The Big Board
| Ranking | Name | College | Height | Weight | Lower Body and Balance | Hand Usage | Playing in Space | Biggest Concern | Summary | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Lindstrom | Boston College | 6'3 | 307 | Decent-to-good foot speed and generates decent power with decent knee bend, though this could be better, and keeps weight over his feet effectively. | Uses hands well to keep defenders away from his frame in pass protection and locates hands well as both a run blocker and pass protector. | Moves well in space but could do a better job of locating defenders. | Can he improve his knee bend in order to eliminate any pad level concerns? | Well rounded blocker with some upside who can contribute from day one. | Late 2nd Round |
| 2 | Cody Ford | Oklahoma | 6'5 | 335 | Decent foot speed with good power generation but really needs to improve his knee bend. | Needs to keep his arms inside better in pass protection but locates arm effectively and has great arm strength. | Decent movement in space but isn't great at locating blocks. | Can he get his pad level under control? | Has the potential to be dominant run blocker and decent pass protector but pad level is a major concern. | High 3rd Round |
| 3 | Michael Deiter | Wisconsin | 6'6 | 328 | Good foot speed and power generation but could do with bending his knees more and has a tendency to get weight out ahead of his feet. | Shows nice ability to keep defenders off his frame and locates his hands well. | Decent movement in space but has some issues locating defenders. | Can he work on keeping his center of mass low and over his feet? | Well rounded blocker in need of a couple of technical tweaks. | Mid 3rd Round |
| 4 | Lukayus McNeil | Louisville | 6'5 | 335 | Ok foot speed with decent power generate and knee bend while doing a good job of keeping weight over his feet. | Uses hands well to keep blockers away from his frame and locates hands effectively. | Ok movement skills in space but does a good of locating defenders. | Is he going to struggle for athleticism at times in the NFL? | Technically well rounded player with enough athleticism to get by, but this will likely limit him on occasion. | High 4th Round |
| 5 | Javon Patterson | Ole Miss | 6'3 | 307 | Good foot speed but could do with bending his knees more and really needs to stop getting his frame well in front of his feet. | Uses hands well to keep defenders away from his frame and locates them effectively. | Moves well in space and locates defenders effectively. | Can he stop getting his weight out in front quite so much? | Does a whole lot of nice things, but forward lean is a potential disaster waiting to happen. | High 4th Round |
| 6 | Ben Powers | Oklahoma | 6'4 | 310 | Good foot speed and generates decent power but needs to bend his knees more. | Arms do tend to get quite wide exposing his frame but speed and placement are good. | Moves well in space and locates defenders effectively. | Can he work on his pad level? | Fairly well rounded player with a couple of things to work on. | Mid 4th Round |
| 7 | Nate Davis | Charlotte | 6'3 | 311 | Good foot speed and power generation with decent knee bend, with balance likely being helped by a move to guard. | Needs to keep his arms inside more and hand location could be better. | Moves well in space and decent at locating defenders. | Can he bring his hand usage up to the level of the rest of his game? | Small school tackle likely making the move back to guard, with good development value. | Mid 4th Round |
| 8 | Malcolm Pridgeon | Ohio State | 6'7 | 310 | Ok foot speed with decent power generation but needs to bend his knees more and can't let his frame keeping getting in front of his feet. | Uses hands well to keep defenders away from his frame and locates hands well. | Decent movement skills in space with mediocre ability to locate defenders. | Can he improve his pad level and balance? | Does a lot of things well, but pad level and balance are potential disqualifiers if not fixed. | Late 4th Round |
| 9 | Nate Herbig | Stanford | 6'4 | 350 | Ok foot speed with good power generation but really needs to bend his knees more | Arms tend to get quite wide in pass protection but hand location is good. | Moves surprisingly well in space but struggles locating defenders at times. | Can he get his pad level under control? | Earth mover in the run game who needs to improve his pass protection in order to see the field. | High 5th Round |
| 10 | Olisaemeka Udoh | Elon | 6'5 | 323 | Decent foot speed and power generation but knee bend needs to be more consistent as does his balance. | Arms need to stay inside more, but speed and placement are good. | Wasn't really asked to play in space much. | Can he turn the flashes of technique into consistent production? | Decent athlete with flashes of technique but needs at least a year of development. | High 5th Round |
| 11 | Derwin Gray | Maryland | 6'4 | 336 | Good foot speed and decent power but needs to show more consistent knee bend. | Arms tend to get too wide in pass protection and struggles with location at times. | Moves well in space but struggles with locating defenders. | Is his hand usage fixable? | Does some nice things but hand usage is quite poor. | Mid 5th Round |
| 12 | Dru Samia | Oklahoma | 6'5 | 297 | Decent foot speed and power but knee bend is really poor with tendency to get frame well ahead of feet. | Arms are too wide in pass protection but location is actually pretty good. | Moves well in space and locates defenders effectively. | Are his pad level and balance issues fixable? | Again, does some nice things, but pad level and balance are concerning. | Mid 5th Round |
