Panthers projected depth chart after the 2020 NFL draft
The last time we published a projected 2020 depth chart for the Panthers, it was a mess. There were massive holes at guard, cornerback and along the defensive line. Now that the NFL draft is over, things are much clearer. In addition to an all-defense draft class, the team has signed 17 undrafted free agents and a few veterans to help round out the roster.
Here is our best guess at what the depth chart looks like right now.
This adds a little extra spice to the NFC South rivalry.
When the third round of this year’s NFL Draft was over, head coach Sean Payton and the Saints were ready to wrap up and call it a weekend. After trading up to take a tight end at the end of Round 3, the team found itself without any picks in Rounds 4-7.
Still, there were things to do. The Saints got to work reaching out to players they didn’t think would get drafted but they were interested in signing as free agents.
One of those was quarterback Tommy Stevens, a 6-foot-5 bruiser out of Mississippi State who projected to be a hybrid-type player in the NFL, much in the mold of Taysom Hill. Hill has thrived for the Saints in a weird kind of wildcat QB-tight end hybrid role that the team more or less invented.
And with Stevens, they wanted the next iteration of that. Still: There was a problem. Stevens already had a verbal agreement with the Panthers to join them as a free agent in the event he went undrafted. Stevens also already had a relationship with new Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
Still, Payton wasn’t going to let it go that easily.
“It became my project,” said Payton, who said the Saints first offered to match Carolina’s offer (a $15,000 signing bonus and $30,000 of Stevens’ salary guaranteed).
Then Payton said the Saints tried upping the offer to $144,000 of the salary guaranteed. But Stevens and agent Buddy Baker didn’t budge because Stevens wanted to honor his commitment to Carolina.
Payton says he respect Stevens honoring his word, but wasn’t going to let him get away that easy. So during the final round, the Saints traded next year’s sixth round pick to the Texans for their seventh round pick this year. They then took Stevens.
Again, via ESPN:
“I said, ‘Honestly, I was having some fun,'” Payton said. “‘You had given your word and I respect that. But we weren’t going to lose you. You were going to become a Saint.'”
That was that. No word yet on how Brady and the Panthers feel about all this.
Carolina added to the defensive backs room by signing cornerback Derrek Thomas, who played for head coach Matt Rhule at both Temple and Baylor. After his college career was over he went undrafted, then he spent time with the Seahawks and Steelers in the offseason but did he not play in 2019.
The Panthers also added to the defensive line again, signing former Buccaneers defensive end DaVonte Lambert. He played 11 games for Tampa in 2016 but hasn’t been on the field in the regular season since.
In a pair of corresponding moves, the team waived kicker Elliott Fry and defensive back Dominique Hatfield.
As of yet, the Panthers have not announced the reported signing of former Chargers offensive lineman Michael Schofield, who we are projecting to be the new starter at left guard.
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton shared his story of outbidding Panthers rival Joe Brady in the 2020 NFL Draft, targeting Tommy Stevens.
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Many New Orleans Saints were caught unawares in the closing minutes of the 2020 NFL Draft, when the Saints traded back into the seventh round to select a prospect known mostly to the cowbell-slinging fanatics at Mississippi State: quarterback Tommy Stevens.
But no Saints fan was as shocked as Stevens himself, except maybe Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Brady worked with Stevens as a graduate assistant at Penn State, before making the jump to the NFL as an assistant coach with the Saints some years ago.
He’d used that inside track to recruit Stevens as an undrafted free agent for the Panthers, selling his protege on a role as the next Taysom Hill — a vision the Saints shared. Brady first began experimenting with Hill’s playbook while at Penn State with Stevens, and later introduced that package to New Orleans. Stevens had given the Panthers a verbal commitment that he’d sign with them as an undrafted free agent.
Undaunted, the Saints initially tried to outbid Carolina; per Jeff Duncan of The Athletic, their offer ran up to and including a guaranteed salary of $144,000. No dice. Stevens had given his word to Brady and the Panthers, and wanted to honor it.
“We know the role,” Payton told Duncan. “We invented the role.”
A few phone calls later and the Saints had a deal in place, shipping their 2021 sixth-round pick (an asset they project to get back as a compensatory pick) to the Houston Texans so that they could draft Stevens.
When NFL commissioner Roger appeared on the draft broadcast to read off the Saints’ pick, Payton fired off a text messages to Brady: “Not so fast.” Duncan reports that Brady jokingly cursed his mentor after being outplayed.
It’s a great story, and perfectly in-character for Payton. The Saints head coach is fiercely competitive, which is reflected in anecdotes like these as well as his habit of going for a conversion on fourth down — or chasing two points after a touchdown instead of settling for the extra-point kick.
Fortunately, there’s no bad blood between Payton and Stevens. He knows this is how the game gets played in undrafted free agency, and sometimes it takes a little aggression to seal the deal.
