The Panthers caught themselves another sliding USC football player as they got outstanding value with their pick of Ryan Kalil.  Kalil was the #1 ranked center on most experts draft boards.  He is big enough at 6′2″, 291 pounds and fast enough (4.8 40) to be an effective center or guard in the Pros.  He is excellent at getting off of blocks and hitting targets on the second level in the running game.  He also is fast enough to pull and lead on a play which will be important if he winds up playing some guard.  Center is his beat position.  He’s adept at making line calls and often can snuff out a blitz.  At USC, Kalil played in 45 games and started 39 of them.  Look for Kalil to start as early as this season and he has the potential to go to numerous Pro Bowls in his career.  Another fine pick by the Panthers.

The Panthers felt that they wanted to replace Keyshawn Johnson at receiver and lo and behold Dwayne Jarrett dropped to them in the 2nd round.  Jarrett was one of the best WRs in college football the last three years at USC.  Every time the games got big for USC, Jarrett was right there making big plays for them.  He is a big guy at 6′4″, 215 pounds but he’s a little on the slower side at 4.5 in the 40.  But straight out speed doesn’t matter so much for a big guy like him that can just reach up and snatch the ball out of the air against smaller cornerbacks.  At USC Jarrett played in 38 games (32 starts) and he caught 216 passes for 3,138 yards (14.5 avg) with 41 TD grabs.  The Panthers got a steal getting Jarrett in the 2nd round.  Teaming him with Steve Smith will give Jake Delhomme or David Carr a nice set of WRs to throw to.

With Dan Morgan always iffy because of concussions the Panthers decided that they couldn’t depend on him anymore.  That’s the reason that they drafted Beason in the first round.  He was an outside linebacker in college but the Panthers will likely try him out at middle linebacker.  Beason is a little small for the middle at 6′0″, 235 but he’s a pretty fast runner (4.55 40) and he should be ok as long as the defensive line keeps him clean.  He has the ability to make plays from sideline to sideline.  At Miami, Beason played in 36 games (22 starts) and he made 169.5 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, had 2.5 sacks, broke up 2 passes and intercepted a pass.  This was a very good pick for the Panthers who needed help at linebacker.

The Panthers have extended Steve Smith’s contract for 6 more years for $48.9 million dollars.  Smith started 14 games last season for the Panthers and he caught 83 passes for 1,166 yards (14.0 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He also ran the ball 8 times for 61 yards (7.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  With Smith’s past injury history I find it a little curious as to why the Panthers would sign him for so long, but their are no doubts about his talent as he’s one of the best WRs in the NFL.  Over his career with the Panthers, Smith has played in 77 games (56 starts) and he has caught 344 passes for 4,925 yards (14.3 avg) with 30 TD grabs.  He also has carried the football 28 times for 167 yards (6.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.

When the Panthers drafted Dwayne Jarrett in the 2nd round, Keyshawn Johnson thought he would be around to mentor Jarrett in his rookie season.  But, the Panthers in essence drafted Jarrett to take Johnson’s job and they cut him loose.  Johnson played in all 16 games last season for the Panthers and he made 70 catches for 815 yards (11.6 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 4 yards and it was a TD.  Over his 11 year NFL career, Johnson has played in 167 games (162 starts) and he has caught 814 passes for 10,571 yards (13.0 avg) with 64 TD grabs.  He also has carried the football 13 times for 91 yards (7.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He should be able to find a job if he wants to continue his NFL career.