Tag Archives: panini contenders 2017

NFL

Barnett, Derek

Card: Panini Contenders 2017 Draft Ticket
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

Derek Barnett played collegiality at Tennessee. He’d moderately impress at the combine, with a 6.96 3 cone drill- leading all defensive linemen but his numbers otherwise didn’t eye pop off the charts. Truly though his breadth of work can be found in his stats, as run stuffing monster, he posted 20.5 TFL and 10 sacks in his true Freshman year of 2014.  Then after chipping in another 10 sacks in 2015, he was a first team All-American with 12 sacks and 18 TFL in 2016. Teams salivated at Barnett’s potential, and he was considered an edge rusher both from defensive end or as a outside linebacker.

The Philadelphia Eagles snatched  him up with the 14th pick overall of the 2017 NFL draft.  During the preseason, he received high grades and pushed for starting time. He finished his rookie season with 21 tackles, 3 assists, and 5 sacks in his rookie season, earning rookie honors and winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles.

NFL

Charlton, Taco

Card: Panini Contenders 2017
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker Redemption

Taco Charlton appeared to me via a box breaker redemption. I can not emphasize how much I hate redemptions. It just says to me that the manufacturer of the product had a deadline to meet and failed to get the autograph from said player before time was up. Still Panini did make this pretty painless for me, and the redemption was covered pretty quickly. I have been very impressed with the 2017 set otherwise. It has some good subsets and the design is pretty solid. I can not say the same for Taco’s autograph- which is a wholly uninspired “TACO  Ch….”  The back of his card is pretty funny actually. It makes a ton of food and hunger related references, but surprisingly doesn’t talk about Mexican food or taco condiments at all. Taco is not Charlton’s given name, but he sure does like them.

Taco played for the Michigan Wolverines from 2013 to 2016. He really began to light it up in his Junior year. The defensive end had 30 total tackles, 8.5 TFL,  1 FF, and 5.5 sacks. After that he took his game to an entirely different level in 2016, posting 40 total tackles, 13.5 TFL, and 10 sacks. With the physical attributes (6’6″, 277) and unique moves, he’s got the talent to play in the NFL.  It seemed predestined for Taco to land in Dallas as their first round choice in 2017, where he has already landed a deal promoting the Mexican fast food chain Taco Bueno and later with Big Red soda.

Charlton played sparingly his rookie year. He finished with 19 combined tackles, 3 sacks, a pass defended, and 1 forced fumble.

NFL

Lawrence, Des

Card: Panini Contenders 2017
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

Des Lawrence got no respect playing for North Carolina. The 6’1″, 185 defensive back put up 175 total tackles,  8 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 29 passes defensed, and 3 interceptions for 29 yards over his 4 years playing for the Tar Heels. Projected as a zone corner with some skills, who could handle the rigors of the slot, Lawrence was not selected in the 2017 NFL Draft.  The Lions however picked him up as a priority free agent in May. Before the preseason , he had an undisclosed injury and cleared waivers and reverted to the Lions injured reserve.