Carolina Panthers 2017 NFL Draft: Rewind, Revisit, Redo

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Carolina Panthers

CHARLOTTE, NC – DECEMBER 24: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers takes the field before their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium on December 24, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

The Carolina Panthers 2017 NFL Draft class was especially injury prone and expectations remain high, but let’s see what could have been…

An impressive 11-5 record for the Carolina Panthers culminated with a playoff berth and unfortunate loss at divisional rival New Orleans on wild card weekend. Overall, Carolina lost six games and all but one came against teams making the playoffs but many of their rookies didn’t contribute.

Other than running back Christian McCaffrey and offensive lineman Taylor Moton, no other Panthers draftee from 2017 played in every game. Both Corn Elder and Daeshon Hall were injured so early in the year that neither was given much opportunity to prove they can even help the team in the future. Kicker Harrison Butker was plucked from the Panthers practice squad three weeks into the season and set an NFL record for field goals made by a rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs.

With so many veterans nearing the end of their current contracts and careers, ensuring the Panthers land draft picks who can meaningfully contribute needs to be a priority. Unfortunately, with such a small sample size the jury remains out on a number of picks from last year.

Keeping the same positional focus and seeing the rookie production from around the league, imagine if former general manager Dave Gettleman would have drafted the following Panthers last year.

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