Payton told Duncan, “I said, honestly, I was having some fun. You had given your word and I respect that. But we weren’t going to lose you. You were going to become a Saint.”
While Stevens doesn’t figure to join the active roster on many gamedays this year, it feels like his name should be written on opening-day rosters in ink rather than pencil. Between the salary the Saints were ready to guarantee and the draft capital given up to acquire him, Stevens should be the next-man-up if Hill can’t run as many routes or throw as many blocks.
And if things go according to plan, the rookie might end up catching some passes from Hill himself a year or two down the road.
The Panthers are signing former Chargers guard Michael Schofield to a one-year deal, according to a report by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN. Schofield has a connection via Carolina’s offensive line coach Pat Meyer, who was Schofield’s position coach the last three seasons.
Schofield (6-foot-6, 301 pounds) was originally a third-round draft pick by the Broncos in 2014. After three years in Denver, he moved on to the Chargers.
All together, he’s played in 76 NFL games, with 66 starts. He has mostly played right guard in the pros, but he has also put in time at right tackle and he came up playing left guard at Michigan.
Most likely, Carolina sees Schofield as the new starter at left guard to replace Greg Van Roten, who signed with the Jets.
Which teams turned a blind eye to what they need most?
It’s always hard to rely upon the NFL draft to fill a position of need. If a team is heading into the draft with hopes of finding a plug-and-play starter, it is probably already in trouble. The draft provides so many busts, even in the first round when teams tend to take the players who project (seemingly) cleanly to the NFL.
Still, teams need to take that risk, rather than watch a quarterback flail without an offensive line — or watch an offensive line flail in front of an indecisive quarterback. It’s absolutely essential for NFL teams to find young — cheap! — players who can contribute.
Yet some didn’t even appear to try to deal with their problems.
Here are six teams that emerged from the 2020 NFL Draft with a glaring need which we thought they should have addressed by now.
1. The Patriots failed to add a quarterback
New England is beginning to build something interesting, both on offense and defense. The team drafted two linebackers who are probably Day 1 starters while also selecting two tight ends who can contribute immediately. Those were clear positions of need. But the Patriots didn’t address what seems like their biggest need: quarterback. New England will hold a competition between Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer (unless Cam Newton and the Patriots come to their senses and sign a deal).
But let’s just let that sink in: It’s Stidham vs. Hoyer. That’s what the post-Tom-Brady-era looks like in New England. Yeesh.
If Bill Belichick wasn’t the coach of the Patriots, they would be the laughingstock of the NFL. But somehow, Belichick is probably going to figure out how to win 10 games with one of those quarterbacks.
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2. The Packers didn’t draft a receiver
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Green Bay has long had a promising group of pass-catchers behind Davante Adams, but the emergence of a No. 2 receiver is still pending. Marquez Valdes-Scantling might be that guy. But Geronimo Allison was in a similar position. So was Randall Cobb. And neither player really stepped up. Instead of cementing a dynamite receiving corps with a first-round pick, the Packers drafted a developmental quarterback, Jordan Love. The move was a shrewd one for the long-term. But for 2020? Aaron Rodgers is going to want more weapons. And Green Bay didn’t get him any in this year’s draft.
3. The Panthers skipped drafting a cornerback
James Bradbury exited in free agency and Carolina has been unable to fill his vacancy. Donte Jackson was a promising prospect — perhaps he’s up to the task. But for now, the Panthers’ other starting corner is Corn Elder, who sounds like an ingredient someone on a diet should avoid. That, or a religious leader. Either way, I’m not sure he’s the answer for CB2.
The good news is that there are still options in free agency, with Logan Ryan and an assortment of former first-round busts like Eli Apple, Dre Kirkpatrick and Prince Amukamara that might be worth a prove-it deal.
4. The Bears misfire at quarterback
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They need a quarterback, but they don’t seem to know it yet. The Bears have Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, who they acquired in a trade this offseason. But that quarterback battle won’t go well. So by the time the Bears finally admit the truth and realize they needed to deal with this, it will be too late. Good news: the 2021 NFL Draft looks stocked. Maybe Chicago will Tank for Trevor.
5. The Jaguars couldn’t trade the veterans they needed to deal
Leonard Fournette hasn’t openly asked for a trade, but the team was shopping him ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft. We’ll see what materializes for the veteran running back, but it’s not looking good for the Jaguars. Meanwhile, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue picked a Twitter fight with Jacksonville’s co-owner Tony Khan. Can time heal wounds? Or will the Jaguars be forced to trade their frustrated stars? And while the draft seemed like a good time for Jacksonville to move Fournette and/or Ngakoue, that didn’t work out.
6. The Eagles didn’t get an outside cornerback
Philly needed a receiver, so it went out to get one — and then some. The Eagles got TCU’s Jalen Reagor in the first round, Boise State’s John Hightower in the fifth round and Auburn’s Quez Watkins in the sixth round. It’s a bold strategy. Let’s see if it pays off.
