Rotoworld.com shares some interesting news about the Panthers and whether or not they may pass on Auburn quarterback Cam Newton:

Former high-ranking Panthers executive Tony Softli predicts that Carolina will pass on Cam Newton and take Alabama DT Marcell Dareus with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

“They need defensive linemen. They have for awhile,” says Softli, who also has a history with the Rams. “I really think they’re gonna pass on Cam Newton. … I really believe it’s gonna be the defensive tackle.” While we still take everything with a grain of salt, it’s important to note that Softli’s info has been solid this offseason. He was the first to point out Adrian Clayborn’s Erb Palsy condition, and among the first to explicitly report on Ryan Mallett’s drug use at Arkansas.

At this point, we can’t rule out anything as it pertains to the draft and who could be selected where. Since the combine, the majority of draft observers have had Newton mocked to the Panthers with the first overall pick – including myself. I don’t see the Panthers taking a defensive tackle at No. 1 overall, but Softli has more insight into the situation than I do so maybe he’s on to something.

Truth be told, defensive line is a bigger need for Carolina than quarterback. And if they’re not sold on Newton or Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, then why invest all that money into a player that you’re not completely in love with? (Especially when said player is a quarterback?)

Still though, despite this report I would have to believe that the Panthers will take Newton with the first pick next Thursday. They need to find an impact player with that pick and that’s not to say that Dareus can’t be that type of contributor at some point in his career. But there is no other position on the field that creates as much of an impact as quarterback. And if the Panthers think that Newton can be “the guy,” then there’s no reason not to take him.

The general consensus is that the Panthers will take Auburn quarterback Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick later this month. But that could be a problem if owner Jerry Richardson isn’t on board with the idea.

According to CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman, Richardson isn’t “completely sold” on Newton, although he is expected to defer to his scouting and coaching staff when the Panthers are on the clock. There have been plenty of examples of owners meddling in their teams’ draft plans and it usually winds up having an adverse affect on the franchise. Hopefully for the Panthers’ sake, Richardson butts out.

Freeman also says that the Panthers are “enamored” with Georgia receiver A.J. Green and according to his sources, the team would like to trade down and grab the former Bulldog later in the first round. But that could prove difficult seeing as how teams can’t trade future draft picks without a CBA in place. Thus, teams can only deal 2011 picks, which means Carolina would probably have to accept less for the No. 1 overall pick than a team would usually get for such a high selection, if they do want to move down, that is. (This draft also lacks a consensus No. 1 overall prospect that would make teams want to trade up.)

While this report is certainly intriguing, it’s not enough to sway my opinion that the Panthers will draft Newton with the top selection. This team needs a quarterback and while I have my own reservations about whether or not Newton will prosper at the next level, signs still point to Carolina taking him No. 1.

After leaning towards Blaine Gabbert last week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter now predicts that the Panthers will select Auburn quarterback Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick.

“Last week, I sensed Blaine Gabbert,” Schefter said in an ESPN Insider Q&A. “This week, I’m more on the Cam Newton bandwagon. The more I hear, the more it sounds like Newton is the player to beat for the No. 1 pick.”

Schefter goes on to say that the Panthers “need to create buzz to sell some tickets,” which of course is the best reason to draft a player. I mean, if you’re going to invest that much money in a prospect then he better be able to put butts in the seats. Football skills be damned.

Schefter isn’t a draft guru but I’m convinced he has a wiretap on every GM, head coach and player in the league so his words aren’t to be taken lightly. Still, he’s only making a prediction and not reporting anything, so Gabbert and even LSU’s Patrick Peterson are in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick.

That said, I had the Panthers taking Newton in my last mock and if I were to update it today, I would still have the former Auburn QB going No. 1. Carolina doesn’t seem enamored with any of the top defensive linemen and as good as Peterson is, a cornerback has never gone No. 1 or even No. 2. I don’t see Peterson making history this year and if the Panther are down to Newton or Gabbert, I think they’ll take the boom or bust player and pin their future on the former Tiger. (What? Newton and Gabbert are both former Tigers? Well that works out well for that last sentence now doesn’t it?)

Unless it’s a ruse created to lure teams into trading up, all signs point to the Panthers selecting Auburn quarterback Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick according to the Charlotte Observer.

