Panthers still pondering top pick … Not a whole lot of buzz around the NFL these days even though the draft is now less than ten days away – or maybe because of it! Carolina G.M. Scott Fitterer, whose Panthers have the #1 pick at next week’s draft, did confess (if you believe him) at the team’s pre-draft presser earlier today that they still haven’t decided on which player they’ll actually take, although just about everybody in the league believes they’ve settled on Alabama QB Bryce Young. Fitterer also said that the Panthers have not told Young that he’ll be the pick after the Tide star told other teams he was no longer going on any visits. Interesting that the Panthers will actually have both CJ Stroud of Ohio State and Kentucky’s Will Levis for visits tomorrow on what is the last day for such visits. Seems a little late in the process … The buzz continues that Houston could very well move the 2nd pick overall. Stay tuned! … There are also rumblings that Philadelphia would really like to move up from the 10th in order to acquire Georgia DT Jalen Carter whom a lot of observers believe is the bet player in the draft… At the same time, it is looking more and more like Tennessee OT Darnell Wright and Mississippi State CB Emanuel Forbes have moved closer to locking up spots in the opening round. In fact, it’ll be a surprise if Wright isn’t selected in the top 20 picks as there are people around the league that feel the only thing keeping him from emerging as OT1 this year is the fact that he is probably limited to playing RT. Meanwhile, Forbes appears to have at least cracked the top 5 corners this year. Forbes is both quick and fast; he’s also instinctive with great hands and is the top ball-hawker among this year’s top cover guys. Unfortunately he’s also skinny at just 166 pounds and there are concerns about how he’ll hold up physically especially when defending the run.
