Panthers add speed, attitude with LSU CB Donte Jackson, Vols S Rashaan Gaulden

Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney wasn’t messing around when he said he wanted to add speed at every position.

A night after taking Maryland wide receiver D.J. Moore in the first round, Hurney selected blazing fast LSU cornerback Donte Jackson on Friday in the second round with the 55th overall pick.

With the 85th selection in the third round, the Panthers took Tennessee safety Rashaan Gaulden, who might not have Jackson’s straightaway speed but plays fast, according to scouting reports.

Hurney then traded the 88th pick to Green Bay for the Packers’ fourth- and fifth-round selections. Adding the fourth-round pick means Carolina will have the first pick Saturday, which Hurney called a “a valuable spot.”

Jackson, a two-year starter for the Tigers, was part of an SEC-winning relay team at LSU and tied for the fastest 40-yard dash time among corners with a 4.32-second clocking at the combine.

For good measure, he knocked a hundredth of a second off his 40 at LSU’s pro day.

“We talk about adding speed,” Hurney said. “That’s about adding as much speed as you can.”

Jackson also does not lack for confidence.

Asked if he considers himself the fastest defensive back in the draft, Jackson said he thinks he’s the fastest skilled position player in the draft.

“I think my speed is unique, it’s different. I can get out of bed any day and I’ll run fast. I don’t think a lot of guys can honestly say that,” Jackson said on a conference call with Charlotte media. “I have a lot of confidence in my speed.”

The Panthers needed to address the secondary after trading cornerback Daryl Worley and cutting veteran safety Kurt Coleman.

Gaulden, who played nickel, safety and corner at Tennessee, will begin his NFL career at safety. Jackson can play nickel and outside corner.

“Obviously, it was a position we wanted to help and the draft fell right,” Hurney said. “Donte was a guy that we were really happy with at 55. And then Rashaan is just a football player. One of our scouts referred to him as a Swiss Army knife. He will come down you and hit you. He’s a physical player.”

The knocks on Jackson are his slight frame (5-11, 178) and his sub-par coverage and ball skills.

But he brings a swagger and confidence to the field — and the Panthers need another corner opposite James Bradberry.

After the first round of the draft ended Thursday and Jackson hadn’t heard his name called, he tweeted about how the “chip on my shoulder just got bigger.”

Jackson, who watched the draft with his family in his New Orleans hometown, was asked how big that chip was.

“The size of this hotel I’m in,” Jackson said.

There’s little question that Jackson has game-changing speed. He was a state champion in the 100 and 200 meters in high school, and was part of an LSU 400-meter relay team that finished first in the SEC outdoor track championships in 2017.

Scouts are less certain about Jackson’s coverage ability. He had four interceptions in three seasons at LSU, but had a solid junior season with 49 tackles, 10 pass breakups and one pick.

Jackson had plenty to say about his critics.

“If there’s guys that sit there and say that I can’t cover or I’m too small, they obviously haven’t looked at the film. They obviously haven’t looked at me playing in the SEC,” Jackson said.

Hurney says Jackson likely fell to the second round because of his size. But he says the idea that Jackson lacks ball skills is off-base.

“He makes plays on the ball. He’s sudden. He’s fast,” Hurney said. “You watch the last minute and a half of the Auburn game, he makes like six plays a row at the end of the game. He’s a cover corner.”

Gaulden (6-1, 193) was a two-year starter for the Vols. And though he only had one interception throughout his college career, he racked up three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries last season.

And like Jackson, Gaulden is not timid.

“Man, I can play any position in the defensive backfield,” he said. “That’s just the confidence that I have, that’s just through the coaches that I’ve had.”

Gaulden infamously responded to jeers from Alabama fans in October by flipping off the student section, an incident he had to explain to teams during the pre-draft process.

“There’s no time in football for that to happen. I learned from that incident,” he said. “It doesn’t take away from how passionate I play the game and just how much of a chip on my shoulder that I play with.”

Both Jackson and Gaulden have big goals. Gaulden says he wants to help the Panthers win a championship, while Jackson says he’s not satisfied arriving in the NFL as a second-round pick.

“Yeah, it’s a high draft pick, but I’ve got way more milestones to fulfill,” Jackson said. “I want to be doing this for a long time. So I want to be a Hall of Famer. That’s the only thing that’s on my mind.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2018 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Panthers add speed, attitude with LSU CB Donte Jackson, Vols S Rashaan Gaulden."