Everything GM Scott Fitterer Said at His Pre-Draft Press Conference

See what the Panthers GM had to say ahead of this year's draft.

If the decision has already been made

"No. We're still going through the process. Obviously since February, the combine, and everything else, there's been some clarity. But we've made a conscious effort to have an open mind about this. We have our last group in today. We have the coaches Wednesday and Thursday of this week and then at that point, we'll get together and make that decision. But we've got some clarity through this process."

If he told Bryce he was the pick, prompting him to cancel the rest of his visits

"No, there has not [been any communication]. That's a decision he made on his own."

If they've trimmed the number of quarterbacks they're considering down from four

"No. Again, that's a part of that continuous process. We are consciously trying to keep all four in there so we can ask every question, look at it from every angle to make sure we're making the right decision. This is a big decision for the organization. We don't want to lock on to something early on just to decide that's our guy. We want to keep this process open all the way through."

How good he felt about the QBs to move up to No. 1

"We felt strongly about a group of guys up there. And we knew this is something that we wanted to do. We wanted to be aggressive and go up and do this. I think through this process we made the right decision. I feel really good about going from nine to one. I'd hate to be at nine right now trying to figure this out. I know we made the right decision to go up there. We're going through the right process of being thorough --checking every box that we can and then the next step is going to be execution on draft day."

Any concern with batted balls with Bryce Young being a shorter quarterback

"I'll say this, I think when Russell Wilson came out he had three balls batted down his senior year. Bryce had two. If you're talking just about Bryce, this doesn't seem to be an issue. When you grow up a shorter quarterback, you learn how to evolve your game and adapt and see the field. And he's done that. C.J.'s evolved his game. Will's evolved his game. They all develop. There's certain tools that they have."

Who has final call on the decision

"I look at it as Frank and I will make that decision. I don't anticipate that at all. I haven't yet asked him. But we were laughing the other day because it's becoming clear for us -- maybe a certain way that we may want to go or who it may be."

If Bryce Young's weight is a concern

"I think nutritionally we can do some things to educate him. We can get him in the weight room. You can see when you really look at his lower body, his lower body has gotten bigger. He's put on a lot of mass down there. He's going to naturally put on size as he ages. Again, going back to Russ, he may have came out 206 pounds. Now he's 220. I mean, guys just grow. That's something he can control. That's something we can help him with. We can't control the height."

Message to Matt Corral

"He's come in he's ready to compete. He's 220 pounds, looks like a different guy when he showed up. He's in great shape. Great spirits. I haven't talken to him directly about anything that's going on right now. I did talk to his agent. There's nothing promised to anyone. You get what you earn."

Importance of S2 cognition test

"Well, obviously we use it so we believe in it. But it's a tool. There's a lot of different tools that we look at. Analytics and everything else. It all comes back to the tape and that's the most important thing that we do. S2 is just another tool that we use. It is something we believe in though."

Time spent on the first pick versus all the other picks

"I think you want to have some balance. It's a huge decision for the organization. So, the evaluation portion of it -- a lot of that was done prior to this. We've gone back just to rewatch, refresh. But I think the more time than any other position or any other pick has been about the number one pick. How do we breakdown the person? We spend more time sitting with them, trying to get to understand them. Is this the person that can lead our franchise? Is he going to validate why we went up to one? Is he going to make the difference?"

Team needs

"I think you always need a pass rusher. We could beef up the offensive line. We've done a lot of things at receiver but we could always add a receiver. Linebacker. I mean, no team is ever complete. The whole part of free agency is to be able to go into the draft to pick the best player available. We've done that. Going into it, we're aware of where our weaknesses are and we'd like to address it but we're not going to force it."

Possibility of trading the No. 1 pick

"As of right now, I don't see us trading the pick. We'll always pick up the phone but I think we're in position where we like where we're at. We're convicted. But just philosophically, we'll always pick up the phone and listen. It's just got to make sense."

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