Carolina Panthers: Great Picks Should Lead to Great Season

Coming into the 2008 season, the Carolina Panthers made some bold moves to restore the team to one that could easily take the NFC South.

The panthers had a very good draft, if you ask me. They got the players they wanted and needed, and now have great talent on offense and defense.

1. Jonathan Stewart: RB out of Oregon—Stewart was a very good pick, and will have an immediate impact. With DeAngelo Williams maybe being the second-string RB (I think), they will have a good running game like they did in 2003  when they went to the Super Bowl.

2. Jeff Otah: LT out of Pittsburgh—Jeff was also a great pick because of his size and athleticism, especially for a 320-pounder. Great skills, and a big blocker to add to the OL.

3. Charles Godfrey: Safety of out Iowa—A pick that not a lot of people really know too much about. He is a decent sized safety, and has very good coverage skills. He seems to get better every year in different aspects of the game. He didn't get as many tackles his senior year, but recorded more interceptions and didn't allow any touchdown receptions. Sounds like a good pick to me.

4. Dan Connor: LB out of Penn State—A great pick for the Panthers, especially for getting someone of his caliber in the third round. The fact that he set the Penn State school record in tackles is enough to know the guy can play his role. Great pick to add to a LB crew that's only going to get better.

5. Gary Barnidge: TE out of Louisville—Gary is a good pick for the TE spot, with good size and consistent play. I don't know if he will be an elite player, but he should manage well with the weapons he will have around him.

6. Nick Hayden: DT out of Wisconsin—A pretty good size DT, with a good hunch for knowing where the ball is and getting to it.

7. Hilee Taylor: DE out of N.C.—A good end that really knows how to get to the the QB. Should be good with Peppers drawing the double team.

8. Jeff Schwartz: T out of Oregon—Jeff is a good pick for an eighth-rounder. He has great size, and helped Stewart by clearing lanes for him on Stewart's way to a single-season     rushing record.

9. Mackenzy Bernadeau: G out of Bentley—Bernadeau should be a good pick, even though we didn't get to see much of him last year due to injury. I don't really know all that much about him, except that he was the MVP of the offense his junior year, and was having about another MVP-like season before the injury.

Carolina also made some moves like picking up former player in Mushin Muhammed, and adding D.J. Hackett as a great third, slot receiver. Dwayne Jarret is fighting to be the No. 4 receiver, and will have to make up for what he didn't do last season.

The offense looks pretty explosive this year, so we will see if Delhomme can stay healthy, and if the defense can play better this year.

I would say, that with the talent of the team in 2008, the Panthers should go 9-7 this year, making it to the playoffs by just beating out the Saints to take the division.

Of course, you never really know what's going to happen throughout the season, but those are just my feelings and predictions on the 2008 Carolina Panthers

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