NFL Draft 2011: Who Will the Carolina Panthers Select at No. 1?
Although Commissioner Roger Goodell hasn't made the countdown official just yet, the Carolina Panthers have been on the clock for the better part of the last four months.
The Panthers, who are the lucky or unlucky (depending on who you ask) holders of this year’s No. 1 pick, will kick off the draft night festivities on April 28th by making a franchise changing decision.
No matter which direction the team ultimately ends up heading, the impact of the selection will be felt for years to come.
After a dismal 2-14 campaign in 2010, Carolina made the decision to make a coaching change by bringing in former San Diego defensive coordinator Ron Rivera to replace longtime head coach John Fox.
The question now is if the Panthers will opt to make a quarterback change as well.
Last year’s top pick, Jimmy Clausen, looked shaky to say the least in his debut season and he hasn’t inspired much belief that he’s the long term answer at the position.
If Andrew Luck, the most coveted pro prospect in college football, would have made the decision to leave Stanford after his redshirt sophomore year, there’s little doubt that the Panthers would have jumped all over him. But since Luck decided to stay in school, no one is sure quite yet what the team’s intentions are.
While it’s still unclear if the Panthers have narrowed down their decision, there does seem to be a few key names that are likely at the top of their list.
Here’s a look at the five prospects that the team could be considering taking with the No. 1 selection.
QB Cam Newton, Auburn
1 of 5
Cam Newton went from being the most talked about college football player of 2010 to the most talked about pro prospect of 2011 when he announced that he was leaving Auburn after carrying the Tigers to an undefeated season and a national title in just his first year as a starter.
Newton is one of those players who people seem to either love or hate. There is no middle ground.
There’s no denying that the 6’5’’ 250 lb. super-athlete put together one of the most impressive and dominating single season performances we’ve ever seen from a college football player. Nobody can take that away from him.
That doesn’t mean that Newton doesn’t have his fair share of concerns though.
Analysts have called into question every single facet of Newton’s game and personality over the last few months, criticizing everything from his checkered past to the type of gimmicky offense he played in at Auburn.
Some have already gone so far as to label him as the next JaMarcus Russell, which seems to be the height of irrationality.
While Newton is far from a sure thing or a perfect prospect, he's been blessed with the type of natural gifts and tools that we don’t see very often from a college quarterback prospect.
He’s a rarity and rarities have a tendency to scare the narrow-minded.
If developed properly, Newton has a chance to be a star in the NFL, but he is going to require a good amount of patience if the team that drafts him ever wants to see him reach his full potential.
The Carolina Panthers have to come to a determination if they have the kind of patience it’s going to take to let Cam Newton progress and grow into their franchise quarterback.
QB Blaine Gabbert, Missouri
2 of 5
If the Panthers do indeed deem Newton too risky of a prospect, they could take a good hard look at the other top quarterback prospect in this draft, Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert.
Gabbert really made a name for himself on the national scene when he led the Tigers to an upset over then No. 1 ranked and undefeated Oklahoma in the middle of the 2010 season.
Since then, his stock has continued to rise and he’s now considered to be at the very least a top ten pick.
Gabbert isn’t as physically gifted as his counterpart Newton but he’s far from an athletic slouch.
The 6’4’’ 235 lb. junior recorded a time of 4.62 in the 40 yard dash at this year’s NFL Combine, which echoed the outstanding scrambling ability he showed while at Missouri.
Gabbert has all the intangibles you would look for in a quarterback and he has reportedly done a tremendous job during interviews and meetings with various teams.
The one concern with Gabbert is that he played primarily out of the shotgun in a pass-heavy offense at Missouri and he wasn’t forced to make the types of reads and go through the kinds of passing progressions that will be asked of him in the NFL.
Still, Gabbert showed great strides from his sophomore year to his junior year and he looks like he’s only going to continue getting better.
There are no real glaring flaws in Gabbert’s game and he seems like he would be a definitive upgrade over current Carolina starter Jimmy Clausen.
