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April 24, 2008
Fans' mock draft voting results ...
Thanks to all of you who voted in our fans’ mock draft.
We made the first 12 picks and let our readers make the call for the Panthers at No. 13. Among the players off the board were OT Ryan Clady and G/T Branden Albert.
We’ve tallied the results. If we could tell that someone voted twice for the same person, we only counted one. There also was one person who split his vote two ways and another who turned in a three-way tie. We didn’t count those because the Panthers won’t have that option on Saturday. Some comments were posted with no vote cast.
And now, drumroll please ...
Florida defensive end Derrick Harvey won the poll, getting 60 of 151 votes cast.
Here are the results:
DE Derrick Harvey ...................60
OT Jeff Otah ............................30
RB Rashard Mendenhall ........... 20
RB Jonathan Stewart ................12
Trade down for picks ................11
OT Chris Williams.......................5
Trade up for DT Sedrick Ellis ......2
Trade for Dolphins’ DE J.Taylor...2
Trade up for OT Ryan Clady........2
Trade up for QB Matt Ryan .........1
Trade up for DT Glenn Dorsey.....1
OT Gosder Cherilus....................1
WR Dexter Jackson....................1
LB Dan Connor..........................1
A left tackle ...............................1
Best available player...................1
Posted by Observer Sports on April 24, 2008 at 07:16 PM | Permalink
Comments
Once again I have to make the argument of why on earth you would draft Harvey when DE is the deepest part of our D-line with a third round pick last year who was highly rated, a highly-talented, albeit unpolished end in McClover, and FA signee Brayton, who as somebody commented today was thought of very highly by Tony Dungy. Fox has hinted at throwing them into the rotation for a little "trial by fire". DT is clearly the weakest point on the team depth-wise followed by OT, RB, and S. I am not gonna argue for who to pick but simply not Harvey. Anyone who wants him never seems to justify that pick. Somebody step up and tell me how that is a logical move with more pressing needs on the team? Other than the argument he is a stud, and would take pressure of Peppers. Because you could make the same case for the other 3 DE's as they will be given a true shot this year.
Posted by: mountaineerdynAsty | Apr 24, 2008 8:16:09 PM
Also, Interesting story on ESPN.COM right now from their Scouts Inc department. They rank first round picks by team since 2000 and break it up by conferences. They rate if the pick met expectations, exceeded, or fell below. I decided to ascribe a point total for each grade. 0 for meeting, 1 for exceeding, and -1 for falling below. Everyone will be shocked to know that the Panthers overall grade is a +2, which is the highest out of all NFC teams. Only one other team had a positive score, the Cowgirls, at +1. The Skins were the only team to break even. Lions, Rams, and Niners all scored the worst at -3. The average score was -1.3. The average picks per team over that span was 8 and the Panthers had exactly eight during that time. Pretty impressive the Cats even beat out world-famous talent evaluator Bill Parcells! The 2nd round drafting and on for the Panthers has been horrendous though, can't argue against that.
Posted by: mountaineerdynAsty | Apr 24, 2008 8:34:47 PM
mountaineer, I will agree with you. I posted earlier in the "tea leaves" blog that Brayton was highly regared by Dungy, and we should at least give him and McClover a chance to compete for the job because I honestly can't believe Peppers is going to have back-to-back horrible seasons. I voted for Mendenhall initially, but I'm starting to think Stewart might fit a lot better in our system. The only problem is whether he'd be able to run with our OL, but I think we could get a quality OT in the 2nd or 3rd round. I can't wait for this draft!!
Posted by: JPanther | Apr 24, 2008 8:39:43 PM
We dont need harvey. We have nutcracker! The greatest DE in panther history never to play a game. We need Mendenhall or Stewert!
Posted by: sjl;jdjkajlkdkj | Apr 24, 2008 9:50:39 PM
Please no Harvey at 13. Sign Shaun Alexander to a one-two year, performance based deal. Take the highest rated OT at 13. Trade the 2nd and one of the 3rds to move back up into the bottom of the first to take the best DE/DL available. That would leave you with 7 picks left in rounds 3-7. With those 7 picks you can add depth at the DL, OL, QB, and S positions. There is no need to draft a RB at 13. We have a starter, we just need a second option. Alexander would more than provide that. He played most of all last year with a broken hand and even missed some games, but he still had 700+ yards. Plus signing Alexander saves a draft pick. OT is a must in the first. Wharton is shakey at LT and Gross is in the last year of his contract. We need to get a stable day-one starter at LT. Hopefully either Clady, Otah, or Williams will be there at 13. The next glaring need, possibly the biggest, is the DL. We need DT more than DE, but due to the lack of DT in the draft we might have to go DE. We can take our 2nd and one of our two thirds and move up to the bottom of the second round to take the best DE avaiable. Hopefully Merling, the DE from Miami, or the DT from UNC will be available. Thats my thoughts. Panthers have always drafted well in the 1st, but its pretty hard not to. In order to have a successful season in 08 we have to draft well in rounds 2-7. Comments??
