The critical acclaim continues for general manager Scott Fitterer, head coach Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers for their performance in the 2022 NFL draft. This time, it’s Pro Football Focus handing down the props.
Sam Monson, the site’s lead NFL analyst, identified his biggest winners of the weekend—delivering roses to six of the league’s 32 teams. One of those lucky recipients, obviously, is the Panthers—who did a pretty nice job of digging themselves out of a hole according to Monson.
“They chose to roll the dice, eschewing passer with the sixth pick and taking Ikem Ekwonu instead, a tackle atop many draft boards who was in the running to be drafted No. 1 overall at one point,” Monson writes of their first-round selection.
The board somehow fell exactly how they would’ve liked it—with each of the class’ top three offensive linemen there for the taking. In fact, according to Fitterer, the team even had a few trade-down offers before cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner got scooped up.
Talk about an absolute dream for the swap-happy GM.
Carolina’s dream continued when they also saw another target begin to fall in Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral, who Monson pinpoints as their best pick of the draft.
“From that point, all the Panthers could do was wait and hope they had a chance at a quarterback in a year when the class won’t be coveted by the rest of the league,” he adds. “Late in the third round, they eventually decided they were in range to trade up and grab Corral, who had been expected to go in the second round or even sneak into the bottom of Round 1.”
The Panthers then finished off with some high-end athletes—linebacker Brandon Smith, defensive end Amaré Barno, offensive lineman Cade Mays and cornerback Kalon Barnes.
“Later on, the team added some legitimate athletes with upside, but this draft is about the first two picks,” Monson then notes. “Whether by luck or by design, the Panthers were able to come out of this draft with an elite player at No. 6 overall and a quarterback with starting potential. That’s not something that seemed possible heading into the event.”
Well, it doesn’t really matter now if the Panthers benefitted from luck or from design. What matters is they got what they needed, and they really needed it for what’ll be an important 2022 campaign for a lot of folks in that building.
