With free agency in the full swing, Panthers fans are scouring over the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Websites, and now Snapchat looking for who the team has met with or interested in signing. While my eyes relentlessly gazed down through Tweet after Tweet trying to pick up on those nuggets, a certain Tweet stopped my insanity in it’s tracks for it was something I had waited to catch to help justify a suspicion of mine.

Now when I saw that the team was bringing in Javorius “Buck” Allen in for a private workout, I thought, "there it is, the validation I personally needed to suggest Dave Gettleman will be looking at addressing the RB position a lot sooner than in the sixth round this upcoming draft." With the team parting ways with the franchise’s all time leading rusher in Deangelo Williams and passing the reigns to Jonathan Stewart for the 2015 season, it would be a wise decision for Dave Gettleman to look at using a selection on a “quality” running back to come in and compete for the number two spot in the rotation with the potential to become a number one option if Stewart was to succumb to injury (which everyone knows is a reality) or have in place when Stewart is no longer on the roster.

Gettleman tried to find running back depth with the likes of Kenjon Barner (6th round 2013) and last year with Tyler Gaffney (6th round 2014.) Both of those did not work out for various reasons and are no longer on the roster. This should be a lesson for those who clamour that you can find good RB’s late in the draft. For every Terrell Davis, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Alfred Morris there are 10 times the fails in the likes of Evan Royster, Deji Karim (who), and Josh Scobey’s of the world. In reality you may want to spend a little higher draft pick to obtain a more promising talent at the position.

I know many Panthers fans will say “We better not draft a running back with an early pick,” but this in itself is a foolish  line of thinking. If the team were to use say a 3rd or 4th round selection on a player like Javorius Allen, who I mentioned earlier in this post and by the way is slotted to go around that area in the draft, I say it would be a smart thing for our GM to do. Yes, we re-signed “Wakka Wakka,” but Fozzy is not an every down back and is not meant for that role, and Mike Tolbert isn't either. Even before his injury, Tolbert just did not look right in my eyes. I don’t think he can be considered for that number one role if Stewart was to go down.

Taking all of this into consideration, the Allen visit, the failures to find a late-round gem , and concerns about the current personnel, Carolina is going to be in play for a new running back in in a round earlier than the sixth. 

By Smokewagon
Follow him on Twitter @SamSslater96