Why didn't the Panthers draft another Steve Smith?

For every first round receiver who makes it big, there are several who disappoint. And there are always a few who surprise everyone, like Marques Colston did a few years ago and Sammie Strougher this year. Receiving is more than just physical skills (Jerry Rice was slower than you think), it also takes precise route running, great hands, strength to fight through blocks, and the wits to know when to break off the pattern and execute plan B.

Then you have attitude, effort, desire, general intelligence, and the good old work ethic to consider. Will your guy fight through blocks consistently? Will he stretch out his body to catch the ball when he knows a 250 pound linebacker is headed his way at top speed? Will he putt he cornerback in the dirt on running plays? Will he fight for position on the fade route?

And finally, there’s coaching. A lot of coaches at this level believe that they can turn anyone into a star; they think they can create desire where none exists, that they can inspire extra work in the weight room, that they can teach routes in a way that they’ll never be forgotten. So when you see two guys who both have potential, you always take the one with more, just because you’re a conceited son of a bitch.

Receiver is one of the hardest positions to predict in football. Jarrett drew the opposing teams’ number one corner consistently and was a touchdown machine. Smith looked like a thousand other good route runners in college, there was nothing special about his game. Given the same two choices, your average GM would grab Jarrett 99 times out of 100.

I would also like to add that perhaps Keyshawn Johnson influenced the scouts. Jarrett and Johnson were close, they had identical body types.

Furthermore, perhaps the Panthers gambled that Jarrett just had a bad day at the combine. They were banking on his sliding being a major steal. It was the Jarrett pick that gave the Panthers numerous ‘A grade’ evalutations by the media coming out of the draft. People never expected he would fall as flat as he did.

But you know, you can drive yourself crazy doing these ‘what could have been’ draft scenarios. So, for the enjoyment of my sanity… I stay away from them. However, here’s my personal favs:
- 2002: Drafted RB DeShaun Foster… Clinton Portis was selected 17 picks later
- 2005: Drafted RB Eric Shelton….. Frank Gore was selected 11 picks later.

Funny commentary for years to come… ’Why did he throw it to Steve Smith when Steve Smith was wide open?" and ect….

Now when we see ‘Steve Smith’ at the top of the WR charts its the other Steve Smith. I wonder if the Giants version didn’t draw some motivation from that?

I wonder if our own SS might not draw some motivation as well now that SS2 is outperforming him? I doubt he needs that kind of motivation true, but it has to bother him at least a little.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved Sidney Rice on our team. Giving him the chance to continue his career in Carolina would have been pretty fun. Unfortunately though, he was already grabbed so sadly he isn’t a part of the discussion. In reality, the only 2nd round grade wideouts left in the round was Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett until the big flurry of 3rd round WR’s came later.

The thing about Dwayne Jarrett is that on hindsight he has a lot of red flags about him. He garnered major media hype which to myself being someone that isn’t a fan of a media would make me double check and triple check this player to make sure he’s for real. He refused to take his 40 time till his Pro-Day at USC, which begs to wonder if he can gain separation from NFL Caliber receivers. He had the benefit of being thrown to by Matt Leinart foe his entire career, which inflated his college statistics that inevitably led the Panthers to draft him in the first place.

There are just a lot of things I did not like for this guy coming out of college. I think that while college statistics should be a big part of what you see coming out of the draft, it should not mean everything. The most important thing you need to look at is whether or not a player can reproduce his statistics on a pro level, where everyone hits meaner, faster, and does everything better than on a college level.

It could be that Dwayne Jarrett doesn’t have that talent, or he hasn’t put it together in such a way so that he can be successful on the Pro level yet. But to see someone like Moore rise above him to take his 3rd receiver duties away just begs to label him a bust in the 2nd round.

Curses Batman. I wanted more Steve Smith! Imagine the confustion by the commentators.

I know he has done very little to help his cause, however this staff has been lousy at bringing up receivers. The only guys that have been successful, Smith, Muhammad and Me-Shawn (maybe Proehl) all predate them. Outside of Steve Smith’s exceptional abilities, Fox’s Panthers have never been good at the passing game… they rarely use more than 2 receivers, and seriously lack creativity. I think this hurt every young WR hopeful that has been on this team.

That being said if Fox hangs around, I think they are better picking up a FA rather than wasting another draft pick on a guy they don’t know how to develop.