Thumbs Down:
To the Carolina Panthers, for not learning from past mistakes. I love the Jimmy Clausen pick, but the 3rd round was an unmitigated example of the definition of insanity. Badly in need of a wideout to take pressure off Steve Smith, the Panthers drafted Brandon LaFell, a carbon copy of the man he’s angling to replace, Dwayne Jarrett. If the last big, stiff-routed, iffy-handed wideout didn’t work, what makes GM Marty Hurney believe this one will? Hurney then compounded the mistake by trading a 2nd rounder next year to New England (who else?) to move up and select an undersized FCS quarterback, Armanti Edwards, that will transition to wide receiver. With the very next pick the Patriots took Ohio University wideout Taylor Price, who is bigger, stronger, faster, and has actually run a pass route and proven he’ll catch anything near him. The spin from Charlotte is that Edwards can be Josh Cribbs for them, but Cribbs is four inches taller and 35 pounds heavier, and even so he has struggled to find a role in Cleveland’s offense. Two years ago they grossly overpaid to move up and get Jeff Otah, who admittedly has been pretty good, and last year they dealt way too much to get Everette Brown. For a team completely devoid of depth across the board, the Panthers simply cannot afford to keep borrowing from the future to pay for the present--especially when the present doesn’t look too promising. They also can’t afford head-scratchers like taking a 3rd QB (Tony Pike) in the 6th round, not with so many depth issues all over the field.
