The NFLDraftguys staff is going simulate playing the GM of each of the 31 teams picking in the first round and justify their picks. You can look forward to a new pick every day leading up to April 28, when the staff will be in Radio City Music Hall to see if they took our advice.
Don't forget to go over to The 1.14 OTC Thread at The Shark Pool, where the authors and the best football community anywhere are discussing this question. The Shark Pool is part of Footballguys, the only place to get your fantasy football advice and analysis. If you haven't already done it, sign up for the footballguys email update, they scour the offseason news so you don't have to!
Follow the progress of the On The Clock Draft Board, where you can see exactly how the first round would play out if the NFLDraftguys staff were making the calls in the war room.
Sean Baca
With the 14th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft the Carolina Panthers SHOULD take Patrick Willis, LB, Mississippi
This pick, as all others are going to be, is dependant on him still being available. Right now there is uncertainty about the linebacking core in Carolina due to the free agency market. The Panther are not that far away as a team and a linebacker like Willis would make their defense a nightmare.
Willis' greatest gift is his patience and the way he allows the blocking to set up in front of him and never get caught up in the wash. He follows the guards and fullbacks to the ball every time and is seldom fooled by mis-direction. He is a great athlete as well which will allow him to cover the underneath routes and cause the QB to hold the ball longer, then watch out. You can turn Peppers loose, his back is covered.
Marc Faletti
With the 14th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers SHOULD select Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame.
At long last, a QB comes off my board. While this seems a little late, don't forget Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler lasted almost as long last year, and many draft observers (including yours truly) believe Quinn grades out a notch below them.
Quinn fits best with a team featuring a playoff-caliber defense and solid running game. This isn't to say Quinn's merely got the ceiling of a "game manager;" I simply believe he's much more likely to tap his potential if he avoids a situation reminiscent of recent acquisition David Carr's.
While his arm, size, intelligence, and stats paint Quinn as an ideal QB on paper, he struggled against good defenses in important games. Contrary to popular belief, though, Notre Dame's offensive cupboard was hardly bare -- not with players like Jeff Samardzija, Maurice Stovall, Darius Walker, and others helping their QB. That means Quinn's struggles may be at least partly rooted in confidence problems.
As a result, the best way to turn the paper QB into the real QB would be to bring him into a situation where he isn't required to be a savior. The Panthers need an upgrade from Delhomme, and my impressions of Carr aren't positive enough to annoint him a probable long-term answer at QB. Fortunately, with their solid team, Carolina appears to be ideally suited to get the most out of Brady Quinn.
Cecil Lammey
With the 14th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers SHOULD take Reggie Nelson, S, Florida
The Panthers defense used to be one of the most feared in the league. Now, the veterans on the team are too old or banged up to make the same kind of difference they used to. The Panthers have many holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball, and would've loved if Patrick Willis was still on the board when they pick. Unfortunately for Carolina they will not get the ILB help they need. However, they will get some BIG TIME help at the safety position if they take Nelson here.
Reggie Nelson has a game built off explosion and instincts for the game of football. This kid knows how to lay the wood and create turnovers with his regular big hits. He sees the field well and does a good job of anticipating where the ball is going to go. Effective against the run, Reggie is no slouch in pass coverage either. His natural athletic ability allow him to keep up with most WRs. Reggie can deflect passes with his great timing, or he can intercept passes with his natural receiving ability. He does need to do a better job of wrapping up his prey, rather than just relying on a big hit to take them out.
Carolina may once again be considered a favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, and Reggie Nelson is exactly the type of playmaker they need in the defensive backfield.
Sigmund Bloom
With the 14th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers SHOULD take Greg Olsen, TE, Miami-Florida.
Olsen's lackluster college career imports more risk than a team would want to take with their 14th overall pick, but Olsen possesses rare ability to weigh on a safety's mind from the TE position, and that just might be the key needed to unlock the potential of this passing offense.
We know the drill with the Carolina air attack: Delhomme feeds his WR1, whether its Steve Smith or Muhsin Muhammad, and continues to do so until defenses take notice. With all due respect to guys like Keyshawn Johnson and Drew Carter, Carolina does not have another target on the roster that can punish teams for keying too heavily on Steve Smith. Olsen would change that.
Even though he didn't put up gaudy numbers for "The U", Olsen demonstrated great hands, great body control, rare athleticism for a player with legit NFL in-line TE size, the knack for finding soft spots in zone coverage, and most importantly, the straight line speed to force the deep safety to keep one eye on him. If the deep safety is giving Steve Smith the attention he deserves, then Olsen can run free, and vice versa. If the Panthers land Olsen on April 28, opposing safeties will have to answer a question (watch Olsen or Smith?) on every passing down that has only wrong answers.
