The Carolina Panthers Are On The Clock
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 10:16PM Joe Simmons 
The Carolina Panthers have a ton of needs to address, however the lack of ability to maneuver via free agency has crippled the franchises ability to position itself so that it could make all of the right moves to cater to the new regime. New coach Ron Rivera has many needs to address and it appears he is going to have to make a choice real soon whether or not he is going offensive or defensive.
If you take a look at what the Panthers already have on their team, going defensive makes perfectly good sense. There is a pair of defensive tackles out there that almost every team in the league would love to pair up with speedy defensive ends to get stability on their defensive front. Everyone is enamored with Nick Fairley of Auburn and Marcell Darius of Alabama. Both guys display first overall pick grades but the Panthers have a dilemma to address. Admittedly they haven’t been the runs stopping team since the departure of Kris Jenkins to the Jets. So putting a big guy inside could really help them get better on defense.
The real question looms as to whether the Panthers feel like former Notre Dame Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is that guy. Is he the franchise guy? Is he the guy you are willing to turn over the keys to the franchise to and say lead us to a championship? If the answer to that question is no, then are there any guys on the board that they feel can be that guy. There are only two names up for discussion when it comes to this years quarterback class. All have questions and all have doubts about playing in a pro system.