Carolina Panthers First Round

The Carolina Panthers drafted powerful running back Jonathan Stewart from Oregon with the 13th pick in round one. Stewart is big and powerful at 5-10, 233 pounds and I was ecstatic about having a player with the upside of Stewart but I had my doubts about the pick. "How is Stewart's turf toe coming along? I also wondered aloud "Don't we need an O lineman and DE more?"

Both answers came within a few minutes. ESPN reported that Stewart said he will be available for training camp which made the pick look more responsible. The Panthers then responded by trading up to get Philadelphia's number 19 pick in the first round. They used that pick on Jeff Otah, OL from Pittsburgh. This is the guy I had the Panthers choosing in my questionable mock draft that I posted last week. He is huge at 6-6, 340 pounds and could make our offensive line one of the best in team history. 

The question is did we pay too much? Carolina had to give the Eagles their 2nd and 4th round pick this year as well as our first round pick in the 2009 draft.“You never want to give that up,” general manager Marty Hurney told the Charlotte Observer. “But that says a lot about how we feel about Jeffrey Otah. The two players together, I think, really help us toward our goal, of the personality and character. They are two very physical players.”

I saw John Kasay yesterday and I asked him how he felt about the picks. He didn't give up much but he did tell me that Stewart is who the Panthers wanted all along. That is encouraging. John Fox is known for loving the power running game and we have struggled to find one since Stephan Davis left. I also heard that Carolina had Otah high on their draft board and felt he was important enough to trade up to get and has great upside. These guys better pan out or this may be the last season for Fox-Hurney.