The Carolina Panthers have traded back into the fourth round, swapping their early fifth-round pick along with their sixth rounder to move up and draft 6’2″, 235 pound defensive end Marquis Haynes from Ole Miss, continuing to check boxes of need on their defense – Haynes joins CB Donte Jackson and S Rashaun Gaalden in the 2018 defensive draft class. If there is one thing that Marquis Haynes did well, it was rush the passer, breaking the Ole Miss modern-era career sacks leader with 32, surpassing former Panthers defensive lineman Greg Hardy’s mark of 26.5. Essentially, he lived behind the line of scrimmage in college, holding the modern-era career record for tackles for loss with 47.5.
The 24-year old only started four games in 2014, but was a huge disruptive force, forcing three fumbles and adding 7.5 sacks during his first season with the team.
Haynes was named All-SEC for his final three years of school, and participated in the Reese’s Senior Bowl – Haynes athletic abilities appear to be his hallmark, with a combination of speed and power. While he is expected to play defensive end in Carolina, he has played standup outside linebacker in the past, and has those skills; he also doesn’t want people to be surprised by the amount of power he has in his game, especially since most people believe he is mostly a speed rusher – he currently weighs 235, but he plans to get to 242 or 243 over the course of the offseason.
After waiting 135 picks to be selected, Haynes thinks there was a reason the Panthers traded up for him – the top-ten prep school prospect in the country had originally committed to the University of North Carolina and was compared to Julius Peppers before ultimately ending up in Oxford, Mississippi; specifically coaches said they had similar explosions. And now he’ll be learning from the future Hall of Famer.
“I just want to learn,” Haynes said about meeting Peppers and what he can contribute. “Learn from the best vet in the league. Anything I can get, any advice they can give me, I’m going to use it to the best of my knowledge and the best of my abilities because any advice from any vet is going to be a good one. They’re not going to steer me wrong; they want me to contribute to the team the best that I can, and that’s what I’m here to do.”
“I guess it was meant for me to be in Carolina.”
