Following a season that produced a league worst 2-14 record, the Carolina Panthers have a lot of work to do on both sides of the football. Head coach John Fox was let go, which was the first step towards rebuilding the franchise. Ron Rivera takes over for the Panthers, and will get to begin his new regime with a number one overall draft pick. With needs all across the board, the Panthers could go a number of different directions with the first pick.

Quarterback is the first and most important question mark on Carolina's roster. Jimmy Clausen was drafted in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft, but displayed horrid body language and showed little promise as a passer or a leader in his rookie season. Talk of the Panthers taking a quarterback off of the board with the first pick has been heating up recently.

Despite Clausen's uninspiring season, he was not completely to blame for Carolina's offensive struggles in 2010. The team also lacked a true number one receiver. Steve Smith had a pedestrian 2010 campaign, and the Panthers don't have much behind him on the depth chart. Neither David Gettis or Brandon LaFell has shown the ability to be a go to receiver.

Assessing Carolina's needs would not be complete without addressing a defense that allowed 123 rushing yards per game. The defensive line has to be the main area of concern. Charles Johnson has not yet been resigned after collecting 12 sacks last season. Also, both defensive tackle positions need to be filled. If a quarterback is not the first overall pick, odds are a defensive lineman will be the selection.

After the jump check out the top three needs for the Carolina Panthers

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were one of the NFL's biggest surprises in 2010. Led by second year pro Josh Freeman, and a pair of rookies in running back LaGarrette Blount and wide receiver Mike Williams, the Bucs finished 10-6. Despite narrowly missing the playoffs, Tampa Bay is constructing a winning roster. However, that roster is not without holes.

The Buccaneers really struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks in 2010. They also have a pair of free agents at linebacker. On offense, the right side of the line needs to be addressed and a complement to LaGarrette Blount in the backfield would not be a bad addition.

Provided Josh Freeman continues his rapid development, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should contend with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons for the NFC South Division title in 2011. Depending on just how rapidly Freeman improves, the Bucs could find themselves in the Super Bowl within the next five seasons.

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The 2010 Super Bowl Champions took a step back this past season and were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Seattle Seahawks. The New Orleans Saints finished with an 11-6 record that was fueled by inconsistency on both sides of the ball. With defensive guru Gregg Williams electing to stay with the team, New Orleans will dedicate a lot of its offseason to improving its defense. 

In their six losses, the Saints allowed more than 20 points in each of them and more than 30 points in four of them. Sedrick Ellis and Will Smith are key pieces along the defensive line but New Orleans needs to add some more depth in this area. Signing Shaun Rogers improves the depth, but adding another tackle or end is important. With both Danny Clark and Scott Shanle set to become free agents (If CBA is resolved), outside linebacker is also a priority that needs to be addressed.

Drew Brees once again put up big numbers, but his 22 interceptions were a career-high. Brees, the leader of the Who Dat Nation, will look to bounce back in 2011, but he’s going to need help from his running game. The Saints running backs spent the majority of their time in the training room last season in what turned into a revolving position. If Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush can stay healthy, look for New Orleans offense to improve vastly. With Jeremy Shockey getting released, the Saints might look to add a tight end at some point in the draft.

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Coming off their first Super Bowl win the Saints are going to have a busy offseason. They have a lot of players become free agents (although most are restricted). Their draft strategy could depend heavily on if any of those players move on. Let’s pretend nobody leaves, even the Super Bowl champs have needs.

1. Defensive End

- The Saints have some talent at this position but that talent is under performing. Will Smith and Charles Grant have yet to live up to their high draft pick status. Bobby McCray is a nice player but he isn’t fit to be a team’s primary pass rusher. Getting a consistent pass rush from the line will help the secondary out.

2. Defensive Tackle

- Sedrick Ellis is still young and has time to develop but he isn’t the dominate player the Saints imagined he would be. Adding some depth and bulk to this position will help out the linebacking core; especially Vilma who excels when the defensive line keeps the offensive linemen off of him.

3. Linebacker

- Shanle and Fujita are solid performers but adding depth and more athleticism would greatly benefit this defense. Gregg Williams aggressive style of defense often leaves linebackers 1 on 1 with backs and tight ends so finding someone with good coverage skills is a must.

Carolina had a disappointing start to the season which killed their playoff hopes. The team struggled to find consistency from the quarterback position which led to teams stacking the box to shut down the running game. The Panthers also were bitten by the injury bug and need to find some depth at positions like defensive tackle.

1. Quarterback

- Carolina needs to find their quarterback of the future, is it Matt Moore? Moore had a few impressive games at the end of the season but this is still a position that needs to be addressed during the draft. Unfortunately, the Panthers don’t have a first round pick which could limit their options.

2. Wide Receiver

- Muhsin Muhammad is aging and a free agent and Dwayne Jarrett has not produced. If the Panthers want to take pressure off the running game and Steve Smith they need to find another weapon on the outside.

