Sir Purr
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- Mar 16, 2019
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When the draft was over, head coach Matt Rhule talked about having the faith to trust the board. He also trusted his own two eyes.
Among the seven picks they made Saturday were four guys they coached at the Senior Bowl, and one guy (fourth-round running back Chuba Hubbard) who had a big day against Rhule's Baylor team two years ago.
But mostly, they stayed true to the process that Rhule talks about so often.
Rhule admitted that if they hadn't traded out of their first pick Saturday, the 109th overall, they'd have taken Hubbard anyway. Coming to that decision and trading back — running the risk of losing a player before they picked again at 126 — isn't the kind of thing you do if you're not committed to following a specific blueprint.
They also followed it with the first pick of the weekend.
General manager Scott Fitterer made it clear before the draft he wanted to add numbers to the roster, and if the right trade offer had come Thursday night, they'd have likely moved back from the eighth spot.
But they also took a look around them, and a look at their own evaluation, and took the player they needed instead of the one that would be easier to sell.
Cornerback Jaycee Horn is the kind of cover player you have to have if you're going to compete against Julio Jones or Michael Thomas or Mike Evans. Horn's also the kind of player they didn't have. If you're going to endure the pain of a season that yields a top-10 pick, you need to come out of it with a cornerstone player. They believe Horn is one.
Plenty of people questioned their decision to not take Justin Fields, and drafting a quarterback in the first round is the easiest way to earn forgiveness from a fan base — for a year or two at least.
But instead of rendering Sam Darnold moot, they did the thing his previous team never quite did.
Beyond using the first pick on Horn, the Panthers' draft class was a symbolic hug for Darnold, a recognition that to make this thing work, they needed to protect their quarterback and give him plenty of parts to work with.
They have a pair of very good starting receivers in DJ Moore and Robby Anderson. But recognizing that Anderson's in the final year of his contract, they brought in Terrace Marshall Jr. and Shi Smith over the weekend, adding targets who can be cultivated and incorporated into the offense. There's also third-round tight end Tommy Tremble , who could be both protection and target.
They also recognized the need to protect Darnold, which is why they invested in tackle Brady Christensen and guard Deonte Brown. Whether Christensen can remain the left tackle he was in college remains to be seen (they're not committing to positions yet), but the Panthers line needed both youth and quantity.
The Panthers didn't solve every problem on the roster over the weekend. They couldn't have. No team can. There's still uncertainty on the offensive line and in the secondary, and they may not have the amount of top-shelf talent to contend for a Super Bowl right now.
But by being honest with themselves, recognizing where they were, and moving with purpose in a specific direction, they may have moved themselves considerably closer to the goal.