Dave Gettleman is not what you'd call a mysterious man.

If there is one thing we can safely assume about who our 1st-round selection will be; it's that a pick this early, more so than a later one, will be VALUE BASED. The question becomes; how does Gettleman (and the entire Panthers' war room brain-trust, for that matter) assess and determine value? Oh, but to be a fly on that wall..

We have heard the G-Man, time and again, assert that "There are some things you just can't coach." Height. Weight. Speed. Arm-length. Instincts/intangibles, etc. These are the kind of attributes that 1st-round picks have in spades. It's why they're 1st-rounders in the first place.

But this isn't just any 1st-round pick; it's a top 10. If trading Kony away for an 8-slot difference in the 2nd round is "Gold," the 8th overall pick is the Holy Grail. So who's it gonna be? Here's my take, lemme know yours in the poll..

Any of the elite DE's as Gettleman sees them are a no-brainer. Miles Garrett will obviously be gone, so we're talking about Solomon Thomas/Derek Barnett/some other final-hour high-riser. Elite-talent DE's are a precious commodity that simply don't grow on trees. The G-Force puts an unequivocal premium on winning in the trenches, as he has been on record numerous times with the wise, old addage "Big men allow you to compete." On top of the fact that we are long-in-the-tooth at DE, it is almost certain that we will add some new blood at some point during the draft; if not with that 8th overall spot.

So what if there are no elite DE's at 8? This is where things get dicey and subject to opinion, for those of us not privy to the Panthers' draft board. But to me, there are only 5 options (not necessarily ordered by rank):

1) O.J. Howard

The guy is head and shoulders above the rest at his position. He is NFL ready and even still has tremendous upside; especially with guys like Greg Olsen and Ed Dickson in the room. Not only is he a long-term answer to an ever-important position in today's game, but he will allow for us to move to more 2-TE sets, which Cam really seems to do well with historically.

2) Malik Hooker

Although there may or may not be legit question marks about his medical/intangibles (which the team will obviously determine themselves), this guy is a rare talent at the FS position. We need to inject some youth/special talent at the Safety position, and Hooker would certainly do that. The man is a super-instinctual center fielder with elite ball skills. Can we say turnover battle?

3) Jamal Adams

For similar need-based reasons as Hooker, but both should definitely qualify as meeting both value and need-based prerequisites. Adams is more of a tone-setter than a ball-hawk, but has the make-up to be a fixture in any team's defensive backfield for years to come. He seemingly does everything pretty well and will bring an edge to this defense; which we seemed to lack last season.

4) Leonard Fournette

Ah yes, here we are.. the RB quandary. Sometimes the obvious, played-out choice, is still the right one (depending on who else is available). Whether we take a bruiser like Fournette or a guy like mystery man #5, we need to inject some elite play-making ability into our offense. The fact is, RB's indirectly protect your QB; which is paramount for us, given that there really aren't any OL candidates at this pick (plus we seemed to have shored things up in free agency). A Stewart-Fournette rotation would PUNISH defenses, and we all know it.

5) Christian Mcaffrey

The high-riser of early April, and for good reason. The guy does it all. He is the player that some people want to doubt because of his build, or maybe even his race at a position not often "selected-early-while-being-white". Mcaffrey has all the makings of a major offensive and kick-return game-changer, something the Panthers desperately need right now. Not only is the perception that he can't "carry the load" for an offense probably a misconception, but he wouldn't have to be the entire backfield in Carolina. Shula can modify (maybe more-like overhaul) the role Tolbert had in the offense, and utilize him in a ridiculous assortment of ways. Not to mention, if you're old enough to remember what a consummate professional and performer his dad was in Denver, it makes you feel better about getting a sure commodity at the 8th pick.. or maybe that's just me..

With all that said; may democracy rule!