3. Defensive Tackle

- Injuries hit this position hard last season, so some depth needs to be found. Look for the Panthers to address this position in the later rounds of the draft.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a down year and are in rebuilding mode. Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman has shown promise and there are playmakers scattered all around the team. But the Bucs didn’t go 3-13 for no reason and there are a lot of areas that need to be addressed. Having the #3 overall pick is a good start but it might leave them out of the running for the two top players in this year’s draft (Suh and Berry).

1. Defensive End

- The lack of pass rush generated by the Bucs defense is real cause for concern. A consistent pass rush by the ends is must in the Tampa 2 defense. Tim Crowder is young and talented but not consistent enough. Stylez White had a nice season but has yet to prove he can perform like that year in and year out. A player they may look at is Derrick Morgan but #3 overall might be a little high.

2. Defensive Tackle

- Chris Hovan is a hard working and a leader but not the most talented of defensive linemen. Ryan Sims has never lived up to his potential so at some point the defensive tackle position needs to be addressed. If someone like Suh or McCoy is that at #3 the Bucs could gobble them up.

3. Wide Receiver

- Antonio Bryant is likely gone and the other receivers on the roster do not have #1 wide out potential. Young quarterback Josh Freeman is going to need playmakers so he could continue to develop and build confidence.

The Falcons took an expected step back last season and missed the playoffs. Matt Ryan continues to develop and Michael Turner is still a force at running back. However, there has been a lot of struggles on the defensive side of the ball and that’s where a lot of the focus will probably been in this year’s draft.

1. Cornerback

- Brent Grimes and Chris Owens would be move valuable as backups. The Falcons need a top notch cornerback. Picking at #19 leaves some options such as Patrick Robinson and Kyle Wilson. The cornerback position is not very top heavy in this year’s draft.

2. Defensive End

- John Abraham can still generate a pass rush and disrupt the offensive backfield. The lack of a threat from the other side has left an opening for teams to double team Abraham. The double teams and Abraham’s injury and age concerns mean this is a major need for Atlanta. In the first round the Falcons might be looking at someone like Brandon Graham, Carlos Dunlap, and Everson Griffin.

3. Wide Receiver

- Roddy White is star and Michael Jenkins is solid but after that it’s limited. Look for the Falcons to address this position later in the draft. When you have a talent like Matt Ryan you need to surround him with talented weapons.

Over the past 3 seasons, only 4 teams have had fewer draft picks than the New Orleans Saints.  This trend is going to continue, with only 4 picks in 2009, as they've decided to build their team more through trades and Free Agency.  I'm not sure that's the best way to build a team, but they were in the NFC Title game just 3 years ago, so it can't be that bad.

I took a look at the last 3 drafts for the Saints, to try and see if they had any tendencies, which may help shape where they will go in 2009.  Here's a list of their picks from the first 3 rounds, as well as the number of games played by those picks:

Some notes:

• Only 7 of their 21 picks over the past 3 seasons have been in the first 3 rounds.  Reggie Bush is the best player of the bunch, although it's a little early on Sedrick Ellis.  Bush's games would have been higher without injuries.
  
• The Saints have drafted 3 players in the secondary early in the past 3 years, and 2 of them are pretty good players.  Harper has only missed 1 start in 2 years, and Porter was the starting CB this season before being lost for the season due to injury.
• Andy Alleman was pretty much a wasted pick.  He was active for only 1 game his rookie season, and was waived just before the 2008 season.  As it often happens in the NFL, Alleman caught on with the Dolphins, starting at G in 5 games, including the playoff game.
  
• These 7 guys have played in 135 of a possible 224 games, which is 60.3%.  This is lower than the Lions number, which I thought was already low.  Alleman definitely plays a part in this, as do injuries.  Teams must be successful with their high draft picks.
  
• Of the 22 starters in Week 1, only 10 of them were drafted by the Saints.  This is again lower than the Lions, which I can't say is a good sign.  It also proves my point correct that they like building their team through free agency and trades.
• The best player drafted by the Saints in these 3 years was taken at #252 overall, Marques Colston.  Was this really good scouting, or just dumb luck?  Either way, the Saints got a really good player only 3 players from "Mr. Irrelevant".

Lastly, here's a chart of what positions the Saints have picked over the past 3 years.  This should give us a glimpse into what the Saints could do in 2009:

Here's what I see:

• The Saints have drafted at least 1 player at every position on defense over the past 3 years, and I'm going to guess they'll go with at least 1 LB, and 1 S this season. 
  
• They haven't taken a QB, but they don't need to.  Same goes for TE, as they invested 2 draft picks already in Jeremy Shockey. 
  
• They drafted a Kicker last year, cut him before the season, signed him when Martin Gramatica got hurt, then cut him again when he missed an Extra Point.  I'm guessing they won't do that again.