Dennis Daley, OT/G (South Carolina)
While the Panthers may well have found their left tackle of the future when they traded up for Greg Little in the second round, depth on the offensive line is an ongoing concern and with both Greg Van Roten and Daryl Williams being free agents in 2020, adding another player to the mix maxes a lot of sense. Daley certainly has potential at either guard or tackle, with good lower body power and decent foot speed, but needs a lot of technique work – while he does flash some nice bits of hand usage at times, he needs to play with significantly better knee bend and his actual pass sets and stance need something of an overhaul as this creates issues both with the consistency of his hand usage and with his balance.
However, he is unlikely to be asked to contribute outside of special teams and goal-line packages in the short term, but absolutely has value as somebody who can effectively sit for a year and develop while offering depth value with a chance to come in to compete either at right tackle or left guard should the Panthers look to move on from one or both of Van Roten and Williams next offseason.
Terry Godwin, WR (Georgia)
The Panthers don’t have the biggest need at receiver right now, but where they could potentially do with some help is in the return game, and Godwin also has the potential to be a rotation piece down the road. He shows pretty good vertical speed on tape with solid hands and does flash potential as a route runner, but has issues against press and wasn’t really asked to run anything close to a full route tree for the most part at Georgia. He also doesn’t really add a huge amount in terms of an aerial threat and doesn’t do much after the catch outside of the threat of his speed, but he does do a pretty good job as a blocker, which is always to see in a receiver.
In terms of his role with the Panthers, Godwin’s best chance to contribute early is as a returner, with the departure of Damiere Byrd offering an opportunity in both the punt and kick return game, but longer term, there is a chance for an increased role down the road with both Torrey Smith and Chris Hogan being free agents in 2020. Godwin is unlikely to ever develop into an elite receiver, but could be a nice third or fourth option and is good value right at the end of the draft.
Overall, the Panthers might have hoped to get more out of the final day of the draft given how many presumed day two talents fell to the start of the final day – but with most of those players being snapped up in the first few picks of the fourth round, the Panthers did well to secure one of that top tier in Christian Miller in the fourth round – and then used their remaining picks to fill needs without massively reaching for value.
Daley in particular has potential to develop into a more significant contributor with time – similar to what the Panthers hope they have in Jermaine Carter and Ian Thomas from a year ago – with the likes of Scarlett and Godwin offering immediate depth and rotation value. The success or failure of this draft for the Panthers will very much depend on the top two picks, who both have the potential to be feature players on each side of the ball, but if they are able to hit on one or two players on the final day, then that is what can transform a class from good to great.
