2019 Offseason moves that reveal direction of the Carolina Panthers
By Jake Wexler
Draft: OLBs Brian Burns, Christian Miller, OT Greg Little, QB Will Grier
On paper, needs mashed with best player available for Carolina nicely in the 2019 Draft. Brian Burns (who is and was my favorite player in the draft) fell by the grace of Gettleman to pick no. 16 and even further confirmed the Panthers commitment to a more multiple defense.
Following was a second-round trade-up to grab a potential franchise left tackle in Greg Little, who specializes in keeping his signal callers clean. The Panthers haven’t had a stalwart at left tackle since the retirement of new Hall of Honor inductee Jordan Gros. Could Little turn this struggle bus back around?
The Panthers addressed their two biggest roster needs in one fell swoop to begin the draft. They then began to stack their depth, drafting Charlotte native Will Grier to backup Cam Newton and Christian Miller to provide even more new juice to a pass rush that was nowhere to be found in 2018.
Takeaways:
With the additions the Carolina Panthers made this offseason they established two things, both involving quarterbacks.
First, for their defense to be successful they need to be able to rush the opposing quarterback.
Second, for their offense to be successful they need to be able to protect their own quarterback.
Simple enough, huh? It hasn’t been for this team over the past few years, and fans should be excited that priorities seem to finally be in order among the brass of the front office.
In regards to drafting Will Grier, we may need to have a difficult conversation about why this was, indeed, a good pick.