Grading the Draft: Carolina Panthers edition
Sports Ruckus writer Jessie Peel has graded the entire NFC South, and while some Panther fans might not like his grading, he has some very valid points. Let’s see what the Panthers finished with.
Carolina Panthers
Draft Needs: WR, WR, WR, WR (maybe a TE or CB too)
Key Additions: WR Jerricho Cotchery (five years, $8 million), CB Antoine Cason (one year, $795k), S Roman Harper (two years, $4.5 million), DE Greg Hardy (franchise tag)
Key Losses: WR Steve Smith (Baltimore), CB Captain Munnerlyn (Minnesota), S Mike Mitchell (Pittsburgh), WR Ted Ginn Jr. (Arizona), WR Brandon LaFell (New England)
The Carolina Panthers made a historic move that will be spoken of for years to come by drafting in the first round Phoenix Mercury’s center Brittney Griner! What an interesting move! They may use her as a TE or big WR but in any case it should be…excuse me…what?… what do you mean that’s not Brittney Griner? That’s Kelvin Benjamin??? THAT’S WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE WITHOUT HIS HELMET ON?? My apologies…moving on…It almost seemed like Panther WR’s were vacating Charlotte as if it was ordered by the President himself. To their credit they made an attempt to address their lack of receivers by grabbing a red zone target like Kelvin Benjamin out of FSU. 6’5”, 243 lbs, has an interesting combination of size and adequate speed but shows concentration issues which were displayed in his 9% drop rate. But this pick could pan out for Cam…could being the operative word. I actually like the Kony Ealy pick but I think he would’ve still been around in the 3rd round. Also, WR’s Jarvis Landry and Allen Robinson were still out there at that pick so they really could’ve done some damage in this draft. They still NEED WR help. No, seriously, they do. Here’s whose left: Jerricho Cotchery (their free agency “weapon”), Jason Avant (who’s a gold member of AARP), Kid ‘n’ Play 2.0 Tiquan Underwood (Google his haircut, he looks ridiculous) and Marvin McNutt. Who? Exactly. Trai Turner, offensive guard out of LSU, can end up being a steal. That glaring receiver hole just got bigger as the draft moved on and it confused me more than the ending of the Sopranos. You could bag up the rest of that draft and send it to Cleveland-they need the help. Bonus points-Great job in holding on to the Kraken,Greg Hardy but good luck Cam-I hope there is a real Superman suit under that jersey.
Draft Grade: Carolina Panthers – B-
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