Was Cam Newton the Panthers' best NFL draft pick ever? Or was it Luke Kuechly, Steve Smith or someone else? What do you think?
In case you have not seen the printed newspaper lately, I am now producing a full page of "Scott Says" every week for inside our Sunday sports section. It was on page 7B on April 12th.
The most recent one can also be found here online. Rather than one long story, each "Scott Says" page includes numerous items -- on April 12, it was a look back at the Panthers' first-ever draft in 1995 with hall of fame GM Bill Polian, as well as a Q and A with new Charlotte 49ers coach Mark Price and a short column about what the Hornets need to do to get out of their funk in 2015-16.
Also, each full page includes some reader input, and that's where you come in. Just tell me in your opinion -- either in a comment on this blog, or a tweet to @Scott_Fowler, or in an email to sfowler@charlotteobserver.com, the answer to these two questions:
1) Who was the Panthers' best draft pick ever?
2) Who was the Panthers' worst draft pick ever?
Thanks! Let me know what you think...
Scott
Posts
15 comments:
Best- Dan Morgan (talented & leader)
Worst - me and Fowler are naming names today...Dwayne Jarrett
Best draft pick? It has to be Steve Smith, both for the longevity of his contributions to the franchise (and community) and the value, coming from the third round. Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly and Jordan Gross also deserve a nod here.
Worst draft pick? It depends on what you're looking for. Guys like Mitch Marrow, Tyler Gaffney and, to a lesser extent Eric Shelton, left no imprint on the team.
But the worst draft pick will be Rae Carruth, though from a statistics perspective he at least contributed in some games, despite what we all know he did away from the field. I'd actually go with Jason Peter, though. Nothing against the guy, but Vonnie Holliday was on the board, and with a first-round pick that underperformed before getting hurt, it doesn't get much worse.
This team has been fortunate though, in that most of its top picks have panned out to either be superstars, star players or at least key contributors.
Best Drafted player ever is Steve Smith
Worst is Rae Carruth
Best: Steve Smith. He's as close as the Panthers have ever come to drafting hall of famer, and he came from the 3rd round so that's value.
Worst: Armanti Edwards. Nothing against him, but he ended up costing us the first pick in the second round which is almost a first round pick. Looking at the list, I don't see anyone the Panthers have picked this high that produced less than Armanti.
Worst was Jason Peters, since we skipped over future HOF Randy Moss
Given that the obvious best/worst are Steve Smith and Rae Carruth, I'm going to go the slightly less obvious path...
BEST: Jordan Gross. Rock solid as a talent, a locker room leader, and a high character guy from the time he was selected in the 2003 draft. From exemplary work on and off the field (and no off field incidents), Gross was the epitome of what you'd want in every Panther draft pick.
WORST: Jeff Otah. In 2008, we traded with the Eagles into the late first round to pick up Otah as a blocker for Jonathan Stewart. Played 12 games and then disappeared into a fog of injuries. Typically the Panthers hit on their first rounders and get dicey in the later rounds. Trading up for another first rounder and then ending up with a bust is a major hit and makes Otah my vote for worst.
- Jay
Best Pick By far: Steve Smith
Honorable Mentions: Luke Kuechly, Julius Peppers, & Cam Newton
Worst Pick: Jimmy Clausen & Armanti Edwards
Less Than Honorable Mention: Rae Carruth & Dwayne Jarrett
Best - Luke Kuechly
Worst - Jimmy Clausen
Rae Carruth was and is absolutely the worst. Never topped, I desperately hope.
Steve Smith was the best player on the team several years and holds meany team records so I guess that makes him the best.
Smitty
Best: Luke Kuechly (DROY, DPOY, All-Pro)
Comments: We drafted a potential hall-of-famer and currently the best MLB in the game with the 10th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. We didn't have a need at MLB since we already had 3-time pro bowler Jon Beason, and we had a need at DT (Remember most Mock Drafts had us picking either Dontari Poe, Fletcher Cox, or Michael Brockers)
Worst: Everette Brown (47 tckl, 6 sck, 1 INT in 2 seasons with the Panthers, then spent next 4 seasons on 5 teams and recorded 20 tackles and 1 sack in 16 games)
Comments: We traded away our 2010 First Round Draft Pick to pick him in the Second Round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Mike Iupati was selected with the 17th Pick in 2010 NFL Draft, and he has started 75/80 games over the past five seasons and made 3 pro bowls.
Best value was Smitty by far.
But best pick ever has to be Luke or Peppers because they will be in the HOF and were the reasons we won many games.
Worst, for me, is Armanti. The hype was just insane compared to the value.
Most over hyped ever in the history of the NFL and worse is Newton
Most under hyped and best ever was Delhomne
Worst - Tshimanga Biakabutuka
Best - Julius Peppers. Honestly, it's a tough choice for best. The organization has done a good job with draft picks.
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