I’m honest with myself and whomever decides to read this…
Pretty much everything I have to say about our draft is based off of my casual college football exposure and an apathetically researched opinion. Guess that makes me like most people LOL. But, you’re here, so I’ll continue…
Round 1, Pick #28 - KELVIN BENJAMIN, WR Florida State University (FSU)
I’m a big fan of this pick. I think the general consensus is that even if you weren’t “banging the table” for Kelvin Benjamin, you’re excited about what he COULD be. I remember watching FSU games late in the season and thinking to myself there is no way we’ll be in position to draft this guy. I hadn’t seen him play earlier in the season. I had, however, seen Mike Evans who is now a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Evans is a monster on the field. The biggest difference between Benjamin and Evans to me is polishing though, not skill. I could very well see Benjamin being Evans’ equal or even becoming a better player. I know that’s a lot of hope and fan talk there, but the reality is who knows. Neither receiver has played a pro down yet. The fact is, to grab a guy that can be a game changer and potential #1 receiver for years to come at the bottom of the 1st round is a steal.
Round 2, Pick #60 - KONY EALY, DE University of Missouri
Considering we lost both Steve Smith and Jordan Gross this offseason, I was pretty sure our first 3 rounds of this draft would look something like WR-OL-OL, OL-WR-WR, OL-WR-CB, or some other variant of those 3 positions. What do we do? Draft a defensive end, of course. I noticed that we used one of our latest, if not THE latest, visit/workout on Kony Ealy. I’d heard Ealy was a first round prospect. I listen to most of the audio clips and watch the videos our team puts out, and our General Manager stressed that if there were a “blue goose” player out there he wouldn’t hesitate to make the selection. We later learned that this blue goose non-sense simply meant if there were a player that he believes can be an exceptional football player he’d nab him in a heartbeat, regardless of position. That’s what this pick represents to me.
I didn’t know much about Kony Ealy prior to the draft and still don’t know a ton. After a bit of spending time with Google, he looks like he has the potential to be an elite player. Some mention the name Aldon Smith (defensive end for the 49ers) when they speak of Ealy but some of that could be that they came out of the same school. I can get behind any pick that has that kind of comparison. I’m not sure what to really expect out of the gate from him, but with Greg Hardy’s recent arrest, it looks like we could see a fair amount of him on the field. With his first round projection and in light of Hardy’s situation this has to be considered a “home run” draft pick IMO.
Round 3, Pick #92 - TRAI TURNER, OG Louisiana State University (LSU)
I’m sick of drafting guards in the early rounds of the draft. For the past 3 years we’ve spent a mid to high round pick on an OG. What makes this pick a little different is that Trai Turner actually played college ball against NFL caliber competition every week. Most people are saying this guy will start immediately and probably play for 10+ years at the position. If this happens, of course this was a great pick. I even read somewhere that Trai Turner could be the steal of the draft. I sure hope he is. I’ve been saying each year, for the past 5 years or so that if we are going to have these running backs we need to have an OL that they can run behind. We’ve been missing the bar for a long time. I hope Trai is a piece that will help ignite the run game.
Round 4, Pick #128 - TRE BOSTON, S University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)
Considering I’ve never seen this guy play a down of football, I shouldn’t be labeling him as our worst pick of the draft - but I am. From everything that I know, this guy has no really special athletic traits. It isn’t so much that I don’t want this guy on the team at all, it’s just that we picked him in the 4th round. There’s no reason to believe that we couldn’t have picked him up in the 6th! By picking him in the 4th, it says to me we truly believe this guy will not only stick with the team, but possibly have an immediate impact. I hope they are right.
Round 5, Pick #148 - BENE BENWIKERE, CB San Jose State University (SJSU)
Once again, this is a guy that I absolutely have never seen play. What’s notable about this pick is that we gave up our 7th round pick to move up 20 spots in the 5th round to select him. Given the nature of David Gettleman, I can only assume that if we gave up a pick for this kid, we expect that he’ll be on the field sooner rather than later. A 5th round pick isn’t exactly a value where you’d EXPECT him to start immediately, but if we’re moving up I’d think he has a shot at the nickel corner. Once again, I hope so lol. To be honest, for any draft one we get into the 5th round my eyes kind of glaze over. I don’t do any real scouting so knowing the guys getting selected this late is pretty rare for me. All I can do is hope we found a hidden gem.
Round 6, Pick #204 - TYLER GAFFNEY, RB Stanford University
Last but not least is Tyler Gaffney. I’ve actually seen him play and he’s a pretty good back. At first it was a little surprising that we added yet another running back, but considering how much money we’ve got tied up in the position it makes sense to have some cheaper fallbacks should we want to let DeAngelo or Stew walk away. As much as I love both of our guys, the facts remain that DeAngelo is getting older and Stew can’t stay on the field.
Overall, I’d rate this draft about a B-. After it’s all said and done, I hope (just as with every other draft) we look back and call this an A+ draft. It certainly has the potential. Benjamin should be a household name for Panthers fans for years to come and Ealy could as well. Whether or not Trai Turner is a name you’ll remember or not - OLinemen get no love - isn’t as important. I’d just like to see him be a consistent piece. I’m pretty excited for the season to start so we can see what we’re working with.