Sparky's First Mock Offseason

[SparkyDevil]

Now that the season is over, thought I'd put together an early mock offseason, including GM, coaching, draft and key free agents. Assume anyone not listed in the depth chart as cut or not re-signed. And here we go:

General Manager – Marc Ross

Assistant GM - Brandon Bean

Head Coach – Ron Rivera

Offensive Coordinator – Norv Turner

Defensive Coordinator – Sean McDermott

Thoughts: Ross has a great track record with drafting and scouting and perhaps the organization will keep Mr. Bean around to serve as an assistant GM, after all, the guy has to have great knowledge of the organization (the good moves and the bad moves). I thought Ron Rivera did a great job with the defense, he has the respect of the players, command of the locker room and seems to have learned from his mistakes earlier in the season and last year. People will try to discredit the final wins of both seasons due to weak opponents, but the Panthers did it both times with injury depleted rosters. Rivera deserves another year, especially with a better offensive coordinator...enter Norv Turner - with tons of experience and a solid track record (minus this year) he'd be a tremendous addition to the coaching staff.

SIGN: CB Quinten Jammer (SD), S Dashon Goldson (SF)

RESTRUCTURE: LT Jordan Gross, C Ryan Kalil, LB Jon Besaon, CB Chris Gamble

TRADE: RB DeAngelo Williams for a 5^th round pick, LB James Anderson for a 4^th round pick

TRADE: 15th overall pick and a 4th round pick to Chicago Bears for the 20th overall pick, 2013 2nd round pick, 2014 6th round pick

DRAFT

1 – (via Chicago Bears) DT - Jesse Williams, Alabama

2 – RG - Larry Warford, Kentucky

2 – WR - Justin Hunter, Tennessee

4 – (via James Anderson) LB - DeVonte Holloman, South Carolina

5 – (via DeAngelo Williams) RT - Xavier Nixon, Florida

5 – DT – Josh Boyd, Mississippi State

6 – QB – Jordan Rodgers, Vanderbilt

Thoughts: While the Panthers would likely benefit from grabbing a safety and cornerback in the draft, free agency might be the best option to bolster a weakened secondary while the organization focuses on improving the offensive and defensive lines via the draft. Trading back to grab a solid defensive tackle and picking up an extra second rounder to add a starting caliber guard and wide receiver gives you three impact players early in the draft. Holloman and Nixon are perfect depth players that can one day start (think Frank Alexander) while Boyd and Rodgers will serve as high-ceiling backups. I did not feel it was necessary to draft a kicker yet, although a competition between Gano and a UFA would be smart.

Offense:

WR1 – Steve Smith, Justin Hunter, Joe Adams

LT – Jordan Gross, Bruce Campbell

LG – Amini Silatolu, Geoff Hangartner

C – Ryan Kalil, Geoff Hangartner

RG – Larry Warford, Geoff Hangartner

RT – Byron Bell, Xavier Nixon

TE – Greg Olsen, Gary Barnidge, Richie Brockel

WR2 – Brandon LaFell, Kealoha Pilares, Jared Green

QB – Cam Newton, Derek Anderson, Jordan Rodgers

FB – Mike Tolbert, Richie Brockel

RB – Jonathan Stewart, Tauren Poole

DEFENSE:

DE1 – Greg Hardy, Frank Alexander,

DT – Dwan Edwards, Josh Boyd, Nate Chandler

NT – Jesse Williams, Frank Kearse, Sione Fua

DE2 – Charles Johnson, Thomas Keisier

SLB – Jon Beason, Jordan Senn,

MLB – Luke Kuechly, Jason Phillips, Kenny Onatolu

WLB – Thomas Davis, DeVonte Holloman

CB1 – Chris Gamble, Josh Thomas

CB2 – Quinten Jammer, Josh Norman

SS – Charles Godfrey, D.J. Campbell

FS – Dashon Goldson, Sherrod Martin

SPECIAL TEAMS:

K – Graham Gano

P – Brad Nortman

LS – JJ Jasnen

KR – Adams/Pilares/Green competition in training camp

PR – Adams/Pilares/Green competition in training camp

BONUS - Uniform improvements. Would prefer the Panthers wear silver pants with the white road jersey and ditch the blue socks for black.Our colors are black, blue and silver - we wear white way to often. Also, barring an insanely warm day in September or October, never ever wear the white at home.

[Bwood]

Very well put together and realistic. I hope we can take somewhat of a similar approach.

[Panthersguru14]

I like it a lot all of the needs are taken care of. It's realistic and we would definitely improve

[ShutDwn]

If I wrote a mock it would basically be the same.

I like Norv coming over.

I've also been thinking of Jammer, for the right money I think he'd be a good addition. He's older but he brings some veteran leadership and we can put off drafting a corner early for a year. You can never have enough corners, at least one will go down.

I'm not sure about luring Goldson away from San Fran.

Obviously the trade is what really sparks this draft, though I think you're spot on with your picks. I want the best possible lineman in the first and a lineman on the opposite side in the second. A young WR with good size and speed is also nice.

[BigSyke]

alright....dont like rodgers though try to find a speed rb to replace dwill. also think u could get a better line backer. i would also get corner with one of those dt picks.

[carolina-chuck]

Not being mean but I don't like it at all. Maybe bc it's something that could really happen in the Draft.

[SparkyDevil]

Very well put together and realistic. I hope we can take somewhat of a similar approach.

I like it a lot all of the needs are taken care of. It's realistic and we would definitely improve

Thanks! I tried to make it as realistic as possible.

If I wrote a mock it would basically be the same.

I like Norv coming over.

I've also been thinking of Jammer, for the right money I think he'd be a good addition. He's older but he brings some veteran leadership and we can put off drafting a corner early for a year. You can never have enough corners, at least one will go down.

I'm not sure about luring Goldson away from San Fran.

Obviously the trade is what really sparks this draft, though I think you're spot on with your picks. I want the best possible lineman in the first and a lineman on the opposite side in the second. A young WR with good size and speed is also nice.

The more I think about Norv, the more I'd like to see him with the Panthers. You have a point about Goldson, he'd be a tough sell, but just adding a veteran safety will help the secondary - especially if Martin comes back strong and Campbell progresses.

alright....dont like rodgers though try to find a speed rb to replace dwill. also think u could get a better line backer. i would also get corner with one of those dt picks.

Yeah, the Rodgers pick is a wash. At that point in the draft, you really could take any depth player you need, perhaps a RB, C or CB. You'd probably be able to get a third string QB better than Jimmy as a UFA.

Not being mean but I don't like it at all. Maybe bc it's something that could really happen in the Draft.

I'm afraid I don't understand....is that not what these mock drafts are for?

[Ken]

So no one questioning how we can afford Goldson or how James Anderson is worth a 4th? I am disappoint.

However I really like the picks. Should pick up a DE though. Other than that I like it.

[Jackofalltrades]

I don't want to replace Chud at this point, but I'd love this.

[davos]

If we can pull off a trade down, Jesse Williams and Warford would be really nice. Nice write up

[carolina-chuck]

If we can pull off a trade down, Jesse Williams and Warford would be really nice. Nice write up

Jesse Williams and a WR.