Sir Purr
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- Mar 16, 2019
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With Brown, that means playing everywhere along the defensive line — spurring his college position coach to compare him to seven-time Pro Bowler Richard Seymour.
Gross-Matos primarily played as a defensive end at Penn State, but also took snaps as an inside rusher.
And Chinn is listed as a safety but was a hybrid defensive back — sometimes lining up deep, sometimes lining up in the slot, sometimes blitzing.
So what does that mean as all three players have become Panthers? There's a vision for how each of them can be used in multiple ways within the defensive scheme.
"I think when you look at a player like the ones we took and you say, 'Hey, we can use them in multiples ways,' it excites you," Rhule said Friday night. "At the same time, none of these guys are short-term fix guys. These are guys that are only going to get better and better and better.
"It just makes it exciting as a coaching staff to know that we're going to be able to develop them and use them all over the field."
Gross-Matos recorded 19 sacks and 36.5 tackles for loss at Penn State, becoming a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior. He said he feels comfortable playing both at end and tackle since he did it in college.
"I was asked to move all around the front four, so I have no problem going inside or outside and no issue with it preference-wise," Gross-Matos said. "So wherever they need me to be, that's where I'll be at."
Which is an offer Rhule will gladly accept.
"One of the things about him is he's a guy that can get on the edge, he can turn the corner. He's also gone inside and been a three-technique and rushed the quarterback," Rhule said. "He's a young guy. He's only at the beginning of his physical development at 266, 267 (pounds). I think he's going to continue to get big and provide us with that strong side defensive end presence to go along with Stephen Weatherly and Efe Obada."