Posted by: J Thomas | Apr 24, 2008 10:02:01 PM
Everybody made the right pick! Please no wasted first round HB please! You want to know why everybody but a few posters wanted a DE. Because our pass rush was very bad last year and if we want a good D next year it has to start with the D-line witch is the weakest part of our team. Yes we have 3 DE's at one spot but you have to have mega depth on the d-line.Every year we a have played with a extra DE, so why should this year be any deferent. Plus the fact Brayton can play DT or DE we need that many DE's because someone always goes down at that brutal postion.On top of that Harvey could start and give our weak pass rush a boost that would help with our sub par DT's. We should upgrade DT's with the 2nd,3rd pick or a free agent. This draft is deep with OT's and HB's so picking one of those in the 1st is clearly a wasted pick and DE would better fill out our team. We could get Smith,Forte or Rice in the 3rd and they are all good backs that fit the roll. We also could get a get OT in the 2nd or 3rd like Baker,Collins,Nicks just to name a few, but after the 1st round DE's drop off big time. So there you go thats why just about everybody that knows anything about football wants a D. Harvey with the 1st. How you doin!
Posted by: jaybird | Apr 24, 2008 10:24:57 PM
Oh yeah, Shaun Alexander, that's exactly who we need. First of all when judging a RB's year you should never go by total yardage. The man averaged under 3.5 yards a carry, so if we wanted that we would have kept DeShaun around. We're also going through a youth movement if you haven't noticed. We don't need another over-the-hill player to fill up a roster spot.
Posted by: mountaineerdynAsty | Apr 24, 2008 10:25:31 PM
It may be worth trading up in the 1st, but I'd really hate to give away our 2nd and one of our 3rd's just to get back into the tail end of the first. I mean is Merling really worth trading a 2nd & 3rd rounder for? Pacman Jones was only worth a 4th rounder from Dallas and he's nasty...and proven.
Unless we're trading up to get a DT, Dorsey or Ellis, or DE Chris Long, or possibly OT Clady early in the first, we'd be better off to just stay where we're at.
If we play our cards right, we could possibly even trade back, still get a solid 1st rounder, and pick up an extra 2nd.
Posted by: TheMike | Apr 24, 2008 10:30:51 PM
Hey Jaybird you're a tool. Anyone with common sense knows you don't load up more depth with the 1st round pick at a position where you're set. You get an impact player at a need positions. Look at the depth chart, you can't tell me that DE is more of need than OT, RB, or S. I guarantee the Panthers will not pick Harvey in the first, plus I don't even think he'll be around when we choose, but if he is we pass. The argument about RB's is ridiculous. You can't tell me Forte is in the same class as Stewart. Stewart and DeAngelo could be an elite tandem like Jax has with Jones-Drew and Taylor. Forte would be a 3rd down back at best. Forte or Rice or any of the backs left in the 2nd and 3rd will not have the skill set Stewart or even Mendenhall would have. I will eat all the crow you can put in front of me if I'm wrong. I just don't think there is any way we go after Harvey. OT or RB in the first.
Posted by: mountaineerdynAsty | Apr 24, 2008 10:48:17 PM
The Panthers had 23 sacks last year,31st in the NFL. That is why we need Harvey. The NFL is a copycat league and the Giants played 4 DE. On 3rd downs I would have 3 DE on the field. There is a huge crop of RB and OT. We passed on a guy like Marion Barber and Brandon Jacobs to draft Eric Shelton.Why???? Jamal Charles from Texas will be available with our 2nd pick and Ray Rice & Chris Johnson will be available at our 3rd. I think it's crucial to our success to add a DT & DE in this draft. Trevor Laws from Notre Dame in the 3rd. I hope that we draft the Leyman kid out of Illinois, he is a very good football player and Cory Boyd in the later rounds.
Posted by: wowo | Apr 24, 2008 10:51:24 PM
MountyA, if we're really that deep at DE, Brayton can play DT...he's got experience at the position, and he's certainly got the size to do it. Johnson and McClover might develop, but they're certainly far from sure bets. Harvey would absolutely be an upgrade over either. The problem is that there just isn't anybody who fits our needs at #13. Harvey is the best of some not-so-great prospects. I really would hope they'd trade down before they took anybody available in the Observer mock.
JT, neither Otah nor Williams would be a starter at LT. If we're going to draft an OT who can't play on the left, then wait a little while to pick one and keep Gross and Wharton put. Wharton is one year further removed from his injury/surgery, Gross would probably benefit from finally playing the same position in consecutive years, and they've worked hard to improve their personnel on the interior line.
