NFL draft live updates Day 3: Panthers all-defense throughout seven rounds

Day 3 of the NFL draft means rapid-fire picks as the Carolina Panthers and other 31 teams make selections in rounds Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7.

The Panthers traded up Friday out of the third round with the Seattle Seahawks to take Southern Illinois safety Jeremy Chinn with the 64th overall pick. Earlier in the second round, they took EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos from Penn State.

The Panthers knew they had numerous holes on defense, and they totally went in that direction: Seven of seven picks were defensive players, finishing with Florida International cornerback Stantley Thomas-Oliver, the 221st overall pick.

Who the Panthers picked in the NFL draft:

Analysis of Carolina Panthers draft picks ...

Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown

It would have been a head-scratcher if the Panthers took an offensive player with the 7th pick, considering their needs everywhere on the defense. Brown is a safe pick; you know exactly what position he will play, in contrast to a hybrid linebacker-defensive back like Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons. Barring injury, he has the makings of a 10-year NFL starter.

He should be a Day 1 starter. Defensive line is a unit of major need for the Panthers (as is pretty much the entire defense). A new coaching staff typically isn’t wedded to veterans. Brown used all four years of college eligibility, so he’s both physically and mentally mature. It will be a surprise if he doesn’t get a majority of the snaps this preseason to fast-track development.

Penn State EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos

At 6-foot-5, 266 pounds, Gross-Matos and has a lot of potential and fits a 4-3 defensive scheme well, despite not getting into football until five years before he eventually signed with Penn State. He was also recruited by Rhule at Temple, but Gross-Matos said that his dad had to remind him that Rhule was head coach with the Owls during that time.

Gross-Matos had 19 career sacks at Penn State, which ranks tenth in school history. His 37 tackles for a loss ranks No. 11.

Southern Illinois safety Jeremy Chinn

Consider him Isaiah Simmons-light. Chinn, 6-foot-3 and 221 pounds, has often drawn comparisons to Simmons during the run-up to the draft. Simmons, 6-4 and 238, ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Chinn ran a 4.45 at the Senior Bowl, where he posted a 41-inch vertical leap.

Both players are considered “hybrids” who can play multiple positions. Chinn made 36 starts in college. He was a consensus FCS All-American who had 243 career tackles, 13 interceptions and six forced fumbles.

Some NFL scouts began to think he could be an early round draft pick after some strong performances late in the season, including a 15-tackle game against Western Illinois and a 12-tackle game against North Dakota State, both in November. Later in the Senior Bowl, Chinn impressed at safety and at cornerback.

Notre Dame corner Troy Pride Jr.

Pride, who played high school ball at Greer (SC), is the fourth straight defensive player selected by Carolina. At 5-foot-11, 193-pounds, Pride has 4.4-second 40-yard dash speed and a 35.5-inch vertical jump. Pride expected to run a 4.3 40 in NFL workouts and several NFL scouts thought a time like that would push him in the second or third round.

Pride had 121 tackles and four interceptions at Notre Dame, including 40 tackles, one interception and six pass breakups last season. Pride also ran track for the Irish, finishing with the team’s best 60- and 200-meter dash times for the season.

West Virginia safety Kenny Robinson

The Panthers made their fifth straight defensive draft pick with Robinson, a 6-2, 200 pounder who most recently played for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL. On Tuesday, Robinson wrote a letter in the Player’s Tribune to tell NFL teams that he was “the most NFL-ready prospect in the draft.”

“I know the XFL is not the NFL,” wrote Robinson, who had 21 tackles, two interceptions and a sack in the XFL. “But I could tell the difference in the speed of the game the second I stepped on the field. There was definitely an adjustment, but I believe I made it pretty easily. And I know the NFL game is even faster than the XFL. And I believe I can make that transition just as easily.”

In college, Robinson was All-Big 12 at safety who was second in the league in interceptions and allowed just a 36 percent completion rate as a sophomore. But Robinson was dismissed from the West Virginia program before his junior year because of a student code of conduct violation. Transferring became complicated when his mother got sick with cancer and a $1,500 school bill prevented West Virginia from releasing his transcript, so Robinson jumped to the XFL, in part to help take care of his mom.

Still, Pro Football Focus had him going in the first round in one of its mock drafts. And the Panthers are betting that Robinson, who was tracking as a high round pick with another year of school, is a late round steal.

Baylor defensive tackle Bravvion Roy

Would it have really counted as Matt Rhule’s first Panthers draft without a Baylor player selected?

Roy, a 6-foot-1, 331-pound interior lineman, was a big part of Rhule’s bringing Baylor back to football relevance before Rhule moved on to the Panthers this spring. After playing six games as a freshman in 2016, Roy was a core piece his next three seasons, but made a huge jump last fall in productivity.

Roy had 5 1/2 sacks and 13 tackles for loss last season, more than doubling what he did in the prior three seasons combined. He also had the only forced fumble of this college career last season.

Roy was the sixth consecutive defensive player chosen by the Panthers, and the second interior lineman, joining Auburn’s Brown. Roy probably doesn’t have Roy’s versatility to move around the various positions in pass-rush, but he’ll be a run-stopper for a team that gave up an NFL-worst 31 rushing touchdowns last season.

Florida International cornerback Stantley Thomas-Oliver

Thomas-Oliver switched positions from wide receiver to defensive back his final two college seasons. He was actually Conference USA all-freshman in 2016, with 35 catches for 485 yards and a touchdown. Once he switched to defense in 2018, he had quick impact with 11 starts. His breakout game that season was against Western Kentucky, with seven tackles, an interception and four pass-breakups.

He had a key interception last season in Florida International’s upset of Miami, along with two pass-breakups in that game.

He has good size for a cornerback at 6-2 and 184 pounds. His measurables at the NFL Combine (a 4.48 in the 40-yard dash and a 34-inch vertical jump) show he’s a good enough athlete.

Maybe it was destined which team would draft him -- his college team was the “Panthers” and he attended Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, Fla.

This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 11:29 AM.