Could Clemson WR Charone Peake be a valuable addition to Carolina’s unimpressive receiving corps?

Carolina came so close to winning its first Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos this past season. It was an incredible run for a team that went 7-9 the season before, won the division two years in a row and finished 15-1 this season.

Cam Newton has emerged as a top quarterback in this league. Josh Norman has established himself as a top corner in the league and received the franchise tag this offseason. Luke Kuechly has emerged alongside Thomas Davis to create a dominate linebacker duo. They have all the excellent pieces on offense and defense and played this past season without their best receiver in Kelvin Benjamin.

In the Super Bowl, there were some glaring needs for the Panthers which included the offensive line. Although GM David Getterman has insisted that Mike Remmers’ job is safe at RT, we have to think that improving the offensive line is an important goal this offseason. SB50 MVP Von Miller was getting past Mike Remmers and the offensive line with ease.

Also, the need for another receiver alongside Benjamin and Greg Olson could be an option in the draft. Of their draft picks in 2015, none of them made a huge impact, but they did see some playing time. Devin Funchess and Cameron Artis-Payne were asked to fill a role due to injury. Shaq Thompson, their first round pick, recorded a tackle in every game this season except in Week 1.

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Free Agency 2016 Moves (as of 3/21):

New Acquisitions: NT Paul Soliai and G Gino Gradkowski

Re-signed: LS J.J. Jansen, DE Charles Johnson, FB Mike Tolbert and QB Joe Webb

Free Agents Lost: P Brad Nortman (Jaguars)

Here’s a recap of their draft in 2015:

2015 Draft Pick Selections:

• Round 1, Pick 25: LB Shaq Thompson (Washington) – Thompson recorded a tackle in every game this season except for Week 1 against the Jaguars. He took over for A.J. Klein by the end of the season as the starting strong-side linebacker. He finished with 50 total tackles on the season and one sack. He will start next season alongside Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis.
• Round 2, Pick 41: WR Devin Funchess (Michigan) – Funchess was pushed into action once Benjamin went down with an ACL injury. The hype was too much for Funchess, who couldn’t beat out Ginn as the No. 1 wide receiver.  Funchess will return as the third or fourth receiver this season with Benjamin returning but could push Ginn for the second spot. He needs to get better at route running and holding onto the ball. Funchess did show some promise in the red zone for Newton. Funchess finished the 2015 season with 31/473/5.
• Round 4, Pick 102: OT Daryl Williams (Oklahoma) – Was relegated to backup duties for starting tackles Michael Oher and Mike Remmers. Oher had a solid season after a disappointing season the year before, and Remmers wasn’t good in the playoffs. Williams didn’t see much action this season but will return as a backup.
• Round 5, Pick 169: ILB David Mayo (Texas State University)– Mayo will be a backup with Luke Kuchley holding down the starting MLB position. Mayo finished the 2015 season with nine combined tackles.
• Round 5, Pick 174: RB Cameron Artis-Payne (Auburn)– Artis-Payne began the year as a healthy scratch. He was behind Jon Stewart, Tolbert and Fozzy Whittaker. Once Stewart went down for a few weeks due to an injury, Artis-Payne stepped up for the Panthers. He had three games of more than 44 rushing yards and scored a TD. Even with Tolbert returning, Artis-Payne should take over as the No. 2 RB in 2016 for the Panthers.

2016 Draft Selections:

I would have to give Carolina’s draft in 2015 a decent grade C or C+. They only had five picks and look to have a starter in Thompson and solid backups in Artis-Payne and Funchess.

• First Round, 30 Pick
• Second Round, 62 Pick
• Third Round, 93 Pick
• Fourth Round, 129 Pick
• Fifth Round, 168 Pick
• Seventh Round, 249 Pick

Top Draft Needs:

Offensive Line 
You could make the case that except for C Ryan Kalil, the Panthers could use an upgrade at guard or tackle this season. Michael Oher will start again on the blindside for Carolina but on the other side of Newton, Mike Remmers had a tough game in the SB50. Carolina could look at the end of the first round at G/T Germain Ifedi from Texas A&M.

Wide Receiver
With Benjamin out for the season last year, the Panthers were starting wideouts Ginn and Corey Brown. Ted Ginn had his best season of his career with 10 TD. Corey Brown was a bright spot in the playoffs before leaving with an injury in SB50.

With Carolina at the end of Round 1, the top WR will be off the board such as Kyle Fuller (Notre Dame) and Laquon Treadwell (Mississippi). I don’t think Josh Doctson (TCU) will be there as well so Carolina can look into a second or third round pick such as Charone Peake from Clemson. How can you not be interested in a Clemson WR when the last few drafted were DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, and Martavis Bryant.

Cornerback
Cornerback for the Panthers was like a carousel opposite of star CB Josh Norman. They used the following veterans to fill that void: CB Peanut Tillman, CB Cortland Finnegan and CB Robert McClain.

Slot CB Bene Benwikere will return from injury to start alongside Norman, but they need some depth at CB. Carolina could look at an under the radar player from Western Michigan, Ronald Zamort, who posted 58 passes defended in his three seasons at Western Michigan.

Defensive End
The Panthers were able to re-sign DE Johnson. However, DE Jared Allen retired. The need for another edge rusher is their with Johnson only on a one-year deal, and he’s 29 years old coming off injuries. DE Kony Ealy will start across from Johnson this season, but the eye towards the future would be to draft someone in the first couple rounds to backup Johnson. Possibly DE/DT Robert Nkemdiche, who when he first arrived at Ole Miss was expected to be a top pick once he declared for the draft. 

Punter
They lost P Brad Nortman to the Jaguars this offseason, so the Panthers could use the draft to get Nortman’s replacement. Carolina could look to All-American P Drew Kaser from Texas A&M in Round 5. Kaser had punts of 64+ yards in five of 11 games this past season.

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Sean Fitzpatrick is a FantasyPros Correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Sean, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @seanfitz2323.