Home•The Latest•Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Vote on Panthers’ Picks, Draft

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Vote on Panthers’ Picks, Draft

May 2, 2015 Bill Voth 2015 NFL Draft, News Cam Newton, Cameron Artis-Payne, D.J. Humphries, Daryl Williams, Dave Gettleman, Devin Funchess, Jonathan Stewart, Panthers, Shaq Thompson

Round 1, Pick 25

Shaq Thompson

LB, 6-0, 228, Washington

The Panthers hoped to pick either OT D.J. Humphries or Thompson. When Arizona snagged Humphries at No. 24, Carolina was happy to land one of the most athletic and versatile defenders in the draft.

View image | gettyimages.com

Round 2, Pick 41

Devin Funchess

WR, 6-4, 232, Michigan

General manager Dave Gettleman surprised many by trading up 16 spots to take Funchess. But the move gives often-erratic QB Cam Newton another big target.

View image | gettyimages.com

Round 4, Pick 102

Daryl Williams

OT, 6-5, 327, Oklahoma

After giving up a third- and sixth-round pick to get Funchess, Gettleman gave up a fifth and seventh so he could grab Williams. The Panthers had a third-round grade on a guy who could start at RT in Week 1.

View image | gettyimages.com

Round 5, Pick 169

David Mayo

LB, 6-2, 228, Texas State

He racked up gaudy tackle numbers in the Sun Belt Conference, but a 13-stop per game average is impressive against anyone.

Round 5, Pick 174

Cameron Artis-Payne

RB, 5-10, 212, Auburn

“Bowling ball” back filled a need, but the Panthers will likely remain searching for backups behind Jonathan Stewart.

View image | gettyimages.com

OVERALL[gap size=”.3em”]

The Panthers began with nine picks and finished with five players. They tried to land quality in earlier rounds instead of leaving a shallow draft with quantity. Thompson and Funchess could cause matchup problems on both sides of the ball, and all five guys should earn immediate roles. Ultimately, the Panthers added intriguing pieces that should help, but they again missed out on a future franchise left tackle and failed to find an edge rusher.

SHARE THIS POST

Panthers/Truth

RB Cameron Artis-Payne is an OK pick, but the rest of the draft couldn’t stink any worse if a family of skunks came to the party.

Thompson is nowhere near the athlete he’s hyped up to be. He’s a good fit in this 4-3 system, but he’s not a blitzer, and does nothing to improve a declining pass rush, and was something of a reach. It’s more a case of where he was picked than that he was picked. I have been calling for a player like this for several years, so they won’t have to substitute a run defending OLB and a “nickle” DB in and out for each other’

Funchess doesn’t have the speed that is needed from the Panthers #2 WR, he’s just 2nd generation copy of Benjamin, right down to the bad hands, only he plays soft. He needs to play a “Flex” TE role, like the Colts Coby Fleener (he can’t block well enough to play as an in-line TE, and no desire to), not a WR. He wasn’t worth the trade up, or the draft pick.

RT Daryl Williams is a big OT (6’5 1/4″, 327), with nice long 35″ arms, but he’s slow (5.34-40, with 10 yard splits of 1.75, 1.86, and 1.89), and no agility (8.18-3 cone and 5.15-20 yard shuttle, both in the bottom 10% for OT’s, over the last 10 years, and so are 2 of his 3 10 yard split times). G-man and RR are now saying he can play LT, but they are the same ones who were certain that Bell

LB David Mayo seems like a hard worker, and was productive, but at a low level of competition. He tested out as a below average athlete (big surprise LOL), and they could have probably just have signed him as a UDFA, LB Jimmy Hall’s workout numbers are better than Shaq Thompson’s, and he went un-drafted.
- Brandon
  
  so a 4.47 40 time isnt fast enough for a WR then what is?
  - Panthers/Truth
    
    Hand-held Pro Day 40 times like Funchess’ 4.47-40, average being .175 seconds faster than the timing method used at the Combine, so adjust his 4.47-40 to compare equally to the Combine numbers, and it becomes a 4.63 or 4.64-40, good for a TE, but ranking in the bottom 10% of WR’s over the last 10 years.
- PanthersActualFan
  
  “His numbers are better”- With your logic mathematicians would rule society.
  - Panthers/Truth
    
    PAF, I guess you just can’t handle anyone disagreeing with your Panthers generated message, since my first 2 replies have been deleted.
    
