Rhule, Fitterer: Day 2 Moves 'Masterful' in Finding Athletes

The Panthers made four trades in Friday night's second and third round of the NFL Draft, and head coach Matt Rhule liked the results.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule and General Manager Scott Fitterer said all of the moves they made on Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft were to get into position to draft players the staff, coaches and scouts valued while obtaining a third pick.

“I thought Scott was masterful. We came in to the day thinking we were going to get two players, and we came away three,” Rhule said following Friday’s selections. “The way personnel people look at, a three this year equates to a two next year. Then we picked up a four next year. So basically the Sam Darnold trade is paid off. We got three players that we really like, but we’ve also paid off that trade.”

The Panthers started Friday night picking 10th in the third round with a plethora of offensive tackles available, including Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins, who many thought should have gone in the first round.

Carolina, however, traded picks No. 39 and 151 to the Chicago Bears in exchange for picks No. 52, 83 and 204.

“It just had to do with where our numbers were on the board and where we saw value,” Fitterer said of the first trade of the night for Carolina. “We could move back 13 spots and still had a lot of players that our staff liked, that Coach had conviction on, that our scouts had conviction on. We just put ourselves in position to get certain players that we targeted.”

The Panthers then traded picks No 52 and 113 to the Cleveland Browns for No. 59 and 89.

Carolina finally made a selection at No. 59, taking LSU wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., someone Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady knows well.

“Joe wrote him up like everybody else. He’s a player that they had ranked atop the board,” Rhule said. “He’d a big outside guy, and Joe said he could play outside or inside, which is paramount in the things that we try to do.”

The Panthers then took offensive lineman Brady Christensen from BYU at No. 70 after trading the 73rd overall pick and the 191st pick to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Christensen is a 24-year-old draftee, and Fitterer said he couldn’t immediately recall a time when he’d advocated for drafting someone that age. But he said it wasn’t a factor in their decision.

“It’s not about that. We like the person, we like the athlete,” he said. “I was at BYU’s Pro Day, and he was really impressive in person. Then you hear about the character, the intelligence, the work ethic, the toughness. That’s what sold us.”

The Panthers made their third pick of the night at No. 83, taking Notre Dame tight end Tommy Tremble.

Carolina then traded pick No. 89 to the Texans — and don’t get excited, the deal didn’t include Deshaun Watson. The deal sent No. 89 to Houston while the Panthers received picks No. 109 and 158, which gives the team five picks today.

Fans may have noticed a pattern in the Panthers’ draft classes so far. Last year was a defensive draft. This year? Physicality and athleticism.

“I put a lot of stock into (athleticism). If you look at the great players on our team — there are certain positions not as much — but they’re all great, great athletes. This is a game made up of elite athletes. so if you can find elite athletes with football instincts with a love of the game and who also treat people well, you’ve got something special,” Rhule said. “The tape’s the most important thing for us, but their metrics verify that what you see on tape is real. Fast people run fast, they’re powerful, they jump high. These guys do all those things, but these guys were taken off the tape.”

Heading into the final day of the 2021 NFL Draft, Rhule said the Panthers will continue to look for those attributes, taking mostly a “best-player-available” approach.

“The great thing is we have five picks. So, I don’t think we’re going to look at it as need-based as much as it will be getting the best guys on the board,” he said. “I think we still have guys who have second and third-round grades for us on the board. I think we’ll continue to take the best player possible, within reason.”