Yeah, TM...Pacman is proven...as a thug.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Apr 24, 2008 11:03:12 PM
wowo, there's a very simple answer. Jacobs couldn't play in Divison I-A. Barber had never even been a full-time starter at that perennial powerhouse, Minnesota. Shelton, on the other hand, scored 20 TDs in his last year at Louisville and started over Michael Bush. It'd be one thing if they had reached for Shelton and nobody thought he should have been a 2nd-rounder, but that's where he was ranked. If you're going to play that game, then we should certainly be glad we got to take Kindal Moorehead (5th) instead of Wayne Hunter (3rd.) We should be happy, even, that we got Keary Colbert (2nd) instead of Rashaun Woods (1st.) We should celebrate that Travelle Wharton fell to us in the 3rd when Jacob Sanders got picked in the 2nd. Point is, every team misses on picks, and suggesting that the team should have gotten a different player than the one they drafted when that player was rated multiple rounds below him league-wide makes no sense whatsoever.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Apr 24, 2008 11:25:05 PM
Mr. mountaineer guy I think you have been in them there hills to long looks like your comen sence went down hill with your thread. I will not say too much because most everybody gets it but you and maybe a few others why we should pick Harvey. I will just let the poll speak for it self.
Posted by: jaybird | Apr 24, 2008 11:50:19 PM
Procton, I don't understand what it is with you & some of these guys about Williams. The kid has done nothing but have a successful starting career at LT in the toughest conference in the land...the SEC. He's faced more competition week in and week out than any other so called LT on the board. He's quick, has long arms and he's wicked smart. I don't see him as a project, I know some draft "experts" do but if you listen to guys that have watched him play he's stout. Not to mention the fact that he started 21 straight games and gave up only one sack...in the SEC. He also played guard as well as tackle which means he knows how to play both positions which is what the Panthers like. People talk that he isn't nasty enought? The guy had 102 pancake blocks but I guess since he didn't talk about the guys momma after he knocked him on his ass, that doesn't make him nasty. I'm not saying the guy is Jake Longs' twin or anything but he is a solid player and I'd definitely take him over Otah. Williams grades out better than Otah in every category and he's played against much better DE's.
Posted by: JT | Apr 25, 2008 3:05:11 AM
Having said all of that...I don't think Harvey or Williams will be there at 13. I think Williams will get picked up by Denver at 12 and that leaves us w/ Otah. I think Fox/Hurney like Otah but I don't think he's better than anyone we currently have at tackle or anyone we could put at tackle. I think we'll probably go RB and get either Stewart or Mendenhall, which is a need. We need DT's but there aren't any worth picking at 13. I completely agree w/ picking up Laws from ND though...that kid will do nothing but play his heart out which is the kind of player we need on our D-line. I think another good late round pick for us would be another Golden Domer at safety in Zbikowski. He's another kid that knows nothing else but 100%, is tough as nails and has good speed. Pretty good returner too...he may not ever develope into a starting safety (I think he will though) but I think at the very least he'd be a solid special teamer. That's my 10 cents...sorry for taking up so much space guys.
Posted by: JT | Apr 25, 2008 3:20:31 AM
Shut up Procton. Go back to playing with your easy bake oven.
Posted by: OJ | Apr 25, 2008 7:19:20 AM
JT I'm with you on this one man. I'm glad there are a few others who see the light on Chris Williams. Otah is nothing more than a run blocking RT. Williams has excelled in the SEC at LT. Heck, Vanderbilt was in the middle of the pack rushing in the SEC as well (and can you name a RB on that team?). I'm a believer of getting it done on the field and not in the combine (ie Harvey). If Fox takes Williams in the first and Trevor Laws in the second he will have two stud senior bowl standouts in the lineup. Take Matt Forte in the 3rd round and you will have three legit contributors this season. Give Johnson and Brayton a chance at DE. Harvey has bust written all over him (so does "lead foot" Otah). I'd pick Stewart or Mendenhall before I pick those guys.
Posted by: wolfpackjj78 | Apr 25, 2008 8:22:47 AM
Procton, I'm not saying that the Panthers should have or even wanted Pacman (I certainly didn't), but you're high if you think the guy wouldn't be an upgrade at CB , and kick/punt return. He's been in a lot of trouble, sure, but he's going to flourish in Dallas. I'm with you though, we should trade back, instead of picking up a guy that probably shouldn't be going at 13 anyway.
Posted by: TheMike | Apr 25, 2008 9:19:40 AM
I'm thinking RB's... Stewart in the first.
To Guy-with-a-football-on-my-head:
Hope you are happy now that your picture is gone.
If JT gets his way though, you will be back.
Posted by: RB 34 | Apr 25, 2008 10:10:10 AM
OT or DT... OT or DT... Please PLEASE PLEASE OT or DT... Don't listen to them Hurney, DON'T!!! They do not know the error of their ways... Harvey will be flipping burgers in 3 years, don't pick him!!!
Posted by: Steve | Apr 25, 2008 10:39:35 AM
Harvey needs to move to LB in the NFL. He
won't make it as a D-end in the NFL.
The two backs or a left tackle is best choice.
Posted by: whiterook | Apr 25, 2008 2:49:19 PM
I am very surprised at the pick. Who is Harvey? I think he is a draft rumor pick. The best defense is a good offense. So go LT and keep the defense off the field. What don't people umderstand?
Posted by: kelso | Apr 25, 2008 8:20:29 PM
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