Panthers draft grade? Give it an “I.” Matt Rhule, Marty Hurney did what had to be done
You can’t always get what you want in the NFL draft. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.
With apologies to the Rolling Stones — who will one day come back to Charlotte and Bank of America Stadium after we return to semi-normalcy — that’s what the Carolina Panthers’ 2020 draft felt like. They didn’t get everything they wanted. But they got a whole lot of what they needed over a three-day period while picking seven defensive players in seven attempts.
This 7-for-7, all-defense-all-the-time draft made for a good talking point and a fun headline. But it was also grounded in substance.
“You can’t fix everything” in an NFL draft, as head coach Matt Rhule said Saturday night after it was all done. The Panthers could have used, say, another offensive lineman or two in the draft. Maybe a tight end.
But the offense was much further along than the defense before the draft, and good defensive players usually require some capital. So the Panthers spent all seven picks on the side of the ball that was in the worst shape. It seemed smart.
Carolina allowed 29.4 points per game last season — even with Luke Kuechly playing 16 games — and that was an all-time franchise high. Teams decimated the Panthers’ defense like it was a grocery-store aisle freshly stocked with toilet paper. The Panthers gave up 31 rushing touchdowns, the most any NFL team had allowed on the ground since the 0-16 Detroit Lions in 2008.
Carolina spent a ton of money on offense over the past three months since hiring Rhule, including big-ticket purchases at quarterback (Teddy Bridgewater) and wide receiver (Robby Anderson), as well as a $64 million contract extension for running back Christian McCaffrey that made him the highest-paid back in the game.
It was time for a defense-first draft, and everyone knew that. But still — 7-for-7?
Rhule hopes for defensive growth
It was, quite literally, historic. I have covered Panthers’ drafts for 26 years and never seen one tilt nearly so far toward one side of the ball. It was the first time in more than 50 years that an NFL team had at least seven draft picks and used every single one of them on defense (Cleveland took seven straight offensive players in 1985, then won its division finishing 8-8).
“It’s unique,” Rhule said of the all-defense approach, which he added could have been scuttled a time or two except that teams right before the Panthers took the offensive player (usually an offensive lineman) that the team had their eyes on.
And, Rhule added in what sounded a bit like one of his personal commandments: “I think so many people make bad decisions because they are so worried with how things are going to be viewed.”
Rhule has a seven-year contract and doesn’t need to worry about perception, although none of the Panthers’ seven defensive draft picks were individually that bold.
Collectively, though, it was a striking draft performance for a team that needs to start dazzling people again if it ever wants to fill that stadium up the way the Stones will. Rhule called them “a young cohort of defensive guys who are going to grow together.” That’s certainly the hope.
The question is how many of those seven can really, really play. Not just as backups and special-teamers, but as stars.
The 7-for-7 approach will be memorable for months — three defensive linemen and four defensive backs. But to be truly memorable for years, it will also need to produce a couple of Pro Bowlers. And right away, it must produce several starters.
“With the situation this year for us, with the guys we have coming back, we’re going to have to depend on rookies,” Rhule said. “Even if you don’t depend on them early, typically, with injuries, you’re going to depend on them late. Obviously I’d love to go out there with all veterans — guys who have been through it for a long time and are all battle-tested. But that isn’t always the case.”
Derrick Brown, the first-round defensive tackle from Auburn, should start from Day 1 and needs to be great. Fourth-round pick Troy Pride Jr. has a chance to be a first-day starter, too, in part because he plays a position where Carolina is in serious need. Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos and safety Jeremy Chinn should, at least, play special teams but will likely get some time in rotation with the first team.
Panthers’ grade? ‘I’ for interesting
I am strongly against grading drafts immediately after they are over, because really, no one has any idea at that point. But this draft for the Panthers should get an “I” for incomplete.
That “I” could also stand for interesting, because that’s what this was. That’s part of what Rhule was hired to do. Yes, he has to win — eventually. By Year 3, certainly. But along the way, part of the point is to make it interesting for a team that needs to re-engage its fan base.
The Panthers did that this weekend, and that bodes well for the immediate future. I feel better about Carolina now than I did before the draft begin, and most of its fans undoubtedly do, too.
And for a team that needs every positive vibe it can get at the moment, at least that’s something.