| 13 | Bunchy Stallings | Kentucky | 6'3 | 317 | Decent foot speed but needs to bend his knees more and doesn't generate much power even with distinct forward lean. | Arms get quite wide in pass pro but location is decent. | Moves well in space and locates defenders effectively. | Can he develop technique with NFL coaching? | Decent athlete but technique just isn't there. | High 6th Round |
| 14 | Zack Bailey | South Carolina | 6'6 | 309 | Decent foot speed with ok power but knee bend isn't great and has a real tendency for frame to get ahead of his feet. | Struggles keeping defenders away from his frame and location isn't great. | Moves well in space but isn't great at locating defenders. | Are his technical issues fixable? | Decent athlete with technical issues. | Mid 6th Round |
| 15 | Beau Benzschawel | Wisconsin | 6'6 | 321 | Struggles for foot speed and times and knee bend is very poor with power only mediocre. | Uses hands well to keep defenders away from his frame and hand location is ok. | Decent movement in space but can struggle locating defenders at times. | Can he fix his pad level? | Some athletic value but pad level needs fixing. | Late 6th Round |
| 16 | Garrett McGhin | East Carolina | 6'6 | 327 | Good foot speed but knee bend is very poor and frame is often well ahead of his feet. | Arms are very wide in pass protection and struggles with location. | Moves ok in space but struggles locating defenders. | Can he learn technique with NFL coaching? | Foot speed will create interest but there isn't much else to work with. | Mid 7th Round |
| 17 | Alex Bars | Notre Dame | 6'6 | 312 | Knee bend is poor with frame often ahead of feet, foot speed is limited and power is mediocre. | Hand location is decent but arms get too wide in pass protection. | Movement in space is mediocre but locates defenders quite well. | Is there enough here for a team to work with? | Some skills but an awful lot of issues. | Late 7th Round |
| 18 | Venzell Boulware | Miami | 6'3 | 306 | Ok foot speed with decent power but knee bend is very poor. | Wide arms allow easy access to his frame and also create location issues. | Ok movement in space but struggles locating defenders. | Can he develop technique. | Core athletic traits are ok but there isn't much else to work with. | Late 7th Round |
| 19 | Lester Cotton | Alabama | 6'4 | 319 | Good power but knee bend is poor as is foot speed while frame is often well ahead of his feet. | Struggles locating hands with wide arms creating issues in pass protection. | Does move well in space and struggles locating defenders. | Can he find a role as a short yardage mauler? | Has power but little else. | Undrafted |
| 20 | Kendall Baker | Georgia | 6'6 | 287 | Ok foot speed but power is mediocre, knee bend isn't great and frame is almost always ahead of his feet. | Struggles keeping defenders away from his feet and locating is poor. | Struggles for movement in space and doesn't locate defenders well. | Are there hidden skills he hasn't shown to this point? | Camp body. | Undrafted |
There is no elite guard in this class, but what it lacks in top-end quality it makes up for in depth, which should work in the Panthers’ favor. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some good players, as Chris Lindstrom should be able to make an immediate impact for a number of NFL teams, even if there are a few technical things he will need to clear up before he stands a chance of being seen as one of the very best guards in the NFL.
By contrast, Cody Ford – who played tackle at Oklahoma but is projected to be a guard at the NFL level – has immense potential in terms of his power and core traits, but his lower body is a mess and he needs to be more disciplined in his hand usage. Similarly, Michael Dieter does a number of good things but could do with cleaning up some of his technique – especially in his lower body – his tendency to get his weight out in front of his feet is a potentially significant issue, if left unfixed.
In terms of players the Panthers might target on the final day of the draft, Lukayus McNeil is probably the best – while he doesn’t have the athleticism to be an high-end starter, he is a very solid technician and would offer an immediate depth piece with the ability to compete with Van Roten and Mahon for the starting role this season; that’s good value for a player who is likely to be available on the final day of the draft.
There are also a few developmental options who might be available on the final day, with some, like Javon Patterson, having one significant issue – in his case, his tendency to lean into blocks – that fixing would significantly increase their value whereas others such as Ben Powers and Nate Davis have a need for more generalized development, without any one issue being as severe as Patterson’s balance.
Patterson’s value will likely depend the most on interviews, as if he isn’t able to fix his balance issues, it will be hard for him to see the field. Nate Davis is almost certainly going to have to move back to guard in the NFL, but this should actually help him significantly, as many of his issues last season stemmed from having to reach to cover speed rushers. If he is still available either towards the end of the third round or in the fourth, he would make a lot of sense, as given his small school background he probably has the greatest chance of improving significantly with coaching.
Overall, the Panthers probably won’t be looking to draft a specialist guard in the first round, but if Lindstrom falls to 47, he might be an option; with the likes of McNeil, Davis and others being worth serious consideration from pick 100 onward.
