Carolina Panthers’ all defense 2020 NFL Draft was absolutely brilliant
The Carolina Panthers going with all defensive players in the 2020 NFL Draft was unique, but they pulled it off well.
I absolutely love what the Carolina Panthers did in the 2020 NFL Draft. This is a team that knows they are not ready to compete in the NFC South and they did a great job this offseason of building towards the future. New head coach Matt Rhule is the right guy to lead them going forward and the Panthers have a strong ownership group that will give them all of the support needed to compete.
In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Panthers did not worry about building a roster to compete this upcoming season. Instead, they simply took the best player on the board no matter the situation. Every time around, that player just happened to be on the defensive side of the ball.
The Carolina Panthers made seven selections in the 2020 NFL Draft, all seven of those players play defense. They did not worry about staying balanced. All this team cared about was added as much top-tier talent to their roster as possible.
Their 2020 NFL Draft haul began with the selection of Derrick Brown, a defensive tackle out of Auburn, at No. 7 overall. Brown was an absolute monster in the middle of the defensive line in college, showing an impressive combination of quickness off of the ball and power at the point of attack.
Derrick Brown the right choice for Panthers. light. Related Story
Brown is an elite-level run defender who can create some pressure from the interior as well. He should step in as an immediate impact player for this team and will be an important part of their defense for many years.
The Carolina Panthers found great value with their early second-round selection, snagging Yetur Gross-Matos, an exciting edge rusher out of Penn State. Gross-Matos is a long and athletic edge defender who has a ton of natural upside as a pass rusher on the edge.
He is certainly a bit of a project player, but Gross-Matos has a chance to quickly become a major playmaker at the next level. A defensive line built around Brown, Gross-Matos and last year’s first-round pick Brian Burns is worth getting excited about.
With their next pick, the Carolina Panthers got aggressive, trading back into the second round to snag Jeremy Chinn, an exciting safety prospect out of Southern Illinois. Chinn is an incredibly athletic defensive back who shows impressive playmaking skills on the back-end and the necessary toughness and physicality to make plays in-the-box. Make no mistake about it, Chinn was a massive steal with the final pick of the second round.
light. Related Story. A lot to like about Chinn to Carolina
Their run on talented defensive players continued on Day 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft, as they began the day with a couple of more talented defensive backs. Troy Pride Jr. is an extremely fast and explosive cornerback prospect who shows fantastic natural ball skills. He has a chance to be an important playmaker for the Panthers on the outside.
Kenny Robinson is an interesting safety prospect who made a quick trip to the XFL after getting kicked out of West Virginia for an academic violation. Robinson is a playmaker on the back-end who has a tremendous nose for the football. He also shows the ability to come up and make plays against the run when necessary.
In the sixth-round, the Panthers took a prospect that Rhule is extremely familiar with, former Baylor defensive tackle Bravvion Roy. Roy is a big and powerful nose tackle who did have some pass-rush production in college (5.5 sacks last season) but is much better against the run. Roy is a true space-eater who should be able to play on early downs for Carolina as a rookie.
With their seventh and final selection of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Panthers brought in Stantley Thomas-Oliver III, a long and athletic cornerback prospect out of Florida International. Thomas-Oliver is certainly a bit of a project player, but his impressive length and top-end speed make him a worthy selection in the seventh round.
Simply put, the Carolina Panthers did an incredible job of finding value throughout all seven rounds of the NFL Draft. It was a bit odd to see them only take defensive players, but if that is where the value is, I do not blame them for simply taking the best players available. The Panthers clearly put a premium on length and athleticism with this draft class and it could quickly pay off for them in a major way.
Grading each pick made by Panthers in 2020 Draft. light. More
Nobody expects the Panthers to be serious competitors in 2020, but if they can keep putting together draft classes like this, they will be a force to be reckoned with sooner, rather than later.