    You are not a “ActualPanthersFan”, your just their mouth piece.
    - Bill Voth
      
      FYI – I did not approve your replies because they included what I would consider personal attacks. Were they truly awful? No. But if you want to put down other commenters in that way, there are plenty of places on the internet to do it. This won’t be one of those places. I was hoping to avoid having to put a disclaimer above the comments section, thinking the site is self-explanatory in trying to be a smarter place for fans to converse, but I will add one this week to make that more clear.
      - Panthers/Truth
        
        Thank you Bill. I was struggling with my replies, but I felt “PanthersActualFan” reply to my post was disrespectful and just nasty.
Panthers/Truth

RB Cameron Artis-Payne is an OK pick, but the rest of the draft couldn’t stink any worse if a family of skunks came to the party.

Thompson is nowhere near the athlete he’s hyped up to be. He’s a good fit in this 4-3 system, but he’s not a blitzer, and does nothing to improve a declining pass rush, and was something of a reach. It’s more a case of where he was picked than that he was picked. I have been calling for a player like this for several years, so they won’t have to substitute a run defending OLB and a “nickle” DB in and out for each other’

Funchess doesn’t have the speed that is needed from the Panthers #2 WR, he’s just 2nd generation copy of Benjamin, right down to the bad hands, only he plays soft. He needs to play a “Flex” TE role, like the Colts Coby Fleener (he can’t block well enough to play as an in-line TE, and no desire to), not a WR. He wasn’t worth the trade up, or the draft pick.

RT Daryl Williams is a big OT (6’5 1/4″, 327), with nice long 35″ arms, but he’s slow (5.34-40, with 10 yard splits of 1.75, 1.86, and 1.89), and no agility (8.18-3 cone and 5.15-20 yard shuttle, both in the bottom 10% for OT’s, over the last 10 years, and so are 2 of his 3 10 yard split times). G-man and RR are now saying he can play LT, but they are the same ones who were certain that Bell

LB David Mayo seems like a hard worker, and was productive, but at a low level of competition. He tested out as a below average athlete (big surprise LOL), and they could have probably just have signed him as a UDFA, LB Jimmy Hall’s workout numbers are better than Shaq Thompson’s, and he went un-drafted.
- Brandon
  
  so a 4.47 40 time isnt fast enough for a WR then what is?
  - Panthers/Truth
    
    Hand-held Pro Day 40 times like Funchess’ 4.47-40, average being .175 seconds faster than the timing method used at the Combine, so adjust his 4.47-40 to compare equally to the Combine numbers, and it becomes a 4.63 or 4.64-40, good for a TE, but ranking in the bottom 10% of WR’s over the last 10 years.
- PanthersActualFan
  
  “His numbers are better”- With your logic mathematicians would rule society.
  - Panthers/Truth
    
    PAF, I guess you just can’t handle anyone disagreeing with your Panthers generated message, since my first 2 replies have been deleted.
    
    You are not a “ActualPanthersFan”, your just their mouth piece.
    - Bill Voth
      
      FYI – I did not approve your replies because they included what I would consider personal attacks. Were they truly awful? No. But if you want to put down other commenters in that way, there are plenty of places on the internet to do it. This won’t be one of those places. I was hoping to avoid having to put a disclaimer above the comments section, thinking the site is self-explanatory in trying to be a smarter place for fans to converse, but I will add one this week to make that more clear.
      - Panthers/Truth
        
        Thank you Bill. I was struggling with my replies, but I felt “PanthersActualFan” reply to my post was disrespectful and just nasty.
ALAC

