Mock drafts are by definition a fallible exercise; the most-informed and smartest scouts of the past decades will inevitably project a pick in the top-three incorrectly. Heck, they have the word ‘mock’ right there in the title – they are strictly there to be made fun of and picked apart endlessly until the Draft rolls around. The most successful mock draft of the last season is almost guaranteed to be horribly inaccurate in the following year; you can have all of the inside knowledge and be the best scout in the world, but especially once it gets to the 24th pick, it will be almost impossible to predict who will be on the board for the Panthers to select; but we’re not scared of being mocked for our selections here at The Riot Report, so we assigned some of our staff to put their moneys where their mouths are and each put together a seven round mock draft of who they think the Panthers will be pulling the trigger on come Thursday.
As if that wasn’t fun enough, we’re letting you vote on your favorite draft classes; remember, these are who we think the Panthers will actually be selecting, not who we want them to select or who we think would be the best fit, but you get to vote on which class you would be most excited about going to see in Spartanburg or putting their jersey on your back. For the writers, this is all about being correct and being able to send out victorious tweets after someone blindly predicts the Panthers will select Skai Moore with the 161st pick in the draft. Yes, that is a real example.
Our mocks are kind of all over the place, but there were some overarching themes, besides almost everyone utilizing terms like “checks the boxes” at will: all five mocks included a tight end, with picks ranging from the first to the sixth; everyone selected a “weapon” with one of the first three picks, Nick Chubb being a popular choice; safety was a priority as well, going in the first three rounds in four out of five mocks, with the only outlier creating a hypothetical free agent signing to cover his omittance; while the Panthers seem to be sending signals that they’re in the market for an early-round cornerback, none of our mockers pulled the trigger on one until Round 3, but every mock had at least one cornerback selected.
The variety across these mocks (while maintaining similarities) show just how hard it is to project what will happen once players start coming off the board, but this much is certain: the Panthers must draft correctly or they will be trying to plug holes all season – the Saints drafted the Rookies of the Year on both sides of the ball in 2017 and were one of the best teams in the NFC.
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite at the end, so that one of us can lord it over the others for the rest of the week. Let’s go:
Vincent Richardson’s Seven Round Mock
Round 1 – #24, Justin Reid, S Stanford
The Panthers have shown a lot of interest in wide receivers in recent weeks, but I’m not convinced one they feel happy with will fall to 24. There is also the chance of somebody such as Wynn or Davenport falling this far, but baring an anomaly of that sort, I think it would be hard to argue that Reid doesn’t stand the best chance of being an immediate impact player for the Panthers. There is a true opening at free safety and Reid flashes a highly intriguing combination of athleticism, technique and football intelligence that could make him an impact player early on in his career, even if there are still some concerns on tape.
Round 2 – #55, Frank Ragnow, G/C Arkansas
With Norwell now in Jacksonville, there is a clear space for a rookie to come in and compete at left guard and there is going to be a hole at center in 2019 with Ryan Kalil set to retire; Ragnow gives you a chance to fix both. He can come in and compete to start at left guard this year and, should he get beaten out by either Moton or Sirles, stands a good chance of contributing at center when Kalil retires. Given the lack of rotation on the offensive line, there is always a concern that a player who can’t win a starting spot early gets simply left by the wayside as injury depth, but Ragnow at least offers the ability to have a second shot at a starting role. He’s also very good.
Round 3 – #85, Anthony Miller, WR Memphis
The Panthers have paid a lot of attention to Miller throughout the draft process, and while he would be a bit of a reach at 24 or even 55, once we get to the second day of the draft he starts to make a lot more sense. He is a nice route runner with good hands and the ability to add a little extra after the catch; he might not jump into a starting role right away but offers something different to what the Panthers have in their other young receivers.
Round 3 – #88, Chad Thomas, DE Miami
Thomas had a poor Combine, but offers developmental value at defensive end. While this might not seem like the biggest need with Peppers and Addison’s 2017 sack production, both of those players are over 30, with Peppers likely retiring after this season and Wes Horton entering the final year of his contact. Add to that the departure of Charles Johnson and the complete unknown that is Daeshon Hall and this is a position the Panthers need to start paying some attention to.
Round 5 – #161, Kurt Benkert, QB Virginia
It is hard to know who might fall to the fifth round, but this pick makes sense for a number of reasons. The Panthers have made it no secret that they are looking to get younger behind Cam Newton at quarterback, Hurney said last offseason that he thinks it makes sense to add a young QB every year, the Panthers met with Benkert at the Combine and, most importantly, he’s actually really good. He does need some work in terms of running an NFL offense but his arm talent is ridiculous and seemed like a smart guy when I spoke with him at the Combine.
Round 6 – #197, Chris Herndon, TE Miami
Tight end is another position where the depth looks very questionable and Herndon is another guy who offers developmental value. He is a good athlete with a decent core skill set and would stand a decent chance of competing with Manhertz for the #2 TE role. He might not be the most exciting pick, but depth matters.
Round 7 – #234, Michael Joseph, CB Dubuque
His pro day numbers might not jump off the page but they were decent and his tape, albeit at a Div III level, is ridiculous. There is quite a high risk involved with this pick, but in the seventh round the reward is just too high to ignore. Small school players don’t often translate their production to the NFL, but Joseph also held his own at the Senior Bowl which is encouraging; the Panthers have also shown that they are not scared to take a small-school corner.
Round 7 – #242, Matt Gono, T Wesley
The Panthers record with small-school OLs isn’t great (Silatolu and Kugbila spring to mind), but Gono offers an athletic potential with a natural suitability for a zone scheme as he showed an awareness of how blocks work as part of the offense on tape, as well as the ability to move inferior athletes into neighboring zip codes.
Next Up: Roaring Riot Ringleader Zack Luttrell Shoots His Shot/Cheats
Twitter: @KeepPounDENN
