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p UP or Step OUT , a series on CSR that is intended to look at players who are playing well and highlight a few that need to step their game up. Think of it as a heat index for the Carolina Panthers; guys who are playing well are stepping up and those who aren’t need to improve their game or. . . step out.This week we’ll look at some guys that saved our behinds in the narrow win over the New York Giants. The others mentioned, well. . . they need to play better or maybe just step out of the way and let someone else take over.Steppin’ UPGraham GanoHeat Rating: #GanoLoGan贸I’m not a guy who likes kickers. But if you beast a 63 yard kick through the uprights in the final seconds to win a football game, you deserve to be commended. Graham Gano has been perfect on the season for us kicking field goals, and that’s about all you can ask out of a kicker. I might just finally be over the whole Harrison Butker situation. This man has now earned the money we gave him, especially given the amount of bad kicking we have seen in the league this year.D.J. MooreHeat Rating: With a Panther roar, she cried Moore Moore MooreThe coaches clearly made every effort to get their two young speedsters, Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore , increasingly involved in the game plan and that was one of the few decisions that paid off for them on Sunday against the Giants. Samuel of course had the beautiful catch and run for a touchdown, but Moore gets the nod in this column for his steady involvement throughout the day. He is still showing an incredible ability to break tackles and make people miss, and the Moore we can get him the ball, the better. For those wishing we had moored ourselves to Calvin Ridley in the draft, there is significant reason to believe that D.J. will be better once all is said and done.Mike AdamsHeat Rating: The not so new Spicy Chicken SandwichMike Adams securing two interceptions in one game at this age is like the NFL equivalent of the old guy working at your Chick-Fil-A being able to refill four of your drinks at once. Jokes aside, Adams has had a great season so far for the team once again, and as Eric Reid continues to acclimate himself , the two should make for a pretty darn good safety pairing down the stretch.Steppin’ OUTIan ThomasCold Rating: A cold apple turnoverIan Thomas has had some big shoes to fill since Greg Olsen went down with a foot injury, and quite frankly, it was only a matter of time until he had a game that showed why he was a fourth round pick in this year’s draft. He still has a lot to learn about playing tight end in general. He’s taken a lot of positive steps in that direction, and getting some live experience will benefit him long-term. However, we can’t afford two interceptions that were caused in part by a player being less than sure what he is supposed to do while running a particular route.Luke KuechlyCold Rating: A Snickers bar that is just too frozen to bite into right nowIt has decidedly been a quiet couple of games for the Panthers’ defensive field general, and quite frankly, we have grown used to seeing a lot more out of him. Some of this might get better as the team shuffles David Mayo off the field and Thomas Davis back onto it , but really, it just seems like Luke is playing a bit more conservative than before. No one could blame him given the head injuries he has sustained if that is the case, but right now, he isn’t having the impact we are accustomed to. It feels likely to me that this is only a temporary slump, but even stars need to be called out once in awhile.Norv TurnerCold Rating: Like if Han Solo were frozen in carbonite, but looked like he did in Episode VII.Fans of the Carolina Panthers cheered when Mike Shula was fired, but he was without a doubt the more creative coordinator in Sunday’s game compared to Norv Turner. It was an awful game from a play-calling perspective , particularly in the second half, and most certainly on the drive to win the game. Who runs the ball up the middle with 30 seconds left and no timeouts when you’re outside normal field goal range? In general, it looked like to me we would start each drive with a Christian McCaffrey run, it would succeed, and then we would just keep going to that well over and over again without switching things up. This coaching staff continues to somehow believe that a two score lead is enough to maintain a victory instead of stepping on their opponents throat for more points. The fact is, our defense is NOT as good this year as it has been recently, and we need those points. This is a game we should have fully controlled , instead of left up to a low percentage field goal to win at the last second. It never ceases to amaze me the wide disparities between the mock drafts and the ‘big board’ prospect rankings. The lead up to every draft is filled with mock draft and big board galore. Rarely is..."It never ceases to amaze me the wide disparities between the mock drafts and the ‘big board’ prospect rankings. The lead up to every draft is filled with mock draft and big board galore. Rarely is there consensus on any player and this edition is no different. What is different is Pro Football Focus has developed their ranking based on their own performance evaluations which favor production and game ratings over athleticism and potential.Pro Football Focus top 50 Big BoardSurprises in the Top 10While quarterback Kyler Murray is often the top selection for the Cardinals in many mock drafts I have yet to see him as the top ranked prospect. This ranking smells like someone trying to justify their mock draft selection for the Cardinals which honestly just doesn’t make sense for a team that drafted a quarterback in the first round last year. Murray may well be the top quarterback in this draft class but I just didn’t see enough from him to say he is the top player.The highest I’ve seen Tillery ranked before this was at the bottom of the first round but most rank him as a middle second round pick if not lower. Even if a team thinks Tillery is worth this ranking why spend such a high pick on him when he should still be there in the second round? Especially given the high number of defensive linemen with first round grades. Still if PFF is correct he might be a second round steal just as Kawann Short was.Other first round surprisesWhile that is an impressive statistic, I guess, few consider Arcega-Whiteside in the top five at his position much less in the top twenty-five. He may be great at contested catches but isn’t that what was said about Devin Funchess? I prefer wide receivers that don’t need to contest a catch because they have created separation. Hence I want no part of this guy this early in the draft.While I would be shocked to see Grier drafted in the first round I can see several teams going afte rhim early on day two. He might very well be worth it. Would you believe Winovich is ranked higher than Clelin Ferrell (35),Montez Sweat (46) and Rashan Gary (48) and on this big board? This is a great example of what I was referring to earlier about the rankings being skewed towards their own evaluations and nothing else. I’m sure you’ve seen Sweat and Gary in the top ten in most mock drafts. Perhaps the mock drafters are being skewed by athleticism and potential? Heaven forbid. Other surprisesHere’s another guy rated higher than Sweat and Gary due to his grades and ability to avoid injury. While the NFL does place value on those sorts of things they prefer athleticism and potential when it comes to investing high draft picks. Allen will probably be a good, solid player for some NFL team. I just think they won’t spend such a high pick on him nor would they bypass players with more potential but maybe not the production of Allen.