Carolina sent six representatives to Auburn’s Pro Day and will attend a private workout by Newton in Alabama on Wednesday. With Blaine Gabbert’s Pro Day coming up on Thursday, the Panthers should have a good idea as to whom they will be selecting with the top pick next month. There have been reports that the injury concerns surrounding the top defensive linemen in this year’s draft have scared the Panthers off, so maybe they’ve narrowed their wish list down to Newton or Gabbert.

Of course, there are rumblings that the Vikings and Bills are interested in Newton as well, so maybe a trade is in order. The Panthers don’t have a second round pick this year, so they may want to trade down in order to regain that selection. If they do trade down, Gabbert, LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson or even Georgia receiver A.J. Green become possibilities for the Panthers depending on how far they fall.

As of right now, this is still a cat and mouse game. The Panthers want to do their due diligence when it comes to scouting prospects, but they also don’t want to make their intentions obvious. If they have a couple of prospects rated close to each other, maybe they wouldn’t mind trading down, acquiring more picks and still landing a player at the top of their board.

You have to hand it to Ron Rivera. He’s only been a head coach for about two months but he’s already managed to keep everyone guessing when it comes to the No. 1 pick. (I guess some credit goes to GM Marty Hurney for that, too.)

After the Super Bowl was played, the majority of draft pundits had the Panthers taking Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert with the first overall pick. Then it was Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley. Now it’s Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. Give it another week and it’ll be LSU’s Patrick Peterson, Clemson’s Da’Quan Bowers and MTV’s Lady Gaga.

Or how about this for a curveball: Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet.

There are reports that Mallett is scheduled to work out for the Panthers on Tuesday in Fayetteville. While he isn’t viewed as a potential No. 1 overall pick, that doesn’t mean Carolina wouldn’t trade out of the top spot in order to acquire more picks and nab him later in the first round. They currently don’t have a second round pick after the aforementioned Hurney traded it away last year so that he could reach on Armanti Edwards. So it would stand to reason that the Panthers wouldn’t mind trading back in order to gain more picks this year, and the No. 1 pick would fetch quite a haul.

Of course, trading out of the top 5 isn’t an easy task – especially when teams don’t know what’s going to happen with the CBA. The one thing the NFL and NFLPA reportedly agreed upon was restructuring the ridiculous rookie pay scale. If teams don’t have to invest $67 billion in the No. 1 pick, then the Panthers might have an easier time trading down. But if the rookie pay scale is still an issue, then they might be stuck.

If that’s the case, then it still seems likely that the Panthers would select Newton or Gabbert at No. 1. Granted, they could always take a defensive player like Peterson and then trade back into the first round to nab Mallett, but how would they do that? They don’t have a second rounder and they have a ton of needs to address, so trading the rest of their draft doesn’t seem smart. Thus, moving out of the No. 1 slot could prove extremely difficult.

Either way, the Panthers have everyone in a state of mass confusion with their pre-draft antics. And with that in mind, I say well done, Rivera and Co.

SI.com’s Don Banks is reporting that Panthers’ GM Marty Hurney is the only member of the team’s front office or coaching staff who still has faith in Jimmy Clausen as a potential starter.

Banks writes, “Everyone else in Carolina, and many coaches and personnel men around the league for that matter, thinks the Panthers have to draft a franchise quarterback this year.”

Ouch.

For those who watched Clausen play last year, this is hardly surprising news. But even though I’m not a believer myself, for God’s sake he only started 10 games last year and it’s not like he had much around him. He was absolutely horrible, I know. But is it just me or do other young players usually get the benefit of the doubt at this stage in their career?

That said, I do think the Panthers will draft a quarterback at No. 1. Ron Rivera will want to build around a signal caller that he had a hand selecting, although if Carolina does take a QB at No. 1 then Hurney will basically be admitting that taking Clausen in the second round last year was a mistake. He also foolishly traded this year’s second round pick so that he could reach for Armanti Edwards last April, so Hurney’s head is firmly placed on the chopping block.

The good news for Clausen is that unless the team releases him this offseason (which is doubtful), he’ll have a chance to prove everyone wrong this summer. Even if the Panthers take a quarterback at No. 1, Clausen will be given the opportunity to beat him out in camp because coaches are always hesitant on handing the job over to a rookie. Clausen will just have to man up and take the position if he wants it.

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that the Panthers are not sold on drafting a defensive lineman with the No. 1 pick and are thought to be seeking an impact player.

If the paper’s sources are right, that means Auburn’s Nick Fairley, Clemson’s Da’Quan Bowers and Alabama’s Marcell Dareus may be further down Carolina’s draft board than quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Cam Newton, and possibly even LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson (regarded as the best defensive player in the draft).

