The Big Board
Ranking Name College Height Weight Lower Body and Balance Hand Usage Playing in Space Biggest Concern Summary Grade
1 Connor McGovern Penn State 6'5 312 Good foot speed and power with generally decent knee bend though this could be more consistent. Arms get a little wide in pass protection at times but location is good. Wasn't asked to play in space much. Can he work on keeping his elbows in more effectively? Well rounded player who could do with a couple of technical tweaks but is pretty much plug-and-play. Late 2nd Round
2 Elgton Jenkins Mississippi State 6'4 304 Good foot speed and power but knee bend could be better at times Arms get too wide at times, especially as a run blocker, but hand location is good when he avoids early contact. Wasn't asked to play in space much but moves well. Can he work on keeping his elbows inside? Good athlete with a number of nice skills but in need of some development. High 3rd Round
3 Garrett Bradbury NC State 6'3 300 Good foot speed with decent power but needs to bend his knees more and has a real tendency to get his frame out in front of his feet. Uses hands well to keep defenders away from his frame and locates hands well. Moves well in space but has issues locating defenders. Can he fix his pad level and balance? Does a number of nice things, but balance and pad level are potentially significant issues. Late 3rd Round
4 Ross Pierschbacher Alabama 6'3 297 Decent foot speed and power but knee bend needs to be more consistent. Uses hands well to keep defenders away from his frame and locates hands effectively. Wasn't really asked to play in space. Can he fix his pad level issues? Decent athlete with fairly well-rounded technique. High 4th Round
5 Erik McCoy Texas A&M 6'4 315 Good foot speed with decent power but needs to avoid narrowing his base, straightening his legs and letting his frame get ahead of his feet. Pretty good in terms of keeping defenders away from his frame with good hand location. Moves well in space and locates defenders effectively. Can he sort his lower body concerns? Does a lot of nice things, but lower body technique is poor. Late 4th Round
6 Hjalte Froholdt Arkansas 6'5 315 Decent foot speed and knee bend but power isn't great and has a real tendency to get frame out ahead of his feet. Uses hands well to keep defenders off his frame and shows good hand location. Decent movement in space and locates defenders well. Is his tendency to lean into blocks fixable? Well rounded player and decent athlete but in need of some technical refinement. Late 4th Round
7 Sean Rawlings Ole Miss 6'5 294 Decent foot speed with good knee bend but lacks power and forward lean isn't great. Decent ability to keep defenders off his frame with good hand location. Moves reasonably well in space and ability to locate defenders is decent. Is he a good enough athlete to hold up at the NFL level? Technically well-rounded player who's athleticism will likely limit him. Late 4th Round
8 Michael Jordan Ohio State 6'6 312 Decent foot speed with ok power but knee bend should be better and balance is a real concern. Arms get quite well off the snap but location is decent. Struggles in space. Is his balance something that can improve? Does some nice things but needs some development. Mid 5th Round
9 Lamont Gaillard Georgia 6'3 305 Ok foot speed with good power and while knee bend is ok it needs to be more consistent. Struggles to keep defenders away from his frame and location isn't great. Struggles in space. Can he fix his hand usage? Decent athlete but hand usage is a non-starter unless it can be fixed. Mid 5th Round
10 Alec Eberle Florida State 6'4 300 Decent foot speed with ok power but knee bend needs to be better and balance isn't amazing. Arms get too wide and struggles for hand placement. Moves quite well in space but struggles locating defenders. Can he fix his technical issues? Decent athlete but technically very poor. High 6th Round
11 Jared Weyler Minnesota 6'4 296 Ok foot speed but power, balance and pad level are all poor. Struggles for both hand speed and location. Decent movement in space but struggles location defenders. Are his lower body issues fixable? Does some ok things athletically but very poor technically. Undrafted
12 Jesse Burkett Stanford 6'4 302 Ok foot speed but power is mediocre and knee bend isn't great and balance is a real concern. Arms get way too wide leading to issues in locating and exposing his frame. Doesn't move well in space and struggles locating defenders. Is he a good enough athlete to make him worth developing? Camp Body Undrafted
13 Sam Mustipher Notre Dame 6'2 305 Ok foot speed but power is mediocre, knee bend is poor and balance is very concerning. Struggles for hand speed and location. Struggles in space. Is there anything he hasn't shown to this point? Camp Body Undrafted
Connor McGovern probably wasn’t the player you expected to be top of my board, but while Jenkins and Bradbury probably have higher ceilings, McGovern is more pro-ready than either of these two players. He isn’t an elite athlete, but he has good movement skills and uses his hands well as both a run blocker and a pass protector. There is a chance he makes it to the Panthers at 100 and would probably be the best case scenario for a player to develop behind Paradis, with his ability to play guard – even as a rookie – adding extra value.
Jenkins is fairly close to McGovern as a prospect and is a superior athlete, but his hand usage needs some work, especially as a run blocker where his wide arms allow defenders to get into his frame with troubling frequency – making it hard for him to sustain blocks and creating some issues against better penetrators. If he can fix this, he could be a very good player – but this fix isn’t something that can be taken for granted.
Bradbury is an interesting prospect, as in the right scheme, a team would likely be able to hide a lot of his flaws and he is a competent pass protector, but he has a troubling habit of getting his frame ahead of his feet as a run blocker – which would be a significant issue in a power scheme and will likely cause occasional problems, even in a zone scheme. If he can fix both this and his tendency to play with very straight legs – issues which are likely interrelated – he could be a very good player, but those aren’t necessarily easy things to fix.
Behind these three, there are a number of decent depth options, with Pierschbacher being a good fit for a power run scheme while Froholt is probably more suited to a zone scheme. While he is likely to come off the board before the Panthers look to add a center, McCoy has some real value as a developmental player, but any team that is looking for an immediate impact player will either need to trust in his ability to develop quickly with NFL coaching or be willing to deal with some bumps along the road as he develops early on.
The Panthers probably have less interest in the center class than they do at guard and certainly at tackle, but there are some interesting names here if they look to add some depth in the middle rounds, though whether they chose to take a center over a guard will likely come down to how the board falls to that point and how happy they feel with Larsen at center vs guard – and whether they are committed to him as a depth piece long-term.