I think Gettleman did the right thing by moving around to get the guys he wanted. While most casual fans might not know who some (or any) of these guys are, they are all good picks for our team. As John Fox always used to say, “stats are for losers”. This particularly holds true for players measurables. How a player plays football is what really matters. They aren’t doing track and field events on Sundays. All of these players are scheme fit guys, that are coachable, and fit in well with the Panthers. I’m willing to bet that 4 of them will displace current players on our team this season. That is a good draft.
- iREMEMBER2001
  
  Couldn’t agree more…well said my friend.
ALAC

I think Gettleman did the right thing by moving around to get the guys he wanted. While most casual fans might not know who some (or any) of these guys are, they are all good picks for our team. As John Fox always used to say, “stats are for losers”. This particularly holds true for players measurables. How a player plays football is what really matters. They aren’t doing track and field events on Sundays. All of these players are scheme fit guys, that are coachable, and fit in well with the Panthers. I’m willing to bet that 4 of them will displace current players on our team this season. That is a good draft.
- iREMEMBER2001
  
  Couldn’t agree more…well said my friend.
Eric B.

It was clear that DG knew exactly what kind of players he wanted to add, which seems a good thing. However, trading so many picks did not seem great given most good GM’s miss on 50% of picks. I also do watch some BTN football unlike the Charlotte media that slurps the ACC, and I was not blown away by Funchess. He seemed really inconsistent and was never a guy who separated. However, Detroit Free Press said he played hurt most of last year. By the way, the Free Press did have a good Saturday article on him. I guess the concern is both Thompson and Funchess have high bust potential as true starters.
- Panthers/Truth
  
  Eric, you absolutely right !!!!!!! It’s great to see someone that post who can think for themselves, and actually knows what they’re talking about.
Eric B.

It was clear that DG knew exactly what kind of players he wanted to add, which seems a good thing. However, trading so many picks did not seem great given most good GM’s miss on 50% of picks. I also do watch some BTN football unlike the Charlotte media that slurps the ACC, and I was not blown away by Funchess. He seemed really inconsistent and was never a guy who separated. However, Detroit Free Press said he played hurt most of last year. By the way, the Free Press did have a good Saturday article on him. I guess the concern is both Thompson and Funchess have high bust potential as true starters.
- Panthers/Truth
  
  Eric, you absolutely right !!!!!!! It’s great to see someone that post who can think for themselves, and actually knows what they’re talking about.
MrP

I have a feeling that most if not all of these 5 new draft picks will get significant playing time this upcoming season.

Last season , special teams coverage / play was an area the Panthers didn’t really excel at. With the addition of someone like Mayo who has a supposedly high motor and a tackling machine , could be useful in this area.

DG has many years experience as a scout and personnel guy so I would defer to his judgement . I think the Panthers will be just fine.
MrP

I have a feeling that most if not all of these 5 new draft picks will get significant playing time this upcoming season.

Last season , special teams coverage / play was an area the Panthers didn’t really excel at. With the addition of someone like Mayo who has a supposedly high motor and a tackling machine , could be useful in this area.

DG has many years experience as a scout and personnel guy so I would defer to his judgement . I think the Panthers will be just fine.
Panthers/Truth

That’s absolutely true, no one can know for sure how a draft pick will turn out, until they’ve spent at least 2 or 3 years in the NFL, and some players don’t even breakthrough until their 4th year, or never.

My point is that your comparing apples to rocks, Pro Day 40 times are universally faster than Combine 40 times, which are more accurate.
Panthers/Truth

That’s absolutely true, no one can know for sure how a draft pick will turn out, until they’ve spent at least 2 or 3 years in the NFL, and some players don’t even breakthrough until their 4th year, or never.

My point is that your comparing apples to rocks, Pro Day 40 times are universally faster than Combine 40 times, which are more accurate.

Black and Blue Review

Black and Blue Review

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Vote on Panthers’ Picks, Draft

Round 1, Pick 25

Shaq Thompson

Round 2, Pick 41

Devin Funchess

Round 4, Pick 102

Daryl Williams

Round 5, Pick 169

David Mayo

Round 5, Pick 174

Cameron Artis-Payne

OVERALL[gap size=”.3em”]