Outside Linebackers in the draft

It seems like a logical place for us to draft a player we hope will start or atleast make an impact right away. With that in mind here is a list of the ten top guys, according to James Alder anyway.

1. A.J. Hawk, Ohio State
2. Chad Greenway, Iowa
4. Ernie Sims*, Florida State
3. DeMeco Ryans, Alabama
5. Bobby Carpenter, Ohio State
6. Thomas Howard, UTEP
7. A.J. Nicholson, Florida State
8. Rocky McIntosh, Miami (FL)
9. Jon Alston, Stanford
10. Stephen Tulloch, North Carolina State

Obviously the first two guys will not be there when we draft. Ryans and Carpenter seem to be viable options for us. Any of you draft gurus want to weigh in on them?

That's who I would want. Hawk got all the press but Carpenter is a player

 

Shit I am sorry, I accidently edited his post. I prefer Carpenter

 

I know it's against Europe level talent but keep an eye on this kid David Bergeron who's playing for the Cologne Centurions. Smart, smart player with some talent to go with it.

 

I haven't seen Howard. Someone want to tell me if he's worth thinking about at SLB?

 

Nicholson's tainted from the Bowl game fisaco, so we can forget about him. Guilty or innocent of the charges, just getting caught up in something like that will have JR make us shy away from him.

 

at 240, Howard's got the more traditional bulk you might want. Fast (4.42), rangy former safety. He's a lot of the same things that Davis is, with a little different experience but more time at LB and potentially a little more of a rangy cover guy feel. Some suggest he'll struggle with blockers, so take that for what it's worth. Not a guy I'd take at 27, but who'll probably go before 58.

Wouldn't make an awful project, depending on what you felt of his gap abilities and whether or not he'd get exposed in a gap.

I'd like to see Seward and anyone competing for that SLB spot, honestly. I don't think it requires a #1 pick. I like Draft moving around to help where needed, but do feel like it's time to develop a good long term MLB to help out.

 

I'd be cool with Carpenter or Ryans, I like them both pretty much equally. Ryans may be a little more flashy and athletic, but Carpenter is steady and consistent...so they aren't necessarily the same type of player, but both would do in my book.
I want nothing to do with Simms anymore. I had him lumped in with those guys previously, but he has a history of concusions and doesn't seem like a guy that can keep weight on.

Howard would do, but would be a reach at #27 and we'd likely have to move up from #54 to make sure we'd get him...not a player I see worth moving up for really. AJ Nichols is interesting, I had thought him to be a better pure athlete than he is, but have since found him to be more of a true FB player type of guy.

 

I don't know how often I have to repeat this, but JR has always talked a big game about avoiding trouble-makers, he hasn't actually done it. We keep players who continously screw up as long as we feel we need them, and we don't hesitate to bring in guys with problems as long as we feel we can use them. I don't know that I really have an issue with that approach, but I do wish the Panthers would stop being such gigantic hypocrites about it. Either we should get rid of all the guys like that or we should stop talking about how we don't tolerate them.

 

I am leaning towards Carpenter. I like his size for the SLB position. From what I read he is a decent blitzer too which is something we have missed since Fields got sick.

 

just taking a quick look at the roster, who? other then Smith have we kept that has been a continuos screw-up.