Posted by Will BrinsonThis may come as less of a surprise than the recent John Fox firing in Carolina, but word on the street is the Panthers would take Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick if he leaves school early.
This report comes from as about as good a source as it can, Pat Yasinskas of ESPN, who spent a long time as the Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer and who is currently in Charlotte.
Of course, one might not even need Yasinskas' sources in this case -- in his press conference Tuesday, Jerry Richardson said the Panthers wouldn't trade down if given the opportunity. Additionally, Jimmy Clausen was the worst quarterback in the NFL by almost any stretch of the imagination, and Luck is considered a stone-cold lock as the top prospect in the NFL Draft this year.
The possibility that the Panthers could open up the pick to trades still remains, if only because of the ridiculous value that Luck offers to a plethora of teams in need of a quarterback. But if Richardson's true to his word, the only obstacle is whether or not Luck comes out and is willing to play for the Panthers.
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