Clubinfos » defensive tackle Kawaan Short from Purdue in the second round

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Panthers say theyd like to find a replacement for longtime No. 1 wide receiver Steve Smith in this years NFL draft. The big question is when theyll do it. The Panthers have the 28th overall pick, but the NFC South champions have a variety of needs after getting hit hard in free agency, and could go in a number of directions with their first-round choice. General manager Dave Gettleman said recently that wide receiver, offensive tackle and cornerback are among the teams top needs, but qualified that statement by adding he wont got out of his way to land one. "When you reach for a position of need youre in trouble," he said. Gettleman said he has some reservations about drafting a receiver in the first round because it often takes them longer to adjust to the NFL game than those who play other positions. "History tells you that its a very difficult position to assimilate into (the NFL), especially with the current game being played at the college level," Gettleman said. Gettleman called it a "wide receiver heavy" draft that includes several players whove put up big numbers. He said the trick is finding guys who can easily make the transition to the next level. "Ill look at a guy and hes caught 90 balls ... but of those 45 were flash screens," Gettleman said. "The other 45 he caught, he ran to three spots. So, do they understand coverage? Theyre going to have to learn the whole route tree. How long is it going to take them to assimilate? Its an issue. Its a problem." Smith was released in a salary cap move earlier this off-season. Replacing his toughness and production wont be easy. He caught 836 passes for 12,197 yards and 67 touchdowns for the Panthers in 13 seasons. However, after averaging 76 receptions for 1,284 yards receiving and 5.5 touchdowns in his first two seasons playing with quarterback Cam Newton, Smiths numbers fell off in 2013. He caught 64 passes for 745 yards and four TDs. The Panthers signed free agents Jerricho Cotchery, Jason Avant and Tiquan Underwood, but none is expected to become the next No. 1 receiver in Carolina. Five things to watch from the Panthers in the draft: ON THE FRONT BURNER: Jordan Gross retired this off-season, leaving a huge hole at left tackle — one the Panthers potentially could address in Round 1. Gettleman said there are some tackles in the draft dont have "left tackle feet," but said that doesnt necessarily matter. "There are only so many elite tackles," he said. "There are plenty of guys playing left tackle in this league that dont have classic left tackle feet." Finding a left tackle might take on added importance given Newton is coming off ankle surgery this off-season. FIRST ROUND SUCCESS: The Panthers have had tremendous success with their first-round picks the last three seasons. They grabbed defensive tackle Star Lotulelei from Utah at No. 14 in 2013, and he looks like hes going to be around the league for quite a while. They drafted linebacker Luke Kuechly at No. 11 in 2012 and quarterback Cam Newton first overall the year before that. Kuechly was the 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, while Newton was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011. BLUE GOOSE: Last year, Gettleman said the Panthers needed to add some "hog mollies," or big linemen. This year, the Boston native switched gears, saying if there is a "blue goose" pass rusher available at No. 28 he wouldnt pass on him. Tough to know what a blue-winged bird native to Ethiopia has to do with building a football team, though. CORNERBACK ON RADAR: The Panthers lost starting cornerback Captain Munnerlyn to Minnesota in free agency. While they signed free agent Antoine Cason, dont rule out cornerback as an option with one of the teams top three picks. The Panthers have one pick in each of the seven rounds. DONT BE REACHING: The Panthers are determined not to reach for picks at positions of need. They followed that plan last year and took defensive tackle Kawaan Short from Purdue in the second round — even after selecting Lotulelei in the first. "Last year, K.K. (Short) was obviously the best value in that second-round pick," Gettleman said. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap Jaguars Jerseys Authentic . -- During a players meeting following the All-Star break, Jermaine ONeal promised his teammates to play the rest of the regular season like he would never play again -- because he very well might not. Cheap Jaguars Jerseys .4 seconds left and dribbled up court, weaving through Pitts defence. http://www.cheapjaguarsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-jawaan-taylor-jersey . On the eve of the 2013-14 NBA season, he can finally take a step back and allow his team to do the talking. Cheap Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys . The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. Jaguars Jerseys China . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- Its clear that if the St. Johns IceCaps want to win their American Hockey League playoff series against the Norfolk Admirals theyll need to solve goalie John Gibson. Gibson stopped 42 of 43 shots he faced to beat St. Johns 3-1 on Tuesday in Game 1 of their series, improving his 1.42 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage in four first-round playoff games. "Their goaltender is obviously really strong in net," IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge said. "He has the numbers he has in the playoffs for a reason and he was very strong for them tonight. I thought we did a good job of trying to get traffic in front of him. "Their defencemen did an excellent job boxing out and making our forwards work." St. Johns defenceman Will ONeill said the key to solving Gibson is the same as beating any hot goalie. "Just like (solving) any goalie, we need to get more traffic to the net," ONeill said. "I think second and third opportunities are where we are going to have success. We need bodies to the net and to (capitalize) on those opportunities." McCambridge said scoring the first goal would have been key Tuesday night. "I thought we had some opportunities," he said. &"Obviously we would have liked to get the first goal to build some momentum.dddddddddddd With regards to generating offence, I thought we generated some good scoring chances and had some decent traffic." Nic Kerdiles scored two goals and John Kurtz had the game-winner for Norfolk. Andrew Gordon replied for St. Johns, while IceCaps goalie Michael Hutchinson stopped 24 shots. Norfolk opened the scoring when Kerdiles one timed a wrist-shot from the slot 10:14 into the first period, finishing off a pass from Andre Petersson, who sent a pass from behind the net. St. Johns killed a 40-second 5-on-3 power play, starting at 13:15 in the first period. Despite the IceCaps outshooting the Admirals 18-5 in the second period, Gibson was impenetrable in the Norfolk net. St. Johns found the equalizer 3:20 into the third period when Gordon tipped in a heavy point shot just as a power play expired. Gibson saw little of the shot, if anything, as Jason Jaffray and Gordon had set up on the doorstep. Admirals forward Zack Strotini carried the puck to the net and, on the ensuing scramble, Kurtz tapped it in to retake the lead, 2-1, at the 7-minute mark of the third period. Kerdiles added an empty netter with 13.8 seconds left. 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