Carolina Panthers

[CLTProductions]

Agreed. Kelvin is an absolute MONSTER at 6-5. He's fast, he's athletic and can go over the top to make a big catch. The only concern I have with him is the well documented laziness and lack of motivation he can display. Hopefully a contact and a good coach can remedy this.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Jayvee

[kickazzz2000]

I don't know if they need another short receiver. WR1s are trending toward big guys like the kid from Florida State, who they might be able to get with their 1st round pick,

please drop to us please drop to us please drop to us

[MilZ]

While Benjamin seems a great pick up now, remember that this draft class is loaded with potential stars at WR. As always opinions of who we should draft and where all of the WRs are projected will likely change multiple times during the combine.  That said, Benjamin would be an awesome weapon for Newton.

 

Whoever we get will hopefully be a reliable go-to for Cam for years to come.

[grodney]

Of course this is all just opinion, but the Panthers don't need more receivers, or a star receiver.  They need an offensive line.  And then a big gap to a secondary.  And then everything else.

 

 

 

p.s. As long as we're talking tall WRs -- it's probably my Iowa bias, but I'd love to see Marvin McNutt stay a Panther and make an impact.

[CLTProductions]

The reason we need a WR above all else, is our "#1" receiver is old....and our "#2" is a TE. We have no way to generate massive plays if a comeback is ever needed. Our secondary and O Line has problems I couldn't possibly agree more. HOWEVER, the reason we need a WR in the first round is exactly what MilZ said. This is an INCREDIBLE draft year for receivers and now is our time to capitalize....if it wasn't I would say we should absolutely draft an O lineman to give Cam more time.

[HopHead]

I keep reading all these posts from Panthers fans on Twitter complaining about the refs. Yea, the 49ers clearly had more calls (and non-calls) go their way yesterday. However, that wasn't the reason for the loss. It was bad play calling (and failure to execute) inside the 5 when they had chances for TDs. Not to mention the DL was a non-factor against San Fran's offense. Kaepernick was only sacked once if I recall. 49ers were clearly a better, more prepared team than the Panthers were. The team will grow and learn from this. But, yea they need some help at WR. LaFell isn't cutting it and Smitty isn't a #1 receiver anymore. He's better in the slot. 

[CLTProductions]

I keep reading all these posts from Panthers fans on Twitter complaining about the refs. Yea, the 49ers clearly had more calls (and non-calls) go their way yesterday. However, that wasn't the reason for the loss. It was bad play calling (and failure to execute) inside the 5 when they had chances for TDs. Not to mention the DL was a non-factor against San Fran's offense. Kaepernick was only sacked once if I recall. 49ers were clearly a better, more prepared team than the Panthers were. The team will grow and learn from this. But, yea they need some help at WR. LaFell isn't cutting it and Smitty isn't a #1 receiver anymore. He's better in the slot. 

No one lost that game, except for the Panthers. Calls were bad, but they just lost that game in the red zone. Easily. Realistically, compared to elite teams, they do NOT have a #1 WR. End of story. 

[grodney]

The difference between a 12-4 year and a 8-8 year is a few little things that break your way or that you make work out in your favor.  Carolina had the little things break their way this year -- whether by luck or skill or some combination.  Yesterday those things didn't break their way:  A 4th-and-1 failure, a tipped pass gets intercepted, a couple questionable penalties, an opposing receiver barely getting his foot in-bounds, an inability to make critical 3rd down stops.  It was a fun season -- I'm very happy for that.

 

p.s. I hope Gettleman and the coaches aren't as worried about WR as the public seems to be!  I'm way more concerned about run-blocking and Cam getting spooked out of what little pocket there is.

[AuLukey]

Honestly, the playoffs couldn't have played out worse for the Panthers.  Had the Eagles held up against the Saints in the Wildcard round, we'd be hyped up about the Panthers going to the NFC Championship.  The 49ers are a healthy team on a roll at the right time.  They would have been a 14-2 team if they had been healthy all year.  In this game, when Mikell went down, the game was over.  Without him (which isn't really saying a whole lot,) our secondary might as well have been held together by Spongebob.  The Panthers have got to solidify the secondary, it is, hands down, the teams greatest weakness. 

 

Yes, we need another receiver, without question.  Smith is well past his prime.  I'm all for keeping him around, but not as our key receiver anymore.  But we did see Cam put together some amazing drives throughout this season with receivers that are only sub-par.  It's really a miracle the boy didn't get hurt during this game.  He took some hits that wouldn't knocked 90% of the NFL's QBs clear into Kansas.  He needs more protection, he needs to stop running on consecutive plays (a la Deangelo's fumble in the Seattle game,) and he needs another receiver. 

 

Tolbert is an awesome Fullback, Deangelo is a monster when used correctly, so we need to trade Stewart.  End of story.  Stewart is good, he'd be great for a lot of teams out there. But he's simply too redundant on this team.  They could easily get a first round pick out of trading him away, not to mention clearing out some salary cap space.  His injury this year will significantly lower his value to the Panthers in a trade, but I bet there are other teams out there that would kill for a consistent running back right now.

 

The offensive line clearly needs work, but I'm not sure that using a draft pick would be the wisest decision right now.

