FanHouse JohnFox

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

John Fox and Marty Hurney have always done a good job selecting first-round talent. Since Fox took over the coaching reins in 2002, they've picked Julius Peppers, Jordan Gross, Chris Gamble, Thomas Davis, DeAngelo Williams, Jon Beason, Jonathan Stewart and Jeff Otah. So, yeah, not too shabby. This year, the Panthers didn't have a first-round pick, but somehow managed to stumble into first-round talent anyway, landing Everette Brown with the 43rd-overall pick in the draft.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

Yes, the Carolina Panthers are late to the party. But I thought it only appropriate given that the Cats have no first round pick in this year's NFL Draft. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing whatsoever. Last year, the Panthers traded this year's first-rounder (plus 2008's second and fourth round picks) for the Eagles' first round pick (No. 19 overall) and selected Jeff Otah. Carolina made the playoffs and looked like a Super Bowl contender late in the season.

Jake Delhomme is the undoubted goat of the Carolina Panthers' failures last season, because of the 72 six turnovers he had against the Cardinals in the playoffs. Whether he deserves total blame or not is an entirely different issue, but Panthers fans are still going to blame him.

That should make the news that the Cats are talking contract extension with the 34-year-old quarterback go over quite smoothly with the Carolina faithful.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

John Fox and Marty Hurney headed into 2008 with their jobs on the line after an underwhelming 2007 that featured a whole lot of Mittens and not a lot of excitement in Charlotte. They decided to throw caution to the wind and play for "now" by trading their 2009 first-round pick for a chance to pick up both Jeff Otah and Jonathan Stewart in the first round of the draft.

With a healthy Jake Delhomme, Julius Peppers finally deciding to care, a road-grading offensive line and a rejuvenated Smash and Dash running game that featured DeAngelo Williams and Stewart, the Panthers surprised some people by winning the NFC South and looking like a Super Bowl-caliber squad.

Following the success of an NFL team, it's fairly typical to see members of said team's coaching staff begin quickly departing, as jobs located higher in their professional spectrum begin to open up.

Given that the Carolina Panthers won 12 games this season, it would be unsurprising to see any of the coaches leave, if the right job presented itself. But for Sal Sunseri, Panthers defensive line coach, it's kind of hard to imagine that "University of Alabama linebackers coach" is a promotion. Still, that's where he's headed.

There's no doubt that both Chris Johnson and DeAngelo Williams won a lot of money fantasy championships for owners this year. Johnson was a late round draft pick (although Snyds and I both loved him coming out of the draft) whereas DeAngelo was almost an afterthought with Jonathan Stewart coming into Charlotte (guilty on all fronts here of whiffing this one).

That being said ... who's the better bet for the long term in fantasy? Well, for starters, both appear to be locked into a tandem situation for a while; Stewart and LenDale White are both young and each do a superb job complimenting the two guys we're discussing here. Hence the hysterically overplayed 'Smash and Dash War'. (Again, guilty.)

Outside of "job security" (meaning touches and tandems), there are three other key components for a fantasy running back: big plays, environment and the feature factor. Yes, I am making these up; allow me to explain.

Notes from the press box at Bank of America Stadium for Panthers - Cardinals.

Jake Delhomme just had a pretty rough birthday. You would excuse him if he didn't want to talk to the media after the game and just decided to take off for whatever the hell he's planning on doing for the next week, simply in order to try and forget that the past 60 minutes of football just happened.

But he didn't do that, of course, because, as bad as Jake was tonight, he's still the type of guy to own up for his mistakes.

I'm at a loss for words. For one reason or another, I didn't give us a chance tonight.

[...] We'd get something going, we ran the bootleg and I throw a pick there. It just started snowballing.

That Panthers - Buccaneers game was one heck of a contest last night. Some people foolishly thought that the Panthers weren't "teh heat," and I suppose that's forgivable, but let's not go questioning the Panthers, John Fox, DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart ever again, shall we? Oh, and we probably shouldn't question whether or not Antonio Bryant's catch last night in the fourth quarter is going to win an ESPY -- it is.



I mean, that grab was so filthy that it's worth questioning/making some corny joke as to the cheating nature of Stick 'em on Bryant's hands.

/Mr. Tony'd

These two teams matter. A whole lot, actually. And while not many people would have guessed it -- certainly a Panthers homer or a Bears fan might have mentioned something -- they are going to be hanging around for a while, barring injury.

For the Bears, their defense has to stay healthy. And for the Panthers, Jake Delhomme's arm has to hold up. I know that's a standard, sweeping generalization, but it's true.

Oh, and the new-look Panthers offensive line, which mauled the Bears in the second half Sunday, needs to not get hurt as well. If they can avoid serious injury, Jonathan Stewart is going to be something special. He was an absolute bruiser during the second half Sunday, plowing through Bears defenders en route to two touchdowns and 77 yards on just 14 carries.

So, yeah, memo to John Fox: give Stewart more carries, especially against a team like the Bears where force > fancy.

Whaaaaaaa? Marion Barber might not be the only option in Dallas??? Go on ...

Winning your fantasy draft is easy. And free. Well actually, the free part is easier than the easy part, if that makes sense. (Why? Because you only need to hit up FleaFlicker and rock out all the free fantasy football you can find.)

But easy isn't hard, and before I actually start confusing myself, let's cut to the chase: there are tons of "sleeper" backs in fantasy football drafts this year. And, handily, they can be broken up into convenient little tiers.

Power Naps
Chester Taylor, Vikings -- I know, right? He's not even really a sleeper, just because he'll see tons of carries. But the fact, whether or not you choose to recognize it with your number one overall pick, is that Adrian Peterson hasn't finished a full season of football since he started getting money to play football. Or, if you prefer, since high school. If he goes down again, Taylor will be an absolute monster.

Ronnie Brown, Dolphins -- Brown just returned to practicing sans cast but all you hear out of Miami is "Ricky this, Ricky that," because everyone thinks Ricky Williams will start and carry the rock for the Fins. I'm not buying it, personally. Brown was a top-five running back on easily the worst team in the entire league -- one that should have been passing from the 10-minute mark of the first quarter based on deficits -- until he got injured. Sure, he might not dive right in and be a dominant back, but when he's your third or fourth running back, the upside is too good to pass up.