The second statement that Rashaan Gaulden made on the phone after he was drafted to the Carolina Panthers in the third round was that he can play any position in the defensive backfield.
After seeing Gaulden line up all over the field during last weekend’s rookie mini-camp, Ron Rivera and the Panthers are clearly going to be taking him up on that assertion.
“I mean that’s just the confidence that I have,” Gaulden said the night he was drafted. “That’s just through the coaches that I’ve had. They’ve trained me to be able to play any position in the backend. I can execute safety at a very high level and if that’s what the Panthers see me as, then I will execute that.”
“The way I attack the game is try to get the ball however I can. I’m just thinking about the football whenever I can as far as forcing fumbles, getting tipped balls, or even making interceptions. That’s just a major emphasis of my game. That goes beyond just playing the game. I think about that when I’m off the field. I think about that throughout my day. Just trying to figure out ways how I can get the ball.”
“We talked about the things that we want to do that are different than last season and some of the things that are the same. Some of the techniques that we’ll play, we’re going to play as much as we did last year. I’m trying to be vague because I don’t want to talk about what we’re going to do in terms of game planning. But we have a good feel and understanding of what we wanted. Both these guys fit that criteria. That’s a big part of the reason why we drafted them. As Marty said, one gives us defensive corner position and nickel. The other one gives us defensive safety position and nickel. There’s some position flexibility with these guys.”
-Ron Rivera on his two new defensive backs
If what we saw on the field this weekend is any indication, he’ll have multiple ways to get his hands on the ball – even though Rivera said that Gaulden looked a touch rusty when playing pure safety, the coach whose defensive back end was one of the worst in the league from a statistical standpoint over the second half of the 2017 season was impressed with Gaulden’s athleticism over the two day mini-camp as they moved him all over the field from a single-high look to directly over the defensive line in the box. On one particular completion over the middle to fellow 2018 draft pick DJ Moore, Gaulden met him at the catch point – had this been a real game with contact, Moore might have gotten lit up. But as it was just a helmets-and-shells practice in mid-May, Gaulden let up on the first-round pick.
Gaulden will use the next few days to meet with coaches Jeff Imamura and Richard Rodgers to try to knock some of that rust off; Gaulden mentioned meeting with Rodgers – who is the assistant defensive backs/safeties coach – during his pre-draft visit for some install and knows that he’s behind when it comes to knowing the playbook compared to incumbents Mike Adams, Colin Jones, Demetrious Cox, Dezmen Southward and Damian Parms, all of whom spent 2017 with the Panthers.
“I’m going to use these 9-10 days to meet with my coach individually, be able to understand that these guys that are getting ready to come back for OTAs know their stuff,” Gaulden said about the time between rookie mini-camp and OTAs, the next round of which begins May 22. “So I need to be on that level and be able to separate myself.”
While he may be able to separate himself from the rest of the safeties, Gaulden is going to have trouble separating himself from his teammate in the defensive backfield after being drafted a round after talkative LSU cornerback Donte Jackson; Marty Hurney and Rivera are hoping that Jackson and Gaulden can anchor the secondary for the foreseeable future – even if they have different volume levels while they’re on the field. While Jackson likes to constantly express himself on the field, Gaulden will take a more constrained approach to slowing down Julio Jones, Michael Thomas and the rest of the NFC South’s prolific passing offenses.
“I’m more reserved, I take this really seriously,” said Gaulden when asked about the budding link with Jackson. “It’s a job and I’ve always dreamed of being here; he always tells me to lighten up, but I’m going to let him be that energy and that talker that he is – he gives me a big boost. We already have a really good relationship.”
“It’s very motivating coming into a place that says you have an opportunity. Really, that’s all you need is an opportunity; there’s guys that [are] already here on the back end – everything that I’m doing throughout this process is trying to separate myself, trying to be able to develop a relationship with the guys on the back end and all over the defense and to be able to get used to the verbiage and the sets.”
The Tennessee hybrid defensive player played all over the field in college after his defensive backs coach Willie Martinez, who is now with Cincinnati, preached being an interchangeable defensive back – a player that knows how to play outside corner, nickel corner and safety; he’s one of many Panthers that have been drafted the past few years with the ability to slide into multiple positions, from buffalo nickel/linebacker Shaq Thompson to running back/slot receiver Christian McCaffrey. Those faces are recognizable to Panthers fans throughout Charlotte, but Gaulden isn’t being recognized as he walks from his temporary home in a hotel room two blocks from the stadium to work every day. Fans don’t stop him on the streets yet, but if he makes the kind of impact on the defense the Panthers hope he can, they will.
“There’s a process to that, you’ve got to make a name for yourself first.”
That’s exactly what Gaulden aims to do.
