Panthers protect their investment in rounds 6 and 7
by James Dator on Apr 30, 2011 7:51 PM EDT
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I've always been of the opinion that you can never have too many DL or OL. The trenches are always fraught with exceptionally hard play, and by extension injuries. No one knows this better than the Carolina Panthers who have at times been forced to piecemeal together a makeshift offensive line while dealing with the oft injured Jeff Otah, while even the stalwart Travelle Wharton missed games in 2010.
It wasn't a surprise the Panthers addressed the OL in the draft, but the names may not be household (sense a theme here?). With their 6th round compensatory pick the Panthers added C Zachary Williams out of Washington State and T Lee Ziemba out of Auburn.
At the next level Williams projects to add depth at guard, while helping where needed at center. If you remember correctly the Panthers were relying on Mackenzey Bernadeau to help snapping the ball during the preseason last year, with disastorous results.
Meanwhile Ziemba played right tackle for Auburn, but he figures to move over to right guard and will likely compete for the starting job there. He is more NFL ready than Williams at this point, and the move to guard should hide the issues with his lack of athleticism.
More after the jump
Zachary Williams was projected as a pick from 5-FA, but Ziemba falling to the ed of the 7th round seems surprising given his resume (from NFL Draft scout):
2010: 2010 SEC JACOBS BLOCKING TROPHY WINNER (COACHES)...AFCA Coaches' All-America ... Walter Camp All-America Team ... FWAA All-America Team ... Associated Press Second-Team All-America ... SI.com First-Team All-America ... CBSSports.com Second-Team All-America ... Rivals.com Second-Team All-America ... Coaches' First-Team All-SEC ... Associated Press Unanimous First-Team All-SEC ... Named to Outland and Lombardi Watch List ... Phil Steele Fourth-Team Preseason All-American ... Coaches' First-Team Preseason All-SEC ... First-Team Preseason All-SEC as voted by members of the media ... First-Team Preseason All-SEC by Sporting News, Rivals.com, Lindy's, Athlon, Phil Steele, and Blue Ribbon ... Started all 13 games at right tackle ... Part of o-line that allowed 21 sacks in 261 pass attempts.
Looks like he could play far bigger than his draft position
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Ziemba is a beast
Williams could be a replacement for Bernadeau next offseason b.c. Bernadeau is a UFA after 2011 I believe. Williams is a merely a depth pick but Ziemba is going to come me and compete right away perhaps even a potiental starter in 2011 at RG and could slide outside to RT if needed.
Good pickups from a depth standpoint, hey Charlotte the WAR EAGLE has landed.
by Holty_Panthers_Fan on Apr 30, 2011 7:55 PM EDT reply actions
This scouts review from the combine about Williams says...
He had the best kick slide of the o-linemen…sounds like he’s a tackle to me but you never know where he will end up
Good picks. I’d say the Panthers did pretty well without having to trade anything to anyone. We got our franchise QB (hopefully), two nasty DT’s, a troubled but potentially great CB, a potential start WR (according to several experts), another badass LB from UConn, and two good OL to provide depth and/or become starters.
I’d say we did pretty well. Could other picks have been made? Of course, but I am very happy with what we have. We addressed the issues we had coming into the draft. Now we wait for FA to shore up the last few spots, and we will see what happens next year.
Off topic, but Kai Forbath is going to be an UDFA… if/when the CBA is signed, could he be a potential signing?
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The way I see it
we need to find a #1 DB free agent. If we beef up the secondary and these DTs pay off, the D will be a force to be reckoned with.
I officially declare this draft class: The Bojangles Collard Greens Dream Team!
agreed.
My initial reaction to a few of these guys was…. who? Haha, but I think all in all they did a pretty good job of addressing every need, finding some diamonds in the rough and some late round steals.
I mostly agree and like the picks overall
I’d rather have had Dareus and Mallet over Newton and McClain, but time will tell if the team did the right thing.
Go Panthers!
NFL, get your shit straight and back to work!
Ziemba interview on Panthers.com is good. Said he wants to best Tackle in the Nation. Thats his goal. I like it. Good pick in the 7th from a comp pick
"I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them." - George Bush
"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." - Robert McCloskey
that would be awesome
cause while our current OLine is great when healthy they aren’t often healthy and certainly aren’t getting any younger
Hatin' on Beason
Only #95 on NFLN top 100 for 2010. I promise there will be five washed up middle LBs picked ahead of him.
I officially declare this draft class: The Bojangles Collard Greens Dream Team!
Wowwwwwww
Lemme guess, Patrick willis is lower than 50? 40 even?
Nobody fucks with the Jesus! -Big Lebowski
Prob top 20.
But Beason was hurt by the fact that he had to play WLB until Connor went down.
And if you don't like it, then you can just GIT OUT!
by ERL on May 2, 2011 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Are there any other Panthers on the list?
I don’t have NFLN…
We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time. ~ Vince Lombardi
They named the teams with just one player on the list.
The panthers weren’t one of them.
I officially declare this draft class: The Bojangles Collard Greens Dream Team!
My guess is Smitty and D-Will will be on the list
At least Smitty will for sure.
One cries because one is sad. For example: I cry because others are stupid, and it makes me sad.
Is it a list of the top 100 DURING the 2010 NFL season?
Or is it just a list of the best players in the league based on their career accomplishments?
And if you don't like it, then you can just GIT OUT!
by ERL on May 2, 2011 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions
It's supposed to be based on last season...
But Donovan McNabb was #100, and he had a horrible year. Something tells me players are giving a nod of respect for players’ previous years when making these decisions.
One cries because one is sad. For example: I cry because others are stupid, and it makes me sad.
I guess you can't help but do that.
That’s probably why you won’t see many rookies on the list, even though there are probably a dozen or so that are deserving.
And if you don't like it, then you can just GIT OUT!
by ERL on May 2, 2011 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions
After the Wilson pick
I commented on the draft open thread that the Panthers needed to do three things going forward from that point:
1) Add OL depth.
2) Sign a Veteran QB
3) Trade Clausen (and Smitty) while they still have value.
The team addressed the first one with the next 2 picks. I definitely like that much.
Here’s to the NFL and players getting back to business as usual asap so that the Panthers can hopefully find that QB and do some other wheeling and dealing.
James suggested a Clausen for McNabb trade with the Skins…that would be ideal!
Clausen has no trade value right now lol
He needs to put together at least an OK season for him to regain any value
Nobody fucks with the Jesus! -Big Lebowski
His youth, pedigree and the overall team collapse in 2010...
should be enough for Clausen to have some value on the trade market.
Surprised we didn't make a single trade
And relieved. Watching the Patriots use our 33rd pick this year was rough.
by Daddy Jacks on Apr 30, 2011 9:07 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I would love to put Ziemba at Guard and start
Not a bad pick at all in the 7th. Plus someone that Cam knows and will feel comfortable with
I love converting Tackles to Guards. The problem comes when they vacate those spots to fill in at Tackle. Wharton and Schwartz did admirable jobs filling in at RT, but we had no quality backing them up at OG — please refer to 2010 Injured Reserves in the backfield and subsequent 2-14.
When I read Williams’ resume at C, I shudder at the thought that he is backing up Kalil; we might be better off building on Bernadeau. Speaking of Bernadeau, wasn’t he supposed to win some competition as the strongest man in the NFL? Why can he not be a competent Guard? We can only hope Duke Robinson has developed.
MackBern's pass-blocking was atrociously poor last season.
That is why he fared so poorly at guard. To me the guy is a tweener G/C. He doesn’t really fit either, unfortunately.
And if you don't like it, then you can just GIT OUT!
by ERL on May 2, 2011 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions
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