2013 NFL Mock Draft: Carolina Panthers Select...

No preamble, we're getting right to it.

With the 14th pick, the Carolina Panthers select Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, University of Tennessee.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The reason I have Patterson here is because he gives Cam Newton another target and is very versatile. The Panthers old offensive coordinator, Rob Chudzinski, was a pretty innovative offensive mind who really took advantage of Newton's strengths as an athlete by using a lot of read-option and even some triple option (very rarely). Their new OC, Mike Shula, is expected to keep a lot of the concepts that Chudzinski installed for Newton, and it should be an easy transition seeing as he has been Carolina's quarterbacks coach since Newton got drafted. Newton produces big plays quite often, and Patterson can produce those down the field while he learns how to run better routes and Steve Smith works the underneath.

The other reason is obviously because Steve Smith is old. He is still a very effective and fiery player, but clearly not as dominant as he once was. They need a playmaker on the outside next to Smith to make the offense more consistent, not to mention more explosive.

I was tempted to mock Sheldon Richardson here, partly because Steve Smith apparently wanted the team to pick him, and partly because their run defense wasn't all that great last season. But Richardson isn't all that great against the run himself, and Brandon LaFell underwhelmed in his attempt to become the Panthers #2 receiver last season. What better way to improve their receiving corps than to draft Patterson and eventually have Smith transition into the #2?

I also looked into their new GM, Dave Gettleman, and his record of draft picks. This is technically his first "official" GM job, but he was previously Director of Player Personnel with the Giants for more than a decade, and anybody that follows that franchise knows they draft well. Considering the Giants knack for finding quality defensive linemen in FA and later in the draft, I would bet they wait until the 2nd day to target some big guys for their defense.

	Team	Player	Pos	School	BTSC rep
1		Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah	[Link to pick]
2		Dion Jordan	DE/OLB	Oregon	[Link to pick]
3		Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida	[Link to pick]
4		Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama	[Link to pick]
5		Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan	[Link to pick]
6		Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M	[Link to pick]
7		Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma	[Link to pick]
8		Barkevious Mingo	OLB	LSU	[Link to pick]
9		Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama	[Link to pick]
10		Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina	[Link to pick]
11		Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia	[Link to pick]
12		Xavier Rhodes	CB	Florida State	[Link to pick]
13		Ezekiel Ansah	DE	BYU	[Link to pick]
14		Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee	StoneColdSteel
15					Thoroughbred of Sin
16					Hines4theHall
17					[reserved]
18					Lamarr56
19					BlackandGold
20					ddoubleday
21					garmancm
22	via				Hines4theHall
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24					steel3dd92
25	via
26					barnerburner
27					c63tho
28					Ram_india
29					TrifeReality
30					MDR21
31					afbassi
32					Mr MaLoR