9. OLB Luke Kuechly A

I had Kuechly as my 7^th rated prospect so I think the value for the Panthers at 9. Linebackers rarely deserve to go in the top 10, but Kuechly does. This likely spells the end of Thomas Davis’ tenure in Carolina as a starter, but Davis’ has had 3 ACL tears so that’s probably for the best.

40. G Amini Silatolu B

Silatolu fills a need at guard, but I had lower than this, though I’ll admit there wasn’t a ton of Midwestern State tape floating out there for me to study.

103. DE Frank Alexander A

Frank Alexander is one of the hidden gems of this pass rushing class. He slid down boards because of a heart condition that was misdiagnosed, but before that I had a 2^nd round grade on him so this is a steal for a team that needed a situational player to pair with Greg Hardy.

104. WR Joe Adams A

Steve Smith won’t be around forever and Adams is a good value in the 4^th round. I had a 3^rd round grade on him. Immediately, he’s an upgrade as a punt returner over Armanti Edwards, who averaged 5.5 yards per return last season. Long term, I like his chances to emerge as a starting caliber receiver.

143. CB Josh Norman A

Cornerback was actually the Panthers biggest need coming into the draft, but I won’t knock them for not addressing it until the 5^th round because of how good their picks have been so far. Besides, this was a really strong cornerback class so it’s predictable that you could get a good value on a cornerback in the mid rounds. That’s exactly what Josh Norman is. He might not start for them, but he provides depth at a position where it was desperately needed.

207. P Brad Nortman A-

I didn’t have Nortman as a draftable punter, but he certainly fills a need so this isn’t a bad pick. There isn’t really a ton of difference between highly rated punters and other punters. At least they didn’t use a 3^rd round pick on one right?

216. S DJ Campbell B+

Safety depth was needed, I didn’t have Campbell in my top 250, but whatever, it’s the 7^th round. Can’t really hate.

The Panthers drafted really well. With their 9^th overall pick, they drafted the 7^th best player on my board and the 2^nd best available defensive player on my board (I was really high on Whitney Mercilus). Kuechly is one of the, if not the best and most complete linebacker prospects of the decade and he fills a need for them. They also added solid cogs to their defense with Frank Alexander and Josh Norman, two great value picks, despite not having a 3^rd round pick.

It’s also worth noting that they only didn’t have a 3^rd round pick because they traded it for Greg Olsen, a deal that looks pretty good now as Olsen was one of Cam Newton’s favorite targets last season. Joe Adams was also a good value to add another young receiver to the mix, as well as a deadly punt returner, and their late round selections were good too. The minus on the A is for the Silatolu pick. I had him rated in the 3^rd/4^th round range, but again, I didn’t see a ton of tape on him and he did fill a need. If they had taken someone like Peter Konz there instead, this would have been an A draft.

Grade: A-