 40 last season, if he does that in Indy his stock shoot's up a bit.

[stirs]

there seems to be a couple of good prospects who actually weigh in the 250-260 range that might be good in the mid teens. I wonder how the offense would look if Beason kicked outside and we brought one of the "thumpers" in for the middle. I would hate to lose Beason in the middle, but him weighing in the 230-235 range, I am afraid his long term health might become iffy.

I guess just thinking out loud. I mentioned in other threads that from about 5-12 picks would be less than proper value. Just think about Tampa Bay who might end up picking at 5 spot and with Claiborne off the board. they will be in a worse no mans land than us

[frash.exe]

lol cmon man the day we replaced Buckner's presence on the line with Kemo interior pressure decayed at a progressive rate

and defensive line dominance was the biggest reason the panthers defense was tops in the league from 2002-2005. Peppers was a machine, Jenkins was a great all-around DT and if he could've stayed healthy and in good spirits who knows where he would've gone after 2003, Buckner was a solid tough vet from pittsburgh that was also one of the smartest defensive tackles to play the game in the last ten years, and Rucker was great against the run and a pretty good pass rusher as well. After Buckner left we replaced him with this big 350 lb goober and all he did was take up 2 blockers. He showed not the slightest bit of penetration capability, and combine that with an unmotivated Jenkins or Lewis, who should only be used in a rotation and you've basically got opposing QBs just stepping up in the pocket to avoid DEs when they actually beat their blocker.

If we can get a line like that back the defense will start kicking ass and taking names once again. I mean poo we had Terry Cousins, Reggie Howard, and Deon Grant starting in the secondary and the defense still played elite.

if we actually spend our ~10 pick on a linebacker that basically means our last 3 defensive first round picks were linebackers, and this draft class is deep as poo when it comes to linebackers.

[Sam Mills Fan]

I hate to break it to you guys, but Ron Edwards was a mediocre 32-year-old NFLer before this season. He'll be a mediocre 33-year-old coming off an injury that forced him to miss the entire season this year next season. If you're really counting on Ron Edwards, you're still in that same old Damione Lewis/Tank Tyler mentality that continues to not work.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Also HELL no to receiver. 89, LaFell, Gettis, Shockey, Olsen...guys that catch passes is our biggest strength on the team outside of quarterback. I don't want Blackmon here much less Alshon Jeffery.