At least according to the Observer’s sources, the Panthers are concerned about the health of many of the draft’s top defensive lineman. Bowers had his knee scoped and therefore didn’t work out at the combine because he wasn’t in shape following rehab, while Fairley says he’s fine now but revealed that he suffered a small shoulder separation that occurred in a November game against Georgia.

Heading into the combine, Fairley’s name was being thrown around as a possibility at No. 1, but that talk has died down considerably. I haven’t put together my third mock draft yet but if I were today, I would have either Gabbert or Newton going No. 1. I had the Panthers taking Gabbert in my first mock, but then I bought into the hype surrounding Fairley and had him going No. 1 in my second mock. Now I’m back to believing that Carolina won’t take anything but a quarterback with the first overall pick. (Of course, just because the Charlotte Observer says that the Panthers may not take a defensive lineman, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. How exhausting…)

For Steeler, Jet, Bear and Packer fans, the 2011 NFL Draft doesn’t exist.

For the rest of us, it’s the only thing that exists.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper has released his first mock draft for 2011 and at least for the time being, he sees Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley coming off the board to the Panthers at No. 1.

The No. 1 overall player on the Big Board, and one who can pay immediate dividends. Fairley isn’t just a safe pick because of his excellent burst, violent hand action and ability to effectively penetrate and be a constant nuisance against both the run and pass; he also has the chance to be a dominant player regardless of system. Detroit and Tampa Bay drafted the top defensive tackles at Nos. 2 and 3 last year. Carolina should start earlier in 2011. A slight mean streak in a DT isn’t the worst trait. Even Ndamukong Suh showed a bit of one this season.

Kiper has LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson going to the Broncos at No. 2, Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus going to the Bills at No. 3, Clemson defensive end Da’Quan Bowers going to the Bengals at No. 4 and Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert going to the Cardinals at No. 5.

Regular readers know that I’m a draft nut and I will surely release several mock drafts before April 28 rolls around. I need to compile my notes from the bowl season, however, so I’m not ready to break out my mock 1.0 at this time.

That said, with the way Fairley dominated the BCS title game this year, I can definitely see the Panthers taking him at No. 1. (Don’t forget that new head coach Ron Rivera has a background in defense, so if he’s given his say on draft day, he may want to go with the best defender on the board.)

If you believe the reports, Carolina was set to take Stanford’s Andrew Luck with the top overall pick but now that he’s decided to return to school, who goes No. 1 will be discussed ad nauseum for the next three and a half months.

Only eight teams remain in this year’s playoffs and of those eight teams, six are being led by first-time head coaches. (Only the Patriots’ Bill Belichick and the Seahawks’ Pete Carroll had been head coaches elsewhere prior to being hired by New England and Seattle, respectively.)

All six of these coaches were NFL coordinators before being hired as head coaches by their respective teams. And of those six, five of them have defensive backgrounds. (Only the Packers’ Mike McCarthy came from an offensive background, as he was the OC in New Orleans and San Francisco before arriving in Green Bay.)

Even given this incredibly small sample size, the fans in Carolina have to be pleased that the Panthers decided to hire former San Diego defensive coordinator Ron Rivera as head coach. He’s best known for the role he played as defensive coordinator for the 2006 Chicago Bears team that went to the Super Bowl, but he’s done a tremendous job in San Diego over the past couple of years as well.

While he’ll keep the Panthers in a 4-3, Rivera has had success running both the 4-3 and the 3-4 fronts. He’s known for being a “players coach” and likes to be aggressive in his defensive schemes. Behind his leadership, the Chargers went from 16th in total defense in 2009 to first in 2010.

No offense to Jim Harbaugh or the 49ers, but it’s proven that teams that hire pro coordinators usually have the most success. Current playoff coaches McCarthy (Packers), Jim Harbaugh (Ravens), Mike Tomlin (Steelers), Mike Smith (Falcons), Rex Ryan (Jets) and Lovie Smith (Bears) were all NFL coordinators before becoming head coaches with their respective teams.

Granted, being a coordinator doesn’t always guarantee success, as there are plenty of examples of former OC’s and DC’s failing as head coaches. Plus, as former Cowboys’ head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer can attest, coaches with college backgrounds can still succeed as well.

But Rivera’s knowledge and experience in this league should serve him well in Carolina. Panther fans have a reason to be optimistic after such a dreadful season.