The Carolina Panthers made history last weekend, becoming the first team in the common era to use all of their draft picks on defensive players. They’ll have to lean heavily on those rookies in order to fill out a depth chart that was decimated by free agency and Luke Kuechly’s retirement.
So, how did they do? Early reviews of the draft class have been generally positive. However, what matters is how good it is compared to the competition. Even though the Panthers got a B+ grade for their haul, NFL.com only ranks their draft class No. 14 in the league this year.
“Long story short, Carolina came into this draft with serious needs on all three levels of the defense. In Round 1, the Panthers passed on do-everything playmaker Isaiah Simmons in favor of a stout anchor to build around (Brown). In Round 2, they snagged a toolsy edge rusher to hunt opposite last year’s first-round pick, Brian Burns, and then traded back into the round to score Chinn, an intriguing hybrid who feels like store-brand Simmons.”
Unless Brown turns into another first-team All-Pro, the decision to pass on Simmons may come back to haunt this franchise.
Brown was a safe pick though and it’s extremely unlikely he will be a bust. The bigger question is how many starters they got and how soon they’ll turn into reliable starters for a defense that looks ripe for destruction given the weapons the Saints, Buccaneers and Falcons have on the other side of the ball.
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