Carolina Panthers UDFA Paddy Fisher facing an uphill battle

In year two of the Matt Rhule era, the Carolina Panthers picked up where they left off last year in the 2021 NFL Draft — on the defensive side of the ball. Carolina’s entire 2020 NFL Draft class was spent on defense, and they followed that by using their top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn, making him the first defensive player off the board in this draft, period.

Although the Carolina Panthers with head coach Matt Rhule and GM Scott Fitterer emphasized offense on day two of the draft, they wound up spending four picks on the defensive side in all from this class, and they made one undrafted free agent signing on that side of the ball as well.

That signing was a pretty big one.

The Panthers signed former Northwestern star linebacker Paddy Fisher as their only undrafted free agent defensive signing, and while Fisher is entering a great situation in Carolina, he’s also facing an uphill battle.

What Fisher has going against him is a history of players with his lack of speed and overall athleticism finding any sort of success in the modern NFL. It’s difficult to find athletic comps for Fisher who are presently even in a starting role on any NFL team.

What Fisher has going for him at this point may significantly outweigh his lack of athletic ability, at least by comparison to his peers in the NFL.

The Carolina Panthers have a starting trio of Denzel Perryman, Haason Reddick, and Shaq Thompson at linebacker at the moment, but behind those guys, it’s undoubtedly going to be an open competition for roster spots.

It feels like Fisher has been at Northwestern for about the last 10 years, even though it’s only been since 2016. In four years as a starter for Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats, Fisher racked up 404 total tackles, 24.5 tackles for a loss, 11 forced fumbles, 14 pass breakups, and four interceptions.

He showed a tremendous feel for reading plays whether it was a run or playing in pass coverage, and those instincts often masked Fisher’s lack of athleticism. Wherever the football was, Fisher was right there, too.

At the NFL level, Fisher’s athleticism will be exploited and his margin for error will be extremely slim. He’s going to have to prove he can constantly be in the right place at the right time.

He certainly has the experience on the field with 48 college games under his belt and he’s been extremely productive. Fisher will have to make himself uncuttable on special teams and work his way into the defensive rotation just like any undrafted prospect.

With that being said, you can’t help but bet on this guy’s productivity despite his lack of athleticism. The unfortunate reality is, some guys are just really good college players but not great in the pros.

For Fisher, that story is certainly not yet written.