The Big Board
| Ranking | Name | College | Height | Weight | Athleticism | Run Defense | Pass Rushing | Biggest Concern? | Summary | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quinnen Williams | Alabama | 6'3 | 289 | Excellent quickness, good strength, good bend and generally decent pad level. | Uses quickness to penetrate effectively and uses hands well to avoid initial contract but can struggle to shed blocks if he doesn't win initial hand battle. | Quickness and fast hands allows him to win consistently off the snap but can have issues if initial move is countered and lacks pass rushing moves. | Can he improve his ability to work off blocks when his initial move doesn't work? | Excellent athlete who can be a key piece in a scheme which asks him to work downhill. | Mid 1st Round. |
| 2 | Ed Oliver | Houston | 6'3 | 275 | Good burst, power and pad level and bends well. | Uses hands well to keep blockers at bay and disengages effectively, quickness and bend also allows him to penetrate well. | Has the quickness and bend to be disruptive but doesn't use hands effectively and lacks pass rushing moves. | Can he develop technically as a pass rusher to round-out his game? | Excellent run defender with flashes as a pass rusher but in need of development in that regard. | High 2nd Round |
| 3 | Rashan Gary | Michigan | 6'5 | 287 | Good burst and power with decent bend but pad level is inconsistent. | Flashes hand usage to keep blockers at bay but needs to be more consistent and pad level creates some issues. | Has the athleticism to be disruptive and flashes hand usage but is too often negated and lacks pass rushing moves. | Can he improve how he uses his hands to allow his athleticism to show? | Great athlete but needs to improve technically to be effective at the NFL level. | High 3rd Round |
| 4 | Byron Cowart | Maryland | 6'3 | 297 | Decent burst and power with good pad level and reasonable bend. | Doesn't use hands well to work off blocks but has the ability to penetrate. | Uses hands quite well to work around blockers but lacks distinct pass rushing moves. | Can he improve his run defense to allow him to stay on the field for all three downs? | Good pass rusher in need of some work as a run defender. | Mid 3rd Round |
| 5 | Gerald Willis | Miami | 6'4 | 285 | Good burst and bend but pad level is inconsistent and strength isn't great. | Flashes the ability to win early with hands but tends to go backwards in an attempt to avoid blocks. | Good bends allows him to maximize any leverage advantage and flashes hand usage but lacks secondary moves and struggles if unable to win early. | Can he learn to work through blocks rather than relying on avoiding them? | Disruptive athlete who needs to be better at working off blocks. | Late 3rd Round |
| 6 | Renell Wren | Arizona State | 6'6 | 297 | Good power and quickness but bend is unremarkable and pad level is poor. | Flashes hand usage to be effective but pad level creates leverage issues. | Quickness allows him to be disruptive but lacks the hand usage to work around blocks and lacks pass rushing moves. | Can he get his pad level under control? | Decent athlete who flashes but is in need of development. | Mid 4th Round |
| 7 | Chris Slayton | Syracuse | 6'4 | 309 | Good burst and decent power with some ability to bend but pad level is inconsistent. | Struggles to use hands well to avoid contact and hand usage needs to be better in terms of working off blocks. | Hand usage needs to be better in terms of working around blockers and lacks distinct pass rushing moves. | Can he develop the technique needed to make the most of his athleticism? | Athletic flashes but technically very raw. | Late 5th Round |
| 8 | Charles Omenihu | Texas | 6'6 | 275 | Good bend, decent burst and ok strength but pad level is inconsistent. | Struggles to use his hands effectively to work off blocks and pad level creates leverage issues. | Lacks the hand usage to work around blocks and lacks pass rushing moves. | Can he improve his hand usage to allow him to be effective? | Decent athlete who needs some time to develop. | Late 5th Round |
| 9 | Jonathan Ledbetter | Georgia | 6'4 | 277 | Ok power and decent pad level but burst is unremarkable and doesn't bend hugely well. | Flashes hand usage to work off blocks but needs to be more consistent. | Lacks hand usage to work around blocks and pass rushing moves are absent. | Can he be more consistent as a run defender to give him specialist value? | Decent run defender who doesn't do much as a pass rusher. | Early 6th Round |
| 10 | Isaiah Buggs | Alabama | 6'2 | 294 | Good strength but burst is unremarkable, struggles to bend and pad level is inconsistent. | Has the power to be disruptive but hand usage needs to be better. | Lacks any real ability as a pass rusher, with limited hand usage and quickness with no distinct pass rushing moves. | Can he improve his hand usage to allow him to be a run defense specialist? | Potential to be a plus run defender but upside is limited beyond that and needs technique work. | Mid 6th Round |
| 11 | Corbin Kaufusi | BYU | 6'9 | 285 | Ok power but burst is unremarkable, doesn't bend well and plays very high. | Does do some nice things in terms of working off blocks but pad level makes it hard for him to hold up at the point of attack. | Flashes hand usage and pass rushing moves but lack of quickness makes it hard for him to get leverage advantage. | Will a move inside help him to get his pad level under control? | Huge man who flashes at times but in need of significant development. | Mid 7th Round |
Quinnen Williams being good is hardly a secret, but that doesn’t make it any less true. His first step is extremely quick, he uses his hands well to avoid early contact and bends well into gaps. Where he is less impressive is when he is unable to avoid early contact – if blockers are able to get hold of him, he doesn’t do a great job of working off blocks. Williams is likely going to be a very good player regardless of where he ends up, but in order to maximize his value, he should be used in a scheme which maximizes his positives as a run defender by asking him to penetrate while also limiting how often he is asked to stack-and-shed at the point of attack.
While also a very good athlete, Ed Oliver is a polar opposite as a player. His real strength is his ability to be an impact player against the run, using his hands well to keep blockers at bay and create negative plays. As a pass rusher, he flashes the same quickness, bend, power and pad level that makes him an effective run stopper, but he lacks the hand usage to make the most of that talent.
Gary is a similarly talented athlete, but is significantly less technically developed than both Williams and Oliver. If a team thinks that he is going to be able to develop significantly in this regard and quickly, he may live up to some of the hype he is currently receiving, but while he has as much potential as the two above him on the board, he is far from a finished project and may well take a season or two to develop if he ever does make the most of his athletic talent. That being said, his potential is alluring and he does just enough technically to allow him to see the field early – even if it isn’t in a starring role.
Cowart and Willis are the two other players who should be able to make an impact from day one, with both flashing as pass rushers – albeit in very different ways – both are going to need to develop further if they are going to be more than bit players. Willis probably has the higher ceiling of the two but his struggles when unable to avoid early contact make him a liability as a run defender at this point, and while Cowart could get better in this regard as well, he is probably the more well-rounded at this point.
Beyond these guys, there are a number of talented athletes, but even the likes of Wren and Slayton are likely going to struggle to get significant early playing time unless they are able to fix significant technical issues. This might not be as much of an issue as it initially sounds, as players with one or two major problems are often able to develop faster than those with a number of smaller issues but also run the risk of never taking that next step.
For the Panthers, the first three on this board could be out of reach even at 16, and unless Williams fell that far, the only other player towards the top of the board who could be in play for the Panthers is Cowart on the final day of the draft. The only exception to this might be if the Panthers are convinced that Gary can play on the edge in 4-3 looks and that he has the ability to improve technically in the near future with effective coaching.