But their strategy got bolder: the Eagles took quarterback Jalen Hurts. (Remember: Philly still has that guy named Carson Wentz who is really good at throwing the football when healthy.) It seemed like a silly move, especially when their secondary has been one of the NFL’s worst for the last two years. They needed a cornerback not a quarterback.
Wisconsin linebacker Chris Orr was not among the four former Badgers who heard their names called during the 2020 NFL Draft last week…
Wisconsin linebacker Chris Orr was not among the four former Badgers who heard their names called during the 2020 NFL Draft last week.
It did not take long for the Texas native to find an NFL home during post-draft free agency, though, as he signed with the Carolina Panthers immediately after the draft concluded and joined his brother Zach Orr and former Badgers including Philadelphia Eagle T.J. Edwards, free agent Corey Clement and Tampa Bay Buccaneer D’Cota Dixon as a player to find their NFL start as an undrafted free agent.
The Orr signing added to the Panthers’ record-breaking draft haul, as they were the only team in NFL history to use all of their selections on the defensive side of the football.
Making the team as an undrafted free agent is normally a challenging task. But now that the Panthers completely re-vamped their defense during the draft, that task may be an even tougher one for Orr this coming fall.
Nevertheless, the former Badger will have a shot at a role in Carolina as a depth option at linebacker and special teams contributor.
As of now he is set to join a linebacker room with big names including Tahir Whitehead and Shaq Thompson that operates in a 3-4 defensive scheme under head coach Matt Rhule, the same defensive scheme used by defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard at Wisconsin.
If Edwards’ story means anything for Orr’s NFL chances, the former Badger should benefit from the familiarity coming from Wisconsin defensive scheme and the recent history of Badger linebackers in the NFL.
This history–looking at current starters in the NFL including Edwards, T.J. Watt, Joe Schobert and Ryan Connelly and backups/special teams players including Andrew Van Ginkel and Jack Cichy–should see Orr at least make the Week 1 roster despite waiting until his senior season to produce at an NFL level.
The most likely role for Orr to begin his professional career is as a situational blitz and run-defending specialist in addition to a special teams starter.
Until the former Badger is able to improve his mobility and pass-coverage skills, it isn’t likely he will find himself in a starting role, especially with Thompson and Whitehead ahead of him on the depth chart.
Regardless, Orr has a better chance than most undrafted free agents to make the Week 1 roster due to his proficiency in specialized areas of the game, and should find a role on Rhule’s team even if it is just as a blitz specialist and kickoff coverage man.
Panthers 2020 NFL draft class ranked No. 11 in return on investment, per the Athletic.
After losing several key starters on defense, the Carolina Panthers needed to field a strong 2020 draft class if they’re going to have any chance of competing next season. Once the draft was over, new head coach Matt Rhule admitted to the media that they’ll have to lean on their rookie class.
Obviously it’s going to take a couple of seasons at least to fairly evaluate these players. However, the early reviews for Carolina’s picks have been generally positive. The math seems to back that up.
According to The Athletic’s inimitable Arif Hasan, his model for calculating return on investment for the 2020 NFL draft shows that the Panthers’ class ranked 11th-best in the league this year. Here is how he explains the math.
“Here, we calculated the expected value each team earned on the pick and subtracted the capital of the pick, using an equation that weighs the value of the team’s selections (capital) against the draftees’ rankings in the Consensus Big Board (value). We also take into account positional needs — if a team, for example, drafts a running back because he’s the highest-ranked player on the board but then never plays that running back because there are five better ones on the roster, that wasn’t a good pick.”
The team that did the best was the Arizona Cardinals, who picked Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons at No. 8 and wound up with a 143.90% return – just barely edging out the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys.
Carolina’s draft class came in just ahead of the No. 12-ranked Houston Texans’, earning a 117.50% return.
Their best value pick according to Hasan’s model was Yetur Gross-Matos in the second round. The Panthers wound up taking Gross-Matos at No. 38 overall, but the Consensus Big Board had him ranked at No. 24.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Seattle Seahawks got the worst ROI this year at just 72.20%.
In the end, Rhule only picked one prospect who he coached last season.
The Carolina Panthers signed several former Temple players in free agency this year. That list included linebacker Tahir Whitehead, wide receiver Robby Anderson, quarterback P.J. Walker, wide receiver Keith Kirkwood and tight end Colin Thompson.
This led to a lot of speculation that Carolina would have a draft class heavy on players who had previously worked with Matt Rhule. Some analysts toyed with the idea of an all Baylor/Temple mock draft.
In the end, Rhule only picked one prospect who he coached last season: Baylor defensive tackle Bravvion Roy, who was picked in the sixth round. Watch Roy get the call from his former/current coach on Day 3 of the 2020 NFL draft.
