Originally posted by communist:
they got a real good draft, imo:
jimmy clausen is a big steal...he is pro-ready. they got 3 WRs (lafell, armanti edwards and gettis), at least lafell is a good one. they filled their other big needs at DE and olb, with greg hardy and eric norwood, the latter one was another steal.
thus, they have a good qb, enough (potential) weapons in passing situations and a formidable RB-duo for the running game...the only thing they didnt fixed in draft, is DT.
I agree that the Clausen pick is their best pick up (also glad we didn't pick him up). He will be running an offense very similar to the one he ran at ND, has a great OL (when healthy, Gross and Otah are badass and Kahlil is a Pro Bowl caliber C, just there's a few pro bowl C's in the NFC), killer running game, and a Pro Bowl WR in Steve Smith (his William Floyd, but with better hands).
Wouldn't be surprised to see Clausen gets the Panthers to the playoffs b/c he only has to be a game manager, not the super-hero everyone needed him to be in South Bend (he forgets how talented his Westlake Village team was).
For the rest of the draft, Lafell might be okay, but don't see how he upgrades their WR core outside of making it younger. No one in the rest of their draft appears to improve any position. Norwood and Hardy would thrive better in a 3-4 (though Norwood can play OLB in a 4-3, but just think it limits his talents), and no one else really improves the team.
I think they need to pick up Henderson to improve the middle of the DL, and need to trade for Andre Carter from Wash. Carter would upgrade their pass rush automatically b/c he's a good 4-3 DE. Granted he's not Peppers, better than anyone they have now on their roster.
Saints will still dominate and win the division, Tampa will win 3 more games with their improved defense, and Atlanta is still overrated after that one season and will fall short b/c no pass rush or pass defense(sound familar?
), so the wild card is a strong possibility for the Panthers if they fix their DL before the season starts