We bring you part two of this week’s fan mailbag a little early in lieu of the Draft on Thursday!
Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of our weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! The NFL Draft approaches, so I wanted to knock this one out a little early. I hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend. Let’s dive right in!
@WTMealey: Re dual threat Travis Hunter- What former or current Panthers were under utilized given their dual threat potential?
2 I think of is Peppers as TE in goal line situations and Chris Gamble who played in some years where are WR2 was trash
My pick is probably Curtis Samuel, at least from the standpoint of playing two positions. I think it took Carolina too long to figure out that using him as a running back at times made a lot of sense. By the time they really started actually doing that he was in a contract year.
As far as dual threat, I’d tend to agree with Julius Peppers. In his early years that dude showed insane ball skills on interceptions, but NFL offenses weren’t as creative back then. And certainly not the John Fox led Panthers.
yardstick: How many trades will Dan Morgan make during during the draff? I would put the over/under at 2. I say he will go over.
I’d take the over. I think Carolina will try to trade down from 8, whether or not they accomplish that is a different story. I do think they are virtually a lock to trade up somewhere in the mid rounds, they have three 5th round picks so I would think they’ll use one or two of them to move up the board in the 3rd or 4th rounds.
GooseCreek: Will Dan Morgan, Dave Canales and Brandt Tilis be able to work the war room and build an intent for each pick or trade and then approach Dave (and Nicole?) to be a final sounding board or will the owners be more underfoot during the draft process?
I haven’t seen much indication since Dave and Dan took over to think the Teppers are taking as much of an active role in decision making. I do think at least at 8 they’ll at least be consulted, but so far there hasn’t been anything overly overt that has transpired to make me think David Tepper has his hands in the cookie jar again.
Smoothc85: If Jalon Walker didn’t play for GA, do analysts still view him as a top 10 pick? I personally don’t see it. PFF has him at 24.
Maybe not, but it isn’t like Georgia doesn’t acquire good football players. And the college game is still very recruiting based even with all the NIL deals. I’ve seen Walker all over the place on draft boards, I’ve seen him go before the Panthers pick, soon after, and way later in the 1st round in mock drafts. The fact that so many analysts have him highly rated definitely makes me more optimistic about him if he ends up being the first selection the Panthers make.
positivebob: Will Morgan trade down? Will Jalon Walker go in the top 10, as the NFL consensus says, or in the 2nd half of the 1st, as CSR posters seem to think?
I think the Panthers absolutely intend to trade down given the right deal. I also think most of the teams picking around them would do the same. I do think Walker will go somewhere in his draft range of the top 10-15, but I don’t have anything to base that off other than mock drafts. The more active commenters are more pessimistic on Walker than I think the average, as he’s often more highly rated in some of the general polls we’ve run where people who don’t necessarily participate as often in the comments can still cast a vote. I guess we’ll see who is right on Thursday!
Jesse_Pinkman: Alright Brian, this is a long one.
Since I’m not from the US and never been to North Carolina and Charlotte before… If I’m going there, this season, to watch at least a game, and don’t want to be under the hot sun (yes, I’m from Brazil and I can’t stand hot temperatures) but also don’t want to freeze to death… What month should I pick to go over there? Maybe even catch a Hornets game while at it altough I’m a Lakers fan.
Cheers and a great week to you and everyone here in CSR.
October and early November were fine for me in the two home games I have attended. Other fans who have attended more home games should sound off below with their experiences!
dayneB12: Do you expect the Panthers to come out of the draft with more, less, or the same amount of picks heading into it?
I’d say about the same. I could see the Panthers pulling off the mythical early trade down where the lionshare of the added desert of the compensation is a future pick and not necessarily a few picks in this particular draft.
brake23: The Giants are open to trading back from 3. Do you think us trading up to #3 in exchange for Pick 74 and our 2026 2nd rounder is too much to get Abdul Carter if he’s available at Pick 3?
That’s not the worst deal for a top 3 pick, however I understand fans not being happy about the prospects of this, especially with how deep this draft is supposed to be at that particular position. I’d be happy they got Carter, but I don’t think they’ll make that trade.
Vashti2112: Dianna Russini had some interesting commentary.
– a lot of teams are calling 2-4 about moving up – most of them for Hunter.
– New England seems locked in on OL
– Jags seem to be looking for an offensive player.
– Raiders like Jeanty, but also thinking OL.
– Jets seem very interested in Warren
– Bears really seem to want Jeanty.
– Giants have talked a lot about moving up to 3, or moving back…or staying put and taking defensive stud at 3 and trading back up to back of first round to get a QB.
And a real interesting bit about player visits:
What a prospect visit really means: Many teams and fans like to read the tea leaves leading up to the draft, including what teams will do based on the 30 player visits they have set up over the past few weeks. As one successful general manager explained: “Just because a player visits doesn’t necessarily mean the team is interested. Sometimes it’s to be certain they are actually out on a player.”
Just wanted to highlight this as the last of the mailbag for this week. Good insight, and the point about the 30 visits is one I made in recent editions of the Answers Mailbag.
That’s all for this week, Panthers fans! Enjoy the Draft coverage all throughout the weekend, and KEEP POUNDING!