 

Their schedule next year won't be any easier.  We're facing every NFC division champion as well as the Bengals and Packers (who are better than their record would suggest.)  There are a lot of offensive weapons headed Charlotte's way and the Panthers secret is out: "attack the secondary."  The last four games of the season pretty much sum that up.  We were winning by huge margins in the middle of the season until Drew Brees showed everyone what to do against our defense.  Also, let's not forget that Atlanta isn't going to be full of injuries next year like they were this year.  I want to believe, but I don't expect us to be 12-4 again without plugging up our very obvious weaknesses.

[Niner National]

Nobody is going to trade anything for Stewart. Not with that contract and his inability to stay healthy.

[MilZ]

^ I could see someone trading something for Stewart, but certainly not a first round pick.  Consider Beason and his difficulties as a similar situation, and he was traded for a 7th round.

[AuLukey]

Wishful thinking?

[CLTProductions]

Best case scenario in my opinion:

 

Draft a WR (really like the guys from Penn State & FSU)

Pick up a Offensive Lineman, particularly a guard from free agency or trade

[HopHead]

Panthers need to draft an OL with their first pick. There is a plethora of really good WRs coming out so they could easily find one in the 2nd or 3rd round. You can have the best WRs in the game but if Cam is running for his life or getting hit as soon as he drops back, it does you no good. 

 

And I agree that the Panthers need to dump Stewart and his bad Marty Hurney-loyalty contract. Probably won't get much more than a 6th or 7th rounder if they are lucky though. Armanti Edwards played more than Stewart did this season which is ridiculous.

Edited January 15, 2014 by wend28

[CLTProductions]

Panthers need to draft an OL with their first pick. There is a plethora of really good WRs coming out so they could easily find one in the 2nd or 3rd round. You can have the best WRs in the game but if Cam is running for his life or getting hit as soon as he drops back, it does you no good. 

 

And I agree that the Panthers need to dump Stewart and his bad Marty Hurney-loyalty contract. Probably won't get much more than a 6th or 7th rounder if they are lucky though. Armanti Edwards played more than Stewart did this season which is ridiculous.

I am inclined to agree with you, however, there are better free agent linemen becoming available as opposed to WR. Namely: Michael Oher and Branden Albert. 

[HopHead]

I am inclined to agree with you, however, there are better free agent linemen becoming available as opposed to WR. Namely: Michael Oher and Branden Albert. 

 

Problem with that is most of those Free Agent OLinemen are going to be too expensive. Panthers still have salary cap limitations for the next two years. And they have contracts coming up for Greg Hardy (if he's going to come back) then Cam and Kuechly next year. 

Edited January 15, 2014 by wend28

[CLTProductions]

Very good point. Touche.

[MilZ]

While I do agree with upgrading the o-line, I still think there were more situations where after 2 or 3 seconds (even 4 sometimes) of pocket protection, our receivers still could not shake their defenders. Cam often got the blame for holding the ball to long, but many of those times were due to not having an open receiver or a safe guy to "chuck" towards in a decent time frame. This is with a a qb who has proven he can hit some pretty tight windows.

Of course, I'm not the one reviewing game film. Whatever actually happens in the first round, I trust that Gettleman will make the right call.

[Niner National]

PFF graded our o-line at 9th best in the league based on their advanced metrics. That was with several injuries on the line. I think we can improve the o-line, but WR, CB, and re-signing Greg Hardy are more important IMO.

[CLTProductions]

Well this is certainly a cool move by Jerry.

 

http://blogs.charlotte.com/panthers/2014/01/jerry-richardson-ad-letter-charlotte-observer-panthers-nfl.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[MilZ]

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Panthers-extend-head-coach-Ron-Rivera-/acad006a-d935-4dd0-92df-cf04c26f115c

 

The Riverboat is anchored through 2017!

[kermit]

While we have all heard this story before, the owner of the St. Louis Rams has purchased 60 acres adjacent to the Forum in Los Angeles. It (so far) appears that the purchase is simply an effort to leverage St. Louis into stadium upgrades which St. Louis can't afford because they are still paying off the debt of the 20 year old stadium which the city paid for.

 

If the long-shot comes through and the Rams do indeed move back to LA I suspect that the Panthers would be significantly less likely to move (or convincingly threaten moving) since there are few other markets (outside of LA) which would be a significant improvement for the Panthers.

[Niner National]

While we have all heard this story before, the owner of the St. Louis Rams has purchased 60 acres adjacent to the Forum in Los Angeles. It (so far) appears that the purchase is simply an effort to leverage St. Louis into stadium upgrades which St. Louis can't afford because they are still paying off the debt of the 20 year old stadium which the city paid for.

 

If the long-shot comes through and the Rams do indeed move back to LA I suspect that the Panthers would be significantly less likely to move (or convincingly threaten moving) since there are few other markets (outside of LA) which would be a significant improvement for the Panthers.

I think the odds are pretty low for the Panthers to move regardless of what happens with the rams. If you own the Panthers, you are guaranteed that you sell out about 90% of your stadium just from PSL holders.

 

Although Charlotte itself isn't a huge television market, the Panthers distribution area is the 6th largest in the league. Our market for television purposes is virtually all of NC and SC. 

 

There are far better relocation options out there.

[kermit]

There are far better relocation options out there.

 

like where? (honest question)

[Niner National]

like where? (honest question)

Jacksonville, Buffalo, and Oakland.

 

Panthers fans need to get over this fear that the team may someday leave. It's not going to happen.

 

The NFL is not going to let a team in one of the fastest growing markets move. Realistically, LA is the only city in the country that realistically deserves a team. Every other major city in the country is already directly represented or has a team reasonably close by.

 

Oklahoma City is probably the only exception.