It's been a whirlwind three days but I closed out the Carolina Panthers' 2012 draft this afternoon in the NFP Mock Draft I've been speaking about. The mock is currently still going, and in the middle of the 5th round, but for all intents and purposes I'm out of picks and resting from here on out. That part is going to take some explaining. So, if you missed the first and second installments you can read them here, and over here respectively. Otherwise I now bring you to the conclusion of my mock draft odyssey.

I entered the day with a long wait. Having traded away my 4th round pick on day one I was stuck languishing as my BPA list was getting picked apart player by player throughout the forth round. At this point I'd pretty much singled out the 10-15 best GMs and watched them consistently make great picks. The list of 'steals' was quickly shrinking and around the 20th pick in the 4th round I decided to make my first trade of the day:

My reasoning here was simple. At this juncture I feel we have enough 6th and 7th round guys populating the roster and waiting in the wings. Through trades I had already added several players, and quite frankly I saw the depth chart getting very crowded. So rather than add another two bodies I thought it would be more prudent to get a better caliber of player and try to find a potential upgrade. Ultimately this trade set up another one later in the day, and possibly the move I'm most proud of in the entire draft.

More after the jump

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Hello again Panther fans, this week we are going to take a closer look at DeAngelo Williams’ 69 yard TD run against the Saints in week 5. There of course was another very exiting play in this game involving Steve Smith, but we just gave Smitty a breakdown last week so for now I’m shifting the focus to the run game (don’t worry, that one will come soon.)

More after the jump...

via cdn3.sbnation.com

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Over the past fortnight, one of the most mercurial topics on CSR has been the future of Panthers Wide Receiver Armanti Edwards. Many a debate has been launched over the 89th pick in the 2010 draft, with supporters blaming his lack of production on his stunted development, and detractors citing his lack of visible progress as a Wide Receiver in the NFL. Almost antithetically, no discourse has occurred over Rookie 5th round pick Kealoha Pilares' NFL career thus far. Pilares never saw the field in any meaningful capacity on the offensive side, and rarely exhibited the explosive burst, requisite with Kick Returners. However, I believe that both Edwards and Pilares can achieve success in the NFL as slot receivers, a position they were both drafted to play.

Read more after the jump...

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With all of this "Linsanity" going on (couldn't help it), I decided to do an article on undrafted free agent Jordan Senn. Senn was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2011 season, making a few memorable plays in key situations for us. Jordan Senn was an undrafted free agent out of Portland State, and was signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2008. Senn was brought in on November 24th of 2009 as a special teams ace, after racking up 16 special teams tackles as a rookie. Jordan Senn was one of the many special teams signings we had made at that point. He made 12 special teams tackles in 2009 and 9 in 2010, with a few snaps on defense here and there, but had never started a game at linebacker in the NFL at that point.

We've got more stats and highlights on Jordan Senn, after the jump...

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So far, the career of Greg Hardy has come off as a mixed review. In 2010, the Panthers fan base allowed themselves to become enchanted by 6^th rounder out of Mississippi. Greg Hardy entered the training camp with a vengeance seeming intent on wining a starting job. In the first preseason game of his career, Greg Hardy would notch up two sacks and 5 tackles against the backup squad of the Ravens, outperforming starter Tyler Brayton who then went on to sit out the rest of the preseason due to injury.

As the preseason wore on there began to brew this tremendous sense that we have a special guy buried on the roster behind a veteran. Which was very typical of the John Fox era and his coaching style. A lot of Panther fans had gotten used to things like that at the time. Still when John Fox made the decision to start Tyler Brayton ahead of Greg in the regular season, a lot of us were shaking our heads and thinking, "Here we go again." Greg Hardy would seem to respond in Game 1 against the New York Giants, blocking a punt despite being regulated to Special Teams duty. John Fox still would not budge. Tyler would go on to have the worst season of his career, earning no sacks and only 22 tackles. And when John Fox left at the end of the year after a 2-14 season, Tyler Brayton's fate was sealed. Greg Hardy would get his chance to start in 2011.

How has he done? Let's look at the numbers after the jump!

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Today the Panthers added another player to the roster, signing Jyles Tucker, DE/OLB out of Wake Forest. Tucker is in his 4th year pro after graduating from Wake Forest and being signed by the Chargers as an Undrafted Free Agent. Tucker is 6'3 and weighs 258 lbs. (per NFL.com) and runs a 4.75 40 yard dash with a 31.0 inch vertical leap.

via photos.signonsandiego.com

Coming into the NFL, Tucker received moderate success as a rookie, and finished the season with 3.5 sacks, 11 tackles, and 2 Forced Fumbles in only 6 games of action. Tucker's immediate impact and the expiration of his contract, encouraged AJ Smith and the Chargers brass to sign him to a 5 year 14 million dollar deal in 2008. The next season Tucker continued to progress, and started 12 games, finishing the 2008 season with 26 tackles, and 5.5 sacks, as well as a blocked punt. Tucker exhibited natural pass rushing skills, and displayed quality burst and penetration. Unfortunately, Tucker incurred an ankle injury in Training Camp 2009, the injury would limit Tucker to 7 games played in 2009. However, Tucker tore his pectoral muscle while rushing a punt during 2010, ending his season. After an injury plagued two years, the Chargers cut Tucker before Training Camp last year.

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In 2011, Carolina Panthers' PR/WR/QB Armanti Edwards did his job, didn't complain, and did it with a grace and humility that is all but lost in professional sports today.

Edwards, for as much vitriol that has swirled around him during his two seasons as a Panther, actually performed admirably. His job, for the second straight season, was to play a position that he had not played since high school--if ever. What is most impressive is Armanti did not muff or fumble one time in 41 attempts (including nine fair catches).

In the Playoffs, we saw a man thrust into the punt return role in a similar fashion (49ers WR Kyle Williams), only to cough up two costly turnovers that perhaps re-wrote NFL history. Let us not underestimate the importance of a sure-handed punt returner, and let us not downplay how impressive it was that Edwards fielded 41 punts--and did it flawlessly.

For a deeper examination into his 2011 season and a prediction regarding his future in electric blue...join me after the jump...

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I'm sure you remember that QB Cam Newton could not workout with the Panthers last summer because of the lock out, no player could. Cam Newton didn't use that as an excuse to take the summer off, he instead worked out for 7 weeks with former Panther QB Chris Weinke who remains in awe of what the rookie QB accomplished last season:

Weinke knows the struggles of rookie QBs from experience. So when he started working with Newton on the parts he thought Newton would struggle with, the classroom part, he was instead impressed. Now we've heard this story before I believe but Weinke seems to provide a little more detail this time around, after the jump...

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