Panthers in the NFL

Well this weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. It is the weekend of the NFL draft!!!

There were several Panthers drafted. Some expected and some who were not. Let's cut right to the chase.

Just as Jones predicted, Shady was a mid 2nd round pick. He'll be joining Mike McGlynn in Philadelphia. I really hate this because I HATE the eagles. Hopefully Shady can rush for 200 yards a game and 2 TD's and Philly goes 0-16. I will root for him while rooting against the Eagles, but I could still see him being a major part of the Eagles offense. Westbrook is getting up in age and he could be the perfect replacement.

Scott McKillop went to the Panthers Jr. (a.k.a. the 49ers). It seems like every great Panther ends up spending some time in the 49ers system. I was hoping he would fall to the Steelers in the 5th round but unfortunately that did not work out. Now we're stuck hearing every yinzer scream about how we drafted the next Mike Webster in A.Q. Shipley. My hope in life is that A.Q. gets cut this year and Scott goes on to be an amazing defensive player. There no connection between the two guys other than as much as I like Scott, I hate A.Q.

I know they're not our rivals, but I still hate them. I hate their fans (especially those from Philthy), I hate their coach, and I hate all of their players.

In a surprise pick, Hot-Rod went to the Cardinals. He could make this team as he will add special teams and value at running back to the NFC champion Cardinals. He had a great workout at Pitt's pro day and Whisenhunt being able to see him for a few years when he was here certainly did not hurt.

Derek Kinder was drafted late by Bears. Luckily the Bears are in need of some talent at WR. With Jay Cutler they will be looking for weapons. Outside of Devon Hester, I really can't see anyone being a "sure fire" pick to be in the bears WR corps as they have some major question marks. If it weren't for his injury before his pre-redshirt season he would have been drafted higher than what he was. I have always been a Kinder fan as Jones and I knew him off the field and he was always a great, stand up guy.

As far as the other guys go:

Mark Estermyer was picked up by the Steelers. This may work out well because the Steelers long snapper, Greg Warren, is coming back from a serious injury and Estermyer may just end up sticking.

Rashaad Duncan signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs. He feels that with a lack of depth he could fit in well there and earn a roster spot.

Dave Brytus is expected to sign with the Colts. Hopefully he can beat out WVU grad, and Cat Basket noted douchebag, Pat McAfee. I'd give anything to see Brytus beat out that chubby, loser kicker McAfee.

CJ Davis stays a Panther as he signed with the Carolina Panthers. CJ's greatest asset is his versatility. He can play any position on the OL and of anyone of this graduating class I hope he can stick. He did so much for us last year by switching to center after Houser went down. Hopefully he can stick with them and work his way into the lineup eventually.

Other than that, we don't have much more info. As we hear anything we will let you know.

Today is the 23rd BUT.....

Well, yes today is April 23rd, however today is Mr. Jason Jones 24th birthday.

Happy birthday Jason Jones!

Silencing the dead period

Well here is a surprise. I was lucky enough to have lunch with a few coaches this week and we were talking about the future of Pitt football (the post-Bostick era) and they said outside of D. Burns they were not sure who was going to be the next guy to commit. Most felt that Miles Dieffenbach was the next but he's following the Lucas Nix and Brock DiCicco route of waiting it out to see who else offers before he announces he is a Panther.

Well today the defensive tackle, Aaron Donald, from Penn Hills announced that he will be joining the Panthers. There is no doubt that he will be playing DT for Pitt. His offer sheet isn't that impressive, but the kid does have some skills.

The coaching staff is hoping that he can add much more muscle and become a huge force much like what we have seen from Mick Williams.

This is a nice safe get for the Panthers as he will have plenty of time to develop in the system while shaping his body. The benefit of signing early is that we can give him a workout regime to follow so that he can come to Pitt in better shape and much more like the player we want him to be.

I'm not all too concerned that he only has had MAC offers. If you follow this site, you are well aware that Mr. Jones and I have had our criticisms of Coach Wannstedt, but we both agree his assessment and usage of the defensive line has been outstanding in his tenure here.

Hopefully Aaron turns out to be a great player and can do amazing things for Pitt.

Dead Period

I have decided to become dormant after the spring practices. Listening back to the podcasts I pretty much got out all I could about the spring. So the article output is going to go down until the middle of the summer when camp opens.

Thanks again for reading all spring and I will be back when the action starts back up.

Cat Basket Podcast Episode 22

Spring game review.

Cat Basket Podcast Number 22