Dan Morgan Talks Draft Philosophy, Strategy, & Team Needs

Panthers GM Dan Morgan met with the media ahead of next week’s draft.

For years, Dan Morgan has been in the war room on draft night, suggesting ideas to help the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, and Carolina Panthers make the best decisions possible. Beginning next Thursday, he'll be the one directing the show.

Thursday afternoon, Morgan met with the media and discussed his draft philosophy, strategy, and much more.

Being in the GM chair for the draft for the first time

“Having final say, it’s about collecting everybody’s opinions, filtering that, and then making the best decision for the Carolina Panthers. I think from a process standpoint, I think coming up the ranks you would always think - how would I do this? Obviously, I have my own methods. We’ve had some really cool studies amongst the scouts and just us talking through guys, comparing guys, placing guys ontbhe board. It’s really been a collaborative effort. The scouts have done a great job with all the background and getting to know all these guys. You watch the tape, but then how are we going to best know this player? Who is going to be coming our building when/if we draft them. Through this process, it’s been thorough and I’ve been happy with it.”

If more playmakers need to be added for Bryce Young

“I think it’s about not getting playmakers for Bryce, it’s about getting playmakers for our team, for our organization. Who’s going to make plays? Who’s going to take the ball away on the defensive side of the ball? Who’s going to put the ball in the end zone on the offensive side of the ball? So for us, I think it’s about bringing playmakers in here and then having the passiong for the game, that hungry mentality, that dog mentality. That’s what we’re looking for.”

How free agency helped fill needs

“I think we were really happy with how free agency closed out. There was a few guys here and there that maybe we missed out on that we were targeting, but it really came together well for us. We were really happy how it ended and we’re excited about the future.”

Thoughts on trading up or back in the draft

“I think sitting at 33 obviously you have 32 teams ahead of you. We got to see how things play out. I’m not going to box myself into anything like hey, we’re not going to do this, we’re not going to do that. Ideally though, if we’re sitting there and there’s a really good player, we’ll take him. Trading up, those are discussions that we still have to have. I think everything’s on the table. I don’t want to box us in right now.”

If there’s still interest in CB Stephon Gilmore

“Yeah, we’re going to leave the door open there. We’re still going to stay in communication and after the draft we’ll circle back and see where it goes from there.”

Having 24 hours to decide on what to do with the 33rd pick

“It is (valuable). Obviously, we’re going to have all night, all the next day to field calls if we want to trade that pick or to figure out which player is going to fit us best whether it’s offense or defense. We’re going to have a lot of time to discuss to make the best decision for the Panthers.”

How acquiring the 39th pick changes thoughts on the 33rd pick

“I think it all depends what happens there at 33, but it’s definitely nice looking up at that board and seeing 33 and 39 highlighted in Process Blue, so I think that’s going to leave us open to a lot of options in the draft and allow for a lot of flexibility if we choose to.”