We bring you the answers portion of this week’s fan mailbag!
Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! Fans seem to be drilling down into all the plausible scenarios for the Panthers early on in this year’s draft, luckily we’re only a few weeks away! So, I bring you all the answers to your questions! To recap, Brian Answers is part two of your weekly fan mailbag, where we answer all questions, whether they be Panthers related, football related, or even completely off topic. Let’s dive right in!
bolshy: Last year Dan seemed to do pretty well in FA, but I didn’t like his draft that much. This year, Dan seemed to do okay plugging holes in FA, but our roster is still weak overall. Teams can’t contend unless they land solid draft picks and I don’t feel like Dan has what it takes. How much faith do you have in the ability of this front office to evaluate and draft game changing talent?
I’m going to give GM Dan Morgan another full Offseason before making any kind of finalized judgment on him. I think last season is hard to hold against him just because of the dire straights the Panthers were in when he took over as general manager. He didn’t have a first round pick on a team who would have gained the first overall pick had they not traded it in the prior Offseason. This is the first normal draft we’ll see under Dave Canales and Dan Morgan, let’s give them a chance first before deeming them incapable.
CusterFlux: I looked at 5 new mocks today. All had Jalon Walker at #8. Mike Mayock called Walker a better edge prospect than Carter, and compared Walker to Micah Parsons. On the other hand, Walker’s been comped on this site to Frankie Luvu without much pushback. Is there any possibility Mayock is right? And, can Evero scheme the best use of Walker if he does become the pick?
Mike Mayock is certainly a well known draft voice, but like many others who have been doing this for decades, they’ll come up with favorite prospects and that will always affect their mock drafts. I’m personally with CSR in that I think Walker is closer to Frankie Luvu than Micah Parsons, but there are plenty of other draft minds who also throw out that same comparison. In the admittedly limited amount of actual film review I did for Walker, I came away mostly unimpressed. I thinka large part of that had to do with just how devastating that entire Georgia defense as a whole was last season, so many times other players were jumping off the screen at me where Walker was doing clean up work. But, I’m not at all concerned with how Ejiro Evero schemes things around him. Evero definitely worked fine with Luvu when he was in Carolina, and a pick that hjgh on defense will not come without Evero’s input. Be skeptical all you want of the prospect or pick itself, but I wouldn’t be concerned about Evero being able to use whomever they select at 8 if it turns out to be a defensive player.
ericbuck: What do you think the trade compensation will be when we inevitably trade for Ian Thomas midseason?
Until then though, what do you think the Panthers will do at Tight end? I find it hard to believe they are going to rock into next season with just JT Sanders, Tremble and Jordan Matthews
I think the Panthers could get Ian Thomas back from the Raiders by shipping off Jalen Coker. Easy win for both teams.
I think the Panthers could and should consider TE Tyler Warren at 8 if he’s there, or even a tight end with their 2nd round pick. There’s some talent in this draft and tight ends can fall all over the draft board come the draft itself. A 2nd or 3rd round selection might round that room off nicely if they can’t get Warren.
Capitatethedj: What do you think the plan at Safety is? I assume we draft one, but shouldn’t be planning for a rookie day 1 starter. Is there anyone still available in free agency that you think will fit the Panthers scheme as a 1 year stopgap?
I think the Panthers will sign another veteran safety, no matter what happens in the draft. Remember, safety is one of those positions where the going rate for free agents drops off significantly after the top tier get signed. There’s usually starter caliber free agents out there for that position even after training camp kicks off. I think Julian Blackmon or Marcus Maye will end up here, or someone of that same status, but there’s no real rush for them to sign affordable contracts when teams still have the draft to address the position. We could very well see the Panthers draft one (or even two), and then go sign a presumed starter in May or June.
@WTMealey: Ok pretend you are the GM-what is your prep like for the draft?
Are you a spreadsheet man? What’s on the different tabs?
Do you have one for each position?
Do you make your own trade value chart for picks?
Do you have a price for every team(based on what picks they own) if they call you when you’re on the clock at 8?
Do you have Canales make his own and maybe some other scouts and coaches make their own top 200 list or have the WR coach give his top 20 WRs?
I personally wouldn’t prepare at all, not like the draft ever falls the way any of us expect. Spreadsheets? That’s for analytics nerds. I’m all about reading and reacting, just like a true football player would. Trade value chart? Nah, I’m squeezing every other GM for every last drop of blood before I pull the trigger on a trade. And I trade like I do in fantasy, send me your best offer, if you low ball me I’m hanging up the phone.
I’d definitely reference the top 200 lists. This would also avoid the work of me making my own spreadsheets so I can LOCK IN on draft day.
dayneB12: Is Moehrig playing at FS or SS? Last year showed that he is much better at SS.
I’d say strong safety, but unless Carolina finds themselves a true free safety (as in, a middle of the field roamer that does this naturally from a talent standpoint), they probably are going to make the two safety positions interchangeable. They’ll also likely run a decent bit of cover 3 anyway, meaning Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson will be helping quite a bit with downfield coverage.
Cat Fan: Since he had a better year at Edge than our own, Azeez Ojulari, I thought, was a gimme, but Eagles picked him up for only $3M. WHY? {Was it just the chance to play for a championship team?
Well, for starters he’ll join several former Georgia Bulldogs on that team, so that always helps. He likely didn’t get the deal that he wanted as a free agent, so a one year deal on the cheap always screams “prove it” for the next contract. He also probably would like to experience playing meaningful football games in January/February, something he hasn’t done for the Giants and probably wasn’t going to do this upcoming season for the Panthers. Wouldn’t read too much into it beyond that. The Panthers also seem to be very specific about their desires for edge rushers, he might not have fit what they were looking for there.
BEVECHOWSKI: Seem like all the talk for us in the draft is DL or WR. What other positions do you think are in serious consideration for us in the first round? Do you think ILB should be?
I absolutely thing ILB is worth consideration in the first round. Trevon Wallace has promise but there’s development to be done there, while Josey Jewell is certainly reliable but he is what he is at this point in his career. I’d also say TE, S, and CB could be in consideration and the Panthers don’t need to make this pick difficult. Add the player that is going to have the highest impact, they don’t need to pigeonhole it into one or two positions.
That’s all this week, Panthers fans! Join us next week for another mailbag, and KEEP POUNDING!