Film Room: Does Chauncey Golston Fit What The Panthers Are Building On Defense?

The Panthers’ defense under Phil Snow is defined by its flexibility, looking to put the best players on the field and then fit the scheme and style around them. Having signed Haason Reddick, Morgan Fox and Denzel Perryman in free agency, it therefore seems likely that the Panthers will possibly move towards more of a 3-4 defense than in 2020, though it is worth noting that they will likely continue to mix between the two. 

With that in mind, though the Panthers are definitely going to want to add defensive tackles in the draft after releasing Kawann Short and Zach Kerr this offseason, they will likely prioritise players who are able to play multiple spots along the line and who can switch smoothly between 3-4 and 4-3 fronts. One player who might therefore make sense is Iowa’s Chauncey Golston, who worked with the Panthers’ coaches at the Senior Bowl. 

So, we’ve taken a look at the tape to see if he would be a fit in Carolina. 

Golston spent most of his time at Iowa playing at defensive end in their four man front, but also kicked inside to defensive tackle in passing situations. While he doesn’t have the kind of top-tier quickness and burst to consistently win around the edge in the NFL, he has enough to force tackles to respect his outside threat and should cause issues for guards (Golston wore #57 at Iowa and #90 during the Senior Bowl):

 

He also has the power to bull-rush blockers which should serve him well on the interior:

 

At the Senior Bowl, Golston had a chance to work inside more consistently and showed the power to drive much larger blockers back to the quarterback:

 

 

While Golston is smaller than most 4-3 defensive tackles at 6’5 270lbs, he has good power for his size and his quickness should also be a plus trait for an interior rusher. 

However, what sets him apart as an interior rusher is the way he is able to generate leverage with his hands, and with nearly 34″ arms and 11″ hands he has the length to be really effective in this regard at the NFL level as well. He shows a nice swim move to win early if blocker’s over-commit to try and stop his power rush:

 

And shows an ability to set this up with a hand to the chest to force blockers to commit to stop the power rush which allows him to then work them off balance:

 

He also shows remarkable upper-body strength to rip defenders off-balance, and while this will be harder to do than it was in college it should be noted that he was still able to do this against some of the more highly regarded offensive linemen at the Senior Bowl:

 

 

This combination of power, leverage and good arm extension also makes him particularly effective when working off of play action:

 

As well as his ability to generate pressure with his power game, he also shows a good ability to generate lateral leverage with his hand usage, both working around the outside of blockers:

 

 

And winning back inside:

 

Though this is an area he could continue to improve at, as while he is one of the better technical rushers in this draft he doesn’t win inside as often as he might have. 

There are also a couple of areas he could certainly do to improve at, certainly in terms of consistency. While he does show an ability to play with good leverage, he needs to continue to work on this as there are times where he gets too upright and allows blockers to get to his frame:

 

 

 

And while his long arms give him a huge advantage in terms of keeping blockers at bay, he needs to make sure he gets them up early in plays to prevent blockers from crowding him and preventing him from being able to extend them fully:

 

 

He also could do with being more consistent in how he uses his inside arm when trying to create inside leverage, as while he does a good job of consistently creating leverage with his hands he can sometimes allow blockers back inside to play in a way that wouldn’t be possible if he was able to work his inside arm back underneath as he looks to turn the corner in order to allow him to drive through the outside shoulder of the blocker:

 

 

Golston has a particular style as a pass rusher, he is not super-twitchy and is very reliant on playing with consistently good leverage and technical fundamentals, but he does have really very good power for a player of his size and with his long arms and upper body strength he has a very real chance to be an effective rusher at the NFL level. The more consistent he can be with his pad level and arm extension and the more he can add to his pass rushing repertoire the better he will be. 

Of course, Golston needs to do more than rush the passer effectively, and at his size there will understandably be questions about whether he can hold up as a run defender on the interior. As in the run game, he shows the ability to play with good power and leverage to drive underneath blockers to the ball:

 

And has the quickness to penetrate into gaps on the interior:

 

And with his long arms and good upper body strength he is able to keep blockers at bay:

 

While showing an ability to work off of blocks similar to how he works off in the passing game:

 

 

All this is good, and Golston certainly is a good run defender on the whole, but there are also some areas that he either needs to improve or is always going to be somewhat limited in. 

Firstly, and somewhat unsurprisingly at this size, if teams do look to double team him then he can struggle to prevent himself being moved off the ball:

 

And this isn’t helped by his tendency, as in the passing game, to get a little too upright at times:

 

And he needs to make sure that he is quick to locate his hands as otherwise he can get crowded out:

 

 

As a run defender then, Golston has limitations, and if the Panthers are going to consistently ask him to play as the 3-tech in a 4-3 then there are going to be times when he is going to get moved out the way. However, if his main usage on rushing downs is as either a 4-3 defensive end or as the 3-tech in a 3-4 then he has a chance to be a plus run defender. 

Golston isn’t a flashy player, with much of his impact coming through technique and upper body strength, and he is unlikely to ever be a double-digit sack artist, but for a team like the Panthers that is looking for good pieces to fit around the elite players they already have on their defensive line then he would be a useful piece. 

The Panthers have made it clear they want to add to their defensive line in the draft, but with this draft class being short on do-it-all defensive tackles the Panthers could well look to add multiple rotation pieces who are able to contribute in the average rather than asking on player to do everything. If they do, the Golston would certainly make sense as somebody who can rush the passer and defend the run both from the outside and inside, even if he isn’t necessarily the player you put on the field in obvious passing situations. 

Certainly a name to consider come the middle rounds of the draft. 

(Top photo via Brian Ray/hawkeyesports.com)