Looking Back at Carolina’s Past First Round Picks 1995-2004

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I am an NFL Draft fanatic. I am one of those fans that will sit and watch the draft from pick one all the way to Mr. Irrelevant. Because of my draft fanaticism, I always like to go back and see who the Panthers should have drafted (in my opinion) in past drafts. I would love to do every single Carolina pick from round one to round seven, but for the purpose of this article, I will stick to only first round selections. I also have made it a rule that I can only substitute the Panthers pick with another first round pick from that draft who was selected after the Panthers pick (or would-be pick). If the Panthers drafted near the end of the first round, I will only consider players selected in the first 15 picks of the 2nd round. Yes, I know hindsight is 20-20, but I still like to think about the possibilities if Carolina would have selected a different player or would not have traded their pick for a player or another draft selection. Here we go:

1995 Draft: Carolina was originally slated to have the number one overall pick but traded it to the Bengals (who took Ki-Jana Carter). The Panthers moved down four spots and drafted Penn State QB Kerry Collins. I still believe Collins was a solid pick for the franchise at that time. If I had to make a different selection, I would have to take Miami DT, Warren Sapp. Truly dominant defensive linemen are hard to come by and can play for a long time. Sapp, selected 12th overall by the Bucs, always had a non-stop motor, as well as a non-stop mouth, and I think it would have been a better overall pick than Kerry Collins.

1996 Draft: Carolina selected Michigan running back Tim Biakabatuka with the eighth overall pick in this draft. Biakabatuka was hampered by injuries during his six year NFL career, never suiting up for more than 12 games. Injuries are hard to foretell and obviously the Panther front office felt that Biakabutka had a higher upside, but the best pick for the Panthers at this selection would have been Ohio State’s Eddie George. That is George would have been the best selection if the Panthers wanted a running back. The pick the Panthers should have made was another Hurricane defensive play-maker; linebacker- Ray Lewis who went a mind-boggling 26th overall to the Baltimore Ravens.

1997 Draft: The Panthers drafted 27th in the first round in this draft following their trip to the 1996 NFC Championship Game. With that selection, the Panthers drafted Colorado wide-out Rae Carruth. Any Panther fan can tell you this turned out to be one of, if not the, biggest blunders the Panthers have ever made from a personnel stand-point. If the Panthers could re-make this selection I would give Virginia running back, Tiki Barber, who was selected by the Giants at pick 36. a close edge over his college teammate, linebacker Jamie Sharper as the Panthers pick.

1998 Draft: With the fourteenth overall pick, the Panthers selected Nebraska defensive end, Jason Peter. Peter accumulated a total of eleven tackles in his four year NFL career, yes eleven!
The Panthers could have made picks such as UNC’s Vonnie Holliday, LSU’s Alan Faneca, or even Syracuse’s Donovan Darius. But the pick the Panthers should have made went number 21 to the Minnesota Vikings. That selection was Marshall’s Randy Moss.

1999 Draft: The Panthers did not have a 1st round selection in 1999 because they traded that pick to the Washington Redskins for DT- Sean Gilbert. The Gilbert trade is easily the worst trade that has ever been made in Carolina history. Even former Panther Coach, Dom Capers publicly scolded himself for making it. Had the Panthers not made the trade, they would have had the 5th pick as they finished 4-12on the year. If the Panthers stayed at number 5 they could have collected the king’s ransom the Redskins collected by trading the pick to the Saints so they could select Ricky Williams. If the Panthers would have made the pick at number five, it would have been hard to pass up Ricky Williams, but, I think Georgia corner, Champ Bailey would have been the very best selection.

2000 Draft: The Panthers went 8-8 during the 1999 season and made a selection at #23 where they took Jackson State safety, Rashard Anderson who collected 51 tackles in his four year career, of which he only played in two of them. If the Panthers could have made the selection over, it would have been best to take Tennessee’s offensive tackle, Chad Clifton who was selected at pick number 44 by Green Bay.

2001 Draft: The Carolina Panthers selected 11th in this draft and took Miami’s Dan Morgan. Morgan is one of my all-time favorite Panthers and it was all-in-all a terrific pick by the organization. Morgan would have been a perennial Pro Bowl player if it weren’t for injuries, especially bouts with concussions. As much as I love Morgan, the better pick would have been another Miami Hurricane star, receiver Reggie Wayne who was selected by the Colts at pick 30.

2002 Draft: The Panthers owned the number two selection following the NFL record-breaking season of losing fifteen straight games. They made a tremendous call when they selected North Carolina’s Julius Peppers. Though the Peppers-Carolina marriage ended badly, it’s hard to dispute the selection. If we had to do it again though, you would really have to consider Miami’s Ed Reed as being the best selection after seeing what he has done in his Hall of Fame career.

2003 Draft: The Panthers selected ninth overall in the draft and selected the anchor of their offensive line, Utah’s Jordan Gross. As much as I like Gross, the pick should have been USC’s Troy Polamalu who was selected sixteenth by Pittsburgh.

2004 Draft: The Panthers were originally scheduled to select 31st overall but traded up three spots to grab Ohio State’s Chris Gamble. I remember sitting in my dorm room pleading with the Panthers to take Oklahoma State wide-out Rashaun Woods. That opinion alone should keep me from ever getting an NFL General Manager job. I would not change this Carolina selection though a consistently healthy Bob Sanders would make me re-consider. Sanders was selected in the 2nd round by Indianapolis at number 44 overall.