Cam Newton carried the offense last season

This is one of our new writers debut post, feel free to welcome to the team and give him some feedback.

5. Carolina Panthers 2011 record (6-10) projected 2012 record (9-7)

I am going out on a limb on this selection more than any other on this list. But now that Cam Newton has officially had one of the, if not the greatest season a rookie quarterback has ever had, it makes it a little bit easier.

The Panthers had the 3rd best rushing offense in the NFL last season averaging 150.5 yards a game, now pair that with the 13th best passing average in the league at 239.3 yards a game and you have a team that can move the ball. Not to mention all of this offense was generated by a rookie who missed out on OTA’s and most of training camp because of the lockout. Carolina also had 5 losses last season by 7 points or less and another loss by 8 points, this tells you that as long as this young team stays hungry they are one big play away from adding to their 6 wins from this past year.

Now for the reason why the Panthers lost so many of those close games last season. It’s never a good sign for your team when your 24th ranked pass defense giving up 246.8 yards a game holds the highest ranking on the team, the Panthers also had the 25th ranked rush defense as well giving up 130.8 yards a game.  That all adds up to giving up too many yards and the 28th ranked total defense in the NFL last season and unless your named Rodgers or Brady it’s hard to carry that on offense.

The Panthers will pick either 8th or 9th in the 2012 draft depending upon the outcome of a coin flip. Having already given up their 3rd round pick to acquire Greg Olsen before last season they have only 6 total picks in this years draft. I think the Panthers will try to address their second receiver need through free agency. Unless they find themselves in a best player available situation, I see only one direction for the Panthers to go in the draft and that is on the defensive side of the ball. Cam has shown he can carry a mediocre offense but that doesn’t matter if the defense can’t stop anyone.

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5 Teams that missed the playoffs but will make it in 2012 and their draft needs - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Carolina Panthers off Season Check List

2011 Outcome            (6-10)

What a successful season the Panthers had.  A year earlier this was a dead franchise that now rivals the Detroit Lions as one of the more exciting up and coming teams in the NFL.  Cam Newton is the real deal and the new coaching staff performed very well in year 1.  Now I expect another season with some ups and downs but 2013 this team should be ready to compete with anyone.  The defense needs to get better though at all levels.

Coach Seat Temperature

Ron Rivera showed tremendous poise and is making many teams wonder why they didn’t hire him earlier.  Bringing OC Rob Chudzinski from San Diegoto coach the Offense was very wise.  DC Sean McDermott didn’t do great in year 1 but with Rivera as the HC I expect improvements in year 2.

2011 Draft Class Rating        (B+)

Well they drafted Cam Newton and in that regard they revived the franchise.  What I am worried about is that was the only solid selection they made.  Third Round DT Sione Fua and Terrell McClain were nothing to brag about.  Brandon Hogan was recovering from a prior injury.  Keolaho Pirantes and the rest of the selections made solid contributions to Special Teams.  This class needed more production from their third round selections.

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Carolina Panthers Off Season To Do List: A New Hope - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Will they get In?

The 2012 NFL season is winding down and the playoff picture is becoming clearer every week.  Last week I discussed the AFC/NFC North picture.  This week we will discuss the disappointing AFC/NFC South conference playoff picture.  We will go into remaining schedules and predictions.

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts: The Packers are not the only team striving for perfection.  The Colts are trying to achieve a feat that only the 08 Lions were able to do….go 0-16.  Currently the Colts are 0-12 and they even brought in the man who was the QB for the Lions during that stretch, Dan Orlovsky.  Games versus the Ravens, Titans, and Texans are for sure losses.  It will all come down to the last game at Jacksonville for the Colts to win a game this season. Colts are devoid of talent at all levels and Andrew Luck alone will not be able to turn this team around.

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Will They Get In: AFC/NFC South Edition - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

The Carolina Panthers are an interesting team. They have done a good job all year competing, but it’s not showing up in the win column. They are clearly set at QB moving forward with Cam Newton, but have holes in a lot of other places (not running back) and could use overall depth everywhere, so mocking them is kind of the way I like to do things-Best player available. They do not have a third round pick this year, but have all of their other picks (I don’t think any extra’s in the 6th or 7th round either).

Right now the Panthers are picking second, I expect they’ll be picking closer to 6th when all is said and done, but for now we’ll go with second overall. To create value I used Walterfootball.com’s big board for the first four rounds.

1st round-Matt Kalil, T, USC

In my latest mock draft I put Justin Blackmon over Kalil here at #2 because I was thinking that with Gross and Otah they might be more interested in adding a wide receiver talent, even though Kalil is pretty clearly the best non-QB prospect in this class. While I read some Carolina Panthers blogs and discovered that there are many fans also think that they should go Kalil so perhaps it is the right way to go. Gross has some age (and in the games I’ve watched hasn’t played great anyway) and Otah has a history of straying injury free. I’m not sure how they’d work this situation out, but perhaps you just can’ tpass on a franchise LT to protect your franchise QB for the next 10 to 15 years.

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2012 NFL Mock Draft Carolina Panthers - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Justin Blackmon Would Look Good in Carolina Blue (picture source littlebitaboutalot.blogspot.com)

Time for my weekly 2012 NFL Mock draft update. Most weeks I like to explore unique options for each team because I think that helps me consider the myriad possibilities of the draft (and this is what is so alluring about the draft to me), but this week I tried to do more of a traditional mock draft, of course there are a few surprise picks. So let me know what you think.

This is order is based on the current regular season standings up to the playoffs then from walterfootball.com from pick 22 on.

Almost every player here as a scouting report for them, so click on the name for that.

For all of our other scouting reports (over a 120) check out our scouting report page.

1. Indianapolis Colts (0-10)-Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford Cardinal

Despite what Skip Bayless and Jamele Hill might be saying on First Take, I don’t think any General Manager in this league would have the conviction to take Robert Griffin III over Andrew Luck first overall. It’s fun to play that game. If a G.M. takes Luck and Luck is a colossal bust it will be placed on Luck because Everyone think he’s a once in a decade prospect, if a G.M. passed on Luck and he becomes what we all think he can be, he’ll never get to live it down. The only question here is do the Colts try to ransom the pick?

2. Carolina Panthers (2-8)-Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State

I really wanted to mock Matt Kalil here to the Panthers because of Gross’s age (already 31) and Jeff Otah’s inability to stay healthy, but I think Gross just got a six year contract in the last year or so and I couldn’t see the Panthers making that pick despite how much sense it makes in my crazy head.

3. St. Louis Rams (2-8)-Matt Kalil, T, USC

This would be the Rams ideal pick, I think. Fans often want the flash pick of WR, but even fans acknowledge how important it is to secure talent across the offensive line. The drafting of Kalil pushes Saffold to RT and Jason Smith inside to guard potentially improving three positions at once (assuming Smith and Saffold transition well to their new positions).

Well it turns out the Rams are already going to move Jason Smith to RG, at least for this Sunday.

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