The Carolina Panthers made history in the 2020 NFL draft, becoming the first team in the common era to make all of their picks on defense. It’s not hard to see why. Last season, the team ranked second-to-last in points allowed per game and since then they have lost six starters.
Given the situation, they will have to lean heavily on this rookie class, as Matt Rhule admitted yesterday. So, how did they do?
Here are our early letter grades for the Panthers’ class of 2020.
No. 7: Auburn DT Derrick Brown
Carolina needed help at defensive tackle, but taking one in the top 10 is not a good use of draft capital. Brown’s mediocre athletic testing makes it even harder to swallow. His combine performance ranked him in the 64th percentile among interior defensive linemen.
Unless Brown becomes the next Fletcher Cox or Aaron Donald, they might wind up regretting this one, especially because Isaiah Simmons was still available. The Cardinals knew better than to pass on a prospect like that and they didn’t hesitate to snap him up with the next pick. Apparently, the Panthers had Brown higher on their board, which raises questions about their evaluation process.
That said, Brown is a powerful and disruptive lineman who frequently drew double teams in college, which may have contained his pass rushing production. He’ll be great defending the run, so if he can develop more moves and becomes a legitimate threat to get to the quarterback, it will help justify this pick a lot.
Grade: C