2015 NFL Draft Grades: Carolina Panthers

How did the Carolina Panthers grade out in the 2015 NFL draft? 

The Carolina Panthers entered the 2015 NFL draft with eight picks and dwindled their selections down to five. And it doesn’t appear on first blush that they made the most effective use of those five.

General manager Dave Gettleman said on Friday he wouldn’t trade any of his Day 2 picks, and then proceeded to do just that to move up in the second-round for Michigan’s Devin Funchess. Liar!

It’s okay, as football fans we’ve come to expect that exact sort of move during the draft, so we won’t crucify him for it. Below are the Panthers’ five picks, followed by a pick-by-pick analysis and then a final overall grade.

Shaq Thompson was a great college player, but analysts were genuinely unsure of what position to play him at in the NFL. Some thought safety, some thought a light linebacker who plays on the weakside of the formation. Some even thought running back, where he starred at times for the Huskies.

If anything there is precedent. He goes to Carolina where he has a twin in the person of Thomas Davis. Davis was a college safety at Georgia who moved to weakside linebacker in the NFL. Despite multiple ACL injuries, Davis has crafted out a nice NFL career because of exceptional movement skills—the same type Thompson possesses.

In the immediate future, it’s unsure how Thompson fits into the Panthers’ plans. But long-term it’s rather obvious he is the successor to Davis at the “Will” linebacker spot. That wasn’t the only head-scratcher though.

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Moving up to pick Devin Funchess didn’t make a ton of sense, given that he’s practically a clone of Kelvin Benjamin. It appears Gettleman has a type, and he’s not afraid of putting those types next to one another.

But if the Panthers were going to move up to get a good system fit, they should have just moved up a few more picks to take Ohio State receiver Devin Smith, who could have occupied a missing piece in their offense as a legitimate deep threat. Or they could have stood still in the second-round and taken Chris Conley, who is also an exemplary deep threat. Either one would have made more sense than the Benjamin, err Funchess pick.

It wasn’t all confounding, however, as Gettleman got great value by selecting Oklahoma offensive tackle Daryl Williams who will come in and start from Day one at right tackle ahead of the dumpster pile of right tackle options currently on the Panthers’ roster. That’s great value in the fourth-round.

Unfortunately that was the only pick which matched value with need. David Mayo in the fifth-round could have been great value from a best player available perspective, but with only five picks it would have made more sense to take a player who fit more of a need.

A similar sentiment could be said of Gettleman’s selection of Cameron Artis-Payne. While the Panthers aren’t as running back dominated on their salary cap as they once were after ridding themselves of Deangelo Williams this offseaon, running back still wasn’t a huge need. And again, the whole five picks thing.

Artis-Payne also was not the best back on the board, and doesn’t really project as a third down back or to fill any kind of specialty role.

Overall, Gettleman’s draft doesn’t make a ton of sense. It’s impossible to give him any more than a passing grade. He gets that because I’m a generous grader.

Overall Grade: C