Who Panthers fans should watch in 2017 Senior Bowl

This week, Carolina Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman, members of the Panthers staff and an army of scouts will be appraising the new legion of hopeful NFL rookies at the 2017 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

They won’t be the only ones. Coaches and staff from all 32 NFL teams, draft analysts, reporters (including yours truly, of the Charlotte Observer) and agents will also be around all week to check out the talent. Official weigh-ins are on Tuesday night. Each team (split into North and South) holds a practice a day from Tuesday to Thursday.

As Gettleman said in his season-end press conference last month, whoever the Panthers draft in April will depend on what the team does in free agency. And, Gettleman added, with the No. 8 pick in the draft, he is looking for the best available talent. While many of the top-rated players in each position group opted out of the Senior Bowl to save their talents for the NFL Combine and respective Pro Days, a quality set of prospects will still attend.

The Panthers will likely be looking at a loaded crop of running backs and edge rushers, a fairly mediocre offensive tackle class, a solid group of safeties and possibly a spark-plug wide receiver and/or tight end that could be picked up in later rounds.

Here are some notable Senior Bowl participants to watch at each of those positions:

Running back

Donnel Pumphrey

San Diego State may not be talked about much, but Pumphrey should be. The running back made history in 2016 by becoming the all-time leading NCAA Division I rusher, with 6,937 career yards. Pumphrey doesn’t quite have the power-back size the Panthers like in a runner (he’s 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds) but he will draw attention from scouts with his speed.

Corey Clement

Projected by a few sites as a mid- to late-round running back, Clement is solid, reliable and has decent size with good speed (he runs a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at 5-foot-11, 210 pounds). Clement had 1,375 rushing yards in 2016 as Wisconsin’s feature back, after recovering from hernia surgery in 2015.

Defensive end

Keionta Davis

The Panthers hit the small-school jackpot with Samford graduate James Bradberry in last year’s draft – but could they beat the odds again? Davis, who hails from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was an FCS All-American and keeps showing up in top-20 defensive prospect lists.

Chris Wormley

Wormley is lanky, for a 303-pounder. At 6-foot-5, the Michigan product was more of a run defender as a backup earlier in his career, but as he developed his pass rush, his playing time increased – teams might like him for his versatility. Wormley finished 2016 with nine tackles for loss and six sacks.

Offensive tackle

Adam Bisnowaty

Could Bisnotwaty go from a Pittsburgh Panther to a Carolina Panther? He certainly will get scooped up early by a team who needs a solid young tackle option. He played left tackle at Pitt but projects by many scouting sites as a right tackle in the NFL. Bisnowaty is 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, and is among the top in the 2017 offensive lineman class.

Safety

Nate Gerry

Nebraska’s Gerry has been a consistent contributor for his team in both 2015 and 2016, with a combined 153 tackles and eight picks during that time. He isn’t the fastest in the safety class, but has a knack for seeing the field and playing efficiently.

Obi Melifonwu

A Connecticut prospect who is still a little rough around the edges, Melifonwu is freakishly fast for his 6-foot-3, 217-pound frame. He used that speed to his advantage, accumulating 118 tackles and four picks in 2016. He could use an old head guiding him in the NFL – something the Panthers have tailor-made in veteran Kurt Coleman. Plus, he’ll likely be a mid-round pick, making him quite the bargain if he plays to his potential.

Wide receiver

Amara Darboh

The word that comes to mind when discussing Michigan’s Darboh is “solid.” He led the Wolverines in receptions with little fanfare behind splashy names such as Jabrill Peppers and Jake Butt, and finished the year with 862 yards and seven touchdowns.

Ryan Switzer

Little perfect-for-the-slot Switzer’s fiery personality will be entertainment by itself during Senior Bowl week, but what he can offer an NFL team is a stylized shifty speed, variety in short-route ability and skill in the return game. The Panthers need a little bit of a spark plug in their offense –especially in quick-route options – so eyes could fall on Switzer, a UNC product, as a late pickup in such a role.

Just for fun

Zane Gonzalez

Arizona State kicker Gonzalez had one of the surest legs in college football in 2016, and it won him the Lou Groza Award for the nation’s best college kicker. He made 92 percent of his field goals in 2016, was 6 of 6 in distances between 40-49 yards, and was 7 of 9 in distances of 50-plus yards, including a 59-yard field goal. Gonzalez is projected as a late-round draft pick but could make things very interesting for current Panthers kicker Graham Gano if he were to be brought in as competition.

This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 6:45 AM with the headline "Who Panthers fans should watch in 2017 Senior Bowl."