DT Marcell Dareus, Alabama
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There are a lot of people, myself included, who feel that Alabama DT Marcell Dareus is the best overall prospect in the 2011 draft class. And it would be pretty difficult to dispute that assessment.
Dareus has everything you’re looking for in a defensive linemen. Strength, size, agility, toughness; put a check mark next to everything on the list because he’s the prototype.
Although he was used primarily as a 3-4 defensive end while at Alabama, Dareus is more than capable of making a fluid transition inside to the interior trenches of the NFL.
Dareus may not have put up the sheer eye-popping statistics of other defensive linemen in this draft class such as Nick Fairley or Da'Quan Bowers, however, that can be attributed to the constant double teams he had to face all season long.
We’ve seen the kind of effect that dominant defensive tackles can have for a defense in today's NFL, and impact interior playmakers are not very easy to find these days.
Dareus has proven that he can be a disruptive force against both the run and the pass and he would be a real weapon to have up front.
The defensive minded Rivera would love to add a versatile talent like Dareus to a desperately thin DT group. It would allow him the opportunity to mix up fronts and really add his attacking touch to the defense.
It’s hard to justify taking a player, who will never touch the ball, with the No. 1 pick, but all you have to do is ask the Detroit Lions if they were satisfied with the play of last year’s No. 1 prospect, DT Ndamukong Suh, who they lucked out and got with the No. 2 pick.
Dareus might not be quite on the same level as Suh was but he’s pretty darn close.
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WR A.J. Green, Georgia
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If the Carolina Panthers actually do want to give Jimmy Clausen one more year to prove he can be the guy, then they better find him a true No. 1 receiver, something they were lacking last season, if they want him to have a real shot at success.
The Panthers drafted three receivers in the 2010 Draft, Brandon LaFell, Armanti Edwards and David Gettis, but none of them has the look of a No. 1 guy.
Both LaFell and Gettis showed that they should be the type of consistent receivers you want in the rotation going forward, and Gettis ended up looking like a real steal as a sixth rounder, finishing his rookie season with over 500 yards and three touchdowns.
Edwards, a converted quarterback from the FCS ranks, barely played and is still an unknown commodity at this point.
Then there’s the aging Steve Smith, once the team’s most feared player, who will be 32 at the start of next season.
Smith has made it known that he’s not too happy with the team’s struggles and it wouldn’t be surprising if the front office ships him off somewhere else to finish his last few remaining years in another uniform as they look to build toward the future.
Is it a future that includes premier wideout A.J. Green?
Although I prefer Alabama’s Julio Jones, it’s hard not to like what the 6’3’’ 210 lb. Green has to offer as a pro prospect.
The Calvin Johnson comparisons are a little far-fetched, considering Johnson has a completely different build than Green. But the point is well taken.
Green could be a difference maker for any NFL offense and he would give Clausen the go-to target he desperately needs.
CB Patrick Peterson, LSU
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Patrick Peterson is the best pure athlete in this year’s draft.
There’s absolutely no arguing that fact.
Is Peterson the perfect cornerback prospect that some are making him out to be?
No, he’s far from it.
His coverage skills are suspect and the fact that he’s already bigger at this point in his career than pretty much every NFL cornerback should raise some eyebrows.
Still, there’s no denying that Peterson has the ability to turn into a game changing defender at the NFL level whether he stays at cornerback or eventually makes the move to safety.
Although it’s probably pretty unlikely that the Panthers would take Peterson at No. 1, he’s a prospect who is going to be at or near the top of almost every team’s draft board.
Carolina also has a need at the position, especially if Richard Marshall’s time with the team has indeed run out.
Captain Munnerlynn and Chris Gamble are both decent options but neither of them is exactly irreplaceable.
The Panthers may have selected three corners in last year’s draft but all are destined to be backups in the future.
Peterson is the type of player who could come in and start on defense from day one.
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