The Panthers got some players with nice upsides last April.  It all started out with DE Everette Brown out of Florida State (2nd round, #43 overall).  Brown played in 15 games for the Panthers last season and he made 22 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, forced 2 fumbles, had 2.5 sacks and he defensed 2 passes.  The other 2nd round pick the Panthers made was safety Sherrod Martin out of Troy with the #59 overall pick.  Martin played in all 16 games for the Panthers last season and he made 23 tackles, forced 2 fumbles, defensed 4 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  RB/KR Mike Goodson was selected in the 4th round (#111 overall) by the Panthers out of Texas A&M.  He played in 8 games for the Panthers last season and he carried the ball 22 times for 49 yards (2.2 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 15 yards (7.5 avg).  Goodson also returned 17 kickoffs for 352 yards (20.7 avg) last season for the Panthers.  Fullback Tony Fiammetta was picked in the 4th round (#128 overall) out of Syracuse.  He played in 10 games but he didn’t touch the ball as he was blocking a lot.  He also had 2 tackles as a rookie.  CB Captain Munnerlyn (7th round, #216 overall) out of South Carolina was a solid player for the Panthers last season.  He played in 15 games for the Panthers last season and he finished up with 44 tackles, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defensed.  He also returned 1 kickoff for 15 yards and 31 punts for 278 yards (9.0 avg).  Munnerlyn was quite a find for the Panthers.  DT Corvey Irvin was the 3rd round pick (#93 overall) out of Georgia but he spent his rookie season on I.R.  OT Duke Robinson was selected in the 5th round (#163 overall) out of Oklahoma last season and he didn’t get onto the field at all as a rookie.

GRADE FOR 2009:  C

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B

The Panthers were beaten to a pulp by the Eagles last Sunday.  They beat them so bad it was hard to me to find a bright spot.  Rookie 4th round pick (RB) Mike Goodson of Texas A&M and 7th round pick (CB) Captain Munnerlyn of South Carolina both looked pretty good on special teams.  Goodson returned 5 kickoffs for 120 yards (24.0 avg) in the game against the Eagles and Munnerlyn returned 2 punts for 33 yards (16.5 avg).  Goodson also carried the ball 2 times for 1 yard (0.5 avg) and Munnerlyn made 1 tackle.  The Panthers hope that Goodson and Munnerlyn keep up the good work on special teams as they need all the help they can get.

Sherrod Martin has outstanding measureables as he is 6′0″, 197 pounds and he runs a 4.4 40. Martin is not the best tackler in the world but he should be good enough to get by. Martin played in 46 games (37 starts) in 4 years at Troy making 292 tackles, breaking up 23 passes, he had 9 interceptions (73 yards), forced 9 fumbles and he recovered 3 fumbles. This was a good pick for the Panthers as Martin should earn a lot of playing time as a rookie.

The Panthers had Everette Brown graded as a first round pick and that’s what convinced them to trade a first round pick in 2010 to get him.  Brown is 6′4″, 250 pounds and he runs a 4.65 40.  Brown is so fast off the ball that he spends a lot of time in the opposing backfield and that’s what the Panthers are banking on.  Brown played in 39 games (25 starts) in three years at Florida State and he made 100 tackles, had 46.5 tackles for a loss, had 23 sacks, batted down 5 balls, forced 5 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  Look for Brown to line up opposite Julius Peppers (assuming he’s still on the team) and getting into opposing backfields often as a rookie.

The Carolina Panthers had a very solid draft last April.  It all started out with running back Jonathan Stewart who was the first player they selected.  He played in 16 games (0 starts) as a rookie in 2008 and he carried the ball 184 times for 836 yards (4.5 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He also caught 8 passes for 47 yards (5.9 avg) last season.  Stewart even made 3 tackles as a rookie.  Look for Stewart to pile up yards at a good rate in the future for the Panthers.  The other first round pick of the Panthers last season was offensive tackle Jeff Otah.  Otah played in 12 games (all starts) for the Panthers last season and he was one of the main reasons that they ran the ball so well in 2008.  He will be a starter for a long time on the Panthers.  Cornerback Charles Godfrey was a good pick in the third round as he moved right into the starting lineup.  He played in 16 games (all starts) as a rookie for the Panthers last season and he made 61 tackles, defensed 5 passes, sacked the opposing QB once and he had 1 interception.  He could be a starter for a long time for the Panthers.  The other third round pick the Panthers spent was on inside linebacker Dan Connor.  Connor only played in 3 games (0 starts) and he made 4 tackles before having his season cut short due to a torn ACL.  TE Gary Barnridge played in 15 games (0 starts) as a rookie last season and he didn’t catch any passes while making 3 tackles.  6th rounder Nick Hayden (DT) played in only 2 games (1 start) for the Panthers last season and he made 3 tackles.  OLB Hilee Taylor (7th round) played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Panthers last season and he made 4 whole tackles.  7th rounders Geoff Schwartz (OT) and Mackenzy Bernadeau (OG) didn’t play last season for the Panthers.

GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A