Carolina Panthers set to be 2011 NFL Draft big winners

The Carolina Panthers are a team in need of a massive overhaul. Of that there is no question and even though they dealt their second round pick to the New England Patriots for Armanti Edwards, thanks to the NFL’s Compensatory Draft pick system this team will still wind up with three of the top 100 picks in this year’s draft. That is a very good thing considering this is a team that has significant needs all over the depth chart.

The NFL hands out 32 compensatory picks for each draft and this year the Carolina Panthers were the only team to get a compensatory pick at the end of the third round, and they received three compensatory picks overall. The formula for determining these picks is pretty complicated, but a simple way of explaining it is if a team losses more quality free agent then they sign they get higher picks. Last year the Panthers lost Julius Peppers and QB AJ Feely to free agency.

Now the Panthers are widely considered among the team that need a better option at QB, and with the first overall pick in this year’s draft that is certainly a way they could go. It really comes down to what they think of Jimmy Claussen last year’s second round pick. If they think he can be the guy they can go a different way with pick number one, if they think he needs to be pushed a little brining in another legitimate starting threat could set this team up for success later.

Either way the wind up going with three picks in the top 100 gives the Panthers have an excellent opportunity to rebuild their club. They need to land big time prospects with all three of those picks to build a solid foundation of rebuilding otherwise they could be picking at the top of next year’s draft as well. Assuming we have a draft next year.

Related Links:

• Carolina Panthers War Room
• Joshua Lobdell.com