Ole Miss QB Matt Corral Selected in Third Round of NFL Draft by Carolina Panthers

After much speculation, Corral's name was called in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday night.

John Macon Gillespie | Apr 29, 2022

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LAS VEGAS -- Although Matt Corral did not hear his name during the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, he is finally a professional football player.

Corral's draft stock fluctuated widely during the lead up to the 2022 NFL Draft with some mock drafts having him in the first round and others well into the second. It was the latter of these projections that proved to be most accurate, however, as Corral's name was called with the No. 94 overall pick by the Carolina Panthers in the third round.

He was the fourth quarterback taken off the board in the 2022 draft.

Matt Corral

The quarterback spoke earlier in the week about conversations he had with former Ole Miss wide receiver A.J. Brown leading up to the draft. Brown was a part of a draft-centered trade on Thursday, going from the Tennessee Titans to the Philadelphia Eagles.

"He really just told me to be myself," Corral said. "That was the best advice that I got throughout this whole process. At the end of the day, you're going to end up where you're going to end up, and you might as well be yourself and have a team fall in love with who you really are."

Corral departs Ole Miss after leading the Rebels to a 10-win season in 2021 and a berth in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The Rebel quarterback went down in the first half of the bowl game with an ankle injury and did not participate in drills at the NFL Combine as a result. He did, however, go through drills at the Ole Miss Pro Day in front of representatives from 31 of the NFL's 32 teams.