NFL
Monday Mock Draft Shakeup: Panthers hope Hackett can hack it, 49ers raid another division rival
It’s time to adjust those mocks yet again, folks, as a couple of free-agent receivers’ new destinations could affect where a couple of highly-coveted pass-catching prospects will land.
The Carolina Panthers beefed up their receiving corps today, as they signed Seattle WR D.J. Hackett to a two-year, $3.5 million deal.
Keary Colbert and Drew Carter are both gone, and Dwayne Jarrett is still finding his feet in the pro game, so Hackett and Muhsin Muhammad will have every chance to nail down a starting spot across from perennial Pro Bowler Steve Smith. The Panthers need a solid #2 guy to take the pressure off of Smith to be Mr. Everything, and to make their tame offense look a little more Panther-like.
Hackett was primed for a big year in 2007, but wound up missing 10 games. Still, he made 32 catches for 384 yards and three touchdowns in the six games he played, and had six catches for 101 yards in the Seahawks’ wild-card victory over Washington.
Both Kelsey McCarson (DeSean Jackson in round 1) and I (Andre Caldwell in round 2) had the Panthers taking a receiver early in our latest mock drafts. Will this signing change that? Carolina has plenty invested in him after using a second-round pick on the former USC star last year, and he’ll likely be at least the #3 guy this year, but you’d like to be at least a solid five-deep at receiver, both because of potential injuries and because you don’t know what you’re going to get out of the other guys.
However, with defensive line and free safety needing to be addressed early, Carolina may not go for another receiver until the middle rounds, where a couple of small-schoolers from the region could be options, in Coastal Carolina’s Jerome Simpson or Appalachian St. speedster Dexter Jackson.
In other signing news, the San Francisco 49ers quickly filled the hole left by Darrell Jackson’s release by signing Arizona’s Bryant Johnson.
Johnson was taken 17th overall by the Cardinals in 2003, but was the odd man out to the tandem of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald, with his career high totals about a half-season or so worth of production for those two: 49 catches (2004), 740 yards (2006), four touchdowns (2006).
The 49ers were another team expected to take a receiver in the first round, but they might now be pinning their hopes on Johnson and fellow new signing Isaac Bruce, who will join returnees Arnaz Battle and Ashley Lelie. Johnson does have a lot of potential, because he’ll now have the chance to be a starter in San Fran, and Bruce, even at 35, still has plenty left in him, but it still wouldn’t be a bad idea to nab a quality receiver sometime on draft weekend.
Remember the days when Joe Montana was tossing touchdown passes to Jerry Rice and John Taylor, and then when Steve Young was doing the same to Rice and Terrell Owens, or even when Jeff Garcia was?
Seems like forever ago, doesn’t it?
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