I am a Carolina Panthers fan. Now before you laugh at me or make a Jimmy Clausen joke, I just want to remind you that the Panthers played in the Super Bowl a mere seven years ago. If it weren't for Adam Vinatieri's dagger of a field goal with four seconds left in the game, the "Cardiac Cats" would have been Super Bowl Champions. But after a 2-14 2010 season, during which the Panthers seemingly found new ways to lose each week, the glory days of 2003 feel far, far away. The one positive from last year's debacle of a season is that the Panthers "earned" the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Although I'm sure most of you are sick of listening to Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay drone on about the NFL Draft, allow me to explain why the Panthers need to take a quarterback with the first pick for this year's draft.
For those who don't watch the Panthers very often - that is, most of you - Carolina may be the most conservative team in professional football. From play calling and personnel decisions down to the team colors, the Panthers do not take risks. Second and short? Run up the middle. Third and long? Draw play. Fourth and inches? Punt. Nothing about the Panthers is avant-garde. So after hiring Ron Rivera - one of the greatest defensive minds in the league - as head coach, I initially expected the Panthers to draft a stud defensive lineman, namely Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers or Auburn's Nick Fairley.
But as the draft nears, something tells me the Panthers need something else. They need a franchise-rattling change. After all, a defensive lineman is not going to turn a 2-14 team into a playoff contender. Look at last year's top two rookies, for example. Detroit took defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh - a player arguably more talented than any defensive lineman in this year's draft - with the second pick in the 2010 draft, and the Lions only improved by four wins. The St. Louis Rams, however, selected quarterback Sam Bradford with the top pick last year. Although there may not be any quarterbacks in the 2011 draft pool who are as NFL-ready as Bradford was, the NFL Rookie of the Year did lead the Rams to a 7-9 record - one win shy of a playoff berth - after a dismal 1-15 campaign the previous year.
If the Panthers need more evidence that a quality quarterback is key to a successful team, all they have to do is look around their own division. The NFC South abounds with stellar signal callers in Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Josh Freeman. Freeman, the youngest of the trio, finished his first full season with Tampa Bay last year and helped the Bucs improve from a 3-13 record to a 10-6 record. Atlanta's Ryan, who has started all but two games during his three seasons with the Falcons, boasts a career record of 29-15 and two playoff appearances. Brees, a 10-year veteran, has led the Saints to four winning seasons and a Super Bowl title during his five-season stint in New Orleans. If the Panthers want to keep up in one of the NFL's best divisions, they need a franchise quarterback - and they need one fast.
Interestingly, each of the top three quarterbacks in this year's draft class resembles one of the NFC South quarterbacks listed above. The top-ranked quarterback, Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, is similar to Ryan - a pro-style quarterback who compensates for limited mobility with excellent pocket presence and strong, accurate throws. Auburn's Cam Newton - by far the most talked-about player in the draft, reminds me of Freeman. Both are about 6-foot-6, 240 pounds and possess mobility and speed. The last of the three draft quarterbacks, Washington's Jake Locker, resembles Brees. Locker - like Brees - is smaller than several of his quarterback peers but loves to show off his rocket arm by throwing the deep ball. I can't tell you who the Panthers draft, but they really can't go wrong with any of these three quarterback options.
The past five Super Bowl winners - the Packers, Saints, Steelers, Giants and Colts - all had one thing in common: great quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers, Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli and Peyton Manning. Furthermore, the trend essentially continues throughout Super Bowl history. In rare cases, teams - such as the 2000 Baltimore Ravens and 2002 Bucs - win championships with great defense, but even those teams fielded average quarterbacks who had breakout years. And let's face it - the Panthers do not have a top defense that can win a championship on its own.
Drafting a quarterback in the 2011 NFL draft will not solve all of the Panthers' troubles. Even if Carolina owned all 32 of this year's first-round draft picks, I still don't think the team could fill all of its needs. But I still believe the Panthers need to take a chance on a quarterback. Owning the first pick in the NFL Draft is a rare opportunity - only the Houston Texans have had multiple top-one picks during the past 10 years - and the Panthers should take this opportunity to change their franchise for the better during the next decade. After all, there's only one way to go when you're at the bottom, and that's up.
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