Two years ago, the Carolina Panthers went back-to-back in the second and third round on cornerback, pulling the trigger on James Bradberry and Daryl Worley, who would end up starting across from each other in the secondary for the majority of the 2016 & 2017 seasons – fast forward to 2018 and the Panthers have double dipped in the secondary again – first drafting Donte Jackson from LSU to play outside cornerback with the 55th pick in the draft and following that with a self-described ‘hybrid defensive back’ in Tennessee’s Rashaan Gaulden in the third round.
While the 6’1, 197 pound Gaulden is listed as a cornerback, he has played at multiple positions, including nickel, outside corner and safety – GM Marty Hurney and Head Coach Ron Rivera said that they expected him to come in and compete for the starting safety spot with free agent signee Da’Norris Searcy. Gaulden started 10 games in his junior year and recorded 65 tackles, forced three fumbles and recovered three more; he also added six passes defensed over the course of the season.
The Panthers were slated to have pick number 88 as well, but they pulled a draft-day trade with the Green Bay Packers to move back 13 slots – picking up the fourth-round pick that they were missing when they came into the Draft in addition to a fifth rounder. Overall, the Panthers gained picks #147 and #101 – the latter of which happens to be the first pick of Day 3 of the Draft. Hurney called that pick a “valuable pick” – the team will have their choice of those available and surely the phones will be ringing in the morning with teams scrambling to move up. Some players still available that the Panthers may have interest in would be: defensive ends Josh Sweat, Duke Ejiofor, or Ogbonnia Okoronkwo; interior linemen Bradley Bozeman, Wyatt Teller or Will Clapp; running backs Ito Smith, Kalen Ballage or John Kelly; Shaquem Griffin, Skai Moore and Dalton Schultz may also be on the Panthers board.
While the Panthers have six draft picks (101, 147, 161, 197, 234 and 242) on the final day of the draft tomorrow and they are still finding the pieces, the puzzle that lives in their defensive secondary appears to be coming together.
